Galatians 4:23

But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. BUT. The two sons, though sprung from a common father, Abraham, were, notwithstanding, very different. AFTER THE FLESH (implying weakness) - born in the usual course of nature; in contrast to Isaac, born 'by virtue of the promise' (Greek), as the efficient cause of Sarah's supernatural pregnancy (). Abraham was to lay aside all confidence in the flesh (after which Ishmael was born), and to live by faith alone in the promise (according to which Isaac was miraculously born, contrary to all fleshly calculations)....

23._But he who was of the bond woman_. Both were sons of Abraham according to the flesh; but in Isaac there was this peculiarity, that he had the promise of grace. In Ishmael there was nothing besides nature; in Isaac there was the election of God, signified in part by the manner of his birth, which was not in the ordinary course, but miraculous. Yet there is an indirect reference to the calling of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews: for the latter boast of their ancestry, while the former, without any human interference, are become the spiritual offspring of Abraham....

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 the literal and historical sense of the words, the Spirit of God points out something further. Hagar and Sarah were apt emblems of the two different dispensations of the covenant. The heavenly Jerusalem, the true church from above, represented by Sarah, is in a state of freedom, and is the mother of all believers, who are born of the Holy Spirit. They were by regeneration and true faith, made a part of the true seed of Abraham, according to the promise made to him....

Verse 23. _WAS BORN AFTER THE FLESH_] _Ishmael_ was born _according_ _to the course of nature_, his parents being both of a proper age, so that there was nothing uncommon or supernatural in his birth: this is the proper meaning of the apostle's κατα σαρκα, _after_ or _according to the flesh_, and answers to the Hebrew phrase, על דרך בשר _al derec basar_, according to the manner of the flesh, i.e. _naturally, according to the common process of nature_. _BY PROMISE._] Both Abraham and Sarah had passed that age in which the procreation of children was possible on _natural_ _principles_. The birth, therefore, of Isaac was _supernatural_; it was the effect of an especial promise of God; and it was only on the ground of that promise that it was either credible or possible....

BUT HE WHO WAS OF THE BONDWOMAN WAS BORN AFTER THE FLESH - In the ordinary course of nature, without any special promise, or any unusual divine interposition, as in the case of Isaac. BUT HE OF THE FREE WOMAN ... - The birth of Isaac was in accordance with a special promise, and by a remarkable divine interposition; see Genesis 18:10; Genesis 21:1; Hebrews 11:11; compare the notes at Romans 4:19. The idea here of Paul is, that the son of the slave was in a humble and inferior condition from his very birth. There was no special promise attending him. He was bor

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. Galatians 3:17; Galatians 5:16; Romans 15:8, according to the Received Text; 1 Corinthians 1:12. So τοῦτο δέ φημι, 1 Corinthians 7:29;...

BUT HE WHO WAS OF THE BONDWOMAN,.... Ishmael, who was begotten and born of Hagar, WAS BORN AFTER THE FLESH; after the common order and course of nature, through the copulation of two persons, the one able to procreate, and the other fit for the conception of children; and was typical of the Jews, the natural descendants of Abraham, who, as such, and upon that account, were not the children of God, nor heirs of the eternal inheritance: BUT HE OF THE FREE WOMAN WAS BY PROMISE; by a previous promise made by God to Abraham, that he should have a son in his old age, when his body was now dead, and when Sarah his wife, who had always been barren, was now grown old, and past the time of bearing children; so that Isaac was born out of the common order and course of nature; his conception and birth were owing to the promise and power of God, and to his free grace and favour to Abraham. This son...

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. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons._ Like little children, the Jewish believers were under the law. They observed this ceremony and that, just as children, even though they may be heirs to vast estates, yet, while they are in their minority, are under tutors and governors. But now in Christ we have come of age, and we have done with those school-books and that tutorship, and we have received the adoption of sons. Now, we have joy and peace in belie

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 backsliding Galatians. (Galatians 4:8) 5. The sons of the bondwoman and of the free woman. (Galatians 4:21) Jewish believers were, before Christ had died, the children of God, and as such they did not differ from servants. They were in a state of minority, as children who do not know the father's thoughts, nor cou

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 slave was righteously cast out. God means us to learn from this! Once more it is claimed that the OT supports Paul. A second quasi-allegory is intertwined with the first. According to later Jewish theology, the real Jerusalem, like all other sacred things, existed originally in heaven. And according to Paul the material or earthly Jerusalem, which rejects Jesus and clings to Law, is in hopeless bondage. Isaiah 54:1 must refer to the heavenly J