# General Information: The word "we" here refers to all Christians, including the people to whom Paul was writing. # when we were children "when we were like children" # we were enslaved to the elemental principles of the world "we were like slaves to the elemental principles of the world" or "we obeyed the elemental principles of the world as if we were slaves" # the elemental principles of the world These words could refer to 1) the laws or moral principles of the world, or 2) spiritual powers that some people thought control what happens on earth.