Galatians 4

David Lipscomb Commentary On Galatians 4Galatians 4:1 But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a bondservant though he is lord of all;—Paul il­lustrates the condition of the Jews under the law, and their deliverance from the law through the gospel of Christ by the child, who is kept under tutors and guardians, although he is heir of the throne, until he becomes of age, when he enters into the rule of his possessions.Galatians 4:2but is under guardians and stewards until the day ap­pointed of the father.—Children look to present gratification and not to future good. Just as the child, though heir of great riches, is kept under tutors and governors until he is qualified to freely follow right, and to manage his possessions looking to future good, and walking by principles of right rather than the present gratifications.Galatians 4:3 So we also, when we were children,—Even when they were children, incapable of being moved by promises of future good, God kept them for a time under the law of Moses before he granted to them the high honors and privileges of the gos­pel of Christ. This family through which the seed was to come he kept under the law, training and qualifying them to enjoy the privileges of the promises through Christ.were held in bondage under the rudiments—Paul represents the Jewish system as an elementary religion of childhood, full of external rites and ceremonies, pointing beyond themselves to an age of manhood in Christ. The whole Old Testament dispensation was an elementary or a preparatory school for the gospel, a religion of types and shadows, of hope and prom­ise, destined to lose itself in Christ as its substance and fulfill­ment.of the world:—[Not the physical universe, but mankind which needed such a training for the coming Messiah. It may be that the expression comprehends the heathens as well as the Jews. But the Jews were in fact the religious repre­sentatives of the whole race of mankind in the motion towards Christ.]Galatians 4:4but when the fulness of the time came,—When the time came that they could walk by faith in God and look to the fu­ture rewards and punishments. [This period was fixed in the counsel of God with reference to the development of the race.

The words “ fulness of the time” express the whole philosophy of history before Christ, and the central position of the birth of Christ. The ancient history of Jews and Gentiles was a preparation for the coming of Christ, and Christ is the turning point of history, the end of the old world and the beginning of the new.

Jesus himself began his preaching with the declara­tion: “ The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.” (Mark 1:15). The Savior could not appear in any other country, nor at any other time, nor in any other nation, according to the order of the divine government, and prear­ranged history.]God sent forth his Son,—He certainly existed before his birth in Bethlehem, in heavenly glory, with the Father.born of a woman,—He was born of a woman that he might sympathize with humanity. [This expresses the realness of the humanity of Jesus Christ.]born under the law,—That he might fulfill the law, take it out of the way, and deliver his people from the bondage of the law. [These words bring the Lord Jesus into relation with the Jewish nation, (cp. Romans 15:8; Hebrews 2:14-18). He thus took upon himself the obligations imposed by God upon the Jews in the law given at Sinai. The fulfillment of this law by the Lord was the outward and evident token of his acceptance with God, and of his competence for the work he had under­taken to do.]Galatians 4:5that he might redeem them that were under the law,—[Neither his coming in the flesh nor his keeping the law in the days of his flesh availed, in whole or in part, for the redemp­tion of men. He he not been clothed in flesh, death would have been impossible for him; hence this was the condition necessary for the accomplishment of the redemption, but was itself no part of that redemption.

His redemptive work proper began and ended on the cross; accordingly the statement of the Savior’ s relation to sin is invariably made in terms that confine that relationship to his death. Hence it is nowhere stated in the New Testament that Christ kept the law for us.

Only his death is vicarious. He is not said to have borne sin during any part of his life; it was on the cross that he became the sin bearer. (1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:4; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:24; Revelation 1:5). Jesus declared that the purpose of his life was “ not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45). His death was in com­plete harmony with his life, and was its fitting climax, but the two are here distinguished by the Lord himself, and his dis­tinction is observed by each of the New Testament writers. Inasmuch as it was necessary that the Jews might be re­deemed from under the law, much more must the Gentiles not allow themselves to be brought under it when they become believers in him who died to accomplish that redemption. The death of Christ secures for the believers freedom from the curse (Galatians 3:13), and from the bondage of the law (Galatians 4:3; Romans 6:14).]that we might receive the adoption of sons.—To adopt is to receive the child of another as one’ s own and to bestow upon it the affection, treatment, and privileges as one’ s own child.

Christians are spoken of by God as his adopted children. They are his by adoption.

This would indicate that they are not his naturally— they are not born by natural birth into his family. Man was in the beginning a child of God. God created him as his own child, and as his child placed him to reign over the world. The genealogy of the human family, as given in the New Testament, traces all back to “ Adam, the son of God.” He was created by God as a member of his family. But now the children of Adam are not by virtue of their birth in the family of God. Adam sinned against God, accepted the devil as his ruler, and thus alienated himself and the world from the family of God.

In order that man might be reinstated in God’ s favor, God proposes to re-adopt him into his family, or so many of the children of men as will trust and follow him. As preparatory to being received as sons, the Spirit of adoption must be in their hearts, a desire to become members of his family.

This desire is imparted through faith in God. When the person has been fitted in heart and life by faith and repentance towards God, for the enjoyment of the privileges of the family of God, he is then by a burial out of his old family relations and a resurrection in the new ones adopted into the family of God. Baptism is the act of adop­tion by which we pass out of one family, and are brought into the new one with God as our Father, and Jesus Christ as our elder brother, and by which we acquire the right to the bless­ings and favors of the family of God. After we have been le­gally adopted into the family of God, we must drink more and more into the spirit of the family that we may not lose our fitness for its privileges and forfeit our rights to its inheri­tance. The adoption does not help us unless it is legally per­fected.Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,—This has no reference to the time or the manner of receiving the Spirit of God. It is a contrast be­tween the law of Moses and the law of Christ.

Under the law of Moses they were servants; under the law of Christ they are sons. Because they are sons, not servants, God sent the spirit of a son into their hearts.

Taken in connection with corre­sponding passages, this scripture settles the point that the spirit of a son is put into the heart by writing the law in his heart. The promise was: “ I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33). When Christ came the new covenant was made, the law was written in their hearts; they were no longer servants with a spirit of fear, but sons with a spirit of love. Writing the law in their hearts and sending the spirit of a son are the same thing, be­cause the word is the seed of the kingdom, in which the Spirit, which gives life, dwells. The scriptures show that the Spirit of God dwells in the word of God. (Luke 8:11; John 6:63; Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 4:15; 2 Corinthians 3:16; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:22-23). I do not know a single scripture, taken in its connec­tion, that does not teach the same thing.

All scripture, with the facts and analogies of nature, teaches that the spirit of him who begets passes to him that is begotten in the act of begetting. It passes in the seed that begets.

This law was stamped upon creation— vegetable, animal, and spiritual. Every tree, every animal, every being was created, yielding fruit after his kind. It is a contradiction of the law of God in nature and in grace to say that the spirit of the father is im­parted to the child after birth. The person who believes is just as much begotten by the Father, the child of God, before it is baptized as it is afterwards. The difference is: one is a born child, the other an unborn child. Unless the unborn child is brought by the birth into a state suited for developing life, it will perish. The spirit is imparted in the begetting, the spirit enters with the seed. The word of God is the seed of the kingdom.

The Spirit enters the heart with the word of God; it grows with the growth of the word of God in the heart and life of man. If a man ever becomes a truly spiritual man, it must be by taking the word of God fully into his heart and bringing his life into harmony with God’ s laws.crying, Abba, Father.—The Spirit was given unto them by which they could regard and call on God as Father. They felt not as servants, but as children. [Abba, the Chaldean or Ar­amaic word for father, was a word used by Jesus. (Mark 14:36). No one had hitherto approached God as Jesus did. His utterance of this word, expressing the attitude of his life of prayer and breathing the whole attitude of his life, profoundly affected his disciples. So that word became a watchword of the early church, being the proper name of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gentile believers used it conscious that in doing so they were joined in spirit to the Lord who said: “ I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.” (John 20:17). Greek-speaking Christians supplemented it by their own equivalent as we by the English Father.

This precious word is carried down the ages and around the whole world in the mother tongue of Jesus, a memorial of the hour when through him men learned to call God Father.]Galatians 4:7 So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son;—Un­der the Jewish law they had felt that they were slaves or ser­vants. Now through faith they can feel that they are sons— children. A son obeys from love, a servant from fear. Now they are no longer servants, but sons, and the son is the heir of the heritage of the father.and if a son, then an heir through God.—Then as son an heir of the Father, and that kinship comes through Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. He redeemed them, he pur­chased them, he pardoned them.

They entered into him through faith, and in him they became heirs with him of his Father and their Father. Their Father because Jesus is his Son, and they are in him.Galatians 4:8 Howbeit at that time, not knowing God, ye were in bond­age to them that by nature are no gods:—This seems more especially spoken to the Gentile converts among the Galatian Christians.

They had known God only a short while, and be­fore they knew him they had worshipped idols which are no gods. They are in their very nature devoid of all qualities of God. The Jews were liable to this same charge, for they had, in time past, while claiming to believe in God, gone into the worship of idols.Galatians 4:9but now that ye have come to Know God, or rather to be known by God,—But having learned of the true God, or what is more important, God having owned them as his children by the gift of his Spirit.how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudi­ments,—How could they, the apostle asks, turn from the rich spiritual services, promises, and rewards of eternal life to these weak and beggarly elements? To serve in them was a bondage of slavery, and how could they return to them?whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again?—[Relaps­ing into bondage, to begin anew its rudiments in the form of Judaism, instead of the former heathenism. The Galatians had never been under the Mosaic yoke; yet they had been under the elements of the world— the common designation for Jewish and Gentile systems in contrast with the gospel. Both consisted in outward, sensuous worship, and were in bondage to the elements of sense as though these could give justifica­tion and sanctification, which the power of God through Jesus Christ alone could give.]Galatians 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years.—They kept these Jewish feasts and observances which all found fulfillment in Christ.

