Isaac (Ἰ σαάκ)
Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, was superior in a variety of ways to his half-brother Ishmael. He was ‘the son of the free-woman’ (ὁ δ ὲ ἐ κ τ ῆ ς ἐ λευθέρας, Galatians 4:23; το ῦ ν ἱ ο ῦ τ ῆ ς ἐ λευθέρας, v. 30); he was ‘born through a promise’ (δι ʼ ἐ παγγελίας, v. 23) given to his parents in their old age; he was ‘born after the Spirit’ (κατ ὰ πνε ῦ μα, v. 29), who gave the promise and perhaps the strength ε ἰ ς καταβολ ὴ ν σ π έρματος (Hebrews 11:11); and, as the true son-even called the only-begotten (τ ὸ ν μονογεν ῆ, v. 17)-he inherited the covenant promises given by God to Abraham. His brother, on the other hand, was ‘the son of the handmaid’ (ὁ μ ὲ ν ἐ κ τ ῆ ς παιδίσκης, Galatians 4:22; ὁ υ ἱὸ ς τ ῆ ς παιδίσκης, v. 30); he was ‘born after the flesh’ (ὁ κατ ὰ σάρκα γεννηθείς, v. 29); and he could ‘ not inherit with the son of the freewoman’ (v. 30).
St. Paul uses the relations of the two brothers to their father and to one another to help him to make good his distinction between ‘the children of the promise,’ who are ‘reckoned for a seed,’ and ‘the children of the flesh,’ who are not ‘children of God’ (Romans 9:8). Grappling with the problem of the incidence in his own day of the promises first given to Abraham, he contends that while mere Jewish birth and upbringing do not constitute a claim of right to spiritual privileges, no barrier except unbelief can prevent the Gentiles from inheriting them. Compressing his leaching into a single suggestive sentence, he says: ‘We [the Christian Church], like Isaac (κατ ὰ Ἰ σαάκ), are children of promise’ (ἐ παγγελίας τέκνα, Galatians 4:28; cf. τ ὰ τέκνα τ ῆ ς ἐ παγγελίας, Romans 9:8). Born in the fullness of time, made free by the gift of the Spirit, and destined for a great heritage, the Christians of every land are prefigured in Isaac. ‘If ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise’ (Galatians 3:29). The carnal Ishmael, who in this daring allegory represents orthodox Judaism, may ‘persecute’ the Spirit-born Isaac (according to the Rabbinic interpretation of the originally innocent word ‘playing’ in Genesis 21:8); but, while the child of the freewoman (the Church) is established for ever in the Father’s house by a covenant of grace, the son of the bondwoman (the Jewish people) is cast out. If-as Luther says on Galatians 4:24 -‘allegory is not argument,’ it may at least be extremely effective illustration. The Apostle’s strong imagination makes the simple old folk-tale suddenly Flash with new meanings, which serve to illuminate a complex and difficult modern situation.
Two other incidents in Isaac’s life are referred to in Hebrews 11:17 ff. (1) He was virtually offered up as a sacrifice to God (cf. James 2:21); in a figure (ἐ ν παραβολ ῇ) he came back from the dead, passing through the likeness of death and resurrection (See Abraham). (2) by blessing his son, he gave evidence of his faith concerning things to come (περ ὶ μελλόντων). His trust in God made future possibilities as real as present certainties. His faith corresponded to the definition in Hebrews 11:1 : it was the substantiating of things hoped for (ἐ λ π ιζομένων ὑ πόστασις).
James Strahan.