Galatians 4:26

μήτηρ ἡμῶν א*BC*DG latt. Syrpesh. Harclean marg. μήτηρ πάντων ἡμῶν Text. Rec. with אcACcKLP etc. syrHarclean text, cf. Genesis 3:20 of Eve, and Polycarp, § 3, εἰς τὴν δοθεῖσαν ἡμῖν πίστιν, ἤτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ πάντων ἡμῶν.

26. ἡ δὲ. Corresponding to the μἑν of Galatians 4:24, but imperfectly in form, for instead of speaking now of the second covenant, St Paul takes up the contrast to the present Jerusalem, and speaks of the Jerusalem above to which the members under the second covenant belong.

ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ. On Revelation 21:2 Dr Swete gives many references illustrating the belief in the celestial city, e.g. Apoc. Baruch iv. 2 ff. (Ed. Charles, pp. 6 ff.): “Dost thou think that this is that city of which I said: ‘On the palms of My hands have I graven thee’? It is not this building which is now built in your midst; it is that which will be revealed with Me, that which was prepared beforehand here from the time when I took counsel to make Paradise … and now, behold, it is preserved with Me.” The expression is common in the Rabbinic writings, e.g. T. B. Chagigah, 12b. To the earthly Jerusalem corresponds the entirely heavenly and spiritual Jerusalem, and to this believers belong; cf. Philippians 3:20.

ἥτις. Probably in the same loose sense as in Galatians 4:24, see note there. Otherwise, free in that she answers to the freedom which we her children possess.

ἐστὶν μήτηρ ἡμῶν. See notes on Textual Criticism. The Text. Rec. spoils the thought. For it suggests that the Jerusalem above is the mother of all whatever the nationality, whereas St Paul meant to emphasise the thought that it is the mother of us Christians, those who are under the second covenant only.