God, in the Mosaic law, had ap­pointed the daily offering, the feast of the new moon, the feast of the Passover, the feast of weeks, the feast of trumpets, the feast of ingathering, and quite a number of others. They had all found their fulfillment in Christ, and the law of Moses was done away. [While it is probable that these were the occa­sions in the mind of Paul when he wrote, still they need not be taken too literally, as though the Galatians had already ac­tually observed all these, and had been observing the year of jubilee.

If they observed the least of them they acknowl­edged the principle. It was as though they observed all. Heretofore he had mentioned circumcision only as indicative of the declension of these believers, but of course they could now draw the line at that; once they put themselves under the law, they became debtors to do all the law enjoined (Galatians 5:3).]Galatians 4:11I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain.—The zeal for these things was an in­dication of waning faith and interest in the law of Christ, and filled Paul with fear lest the labor he had bestowed on them had failed to bear fruit. Fondness for observing these days was regarded as indicative of indifference to Christ. It is true that those churches which lay most stress on the observance of the days not authorized in the scriptures pay least regard to the observances ordained by God. The churches that observe Easter, and other days ordained by men, pay the least regard to the scriptural observance of the first day of the week.

Paul discusses the observance of days in worship to God not especially required by the Scriptures (Romans 15:4-5), and says if a man wishes to observe a day, and is satisfied in his own mind, let him do it; let him have his faith to himself; but he is to do it as an individual, so as not to impose it on others. When a church has a special Easter service or any such service, it imposes its service on every member of the congregation.

This Paul clearly condemns. Sometimes things harmless in themselves becomes harmful from the use made of them. Jesus illustrates this by the washing of hands, harmless in itself, but when done as a reli­gious ceremony, Jesus says it is sin. (Matthew 15:2). God con­demns those whose fear of him is a commandment of men, which has been taught them. (Isaiah 29:13). Then a service that may be right under some circumstances, when done as a religious service because taught by man, becomes sin. The Christians ought to be careful to do all they do, in the name of the Lord, and only what he commands. When men start out to do those things not required by the scriptures, where will it end? One step leads to another, till the service of God is lost sight of in the multiplicity of human observances.

To observe Easter now is to honor the Roman Catholic Church, not Christ; for it, not he, ordained the service.Galatians 4:12I beseech you, brethren,—This is the expression of a painfully agitated, affectionate, and loving heart.become as I am,—His object was to persuade them to aban­don the Jewish rites and customs. He appealed to them, therefore, by his own example, for he had laid aside its sup­posed advantages, and his lifelong prejudice (Philippians 3:7) in order to take his place beside the Gentiles. Now he entreats those who put themselves under the law, or who contemplate doing so, to take their place beside him— be as free as he was free.for I also am become as ye are,—He had conformed to their customs in many things; had abandoned his own peculiarities; had given up his customs as far as possible to benefit and save them. He was a Jew of the Jews. Of himself he said: “ Though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh: if any other man thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; as touching zeal, persecuting the church; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blame­less.” (Philippians 3:4-6). He had all the Jewish feelings and re­gard for Jewish services that they could possibly have, yet he had given them all up for Christ.

He appeals to them to do as he had done.Ye did me no wrong:—Many expositors understand this to mean that they did him no personal injury in turning to Juda­ism, for his interest in them was that they might be saved; others connect it with the following verse, and make it refer to the treatment they gave him while he was among them.Galatians 4:13but ye know that because of an infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you the first time:—They did not while he was among them injure or annoy him, but in infir­mity of the flesh he preached to them and they kindly received him, more than kindly received him, as the following verses show. He at his first coming among them preached with some fleshly infirmity.

That infirmity is referred to on sev­eral occasions, but no clue is given by which to determine what it was. Of it Paul says: “ And by reason of the exceed­ing greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a mes­senger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted overmuch. Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). I take it that this refers to some fleshly weak­ness of Paul.Galatians 4:14and that which was a temptation to you in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected;—There seems to have been a temptation which grew out of the infirmity.

It was of a char­acter that they could see and understand.but ye received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.—He seems to have thought they would despise and reject him, but says, as something to their credit, that they received him as though he had been an angel from heaven, and more than an angel, as Jesus Christ himself. [Out of the most unpropitious circumstances under which he had ever introduced the gospel to a new community, there sprang up the sweetest fruits of all his labors; for there are no other churches of whose devotion to him he speaks in similar terms. Such ex­perience as this illustrated to him the Lord’ s meaning, when he said unto him, in answer to his prayer about the thorn in the flesh, “ My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness,” and it was experience like this which enabled him at length to say: “ Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in dis­tresses, for Christ’ s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).]Galatians 4:15 Where then is that gratulation of yourselves?—If they received him “ even as Christ Jesus,” they rejoiced greatly in his presence and spoke of it. [What had become of that spirit which animated them not so long ago? (Galatians 1:6).]for I bear you witness, that, if possible, ye would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.—The manifesta­tion of feeling toward him was such that he testified, if it had been in their power, they would have plucked out their eyes and given them to him. The Galatians were of the same na­tion as the French, noted for their excitability and intensity of feeling. Such people are liable to run from one extreme to an­other. So they had run to the extreme of denying that Paul was an apostle sent by Jesus.Galatians 4:16 So then am I become your enemy,—He had told them the truth in reference to their determination to turn to the Jewish law, and they had become offended, and had mani­fested feeling against him.by telling you the truth?—Truth alone can help man. It is sometimes disagreeable, contrary to his feelings and wishes. It is nonetheless good for him because disagreeable, but he is very prone to regard him who tells him disagreeable truths as any enemy.

He who tells one the truth ought to do it in a kind manner, but we should regard him who tells us the truth as a friend because truth alone can benefit man.Galatians 4:17 They zealously seek you in no good way;—These Ju­daizers who turned them to Moses and turned their feelings against Paul, aroused their zeal, but not in a proper direction nor from a proper motive.nay, they desire to shut you out, that ye may seek them.—They would lead them away from Christ that they might serve their selfish ends. Paul denounces unsparingly those who sought to subvert the faith of Christians. (2 Corinthians 11:4­14). [If the Judaizing teachers could persuade those who had been taught that faith and obedience to the gospel alone were necessary to salvation, that circumcision and submission to the law of Moses were also essential, the effect would invaria­bly be just what Paul describes.

They must turn to their new teachers for that assurance of salvation, which, they would suppose, the gospel as preached by Paul could not supply.]Galatians 4:18 But it is good to be zealously sought in a good matter at all times, and not only when I am present with you.—It is well to be excited to zeal in a good thing. He assures them that the zeal they showed for God under his teaching was a worthy zeal in a good cause, and he desired that they should continue that zeal for Jesus Christ and not be diverted from it as well when he was absent as when he was present with them. They were of that class of people easily led by plausi­ble men who might be present with them. This class of peo­ple are common, and have no convictions of their own, but are led by every wind of doctrine.Galatians 4:19 My little children,—Paul spoke of those whom he had been instrumental in converting as begotten of him. “ In Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel.” ( 1 Corinthians 4:15).of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you—He had once begotten them, and they were turning from Christ to Judaism, and he is now striving with anxiety to bring them back to Christ; calling this a travailing with them in birth again until Christ be formed in them. To restore them to a true faith in Christ was to have Christ formed in them again. [Just as the undeveloped embryo by degrees takes the shape of man, so the undeveloped Christian by de­grees takes the likeness of Christ. As he grows in grace that likeness becomes more and more defined, till at last he reaches “ unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13).]Galatians 4:20but I could wish to be present with you now,—[To adapt his speech more fully to their present condition and wants, in this critical juncture in their spiritual history when the future of the work of the gospel in Galatia hangs in the balance, to use severity or gentle persuasion as may be best. (1 Corinthians 4:21).] and to change my tone; — [He longed to speak to them with confidence in their fidelity to the true gospel of Christ instead of with the mingled apprehension, expostulation, and appeal of this letter. This he could do only if they should turn from the Judaizing teachers. He longed to be able to say to them as he was able to say to those at Corinth: “ I rejoice that in everything I am of good courage concerning you.” (2 Corinthians 7:16).]for I am perplexed about you.—He is absent from them; and he is perplexed as to what he ought to think of them, and what he ought to say to them.Galatians 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law,—This is ad­dressed to those who were inclined to follow the Judaizing teachers, and make legal observance as well as faith in Christ the ground of acceptance with God.do ye not hear the law?—The law of Moses is, of course, in this argument, the great embodiment of the principle of law. Moreover it had a divine sanction which belongs to none other. It is immaterial whether we restrict the word law to the Pentateuch, or regard it as synonymous with the Old Tes­tament generally.Galatians 4:22 For it is written,—These words generally introduce a quotation from the Old Testament; here they introduce a brief summary of Old Testament history, and take the Judaiz­ers on their own ground.that Abraham had two sons,—Ishmael and Isaac.one by the handmaid,—Hagar, an Egyptian servant, servant to Sarah and mother of Ishmael.and one by the freewoman.—Sarah, Abraham’ s wife (Genesis 20:12), and mother of Isaac. [The article is attached to each of these words as to persons whose history was well known to Jews and Christians in Galatia.]Galatians 4:23 Howbeit the son by the handmaid is bom after the flesh;—Notwithstanding the fact that they were the children of one father, there was a further difference between them beyond that consequent on the different states of their respective mothers. Abraham and Hagar were united in accordance with natural counsels and with results after the order of na­ture.

