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Robertson's Word Pictures of the NT

Galatians 4:27

Which is our mother

(ητις εστιν μητηρ ημων). The mother of us Christians, apply the allegory of Hagar and Sarah to us. The Jerusalem above is the picture of the Kingdom of God. Paul illustrates the allegory by quoting Isaiah 54:1, a song of triumph looking for deliverance from a foreign yoke.Rejoice

(ευφρανθητ). First aorist passive imperative of ευφραινω.Break forth

(ρηξον). First aorist active imperative of ρηγνυμ, to rend, to burst asunder. Supply ευφροσυνην (joy) as in Isaiah 49:13.The desolate

(της ερημου). The prophet refers to Sarah's prolonged barrenness and Paul uses this fact as a figure for the progress and glory of Christianity (the new Jerusalem of freedom) in contrast with the old Jerusalem of bondage (the current Judaism). His thought has moved rapidly, but he does not lose his line.

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See also Galatians 4:27 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse 27. _REJOICE_, THOU _BARREN THAT BEAREST NOT_] This quotation is taken from Isaiah 54:1, and is certainly a promise which relates to the _conversion of the Gentiles_, as the following clause pr...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    FOR IT IS WRITTEN - This passage is found in Isaiah 54:1. For an exposition of its meaning as it occurs there, see my notes at Isaiah. The object of the apostle in introducing it here seems to be to p...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 4 _ 1. Under the law in the state of minority. (Galatians 4:1)_ 2. The Son revealed to redeem. (Galatians 4:4) 3. Because ye are Sons; the Spirit of Sonship. (Galatians 4:6) 4. The backslid

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    GALATIANS 4:21 TO GALATIANS 5:1. The new thing he tries is an allegorising spiritualising application of an OT story. Slave-born Ishmael mocked (Genesis 21:10 *) free-born Isaac, and the son of the sl...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD (Galatians 4:1-7)...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    Tell me this--you who want to be subject to the law, you listen to it being read to you, don't you? Well, then, it stands written in it that Abraham had two sons; one was the son of the slave girl and...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    THE DESOLATE, &c.. many are the children of the desolate rather than of her that hath the husband. Quoted from Isaiah 54:1. HUSBAND. Greek. _aner_, App-123....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _For it is written_ The quotation is taken exactly from the Septuagint version of Isaiah 54:1. By the -barren" we must understand Sarah, who was a type of the Gospel dispensation. Small and persecute...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    ΓΈΓΡΑΠΤΑΙ ΓᾺΡ. γὰρ. I say that not the visible, but the invisible Jerusalem is our mother, for this stands prophesied of her, in Isaiah 54:1. The quotation is taken verbally from the LXX., which repre...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    21–5:1. _Another appeal, based upon the principles underlying the history of Hagar and Sarah, and the birth of Isaac. Christ set us free; stand fast therefore in this freedom_ (Galatians 4:21) You wis...

  • Charles Rose Commentaries

    ΕΎΦΡΆΝΘΗΤΙ _aor. pass. imper. от_ ΕΝΦΡΑΊΝΟΜΑΙ (G2165) ликовать, ΣΤΕΊΡΑ (G4723) стерильный, бесплодный, ΤΊΚΤΟΥΣΑ _praes. act. part. от_ ΤΊΚΤΩ (G5088) носить ребенка, ΡΉΞΟΝ _aor. act. imper. от_ ΡΉΓΝ...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    TEXT 4:25-27 (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. (26) But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is...

  • Combined Bible Commentary

    _VERSE 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._ Paul quote...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    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. FOR - proof that '...

