Galatians 4:27

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. FOR - proof that 'she is the mother of us' (). THOU BARREN - Jerusalem above: the spiritual Gospel Church, the fruit of 'the promise,' answering to Sarah, who bore not "after the flesh;" contrasted with the law, answering to Hagar, who was fruitful in the course of nature. Isaiah speaks primarily of Israel's restoration after her long calamities; but his language is framed by the Holy Spirit to reach beyond this to the spiritual Zion, including not only the Jews, the natural descendants of Abraham and children of the law, but also the Gentiles. The spiritual Jerusalem is regarded as "barren" while the law trammelled Israel; for then she had no spiritual...

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 the kingdom of Christ and the calling of the Gentiles, and promises to the barren wife and the widow a numerous offspring; for it is on this ground that he exhorts the Church to “sing” and “rejoice.” The design of the apostle, let it be carefully remarked, is to deprive the Jews of all claim to that spiritual Jerusalem to which the prophecy relates. Isaiah proclaims, that her children shall be gathered out of all the nations of the earth, and not by any preparation of hers, but by the free grace and blessing of God. He next concludes that we become the sons of God by promise, after the example ( κατὰ ᾿Ισαὰκ) of Isaac, and that in no other way do we

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 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 proves; for _the desolate_ - the Gentile world, _hath many more_ _children_ - is a much larger and more numerous Church, than _she - Jerusalem_, the Jewish state, _which hath a husband_ - has been so long in _covenant with God_, living under his continual protection, and in possession of a great variety of spiritual advantages; and especially those offered to her by the Gospel, which she has rejected, and which the Gentiles have accepted....

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 prove that the Gentiles as well as the Jews would partake of the privileges connected with the heavenly Jerusalem. He had in the previous verse spoken of the Jerusalem from above as the common mother of all, true Christians, whether by birth Jews or Gentiles. This might be disputed or doubted by the Jews; and he therefore adduces this proof from the Old Testament. Or if it was not doubted, still the quotation was pertinent, and would illustrate the sentiment which he had just uttered. The mention of Jerusalem as a mother seems to have suggested this text. Isaiah had spoken of Jerusalem as a female that had been long desolate and childless, now rejoicing by a large acces

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;...

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 to Christ, even many more than were under the legal dispensation by the Jewish church, though the Lord was an husband to them, Jeremiah 31:32. The words are, 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; by her that was "barren", and "bore" not, and "travailed" not, and was "desolate", is not meant the Gentile world, which before the coming of Christ was barren and destitute of the knowledge of him, and from among whom very few were called by grace; but the Gospel church in the fi

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