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Text -- Galatians 4:2-31 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
4:2 But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father .
4:3 So also we , when we were minors , were enslaved under the basic forces of the world .
4:4 But when the appropriate time had come , God sent out his Son , born of a woman , born under the law ,
4:5 to redeem those who were under the law , so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights .
4:6 And because you are sons , God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts , who calls “Abba ! Father !”
4:7 So you are no longer a slave but a son , and if you are a son , then you are also an heir through God .
Heirs of Promise Are Not to Return to Law
4:8 Formerly when you did not know God , you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all.
4:9 But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God ), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless basic forces ? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again ?
4:10 You are observing religious days and months and seasons and years .
4:11 I fear for you that my work for you may have been in vain .
4:12 I beg you , brothers and sisters , become like me , because I have become like you . You have done me no wrong !
Personal Appeal of Paul
4:13 But you know it was because of a physical illness that I first proclaimed the gospel to you ,
4:14 and though my physical condition put you to the test , you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God , as though I were Christ Jesus himself!
4:15 Where then is your sense of happiness now? For I testify about you that if it were possible , you would have pulled out your eyes and given them to me !
4:16 So then , have I become your enemy by telling you the truth ?
4:17 They court you eagerly , but for no good purpose; they want to exclude you , so that you would seek them eagerly .
4:18 However, it is good to be sought eagerly for a good purpose at all times , and not only when I am present with you .
4:19 My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you !
4:20 I wish I could be with you now and change my tone of voice , because I am perplexed about you .
An Appeal from Allegory
4:21 Tell me , you who want to be under the law , do you not understand the law ?
4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons , one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman .
4:23 But one, the son by the slave woman , was born by natural descent , while the other, the son by the free woman , was born through the promise .
4:24 These things may be treated as an allegory , for these women represent two covenants . One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery ; this is Hagar .
4:25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem , for she is in slavery with her children .
4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free , and she is our mother .
4:27 For it is written : “Rejoice , O barren woman who does not bear children ; break forth and shout , you who have no birth pains , because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband .”
4:28 But you , brothers and sisters , are children of the promise like Isaac .
4:29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent persecuted the one born according to the Spirit , so it is now .
4:30 But what does the scripture say ? “Throw out the slave woman and her son , for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son ” of the free woman .
4:31 Therefore , brothers and sisters , we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Judaism |
GALATIANS, EPISTLE TO THE |
Minister |
Abraham |
PAULINE THEOLOGY |
Allegory |
Love |
Justification |
Adoption |
SARAH; SARAI |
Sarah |
Parables |
Servant |
ISHMAEL (1) |
Paul |
Heir |
THORN IN THE FLESH |
Isaac |
God |
GALATIA |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Gal 4:2; Gal 4:2; Gal 4:3; Gal 4:3; Gal 4:4; Gal 4:5; Gal 4:6; Gal 4:6; Gal 4:7; Gal 4:7; Gal 4:8; Gal 4:9; Gal 4:9; Gal 4:9; Gal 4:10; Gal 4:12; Gal 4:14; Gal 4:14; Gal 4:14; Gal 4:15; Gal 4:16; Gal 4:17; Gal 4:17; Gal 4:17; Gal 4:18; Gal 4:18; Gal 4:18; Gal 4:19; Gal 4:19; Gal 4:20; Gal 4:21; Gal 4:22; Gal 4:23; Gal 4:24; Gal 4:26; Gal 4:27; Gal 4:27; Gal 4:27; Gal 4:28; Gal 4:28; Gal 4:29; Gal 4:29; Gal 4:30; Gal 4:31
NET Notes: Gal 4:2 Grk “the,” but the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
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NET Notes: Gal 4:3 Or “basic principles,” “elemental things,” or “elemental spirits.” Some interpreters take this as a reference to s...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:4 Grk “the fullness of time” (an idiom for the totality of a period of time, with the implication of proper completion; see L&N 67.69).
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NET Notes: Gal 4:5 The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rig...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:6 The term “Abba” is the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic אַבָּא (’abba’), literally mea...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:7 The unusual expression διὰ θεοῦ (dia qeou, “through God”) certainly prompted scribes to alter it to m...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:8 Grk “those that by nature…” with the word “beings” implied. BDAG 1070 s.v. φύσις 2 sees this as...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:9 Grk “basic forces, to which you want to be enslaved…” Verse 9 is a single sentence in the Greek text, but has been divided into two ...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:10 The adjective “religious” has been supplied in the translation to make clear that the problem concerns observing certain days, etc. in a r...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:14 Grk “as an angel of God…as Christ Jesus.” This could be understood to mean either “you welcomed me like an angel of God would,...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:16 Or “have I become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?” The participle ἀληθεύων (alhqeu...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:20 Grk “voice” or “tone.” The contemporary English expression “tone of voice” is a good approximation to the meaning ...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:21 Or “will you not hear what the law says?” The Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw) means “hear, listen to,” but ...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:22 Paul’s use of the Greek article here and before the phrase “free woman” presumes that both these characters are well known to the re...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:23 Grk “born according to the flesh”; BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 4 has “Of natural descent τὰ τέκ...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:24 Grk “which things are spoken about allegorically.” Paul is not saying the OT account is an allegory, but rather that he is constructing an...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:26 The meaning of the statement the Jerusalem above is free is that the other woman represents the second covenant (cf. v. 24); she corresponds to the Je...
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NET Notes: Gal 4:30 A quotation from Gen 21:10. The phrase of the free woman does not occur in Gen 21:10.
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