4:8: You were slaves [douleuō] of beings not gods by nature. 4:9: You want to be slaves [douleuō] once more of ta stoicheia. In 4:9, Paul equates the stoicheia with the “beings not gods by nature” in 4:8: both are served as slaves (douleuō). He makes this equation without further explanation or justification to his Galatian audience. As Martyn (397) writes, “Paul is able to assume some retrospective comprehension on their part when he links these elements with gods they worshiped before his arrival.”