Sarah was aware, indeed, of the promise of God to Abraham that he should have a son, but her own name had not yet been mentioned in connection therewith, and assuming that the promise was impossible of fulfillment through herself, she planned to bring it about through Hagar, her handmaid. (Genesis 16:1-2). To Sarah’ s device Paul refers.

From it sprang evils innumerable, first for Abraham and Sarah, then for Isaac, then for the people of Israel at large. God’ s word is settled forever in heaven, and cannot fail of its fulfillment; but God is not to be hindered or hurried in any. [Whoever at­tempts one of the other dooms himself to disaster. Scheming and faith are mutually exclusive. He who trusts God will not scheme; he who schemes makes its manifest that he does not trust God.]but the son by the freewoman is born through promise.—Isaac was the child of promise, was conceived after both par­ents were past age, and his conception was of the direct power of God— not after the fleshly desires.Galatians 4:24 Which things contain an allegory:—Allegory means a description of one thing under the figure of another, so that the real or intended meaning differs from the obvious sense of the words.for these women are two covenants;—They represent the two covenants.one from mount Sinai, bearing children unto bondage, which is Hagar.—Hagar represents the covenant and law of mount Sinai.Galatians 4:25 Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is: for she is in bondage with her children.—Hagar answers to the Jerusalem that now is, or the present fleshly Israel, bearing children in bondage. Ishmael was born of the impulses of the flesh, while Abraham impa­tiently waited and lost faith in the child of promise; just as the law was added, while the child of promise delayed his coming, and served as the tutor to bring them to Christ. [We should not overlook the distinction that Paul draws between the two Israels, a spiritual Israel which embraces all obedient believers in Christ, whether of the circumcision or of the un­circumcision, and is the true heir of the promise, and the car­nal Israel, which has only the circumcision of the flesh, and not of the heart, which is of the blood, but not of the faith of Abraham, and is cast out like Hagar and Ishmael. (Romans 4:12-17; Romans 9:6-9).]Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free,—Sarah, the free­woman, mount Zion, or the Jerusalem which is above— the church of God. [Sarah, with Isaac, born in fulfillment of a promise, points to the heavenly, the ideal Jerusalem with its inhabitants, under no control of this world; and these in turn point to those Jews and Gentiles who have trusted Christ and who are free from the law in him; for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:2).]which is our mother.—She, this church of God, is the mother of all true Christians. [This language is, of course, figurative, and forms a basis for what is said of Abraham, when it is declared that “ he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10; Hebrews 11:16). And it is further declared that believers in Christ “ are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” But while, spiritually and poten­tially, obedient believers have already come to that city, yet, and indeed, on this account, they have here no permanent dwelling place, they “ seek after the city which is to come.” (Acts 13:14).

To the church in Philadelphia the Lord said: “ He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name.” (Revelation 3:12-13). And before the close of the vision, John sees the city descend­ing, and is invited to a closer view of it under the guidance of the angel. (Acts 21:2; Acts 21:9-10).

The city exhibits the hosts of the redeemed in the renewed conditions of life when the purposes of God have been accomplished and all things have been made new. (Acts 21:5). To this figure of an ideal city the language of Paul conforms: “ For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fash­ion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be con­formed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21). That city of God is dominated by the pow­ers of the age to come, the same powers that work in the be­liever now for his establishment in holiness and love.]Galatians 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: For more are the children of the desolate than of her that hath the husband.—Isaiah 54:1 had foretold this state, that she who first was barren, brought forth no children, would rejoice in the num­ber of her children, for she would have more children than the one that bore children. Sarah, the lawful wife, childless until the child of promise came, had more children than Hagar, who early bore children of the flesh. So the church of prom­ise, or the promise through the seed of promise, had in these last days burst forth and bore children not only among the fleshly children of Abraham, but among the Gentiles not mar­ried to Christ. And there were many more converts among the Gentiles who had not been in covenant relation with God than among the Jews who had been.Galatians 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.—The Christians, as Isaac, are the children of promise.

The Jews are the children of Abraham according to the flesh. They are the children of Hagar, not of Sarah. [Whatever priv­ileges the Judaizers could claim as descendants of Abraham, whatever they might hold out to others on condition of being circumcised and keeping the law of Moses, Paul also could claim the same. (2 Corinthians 11:22; Philippians 3:5).

The Galatians, being Gentiles, of course, could claim none of them. But Paul knew that neither did his natural descent confer any advan­tage upon him, nor did theirs disqualify them. He, though Jew he was, must be justified by faith, not by works of the law, or on account of his fleshly relationship to Abraham. They, Gentiles, though they were, could be justified through faith, impossible as it was claimed by the Judaizers. (Romans 3:30). Thus he and they alike were children of God in virtue of the promise to Abraham, which promise had received its pledge of fulfillment in the birth of Isaac. (Galatians 3:6-7).]Galatians 4:29 But as then he that was bom after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, so also it is now.—Ishmael persecuted Isaac. (Genesis 21:9). It is likely that Ishmael de­nied the birthright, Isaac claimed that he himself was the first-born, Sarah saw and heard it and said to Abraham: “ Cast out this handmaid and her son: for the son of this handmaid shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.” (Genesis 21:10).

While Ishmael was the older, he, as not the child of promise, was not the lawful child.Galatians 4:30 Howbeit what saith the scripture? Cast out the hand­maid and her son: for the son of the handmaid shall not in­herit with the son of the freewoman.—The slave woman must be cast out to give place to the lawful wife.

The covenant of Sinai must be done away, taken out of the way to give place to the covenant made with Abraham and his seed, which the law, given afterward, could not annul, and which had its ful­fillment in Christ. Which means that the law of Sinai, the law of works, the law written on the tables of stone were taken out of the way and superseded by the law of faith, the law written in the tables of the heart, that are spiritual and eternal in their character.Galatians 4:31 Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a handmaid,—The apostle having fully established the difference between the law and grace, flesh and spirit, bondage and freedom, and their incompatibility one with another, now makes direct ap­plication of the inference drawn from the allegory, which is that the inheritance is given by promise, to faith, and cannot be obtained by work done in obedience to the law.but of the freewoman.—There may be many slaves, but one true wife, one freewoman. So there are many ways along which men seek acceptance with God, there is but one of his appointment, and by it alone men may draw near to him.