  • Concordant Commentary on the New Testament by A. E. Knoch

    1 The place of an infant heir differs from that of a slave in right but not in fact. Though entitled to all, he is treated as though master of nothing. He is watched by guardians, and supervised by st...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    4:27 written, (e-4) See Isaiah 54:1 ....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE BONDAGE OF THE LAW. FREEDOM IN CHRIST 1-7. Under the Law we were in bondage; under the Gospel we have received the freedom of sons. PARAPHRASE. '(1) The heir before he comes of age can no more en...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    This v. in its original context (Isaiah 54:1) had no reference to the Jerusalem above, only to the actual Jerusalem. It is quite in the rabbinical style for St. Paul to give it another, more spiritual...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    CHRIST HAS MADE US FREE GALATIANS _HELEN POCOCK_ CHAPTER 4 YOU ARE GOD’S SONS, YOU ARE NOT SLAVES V1 I will continue what I was saying to you. A young son will receive the property that his fath...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    This *Scripture is Isaiah 54:1. Isaiah was referring to the *Jewish nation when he wrote it. But Sarah is like the woman who had no children. God kept his promise. All the people who trust Jesus Chris...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    (21-31) The next eleven verses contain an elaborate argument from the history of the two sons of Abraham, as types of the two covenants, in further proof that freedom is the essential character of the...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    REJOICE, THOU BARREN. — The quotation is from Isaiah 54:1. It has reference, in the first instance, to the restoration of the exiled Jews to Jerusalem and to the coming greatness of the newly-settled...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CHAPTER 19 THE STORY OF HAGAR. Galatians 4:21 - Galatians 5:1 THE Apostle wishes that he could "change his voice" (Galatians 4:20). Indeed he has changed it more than once. "Any one who looks closel...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    The prophecy of Isaiah 54:1, here quoted from the LXX, describes the restoration of Zion, the enlargement of her borders and increase of her people, under the figure of a wife long neglected and barre...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    PATRIARCHAL HISTORY IS EMPLOYED TO ILLUSTRATE THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS, WHO ARE THE PROMISED SEED OF ABRAHAM, BY JEWS WHO ARE HIS SEED AFTER THE FLESH. HAGAR AND HER SON, SARAH AND HER SON, FURNI...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    “CHILDREN OF PROMISE” Galatians 4:21 In this allegory of Sarah and Hagar, it is important to notice that Paul is not dealing with the principle of evil within our hearts, but with the attempt to min...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    He now declared the process of freedom. "God sent forth His Son... under the law." Thus the law He kept was justified, and He lived thereby. But more than this, He bore its penalty, and so procured ju...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    (7) For it is written, Rejoice, [thou] barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the (f) desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. (7) He shows...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    (20) I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. (21) В¶ Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? (22) For it is written, that...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    Galatians 1:1-24. We saw the second of Corinthians characterized by the most rapid transitions of feeling, by a deep and fervent sense of God's consolations, by a revulsion so much the more powerful i...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    27._For it is written_. The apostle proves, by a quotation from Isaiah, that the lawful sons of the Church are born according to the promise. The passage is in Isaiah 54:0 where the prophet speaks of...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    The relative position therefore of the Jew (even though he were godly) before the coming of Christ, and of the believing Jew or Gentile when Christ had been revealed, is clearly set forth; and in the...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    FOR IT IS WRITTEN,.... Isaiah 44:1, which is cited to prove, that the heavenly Jerusalem, or Gospel church state, is the mother of us all, and has brought forth, and still will bring forth, many souls...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    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. Ver. 27. _For it is...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _For this Agar is mount Sinai_ That is, is a type of that mount. The whole of that mountainous ridge in Arabia Petrea, of which Sinai was a part, was called Horeb, probably on account of its excessive...

  • Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament (1851)

    FOR IT IS WRITTEN; Isaiah 54:1; a prophecy which plainly relates to the Christian dispensation. THOU BARREN-DESOLATE; the gentile church, or rather the church under the Christian dispensation, which...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    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. Paul here, by the insp...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    The explanation of the story:...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    HOW CHILDREN ARE ADOPTED AS SONS (vs.1-7) The first few verses of chapter 4 give us the distinctive Christian position in more detail. This position is the result of promise accomplished, as contrast...

