1 Now I say that as long as the heir c is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner d of everything. 2 Instead, he is under guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements of the world. e 4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, f born of a woman, g born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. h 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son i into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father! ” j 7 So you are no longer a slave k but a son, l and if a son, then God has made you an heir. m
Paul’s Concern for the Galatians
8 But in the past, since you didn’t know God, n you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods. 9 But now, since you know God, o or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless p elements? q Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? 10 You are observing special days, months, seasons, and years. r 11 I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.
12 I beg you, brothers and sisters: Become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me; 13 you know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a weakness of the flesh. 14 You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself.
15 Where, then, is your blessing? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16 So then, have I become your enemy because I told you the truth? s 17 They court you eagerly, but not for good. They want to exclude you from me, so that you would pursue them. 18 But it is always good to be pursued in a good manner—and not just when I am with you. 19 My children, t I am again suffering labor pains u for you until Christ is formed in you. 20 I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don’t know what to do about you.
Sarah and Hagar: Two Covenants
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham v had two sons, one by a slave w and the other by a free woman. 23 But the one by the slave was born as a result of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born through promise. 24 These things are being taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai x and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar. y 25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia z and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, a for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above b is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written, c
Rejoice, childless woman, d
unable to give birth.
Burst into song and shout,
you who are not in labor,
for the children of the desolate woman will be many,
more numerous than those
of the woman who has a husband. ,e
28 Now you too, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, f are children of promise. g 29 But just as then the child born as a result of the flesh persecuted the one born as a result of the Spirit, h so also now. i 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.” ,j 31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave but of the free woman. k
4:1–3. Just as the kinship of a child in a wealthy family is never in dispute (4:1), although that child must await the time of maturity to assume the control of the estate, so also the kinship of the Gentiles has never been in dispute. Though they were not God’s people until the coming of Christ, it was always God’s plan to include all of humankind under God’s grace. The use of the symbol of guardianship (4:2–3) appears to be applicable to both Jews and Greeks (notice the first-person plural in 4:3, 5). Prior to Christ, Paul asserts, everyone is assessed as having been under the “elements” (Gk stoicheia) of the world. Paul likely refers here to the negative spiritual forces, the so-called powers at work in the world.
4:4–7. Here Paul shows clearly the redeeming work of God in securing the available kinship for humanity. God “sent his Son” (4:4) and “sent [his] Spirit” (4:6). Thus, it is totally a work of God, with the result that each Galatian follower of Christ is “no longer a slave but a son” (4:7). As if to certify this fact of kinship as being received, Paul describes the Spirit as crying out through the heart of each redeemed person, “Abba” (4:6), which is the cry of a child to a loving father.
A. An appeal to maturity (4:8–11). Appealing specifically to the Galatian Gentiles, Paul reminds them of their former enslavement to polytheism (4:8). Building on his earlier argument, Paul appeals to the fact that the Galatians have already received the Spirit and adoption into the family of God (4:5–6). Observing other religious rites as a means of gaining what they already have looks backward in time to when all were enslaved (4:9). But now that Christ has come, the elemental spirits, including death and sin, have been undone. The Galatians must live in light of Christ rather than pretending that his death and resurrection have not changed the old order. Referring to the fact that they have already begun to observe certain (presumably Jewish) regulations (4:10), Paul asserts that such actions threaten to negate all that he has done among them (4:11). Such actions suggest that they have made no progress since Paul’s visits. In their attempt to mature through legalism, the Galatians have actually indulged in a childish flirtation with danger.
B. An appeal to their personal relationship (4:12–20). The apostle next refers back to their first meeting, and his tone is more personal (4:12, 19). He calls on the Galatians to imitate him, based on the integrity of his former work among them (4:12). Because of some illness (4:13), which he does not pause to detail here (see 2 Co 12:7), Paul’s initial visit caused him to come under obligation to the Galatians. He recalls their former sympathetic response (4:15) to his needs and appeals to the strong personal relationship (4:14) to press them to reject those who would attempt to drive a wedge between them and their founder (4:17).
4:21–25. Utilizing an incident revolving around Abraham, Paul shows that, like the covenants of law and grace, Hagar and Sarah can be compared yet have some very different characteristics. The major difference between the two is of kind, not circumstance. Paul appears to rely on the Galatians’ acquaintance with the historical narrative to point out the major factors in the story. Paul reverses the expectations of his opponents. Picking up on the slavery theme that has run through his letter (1:10; 2:4; 4:3, 8–9), Paul asserts that those people identified with Hagar, the slave, are those in Jerusalem, presumably apart from Christ and under the law, not yet set free from the powers of sin and death (4:23–25).
4:26–31. Those who are identified with the free woman, those “in Christ,” like the Galatians, are inheritors of the promises that the still enslaved do not possess (4:28). Thus, rather than being discontinuous with the promises of Abraham, the gospel of grace is fully aligned with those original promises. As if to further enhance the point, Paul recites a prophecy of Isaiah concerning Israel’s restoration from the captivity of Babylon (4:27; see Is 54:1). While the Israelites were few in number then (as the Gentile Christians are, relative to Jewish believers, at the time of writing), miraculous, God-ordained growth was promised.