Verse 1 Galatians 4The argument of this whole chapter is a continuation of Paul’s teaching on the abolition of the Law of Moses and the replacement of the entire system by Christianity. First, he compared the Law to the conditions governing a person not yet come of age, as something sure to be replaced by another arrangement later on (Galatians 4:1-7). Secondly, he pointed out the restrictive and onerous nature of the Law itself, comparing it to slavery or bondage (Galatians 4:8-11). Next, he reminded them of the circumstances of their conversion, their love for him, and warned them against the evil men who were seducing them away from the faith (Galatians 4:12-20); and finally, he appealed to an allegory based upon the life of Abraham, which was climaxed by “Cast out the handmaiden and her son,” meaning, in the analogy, “Christianity and Judaism are not compatible, or reconcilable; and it is the Law of Moses that has to go.” (Galatians 4:21-31). But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a bondservant though he is lord of all; but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father. (Galatians 4:1-2) It is plain, as Ridderbos suggested, that Paul’s language here is not technical. “He is not thinking of a special legal procedure,"[1] but using an illustration that would be appropriate in any society. No child of whatever culture is to be trusted with an inheritance until the age of responsibility. The word here rendered “child” really “means babe,"[2] as Paul used the same word in 1 Corinthians 3:1 for a child needing a milk diet; but the evident meaning here is simply that of “a minor.” As McGarvey noted, “In this paragraph Paul resumes the metaphor of Gal 3:24 ff, but from a slightly different point of view."[3] There it is the pedagogue which is stressed; here it is the child himself. [1] Herman N. Ridderbos, The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of Galatia (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1953), p. 152. [2] R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Galatians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965), p 112 [3] J. W. McGarvey, The Standard Bible Commentary, Galatians (Cincinnati, Ohio: The Standard Publishing Company, 1916), p. 271. Verse 3 So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the rudiments of the world.We … The word here means all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, the world itself being in bondage to all kinds of rudimentary and imperfect conceptions until Christ came. Bondage … Peter himself described the Law of Moses in this same terminology (Acts 15:10); and when one considers the incredible number of rules and regulations which were enforced by it, it becomes clear enough that it was indeed slavery. Some commentators have expressed surprise that Paul did not restrict the “bondage” to primitive religions, making a distinction between the Mosaic Law and the pagan religions; but, while it is true enough that Judaism was magnificently superior to the pagan systems, there were many particulars in which it rose above them scarcely at all. It was purely legalistic; it subjected every violator to death without mercy, and as MacKnight said: It prescribed no better sacrifices than the heathen religions … could not cleanse the conscience of the sinner from the guilt of sin, afforded no assistance to enable men to obey it, and was utterly unable to procure pardon and eternal life for its adherents, being precisely the same (in all these categories) as the heathen religions.[4]Under the rudiments of the world … The simple meaning of this place is, “The letters of the alphabet, elementary education in any branch of knowledge."[5] The meaning of “world” is that of the “world of men,” not that of the “cosmos” or “universe.” The RSV rendition of this is absurd: “We were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe”! As Foy E. Wallace, Jr. said, “Besides its obscurity, not a word of it is in either the Greek or any (previous) English translation of it."[6] Of course, this perversion of the sacred text was done to accommodate some rather wild speculations regarding the religion of the Galatians prior to their acceptance of Christianity. [4] James MacKnight, Apostolical Epistles and Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1969), p. 169. [5] Raymond T. Stamm, The Interpreter’s Bible (New York: Abingdon Press, 1950), Vol. IX, p. 521. [6] Foy E. Wallace, Jr., A Review of the New Versions (Fort Worth, Texas: The Foy E. Wallace, Jr., Publications, 1973), p. 443. Verse 4 But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.The fullness of time … has the meaning of “At God’s appointed time.” All of the grand events of God’s plan for the redemption of mankind were scheduled in advance, and from the beginning, even the final judgment itself being a planned and scheduled event. “God has appointed a day, etc.” (Acts 17:31). God sent forth his Son … This is a dogmatic statement of the Incarnation, being a clear reference to the pre-existence of Christ with God before the world was (John 1:1). This clause teaches: (1) the deity of the Son of God, (2) “the going forth of the Son from a place where he was before, and (3) his being invested with divine authority."[7] We agree with Ramsay who said that it was simply “incredible that some unbelievers find here the statement that Christ was only a man."[8]Born of a woman … In view of the clear meaning of the preceding clause, it is impossible to accommodate the opinion so often expressed by otherwise reputable and dependable scholars that “this is not a reference to the virgin birth."[9] Since the father of Jesus Christ is clearly set forth as the heavenly Father, pray tell how the Lord could have been born, or entered our earth life, in any other way, except by virgin birth? Are all the commentators ignorant of the fact that if there was cohabitation, in the usual sense, involved in the birth here mentioned it could not have produced one who had previously existed with God before the world was, but would invariably and certainly have produced a brand new individual? To be sure, Paul did not here stress the virgin birth, but there is no way that these words could have been spoken by the blessed apostle unless he truly believed it and so arranged his teaching here as to bear an eloquent witness of it. Furthermore, it is highly questionable if “born of a woman” is the proper translation of the Greek expression “becoming of a woman.” While true enough that Christ was born of a woman, that is not the word Paul used. Huxtable believed a better translation is made to be of a woman, preferring it because “Such a translation would imply a previous state of existence (a thought most certainly in the context), whereas born does not."[10] To say the least, Huxtable’s translation more accurately reflects the thought of the whole passage. Born under the law … “Made to be under the law” is better in this place also, where the same word is used. There is a genuine sense in which Christ was not “born” under the law, because as the true Temple of God, the Head of the Theocracy, and the divine Son of God, he was intrinsically absolutely above the law, as emphatically indicated in Matthew 17:25-27, where it is recorded that Jesus consented to the payment of the temple tax, not because he owed it, but because he did not wish to cause people to stumble. See in my Commentary on Matthew 17:24 ff. In the same manner as indicated there, Christ consented to “be made” under the Mosaic obligations for the purpose of fulfilling them, obligations that did not derive in any sense whatever from his birth, but from his joint-purpose with God even before the Incarnation was begun. The adoption of sons … Adam was the “son of God” by creation (Luke 3:38), a status that does not pertain to any of Adam’s posterity due to the disastrous behavior of the great progenitor which involved the entire human race in ruin. God’s purpose of redemption is that of adopting all of us “Adamites” into the status of sonship with the Father, the same having been the purpose of the Incarnation, the virgin birth, the making of Christ to be under the law, and, in fact, the total family of events clustered around the sacred name of Jesus Christ our Lord. [7] H. N. Ridderbos, op. cit., p. 155. [8] Wm. R. Ramsay, A Historical Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1965), p. 396. [9] Everett F. Harrison, Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 709. [10] E. Huxtable, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), Vol. 20, p. 183. Verse 6 And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.Some scholars read the first clause, “as proof that ye are sons”;[11] but Sanday believed it is better to retain it as in the English Revised Version (1885),[12] showing that the time of receiving the gift-ordinary of the Holy Spirit is subsequent to achieving the status of sonship and a consequence of it. This is without doubt the true meaning, for it coincides with the promise of the apostle Peter (Acts 2:38) that the reception of the Holy Spirit is to be expected after faith, repentance and baptism into the name of Christ, and as a promise to be fulfilled subsequently to such faith and obedience. That is why Paul also referred to the same gift as “the Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13). Whereby we cry, Abba, Father … (KJV) indicates that one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in Christian hearts is the sense of nearness to God, indicated by the prayers addressed to God in such terms of intimacy, “Abba” being the ordinary word used by Hebrew children in addressing their father. However, it is ridiculous to equate this word with the English word “Daddy,” which in current usage has lost a lot of the reverential respect which pertained to the Aramaic word, “Abba.” No longer a bond servant, but a son … The world, at least that portion of it which accepts Christianity, has come of age in Christ. The idols, liturgical externals, pageantry, regalia and all other visible external spectacularism of pagan worship are not merely unnecessary, but destructive of genuine worship and service of Christ. If a son, then an heir through God … A Christian is not an heir of Abraham, but an heir with him, by virtue of sonship and union with Christ. The reason Paul stressed God’s Fathership of the Lord Jesus Christ inGalatians 4:4 was correctly discerned by Pink who declared that “God must be the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to be the God and Father of his people whom he chose in Christ."[13] The Christian’s sonship to God is derived from his unity with Christ, identity with Christ, as being “in Christ,” and thus a part of that spiritual body which “is Christ,” who is truly and actually the sinless and perfect Son of God. [11] William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1954), p. 38. [12] William Sanday, Ellicott’s Commentary on the Holy Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 450. [13] Arthur W. Pink, Gleanings from Paul (Chicago: Moody Press, 1967), p. 93. Verse 8 Howbeit at that time, not knowing God, ye were in bondage to them that by nature are no gods.This is a reference to the idolatry of the Galatians before they accepted Christ. “Bondage” is an apt term to describe the merciless, unfeeling subjection of the pre-Christian pagan world to the devices of idolatrous priests. True, the same word was used of Judaism, but there was a marked difference, due to the sensuality and immorality which were the stock in trade of the idol worshipers. No gods … Paul wrote the Corinthians that, “No idol is anything in the world, and there is no God but one” (1 Corinthians 8:4). See my Commentary on 1Corinthians under that verse. Verse 9 But now that ye have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again?To know God, rather to be known by God … There is a distinction in this that Paul always observed, as in1 Corinthians 8:3; because, as Leon Morris noted, “The really important thing is not that we know God, but that he knows us!"[14] All true knowledge of God comes from God, and even that conveyed by the blessed Saviour himself came from the Father. See Matthew 16:17, where Peter’s confession of Christ as the Son of God was said by Jesus not to have been revealed by “flesh and blood,” but by “the Father in heaven.” Weak and beggarly rudiments … In that Paul declared that the Galatians were again coming into “bondage” to such things, it is clear enough that the RSV translation of Gal 4:3 is erroneous. Whatever the word means here, it means there; and there cannot be any doubt of what it means here, namely, that they were on the verge of becoming entangled again with observing the regulations, sabbaths, etc., of the Jewish law. Why were these things called “weak and beggarly”? See MacKnight’s lucid comment under Galatians 4:3. They were also beggarly in the sense of being “poor” in contrast to the unsearchable riches of Christ. Dummelow thought that such a defection by the Galatians into Judaism “was a return, not, indeed, into idolatry, but into an imperfect and rudimentary religion."[15] Of course, such a view of Judaism’s superiority over paganism is true of it before the First Advent of the Son of God and the Jewish rejection of him; but in this dispensation, such a superiority no longer pertains. As Russell put it: Jewish laws and ceremonies were but symbols of Christ, through which they were to know God as Father, and be known by him as sons. Turning back to exalt mere forms was idolatry.[16][14] Leon Morris, Tyndale Commentary, 1Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1958), p. 93. [15] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 953. [16] John William Russell, Compact Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1964), p. 468. Verse 10 Ye observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain.Sabbatarians have done their best to eliminate the meaning of this passage, but as Huxtable tells us, the words used here “were used by Josephus for the keeping of sabbath days”;[17] and when read in conjunction with Colossians 2:16 there cannot be any doubt that the sin of the Galatians was simply that of keeping, after the Jewish manner, the sabbaths, festivals and special days of the Old Covenant, which if persisted in, would mean their total loss to Christianity. The whole thesis of this epistle is that “Judaism and Christianity do not mix.” ENDNOTE: [17] E. Huxtable, op. cit., p. 190. Verse 12 I beseech you, brethren, become as I am, for I also am become as ye are. Ye did me no wrong: but ye know that because of an infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you the first time.Paul has given up all ceremonies of Judaism, the few times he observed any of them after becoming a Christian always having some special purpose in mind, like that of avoiding unnecessary persecution or looking to the purpose of preventing disunity in the church. The statement here shows Paul’s utter repugnance for such things. It is in this that he wishes the Galatians to become like himself. Ye did me no wrong … As Howard said, “The Galatians would certainly have known what Paul means by this, but it is not clear to modern readers."[18] Perhaps, as Phillips translated this place, we should read it, “I have nothing against you personally.” Because of an infirmity of the flesh … Endless speculations concerning the illness (that is the way it must be understood) that caused Paul to preach to the Galatians have found no general agreement among scholars; but the most reasonable explanation of it would seem to be that advocated by William M. Ramsay and accepted by Dummelow, Barclay and many others to the effect that when Paul came to Perga in Pamphylia on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:13 ff), he did not preach there (at Perga), due to a sudden onset of malaria, taking refuge in the highlands of Pisidian Antioch (and later going to the other cities of the first tour). The question is not really important. Preached the gospel unto you the first time … The last two words of this clause are important with regard to the problem of dating Galatians, some scholars reading these words as a declaration that Paul had made “two missionary tours” to the Galatians before writing this epistle, which, if allowed, would make it considerably later than if only one tour is mentioned here. See introduction. Dummelow, Sanday, Huxtable and many others insist that the words imply two tours had been made when this was written; but, as Howard observed, “From a lexical point of view, it is not possible to prove that Paul wished here to differentiate between a later visit and an earlier one."[19] The simple truth is that the words merely mean “formerly” or “on the first occasion” of Paul’s seeing them; and William Hendriksen, who accepted the implication of two tours previous to this letter, translated the place “on the former occasion,"[20] which certainly allows that Paul’s writing this letter was the occasion present, to be distinguished from the other. It seems to this student that all of the arguments about this are futile, because on the first tour, Paul made two visits to every one of the cities of south Galatia, with the lone exception of Derbe, the second visit being the occasion when Paul appointed elders in each of the churches he had established (Acts 14:23). Therefore, if two visits are a mandatory understanding of this verse, one has to look no further than the first missionary journey of Paul to find both of them! Of course, it is declared that “The explanation that the apostle intended to distinguish his first arrival at the several South Galatian churches from his return in the course of the same journey cannot be accepted!"[21]Such an opinion, however, is unsupported by any hard evidence, being quite arbitrary and unreasonable. Why could not Paul have made such a distinction? Especially in view of the fact that at Perga he did not preach on the first of those two occasions, whereas on the other he did. It is ridiculous to suppose that Paul counted his journeys in exactly the same manner as the latest Sunday school lesson, and the fact of the evangelist Luke having distinguished the two we have cited is more than sufficient authority for our doing the same thing. Scholars get carried away. They neatly classify Paul’s labors as Tour I, II and III, then suppose that when Paul is speaking of “journeys” he is using their terminology! [18] R. E. Howard, Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1965), Vol. IX, p. 74. [19] Ibid. [20] William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary on Galatians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1968), p. 170. [21]; ISBE, p. 1159. Verse 14 And that which was a temptation to you in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but ye received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.There is always a temptation to belittle a sick man, especially one seeking to change one’s whole manner of life, but the Galatians did not yield to it. It seems that all speculations about how repulsive and repugnant Paul’s disease was are merely morbid imagination. He was sick. That is all that is said here, As an angel of God … As a matter of fact, some of the Galatians tried to worship him, before they understood his message (Acts 14:11 ff). Verse 15 Where then is that gratulation of yourselves? for I bear you witness, that if possible, ye would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.Of course, here is the ground of the speculation that Paul’s infirmity was temporary blindness, which of course is a possibility; but such an expression as Paul used here is proverbial, and there can be no certainty that any such thing is meant. Ridderbos said, “Galatians 4:15 has nothing to do with Paul’s infirmity."[22]Whatever lay behind such a statement, Paul here appealed to the love which the Galatians manifested toward him from the very first time he ever saw them. ENDNOTE: [22] H. N. Ridderbos, op. cit., p. 167. Verse 16 So then am I become your enemy by telling you the truth?In context, the thought is, “Surely one whom you have loved so much cannot become your enemy merely by telling you the truth about people who are now trying to exploit you.” Verse 17 They zealously seek you in no good way: nay, they desire to shut you out, that ye may seek them.This was spoken with reference to the Judaizers, whose purpose was to control and exploit the Galatians by using them to support Jewish religious enterprises. “They seek you in no good way” is a figure of speech, called litotes, which is “the affirmation of a truth by denying its opposite,"[23] the meaning being that the Judaizers were hypocritical, and that their motives in cultivating the Galatians were impure. ENDNOTE: [23] Merrill C. Tenney, Galatians the Charter of Christian Liberty (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 148. Verse 18 But it is good to be zealously sought in a good manner at all times, and not only when I am present with you.By this, Paul meant that he was not merely jealous of the attention others were giving the Galatians, a thing he was diligent to give himself when present with them, but that in the case of these particular ardent cultivators of their friendship, they were up to no good whatever. Verse 19 My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you …My little children … This claiming on Paul’s part of the Galatians as his spiritual children has also entered into scholarly efforts to determine the date of Galatians and also the identity of the churches to whom it is addressed, the questions, of course, being related to each other. It is said that “The churches of south Galatia had two founders (Paul and Barnabas), and owed allegiance to Barnabas along with Paul.” This is true, of course, but Paul had just written to them of Barnabas’ being “drawn away” into accepting the position of the Judaizers (Galatians 2:13), and until that had been resolved, it would have been improper for Paul to have associated himself with Barnabas in this appeal. Over and beyond that, it is not true that Barnabas was the co-founder of those churches, his status in all of Galatia being more that of Paul’s assistant than that of a co-leader. The dramatic change had come at Paphos. Furthermore, the pagans calling Barnabas, Jupiter, the king of pagan dieties, and Paul only Mercury, the chief speaker, was merely pagan lack of discernment, basing their judgment upon external appearance only.

