Gal 4:21-27 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Gal 4:21-31: 4:21-31 Paul now returns to arguing from Scripture, using the contrast between Hagar and Sarah and between their children. Paul argues for a similar contrast between those who are slaves under the law and those who are free in Christ. • Paul’s argument uses the allegorical techniques of rabbinic Judaism (see study note on 4:24). Having been trained as a rabbi (Acts 22:3 ), Paul could out-argue the Judaizers using their own methods. 4:21 do you know what the law actually says? They were trying to achieve righteousness by the law, but they did not truly understand its meaning (cp. Luke 24:25-27 ; 1 Tim 1:7 ).

Summary for Gal 4:21-31: 4:21-31 ^a Paul now returns to arguing from Scripture, using the contrast between Hagar and Sarah and between their children. Paul argues for a similar contrast between those who are slaves under the law and those who are free in Christ.

• Paul’s argument uses the allegorical techniques of rabbinic Judaism (see study note on 4:24). Having been trained as a rabbi (Acts 22:3 ^b), Paul could out-argue the Judaizers using their own methods. 4:21 ^c do you know what the law actually says? They were trying to achieve righteousness by the law, but they did not truly understand its meaning (cp. Luke 24:25-27 ^d; 1 Tim 1:7 ^e).
Summary for Gal 4:22-23: 4:22-23 ^f The son of the slave wife was Ishmael, born to Sarah’s servant Hagar (see Gen 16:15 ^g). Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham in a human attempt to obtain the heir (see Gen 16:1-4 ^h) that God had promised (see Gen 15:1-6 ⁱ). Sarah’s son, Isaac, was the son of the freeborn wife (see Gen 21:2-3 ^j); he was miraculously conceived as God’s own fulfillment of his promise (see Gen 17:15-21 ^k).
Summary for Gal 4:24-25: 4:24-25 ^l Paul connects Abraham’s human attempt to fulfill God’s promises (4:23 ^m) with the human attempt in Galatia and elsewhere to attain salvation by keeping the law. Hagar’s status as a slave-wife corresponds with Israel’s enslaved status under the law. This status contrasts with the status of those who have faith in Christ (4:26-27 ⁿ). 4:24 ^o serve as an illustration (literally are being allegorized): In allegorical writing, every character and event is symbolic of a deeper meaning. Allegorical interpretations often ignore the historical meaning of the text and invent fanciful meanings. Here, by contrast, Paul understood the story correctly in its historical context and recognized the story as history. But he interpreted the characters of the historical story as symbolizing the current situation. Paul’s opponents were apparently also using allegorical methods of interpretation, so Paul refuted faulty allegory with true allegory (cp. 1 Cor 9:22 ^p).

• God’s two covenants: The old covenant was formed through Moses; the new covenant came through Jesus Christ.

• Hagar represents Mount Sinai: Just as Hagar was a slave-wife who represents human effort, Mount Sinai brought slavery to following the law.
4:25 ^q Both Hagar and Mount Sinai were symbols of Jerusalem, which stood for Judaism in Paul’s day. Judaism continued to trust in the law and in physical descent from Abraham for their status before God (cp. John 8:31-59 ^r); they rejected Christ and continued to live in slavery to the law (Gal 3:23-24 ^s; 4:1-3 ^t).

• Mount Sinai in Arabia: The traditional location for Mount Sinai is in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. However, some have suggested that in Arabia means that Mount Sinai was in Midian, where Moses once lived (see Exod 3:1 ^u).
4:26 ^v Just as Hagar represents slavery to human effort based on Mount Sinai (4:24-25 ^w), Sarah represents freedom in the heavenly Jerusalem, the ideal city of God. Abraham’s true children by faith (3:29 ^x) now live in the reality of God’s reign in Christ.

• she is our mother: Sarah’s child, Isaac, was the freeborn recipient of all of God’s promises apart from the law. Similarly, Jews and Gentiles who live by faith in Christ are Sarah’s true children—they receive God’s promises to Abraham freely apart from the law (3:26-29 ^y; 4:4-7 ^z).
4:27 ^aa The quoted passage, Isa 54:1 ^ab, promised Israel that they would be fruitful after the Exile. Because those who have faith in Christ are Sarah’s children (Gal 4:26 ^ac), they fulfill the promise that Sarah (the childless woman) would be more abundantly fruitful than the slave-wife Hagar. To the Judaizers, those who don’t follow the law may have been considered “barren,” but through faith they are abundantly fruitful as the bride of Christ (2 Cor 11:2 ^ad; Eph 5:31-33 ^ae).