King James Bible
"Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:"
Paul uses 'children' as a metaphor for spiritual immaturity, referring to the period before faith in Christ came. This connects to his earlier analogy of an heir who, though destined for inheritance, remains under guardians while still a minor. The state of slavery contrasts sharply with the freedom of mature heirs, emphasizing the restrictive and oppressive nature of life before Christ. Paul portrays pre-Christian existence as captivity rather than mere limitation. These 'elements' (Greek: stoicheia) likely refer to basic religious principles, whether Jewish law or pagan practices, that governed human behavior before the gospel. Paul suggests these elementary teachings, though perhaps necessary for a time, ultimately enslaved rather than liberated humanity.