The Jews of south Galatia, who knew the real power of both Paul and Barnabas, as regards the founding of those churches, tried to kill Paul, not Barnabas. It was therefore altogether all right and proper for Paul to have claimed spiritual fatherhood of those churches, even if the defection of Barnabas had been corrected. Again in travail … Two things appear in this: (1) there had been an agony of travail (like that of a woman in childbirth) on Paul’s part at the founding of those churches, Acts 13 and Acts 14 giving many of the details of his sorrows and bitter sufferings, and (2) he was going through the same deep anxieties again upon their behalf. Until Christ be formed in you … The drifting into Judaism had blurred and distorted the image of Christ in their hearts, and Paul wishes it to be perfectly formed. Verse 20 But I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone; for I am perplexed about you.This is an inverted manner of Paul’s saying that he regretted the necessity of reprimanding in order to correct those whom he loved so much. Verse 21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?THE OF ISAAC AND ISHMAELDesire to be under the law … There has always been a basic natural appeal in visible, ceremonial, liturgical, external and spectacular religion, as witnessed continually by the churches of all ages in the persistent drifting into those very things. To the Galatians, so soon out of paganism, they were simply hypnotized and seduced into receiving the allegations of the Judaizers. Paul’s argument, however, here seems to say, “Do not merely look at it, listen to what it teaches!” There is a lot in religion today that needs to be analyzed in the same way. The Judaizers were talking about being “sons of Abraham,” which in a sense (carnal) they were; and the thunderbolt in the next verse is that “Abraham had two sons; which kind were the Judaizers?” Verse 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the freewoman.Ishmael was the son of Hagar, Sarah’s maid, whom she gave to Abraham, in order to claim a son (by such a device) for herself. Abraham had many sons by concubines, but they were his property, not Sarah’s. Isaac was the actual son born to Sarah, born as a result of the promise of God long after the time when either Abraham or Sarah might have expected to have children. Sarah of course was free, the lawful wife of the mighty patriarch. The full account of all this is in Genesis, much of the entire book being given over to the recounting of it. A summary of the allegory Paul was about to give is the following:

JUDAISM The bondwoman, Hagar The freewoman, Sarah Son of the bondwoman, Ishmael Son of the freewoman, Isaac Natural birth Supernatural birth by promise Mount Sinai, the Law Mount Zion, the Law of Christ The earthly Jerusalem The heavenly Jerusalem Enslaved Free Fruitful Barren (at first) Small offspring Large offspring Persecuting Persecuted Expulsion Inheritance Judaism a bondage Christians freeLINES> These analogies will clarify many of the points Paul made in the next few verses. Verse 23 Howbeit the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the son of the freewoman is born through promise.Ishmael was born as a result of the selfishness of Sarah and the natural cohabitation of Abraham with her slave girl. God was simply not in the arrangement; but Isaac, the son of promise, was born through the enabling promise of God himself, contrary to all natural expectations. These two sons, as Paul would promptly point out, typified the two types of “sons of Abraham,” as represented after Ishmael in the persons of the unspiritual Sadducees and Pharisees, with Isaac typifying the true spiritual seed of Abraham, as elaborated by Jesus in John 8, and by Paul throughout the book of Romans, where the distinction is often made between the fleshly Israel and the spiritual Israel, which is the church. Verse 24 Which things contain an allegory: for these women are two covenants; one from mount Sinai, bearing children unto bondage, which is Hagar. Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is: for she is in bondage with her children.Hagar is mount Sinai … Chrysostom stated that “Hagar is the word for mount Sinai, in the language of that country”;[24] but scholars question this on the basis that they do not know where he got his information! As he lived more than a millenium before any of us, it would appear to be a little late to inquire. As Dummelow pointed out, Sinai and Jerusalem mean the same thing, law and bondage; and Hagar typified both."[25]Bearing children unto bondage … This was, first of all, true literally, as Jerusalem itself was subjected to Rome at the time of this writing; and it was also true spiritually.