  • Manly Luscombe Commentary on New Testament

    TELL ME, YOU WHO DESIRE TO BE UNDER THE LAW, DO YOU NOT HEAR THE LAW? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. Notice Abraham's age: 75 - P...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    21-27 The difference between believers who rested in Christ only, and those who trusted in the law, is explained by the histories of Isaac and Ishmael. These things are an allegory, wherein, beside t...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    IT IS WRITTEN, ISAIAH 54:1. Some think that the apostle doth but allude to that of the prophet; and that the sense of the prophet was only to comfort the Jews, whose city, though it should be for a pr...

  • McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries

    For it is written [Isaiah 54:1; Isaiah 51:2], _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...

  • NT Verse References in the Ante-Nicene Fathers

    Irenaeus Against Heresies Book I and in what sense He says that "more are the children of her that was desolate, than of her who possessed a husband."[143] Five Books in Reply to Marcion Barren, gi...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Galatians 4:27 For G1063 written G1125 (G5769) Rejoice G2165 (G5682) barren G4723 not G3756 bear G5088 ...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    ‘For it is written, “Rejoice you who are barren and do not bear, Break forth and cry you who do not suffer birth pains, For the children of the desolate are more than she who has a husband.' A quotati...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    A LESSON FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW (GALATIANS 4:21). Paul now turns to the Old Testament for examples of what he is trying to say....

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    The Apostle resumes his argument for the superiority of the gospel over the law, and illustrates the difference of the two by an allegorical interpretation of the history of Sarah and Hagar, and their...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    Galatians 4:27. ‘REJOICE, THOU BARREN THAT BEAREST NOT,' etc. An illustration of the allegory by a passage from Isaiah 54:1, which prophesies the deliverance of God's afflicted nation from the foreign...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Galatians 4:1. Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father....

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Galatians 4:12. _Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all._ He had told them the gospel, and other teachers had come in and alienated their affections. H...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Believers full redemption from the law. Sonship through the Spirit. Dangers of lapsing into legality. Impossibility of mixing law and grace. CHARACTERS: God, Christ, Holy Spirit, Paul, Abra...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Galatians 4:1. _The heir, as long as he is a child,_ and a minor, _differeth_ _nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all._ He is under guardians, till the year appointed by the will of his fath...

  • The Bible Study New Testament

    FOR THE SCRIPTURE SAYS. "What I say about the meaning of Abraham's wives and sons is not just something which I dreamed up! Isaiah spoke about this very thing (Isaiah 54:1)_!_ Sarah was the _deserted...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not._ REJOICE, THOU BARREN I. The Church in her sadness. 1. The figure is drawn from the closest tie that nature knows, that of marriage relationship, and teache...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 4:26 All those who believe in Christ belong to the heavenly JERUSALEM. They are the true Israel. As Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 54:1), Go

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    GALATIANS—NOTE ON GALATIANS 4:21 Paul again emphasizes the difference between being a free child of God and being a slave to the law, sin, and false gods. Abraham’s son Ishmael—technically the firstbo...

  • The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

    CHAPTER 4 SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER i. He continues the argument of the preceding chapter that the Jews, like children and slaves, were under the Jewish law as a pædagague, while Christians, as sons o...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    _CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES_ Galatians 4:24. WHICH THINGS ARE AN ALLEGORY.—Under the things spoken of—the two sons, with their contrast of parentage and position—there lies a spiritual meaning. G...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION GALATIANS 4:1 NOW I SAY (λέγω δέ). A form of expression usual with the apostle when introducing a new statement designed either to explain or elucidate something before said (of. Galati...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Now I say, That an heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father (Galatians 4:1-2...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 Samuel 2:5; 1 Timothy 5:5; 2 Samuel 13:20; Isaiah 49:21; Isaiah 54:1

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    For it is written — Those words in the primary sense promise a flourishing state to Judea, after its desolation by the Chaldeans. Rejoice. thou barren, that bearest not — Ye heathen nations, who, like...

  • William Burkitt's Expository Notes

    Our apostle here proceeds, and still goes on in his former allegory: the church of the Gentiles he compares to Sarah, who was. long time barren, but at last brought forth. child of the promise,. seed...

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Old Testament