Galatians 4:21-31
1599 Geneva Bible
21 [a]Tell me, ye that [b]will be under the Law, do ye not hear the Law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, (A)one by a servant, and (B)one by a free woman.
23 But he which was of the servant, was born after the [c]flesh: and he which was of the free woman, was born by [d]promise.
24 By the which things another thing is meant: for [e]these mothers are the [f]two Testaments, the one which is Hagar of mount [g]Sinai, which gendereth unto bondage.
25 (For Hagar or Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, and it [h]answered to Jerusalem which now is) and [i]she is in bondage with her children.
26 But Jerusalem, which is [j]above, is free: which is the mother of us all.
27 [k]For it is written, (C)Rejoice thou barren that bearest no children: break forth, and cry, thou that travailest not: for the [l]desolate hath many more children, than she which hath an husband.
28 (D)Therefore, brethren, we are after the [m]manner of Isaac, children of the [n]promise.
29 But as then he that was born after the [o]flesh, persecuted him that was born after the [p]Spirit, even so it is now.
30 But what saith the Scripture? (E)Put out the servant and her son: for the son of the servant shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.
31 [q]Then brethren, we are not children of the servant, but of the free woman.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Galatians 4:21 Because the false apostles always urged this, that unless the Gentiles were circumcised, Christ could profit them nothing at all, and this dissension of them which believed of the circumcision against them which believed of the uncircumcision, was full of offense: the Apostle, after divers arguments whereby he hath refuted their error, bringeth forth an allegory, wherein he saith the holy Ghost did shadow not unto us, all these mysteries: to wit, that it should come to pass, that two sorts of sons should have Abraham a father common to them both, but not with like success: for as Abraham begat Ishmael, by the common course of nature, of Hagar his bondmaid and a stranger, and begat Isaac of Sarah a free woman by the virtue of the promise and by grace only, and the first was not only not heir, but also persecuted the heir: So there are two covenants, and as it were two sons born to Abraham of those two covenants, as it were of two mothers. The one was made in Sinai, without the land of promise according to which covenant Abraham’s children according to the flesh were begotten: to wit, the Jews which seek righteousness by that covenant, that is, by the Law: but they are not heirs, nay they shall at length be cast out of the house, as they that persecute the true heirs. The other was made in that high Jerusalem or in Zion (to wit, by the sacrifice of Christ) which begetteth children of promise, to wit, believers by the virtue of the holy Ghost which children (as Abraham) do rest themselves in the free promise, and they only by the right of children shall be partakers of the father’s inheritance, and those servants shall be shut out.
- Galatians 4:21 That desire so greatly.
- Galatians 4:23 As all men are, and by the common course of nature.
- Galatians 4:23 By virtue of the promise, which Abraham laid hold on for himself and his true seed, for otherwise Abraham and Sarah were past begetting and bearing children.
- Galatians 4:24 These do represent and shadow forth.
- Galatians 4:24 They are called two covenants, one of the old Testament, and another of the New: which were not two indeed, but in respect of the times, and the diversity of the government.
- Galatians 4:24 He maketh mention of Sinai, because that covenant was made in that mountain, of which mountain Hagar was a shadow.
- Galatians 4:25 Look how the case standeth betwixt Hagar and her children, even so standeth it between Jerusalem and hers.
- Galatians 4:25 That is, Sinai.
- Galatians 4:26 Which is excellent, and of great account.
- Galatians 4:27 He showeth that in this allegory, he hath followed the steps of Isaiah, who foretold that the Church should be made and consist of the children of barren Sarah, that is to say, of them which only spiritually should be made Ahraham’s children by faith, rather than of fruitful Hagar, even then foreshowing the casting off of the Jews, and calling of the Gentiles.
- Galatians 4:27 She that is destroyed and wasted.
- Galatians 4:28 After the manner of Isaac who is the first begotten of the heavenly Jerusalem, as Israel is of the slavish Synagogue.
- Galatians 4:28 That seed, unto which the promise belongeth.
- Galatians 4:29 By the common course of nature.
- Galatians 4:29 By the virtue of God’s promise and after a spiritual manner.
- Galatians 4:31 The conclusion of the former allegory, that we by no means procure and call back again the slavery of the Law, seeing that the children of the bondmaid shall not be heirs.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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