As McGarvey said, “The Jews themselves universally recognized the law as a practical bondage (Acts 15:10; Matthew 23:4)."[26][24] E. Huxtable, op. cit., p. 203. [25] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 954. [26] J. W. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 278. Verse 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother.Abraham was a recognized type of God in the Old Testament, a type recognized by Christ himself in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus; and Sarah herself therefore bore a certain analogy as the holy bride, the church (the unity of God and Christ being pertinent to the analogy). As the sons of Sarah, Christians are upon a much higher level than the sons of the bondwoman. Which is our mother … There also seems to be more than a hint here that Paul was rejecting any notion whatever that the Jerusalem church was in any sense “the Mother church” in the earthly sense of that word. The “Mother Church” virus has afflicted all generations of Christians, notwithstanding the truth in evidence here that nothing “on earth” may in any sense be understood as “the Mother Church.” It is likely here that one needs to look for the reason for Paul’s refusal to deliver the findings of that church in Jerusalem to these very Galatians. Verse 27 For it is written, Rejoice thou barren that bearest not; Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: For more are the children of the desolate than of her that hath the husband.This is quoted from Isaiah 54:1, the application being to Sarah and Hagar, as follows: Sarah at first had no child, but when the promise of Isaac was fulfilled, her posterity exceeded that of Hagar; but in the instance of the spiritual fulfillment of this, the numberless “Sons of Sarah” in the church of the living God even more overwhelmingly outnumber those of Hagar. Verse 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, so also it is now.Here the reference is to the event of Gen 21:9 ff. The enmity between these two branches of Abraham’s family has continued until the present day; and there has also been a corresponding hatred of the secular, carnal, fleshly and unspiritual against the holy teachings of Christ also. Paul intends for the Galatians to see that the Judaizers are actually their enemies, having no good thing for them, at all, in their purposes. Verse 30 Howbeit what saith the Scripture? Cast out the handmaid and her son: for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman.This is the dramatic and blunt conclusion Paul enforced by his appeal to this allegory. “When the Judaizers pride themselves on the fact that they are `sons of Abraham,’ let it be remembered that Abraham had two sons."[27] In Paul’s times, and until now, there are still two classes of “sons of Abraham”; and the significant question is, “Who is a real son of Abraham?” Paul had already given the answer in Galatians 3:26-29. The reason why all natural religious systems are bound to come in conflict with Christianity is that Christianity is supernatural, and the natural systems cannot coexist as parallel paths to the same goal."[28] The law of Moses and the gospel of Christ cannot be blended, and as Wesley said “It is the Law which must go, and the gospel which must enjoy an unshared supremacy."[29]MacKnight was surely correct in the thought that “In this allegory, Paul prophesied the rejection of secular Israel, the natural seed, from being the church and people of God."[30] Paul never pointed that analogy out, but it is surely there; and “Lightfoot remarked that Paul’s confident application of verse 30 is a striking tribute to his prophetic insight."[31] This is true, because when Paul wrote, it was to human eyes far from certain that the old Jewish system would be cast out of its inheritance, an event, however, that was dramatically and violently fulfilled in the total destruction of Jerusalem about twenty years after this letter was written. [27] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 189. [28] R. Alan Cole, op. cit., p. 135. [29] John Wesley, One Volume New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1972), in loco. [30] James MacKnight, op. cit., p. 186. [31] F. Roy Coad, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 453. Verse 31 Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the freewoman.This was Paul’s summary of the allegory just related.

“THE EPISTLE TO THE "

Chapter Four

IN THIS CHAPTER

1. To appreciate the significance and blessedness of receiving the Spirit in our hearts (cf. John 7:37-39; Acts 2:38 Acts 5:32; Romans 5:5; 8:11-17; 15:13; 2 Corinthians 1:22 2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14 Ephesians 3:16 Ephesians 4:30)

2. To understand Paul’s concern over the Galatians’ observance of holy days (cf. Colossians 2:16-17; Galatians 5:4)

3. To comprehend the implications of the allegory of Hagar and Sarah

SUMMARY

In this chapter Paul continues and concludes his defense of the gospel of justification by faith in Christ, in contrast to seeking justification by the works of the Law. The previous chapter ended with Paul making a practical argument, how that by faith they had become the sons of God, the true seed of Abraham and heirs of the promise, when they put on Christ in baptism.

The practical argument continues in the first part of chapter four as Paul describes the condition of those under the Law prior to the coming of Christ. They were “children”, and really no different than slaves. But when Christ came, He redeemed those under the Law and made it possible for them to receive the adoption as “sons”. A special blessing of this sonship was receiving the Spirit in their hearts, and now they are no longer as a slave but as a son and a heir of God through Christ (Galatians 4:1-7).

Paul then argues along sentimental lines. After having come to know the true God and being recognized by Him, their observance of holy days is indicative of a desire to return to bondage. That greatly concerns Paul, who would have them become like him. He reminds them of their reception of him in the past, and he hopes that by telling them the truth he has not become their enemy. Wishing he could be with them in person and use a different tone, he feels like a woman going through labor again as he seeks to ensure that Christ is formed in them. All of this because he has doubts about them (Galatians 4:8-20).

His final argument is an appeal to the Law itself, addressed directly to those who desire to be under it. He reminds them of Abraham’s two sons by Sarah and Hagar, and contends there are allegorical implications concerning the two covenants. Hagar, the bondwoman who gave birth to Ishmael, represents the covenant given at Mt. Sinai, and corresponds to physical Jerusalem and the bondage of those under the Law. Sarah, Abraham’s wife who gave birth to Isaac, represents the new covenant and corresponds to the heavenly Jerusalem which offers freedom to all who accept it. With a reminder that those born of the Spirit can expect persecution by those born according to the flesh, Paul concludes his defense of the gospel of justification by faith in Christ by proclaiming that those in Christ are of not of the bondwoman but of the free (Galatians 4:21-31).

OUTLINE

I. BY FAITH: THE , cont. (Galatians 4:1-7)

A. THEY HAD BEEN AS , NO THAN SLAVES (Galatians 4:1-3)

1. The illustration of an heir (Galatians 4:1-2) a. While a child, is no different than a slave, even though a “master” (Galatians 4:1) b. Under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father (Galatians 4:2)
2. In like manner, they had been as children, in bondage to the elements of the world (Galatians 4:3)

B. THEY’VE AS SONS, NO LONGER AS SLAVES (Galatians 4:4-7)

1. At the right time, God sent His Son, born of woman, born under the Law (Galatians 4:4) a. To redeem those under the Law (Galatians 4:5 a) b. That they might receive the adoptions as sons (Galatians 4:5 b)
2. Because they are now “sons” (and not just “children”)… a. God sent the Spirit into their hearts, crying out “Abba, Father!” (Galatians 4:6) b. No longer are they as “slaves”, but as “sons”, thus heirs of God through Christ (Galatians 4:7)

II. BY FAITH: THE (Galatians 4:8-20)

A. PAUL’S FEAR OVER THEIR (Galatians 4:8-11)

1. They had come to know God, and to be known by God (Galatians 4:8-9 a)
2. But they seem to desire to be in bondage again, returning to weak and beggarly elements (Galatians 4:9 b)
3. Their observance of holy days gives Paul fear that his labor was in vain (Galatians 4:10-11)

B. THEIR PAST AND PRESENT WITH HIM (Galatians 4:12-20)

1. A plea for them to be as he is (Galatians 4:12)
2. A reminder of their past relations with him (Galatians 4:13-15) a. They had not allowed his physical infirmities to hinder their reception of him and his gospel (Galatians 4:13-14) b. They were even willing to pluck out their own eyes for him (Galatians 4:15)
3. Has he become their enemy because he tells them the truth? (Galatians 4:16)
4. They are being zealously courted by others, but zeal is good only when for the right cause (Galatians 4:17-18)
5. He labors over them again, that Christ might be formed in them, wishing he could change his tone, but he has doubts about them (Galatians 4:19-20)

III. BY FAITH: THE (Galatians 4:21-31)

A. AN FOR THOSE WHO DESIRE TO BE UNDER THE LAW (Galatians 4:21-24 a)

1. For those who wish to be under the law, will you hear what the law says? (Galatians 4:21)
2. For we read Abraham had two sons (Galatians 4:22-23) a. One of a bondwoman (Hagar), born according to the flesh (Ishmael) b. The other of a freewoman (Sarah), born through promise (Isaac)
3. These things are symbolic (Galatians 4:24 a)

B. THE TWO (Galatians 4:24-31)

1. The two women represent two covenants (Galatians 4:24-26) a. Hagar represents the covenant from Mount Sinai (the Law), physical Jerusalem, and the bondage shared with her children b. Sarah represents a new covenant from Jerusalem above (spiritual Jerusalem), which offers freedom to all
2. As prophesied, the barren woman (Sarah) would have more children (Galatians 4:27)
3. Those under the new covenant are like Isaac, children of promise (Galatians 4:28)
4. Those born of the Spirit can expect animosity from those born of the flesh (Galatians 4:29)
5. But the Scripture says that the children of the free woman (Sarah, the Jerusalem above) will be the heir (Galatians 4:30)
6. We are not children of the bondwoman but of the free (Galatians 4:31)

REVIEW FOR THE CHAPTER

1. What are the main points of this chapter?

• Justification by faith: The practical argument, continued (Galatians 4:1-7)
• Justification by faith: The sentimental argument (Galatians 4:8-20)
• Justification by faith: The allegorical argument (Galatians 4:21-31)

2. What is the condition of a child, even though an heir? (Galatians 4:1-2)

• No different from a slave
• Under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father

3. What was the condition of those under the Law? (Galatians 4:3)

• As children, in bondage under the elements of the world

4. When did God send His Son? Why? (Galatians 4:4-5)

• When the fullness of time had come
• To redeem those under the Law, that they might receive the adoption as “sons”

5. As sons of God, what do we receive? What is our condition? (Galatians 4:6-7)

• The Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying “Abba, Father!”
• No longer a slave, but a “son” and an “heir” of God through Christ

6. What indication was there that the Galatians sought to be in bondage again? (Galatians 4:8-10)

• Their observance of days, months, seasons, and years

7. What did Paul fear? (Galatians 4:11)

• That his labor with them had been in vain

8. How had the Galatians received Paul when he first preached the gospel to them? (Galatians 4:14)

• As an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus Himself

9. What were they apparently willing to do when Paul was with them? (Galatians 4:15)

• They would have plucked out their own eyes and given them to Paul

10. What concern did Paul have in telling them the truth? (Galatians 4:16)

• Had he become their enemy?

