Galatians 4 King James Version (KJV)
4 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.
13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.
16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
17 They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
18 But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
Commentary
Paul’s concern for the Galatians (4:8-20)
Before they believed in Christ, most of the Galatians were pagans, in bondage to idols of wood and stone. Now that they have come to know the true God, they are foolish to get into bondage again by trying to keep the Jewish law. By doing so they are not going forward in their Christian lives; they are going backwards (8-11).
The Galatians should live as those free from the law, just as Paul does. He feels sorry for them, not angry with them. He does not consider their error to be an attack on him personally, and he still has the most pleasant memories of their kindness to him when he was ill while visiting them (12-14). They would have done anything for him then, and he hopes they will not turn against him now because of his attempts to correct their error (15-16).
Part of the Judaisers’ tactics in trying to gain control over the Galatians was to turn them against Paul personally. Paul is certainly not jealous when others show interest in his converts after he has gone, provided they have pure motives (17-18). He is concerned only for the Galatians’ good and he is prepared to put up with any suffering to help their Christian lives grow and develop. If it were possible he would visit them rather than write, for he is worried about them (19-20).
Example of Hagar and Sarah (4:21-31)
Paul now attacks the Judaisers by using a form of argument that they themselves liked to use. He returns to the story of Abraham to show that law-keeping is slavery and it cannot be mixed with grace. (For the background to the illustration that follows read Genesis 15:1-6; 16:1-16; 17:15-22; 18:1-15; 21:1-21.) Abraham had two sons, Ishmael, who was born as a result of human arrangements that lacked
any exercise of faith, and Isaac, who was born in fulfilment of God’s promise. The mother of Ishmael was the slave woman Hagar; the mother of Isaac was Abraham’s true wife Sarah (21-23).
Hagar is likened to the covenant of law given by God to Israel at Mt Sinai; Sarah is likened to the covenant of grace given freely to all people from heaven. The spiritual descendants of the slave woman are the Jerusalem Judaisers of Paul’s day; the spiritual descendants of the free woman are those saved by God’s grace through faith (24-26). The Jews, children of Abraham by natural descent, have largely failed to be God’s people; the Gentiles, who previously had neither life nor hope but who now largely make up the church, become Abraham’s spiritual children. Thus, in Paul’s illustration, the slave woman finishes with few offspring, but the free woman, who was formerly childless, now has a multitude of descendants (27).
Ishmael is likened to the Jews who are slaves under the bondage of the law; Isaac is likened to those saved by God’s grace and freed from the law. Just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac, so the Jews under the law now persecute those who are God’s people through his grace. Children of the law and children of grace cannot live together; the former must be thrown out. There is no place for law-keeping in God’s family (28-31).