11. Why did Paul wish he could be with them and change his tone? (Galatians 4:20)

• He had doubts about them

12. For those who desired to be under the Law, what story from the Law does Paul relate? (Galatians 4:21-23)

• That of Hagar and Sarah, and their sons

13. What do the two women represent? (Galatians 4:24-26)

• Two covenants
• Hagar represents the covenant given at Mt. Sinai which gives birth to bondage, and relates to physical Jerusalem
• Sarah represents the covenant in Christ, corresponding to the Jerusalem above which gives freedom to all

14. How are Christians like Isaac? (Galatians 4:28 Galatians 4:31)

• We are children of promise
• We are children of the freewoman, not of the bondwoman who represents the Law

Questions by E.M. Zerr On Galatians 41. When is an heir not different from a servant? 2. Under what is he then kept? 3. Until what time will this continue? 4. Who are the heirs in the present argument? 5. At what time were they only children ? 6. To what were thy then in bondage? 7. What is meant by elements in 3rd verse ? 8. Explain “fulness of time.” 9. God sent whom at that time? 10. Under what law was that caused to be? 11. By whose means was he brought to the world ? 12. Why come while the law was in force? 13. What might be gained by their being redeemed? 14. Tell what spirit God had sent into their heart. 15. Was this to make them sons? 16. Was relation of father and son under the law? 17. In what relation did they exist? 18. State advantage of son over servant as to heritage. 19. Through whom must the inheritance be received ? 20. Was Christ testator of the old law? 21. Describe service of Galatians previous to Christ. 22. What kind of gods not even natural? 23. Tell what knowledge had come to these people. 24. Afterwards what were they doing? 25. What is meant by “ elements” verse 9 ? 26. Had observance of verse 10 ever been required? 27. Of what was Paul afraid? 28. How could his labor become in vain? 29. What does he beseech them to be? 30. State Paul’ s nationality. . 31. What was that of the Galatians? 32. On what ground could they be the same ? 33. Did Paul already recognize this equality? 34. Had their indifference affected his care for them ? 35. Under what circumstances had Paul preached ? 36. How had they regarded his humiliations ? 37. In what attitude had they received him ? 38. Had this attitude continued till the present? 39. What once indicated their deep attachment to him ? 40. What seems to have caused the alienation? 41. Who is meant by “ they” in 17th verse? 42. What was their effect as to good or evil ? 43. State their motive in excluding Paul. 44. Why this selfishness? See 6: 12. 45. What kind of zeal is always good? 46. Does this require persence of Paul among them? 47. In what endearing term does he class them ? 48. What figurative birth does he wish to occur? 49. State his desire and its object. 50. What has caused all this doubt? 51. To what record does he now appeal? 52. Name the sons considered in 22nd verse. 53. Which was older? 54. Why one said to be born after the flesh ? 55. Identify the promise of 23rd verse. 56. What is an allegory? 57. State antecedent of “ these” in 24th verse. 58. Which law is represented by Hagar and son? 59. State their condition as to being free. 60. What testament is represented by Isaac? 61. State its condition as to bondage. 62. What nation is figured in 27th verse? 63. Was this nation productive through the law? 64. To what does this rejoicing refer? 65. Which of the above women was barren? 66. What law and people did she give to the world? 67. Who were the persecutor and persecuted verse 29 ? 68. Which of the two was cast out? 69. This would show what law to be cast out? 70. State Paul’ s grand conclusion.

Galatians 4:1

Galatians 4:1. There is a sense in which all men (whether Jews or Gentiles) were the children of God, namely, in that they were subject to Him either under the Jewish or the Patriarchal dispensatin. Notwithstanding this, all were restrained from enjoying the full benefits of the blessing promised through Abraham, until the time should arrive that the promised Seed came into the world. This period of waiting is here likened by Paul to the years of minority in a child. During that period, even though a man were a child and hence an heir of God, yet he had no more access to the property of his Father, namely, the possessions with Christ, than a servant would have to the estate of his master.

Galatians 4:2

Verse 2. Continuing the line of comparison started in the preceding verse, the world of mankind is considered as minors, and hence under tutors and governors (see comments at chapter 3:24), waiting for the time appointed of the father. As far as the disposal of an estate is concerned, a child is a minor until such time as the father has designated, when his child should be released from the rule of these tutors, and his share of the estate be turned over to his full use.

Galatians 4:3

Verse 3. When we were children is still used in reference to the years before the Gospel Dispensation was introduced. The bondage means the preparatory state already described in sev-veral preceding verses. Elements is from , and Thayer’s general definition is, “any first thing, from which the others belonging to some series or composite whole take their rise; an element, first principle.” As the word is used in our verse, he explains it as follows: “The rudiments with which mankind, like minor children, were indoctrinated before the time of Christ, or the ceremonial precepts common alike to the worship of Jews and Gentiles.” World is from ‘cosmos, one definition of which is “the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human race.” It is used in the present connection in that sense because such elements as pertain to moral and religious conduct could apply only to intelligent beings.

Galatians 4:4

Verse 4. Fulness of the time means the time designated by the Father when his minor children (the Jews under the Mosaic Dispensation and the Gentiles under the Patriarchal Dispensation) were to be considered “of age” and ready to receive the full enjoyment of His provision for his children. That event was to be accomplished by the ushering into the world of His “only begotten Son” (see the comments at Luke 1:35 in volume 1 of the New Testament Commentary). Made is from GINOMAI, which has a wide range of meanings in the New Testament. As it applies to an intelligent creature, the proper one of Thayer’s definitions is, “to become, i. e., to come into existence, begin to be, receive being.” In this verse it means that the Son was brought into being in this world through the use of a woman. (Again see the comments cited in the parentheses above.) Under the law. Jesus was born, lived and died while the law was in force, for it was not entirely replaced until Pentecost in Acts second chapter.

Galatians 4:5

Verse 5. As a minor would be redeemed or released from the rule of his guardian when he became “of age,” so the minors (Jews) were redeemed or released from the authority of the law when Christ brought the Gospel age into the world. Adoption of sons. Paul makes a slight change in the use of his illustration. The Jews (as well as the Gentiles, though in a less specific sense), have been referred to already as sons not of age, now they are said to require adoption in order to become sons. But the point of comparison is not so far away after all.

Verse 1 says that as long as the heir is a child (a minor), he is virtually the same as a servant. Harking back to that item in his parable, Paul switches from his first use of the servant-heir character, treating him as if he were a servant in the ordinary sense only, and permitting him to become a son of the head of the estate, in order that he might become not merely an heir apparent, but one in fact. However, since this servant cannot be the begotten son of the head of the estate, the relation can be accomplished only by the adoption of sons as It is here worded.

Galatians 4:6

Verse 6. Because ye are sons has been perverted by -religious leaders, and made to teach as if it said, “to make you sons,” etc. The sons of God are given possession of the Spirit, to be sure, but it is after they have become sons and not to make them such. However, the possession of this great gift is used in a special sense in this verse, which is evident by the affectionate effect its possession has on the recipients, namely, it causes them to address God as their Father. Hence the term is used to refer to the disposition or attitude toward God that is created in the mind of one who has been adopted into the family of God, through the service of His elder and only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ. Abba, Father.

Both words refer to the same relationship, but the first is of Chaldean orgin and the second is from the Greek. By using the two, Paul shows that when a man is adopted into the family of God, regardless of his national ancestry, he is led to look upon God affectionately as his spiritual Father. In other words, in Christ Jesus there is no distincition made as to whether the children of God are Jews or Gentiles, learned or unlearned, male or female, bond or free.

Galatians 4:7

Verse 7. This verse is explained by the comments on verse 5, with an added thought as to the advantage of being a son. It entitles one to share in the riches of the Father in Heaven, who is the Creator and owner of all things.

Galatians 4:8

Verse 8. Howbeit is an old word, coming from ALLA, which has been translated by “but” 572 times. It has also been rendered “notwithstanding” 10 times. It is used in this verse to introduce a statement about the past conduct of the Galatians, most of whom were Gentiles who had been worshipers of idols. But that was before they had been brought to know the true God, which was done through the preaching of the Gospel. By nature were no gods.

Most of the objects of worship among the idolaters were articles of their own formation, or were the creatures of their imagina tion. Even such things as planets and animals, the works in creation, were not made into intelligent beings by nature, and hence were no gads in the true sense of the term, since a god is expected to have intelligence enough to plan and power to execute the plan, and thus direct human beings in their religious and moral conduct.

Galatians 4:9

Verse 9. God made himself known to the Galatians, who for the greater part were Gentiles and idolaters, by having the Gospel taken to them. They had never been under the bondage of the law, but under the service to false gods, and the Gospel had delivered them from that bondage. But after their escape from that bondage and introduction to the liberty that belongs to Christians, they were invaded by Juda-izers who were leading them in a backward direction toward the ordinances of the Jewish law. The word again is rendered “back” in the margin which is correct, since these Gentiles had never been under the law of Moses and therefore could not be taken back to it again. In other words, they had been led out of their bondage of idolatry, and were now being turned into another bondage (that of Judaism) that was equally displeasing to God.

Beggarly literally means to be poverty-stricken, and is here used of something that is not able to bestow any spiritual wealth on one. Elements is from the same word that is used in verse 3, and the comments on that place should be read again. The Galatian brethren were acting as if they desired to be in bondage again, only it was the bondage of Judaism.

Galatians 4:10

Verse 10. Paul specifies some of the elements to which he referred in the preceding verse, namely, the observance of days, and months, and times, and years. This refers to the holy days and seasons that were required of the Jews under the Mosaic law, but which had ceased to be in force for religious purposes even to Jews; the Gentiles had no connection with them at any time for any purpose.

Galatians 4:11

Verse 11. Paul’s labors included his preaching the Gospel among the Galatians, in which he induced them to accept Christ and His law as their rule of faith and practice. If the Judaizers should persuade them to take up with the law of Moses, it would make void the work of Paul and thus render his labor in vain.

Galatians 4:12

Verse 12. Be as I am. Paul, a Jew, had given up his religious devotion to the law of Moses in order to be true to Christ (Philippians 3:9). The Galatians had similarly given up their worship of idols in order to become a worshiper of Christ. In this respect Paul could say I am as ye are. But the apostle had continued in that devotion to Christ, and he wished these brethren also to continue in their faithfulness to Christ. It is in that sense he wishes them to be as I am. Ye have not injured me. This is an affectionate statement to show that he did not have any personal complaint to make against them, for they had not shown him anything but kindness when laboring among them. Instead, his reason for the various rebukes he has been giving them is to rescue them from the evil effects of Judaism.

Galatians 4:13

Verse 13. Through infirmity of the flesh. That is, in spite of this infirmity, Paul preached the Gospel to these Galatians and they gladly accepted it. For more comments on this infirmity, see those at 2 Corinthians 12:7.

Galatians 4:14

Verse 14. Ye despised not. The Galatians did not belittle the apostle because of this infirmity, which was something that might have suggested such an attitude, since it was placed upon him to humble him. (See the passage cited in the preceding verse.) In spite of it they respected him as if he had been an angel of God.

Galatians 4:15

Verse 15. Blessedness means some great favor or good fortune, and the Galatians had congratulated themselves on having Paul in their midst. Their appreciation of him was apparently so great, that had it been possible they would have given him their eyes. This is an illustration drawn from the great value that anyone would place upon his eyes. Now the Galatians had become so changed in their attitude, Paul asks where their good estimate of him had gone.

Galatians 4:16

Verse 16. Therefore indicates a conclusion drawn from certain truths or facts. The conclusion, however, is named (in the form of a question) before the basis, which is that Paul had told them the truth. The time when he told it to them evidently was when he was with them in person. Yet his becoming their enemy did not occur then, for we have just seen (verses 14, 15) that all was agreeable while he was in their midst. The change in their feeling for Paul came afterwards, and it was brought about by the meddlesome Judaizers, which is clearly shown by the next verse.

Galatians 4:17

Verse 17. They means the Judaizers who have been referred to so many times. Zealously affect is from ZELOO, which Thayer defines, “to desire one earnestly, to strive after, busy one’s self about him,” and he explains it to mean, “to seek to draw over to one’s side.” Paul says the Judaizers were greatly concerned about the Galatians, but not for their good. Exclude is from EKKLEIO, and Thayer’s definition here is, “to shut out,” and he explains it as follows: “From intercourse with me and with teachers cooperating with me.” That ye might affect them. The Judaizers hoped that by getting in between the Galatians and Paul, they would turn their attention toward them (the Judaizers), and be zealously affected, or be concerned to be attached to them instead of to Paul.

Galatians 4:18

Verse 18. Not only when I am present confirms the comments on verse 16. While Paul was among these Galatians they seemed to be very much attached to him. He reasons that such was the right attitude, but that it should be maintained even when he is absent. (See Philippians 2:12.)

Galatians 4:19

Verse 19. Little children is from TEKNION which is used only 9 times in the Greek New Testament, and is always rendered by this term. Thayer explains that “in the New Testament it is used as a term of kindly address by teachers to their disciples.” Robinson defines and explains it in virtually the same way. Travail in birth, etc. The sentence is used figuratively, and no figure or other illustration can be applied literally in all of its items. The main thought should be considered, and the over-all application of the figure be applied accordingly.

An expectant mother will be concerned and at times will feel some uneasiness (travail) over the child that is being formed within her. Paul uses the circumstances to illustrate his concern for the Galatians. He is anxious that the spirit of Christ be formed in their minds, and given birth by proper devotion to Him and not to Moses in their lives.

Galatians 4:20

Verse 20. Desire to be present. Since the Galatians seemed to be better inclined toward Paul when he was in their midst personally, he wished to be with them again. Voice is from a word that means speech, either written or spoken. The apostle believed that if he were with these brethren personally, this better attitude would permit him to be milder in his spoken words than he was in his written words. Stand in doubt of you corresponds with “I am afraid of you” in verse 11. (See the comments at that place.)

Galatians 4:21

Verse 21. The very document (the Old Testament) that the Judaizers professed to respect so much, predicted in numerous places that there was to be a new prophet come into the world, who would give another system of religious government. Paul is challenging them to hear that law, which means for them to respect its predictions, and cease disturbing Gentile Christians with their subversive teaching.

Galatians 4:22

Verse 22. To avoid confusion, it is well to keep in mind that no parable or other illustration is big enough to include every detail of the subject to which comparison is made. As a result there may be some items in one illustration that do not apply to the subject at hand, and may even seem to contradict some parts of another illustration on the general subject. But the whole story has to be told in order to make it understood at the point where it does apply. Furthermore, the same facts or truths may be used at different times to represent different subjects, or different phases of the same subject. It is generally understood that Christians are under the law of Christ, which was given at Jerusalem in Palestine, while the Jews were under the law of Moses that was given at Sinai in Arabia.

Yet in this and the following verses, Sarah is represented as the mother of Christians, notwithstanding she was an ancestor of Moses by whom the law for the Jews was given. All of this will clear up by simply remembering that Abraham and Sarah were not only the parents of Isaac as the one from whom the Jewish nation was derived, but also were the parents of Isaac as the one from whom was to come the seed (Christ) that was to bless “all the families of the earth” by giving them the Gospel to take the place of the law of Moses. It is in the latter sense that the present use is made of the two sons of Abraham.

Galatians 4:23

Verse 23. After the flesh. Ishmael was conceived and born according to the established laws of fleshly reproduction; the account of it is in Genesis 16. The mother of Isaac was barren and a miracle was needed to enable her to conceive. But God had promised her a son, hence He performed the miracle upon her so that she could become a mother, and that made him a son by promise. (See Genesis 16:1-2 Genesis 21:1-2.)

Galatians 4:24

Verse 24. Allegory is another word for illustration or figure. The events concerning these two women were literal and actually happened, but. Paul is showing how the facts illustrate some other truths pertaining to God’s dispensations of religion among mankind. An illustration does not prove a point under discussion unless it has been selected by some acknowledged authority. That is what Paul has done in the present case, for he cites Isaiah 54:1-6, where the context plainly shows that a spiritual use is made of the experience of Sarah.

And this was an appropriate authority to quote, for the Judaizers professed to have great respect for the prophets. The two covenants means the law of Moses and the Gospel. In the illustration the apostle connects Agar (Hagar) with the law of Moses. Gendereth to bondage means to bring forth children who are destined to bondage under rites and ceremonies of the law.

Galatians 4:25

Verse 25. The literal fact is that Sinai (represented by Agar) is in Arabia, and was the place where the law of Moses came forth, with all of its burdens of ordinances, which are termed the yoke of bondage in the next chapter. The location of Jerusalem in Palestine is another literal fact, but. Paul makes a figurative use of the fact because of the conditions of servitude involving the city in his day. That is why he says that Agar and Sinai answereth (meaning to correspond with or be in the same rank or condition) to Jerusalem which now is. It is true that Jerusalem was the place, geographically, from which the Gospel was given to the world. But at the time of Paul the city was still clinging to the law of Moses as far as the Jews were concerned, and hence was yet under the bondage imposed by the Sinaite law.

Galatians 4:26

Verse 26. This Jerusalem is figurative and means the church that was started in that city. Hebrew 12:22, 23 connects the name of this city with the church, which is the institution through which Christians obtain their spiritual relation with Sarah, the mother of the great Seed that was to bless all nations. Galatians 4:27 Verse 27. Some comments on this verse are offered at verse 24. The barren woman is Sarah who travailest not (does not have pains of childbirth) for the most of her life, and hence was desolate in that she had no child over which to rejoice until near the end of her life. Many more children. Isaac was the only son whom Sarah ever bore, but he was the person through whom Christ came into the world, by whom “all nations” were destined to furnish spiritual children for God. Hath an husband. Hagar was but the handmaid of Sarah, yet she was permitted to receive Abraham in the relation of husband and wife. However, the descendants from this union though numerous, were people of the heathen world and not spiritual children of God, as were the descendants of Sarah through Christ.

Galatians 4:28

Galatians 4:28. As Isaac was. The comparison is in the fact that Isaac was promised to Abraham and Sarah, and God performed a miracle so that the son could be produced. From that child of promise came the Seed that was to bless all nations (whether Jew or Gentile) by giving them the Gospel plan of salvation. Whoever, therefore, accepted this plan became children of God. They are termed children of promise because it is through the noted Seed that was given the world as promised to Abraham.

Galatians 4:29

Galatians 4:29. Persecuted him. The account of this is in Genesis 21:9, but all that is said in that place is that Sarah saw Ishmael “mocking.” It was on the occasion when the weaning of Isaac was celebrated with “a great feast.” The original for “mocking” has several renderings in the Old Testament, some of which are more severe than others. But Paul says that Ishmael persecuted Isaac, hence we must conclude that some of the more severe definitions are applicable. (See my comments on Genesis 21:9, in volume 1 of the Old Testament Commentary.) Even so it is now. In the comparison that Paul has been making, the descendants of Ishmael represent the Jews, and those of Isaac stand for Christians. As Ishmael persecuted Isaac, so the Jews were persecuting Christians, especially those from the Gentile nation.

Galatians 4:30

Galatians 4:30. Nevertheless. The idea is that the persecutor was stopped, and Paul quotes the passage that proves it; the statement is in Genesis 21:10. Sarah was acting purely because of her motherly resentment against the envious treatment being accorded her son by Ishmael. However, her performance proved to be a prediction of another important one, namely, the rejection of the Sinaite covenant as a religious system for God’s people.

Galatians 4:31

Galatians 4:31. The grand conclusion of this unusual argument is that Christians are spiritual children (or descen dants) of the freewoman and not the bond. It means they are not under the bondage imposed by the law of Moses.