8:39 They answered him, 11 “Abraham is our father!” 12 Jesus replied, 13 “If you are 14 Abraham’s children, you would be doing 15 the deeds of Abraham. 8:40 But now you are trying 16 to kill me, a man who has told you 17 the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this! 18
4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, 25 has discovered regarding this matter? 26
4:13 For the promise 32 to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 4:14 For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. 33 4:15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression 34 either. 4:16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, 35 with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, 36 who is the father of us all
“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; 44
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.” 45
4:28 But you, 46 brothers and sisters, 47 are children of the promise like Isaac. 4:29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent 48 persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, 49 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” 50 of the free woman. 4:31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, 51 we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.
1 sn Outside of its seven occurrences in Ezekiel the term translated “possession” appears only in Exod 6:8 and Deut 33:4.
2 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous actions in the narrative.
3 tn Grk “calling out he said”; this is redundant in contemporary English style and has been simplified to “he called out.”
4 sn The rich man had not helped Lazarus before, when he lay outside his gate (v. 2), but he knew him well enough to know his name. This is why the use of the name Lazarus in the parable is significant. (The rich man’s name, on the other hand, is not mentioned, because it is not significant for the point of the story.)
5 sn The dipping of the tip of his finger in water is evocative of thirst. The thirsty are in need of God’s presence (Ps 42:1-2; Isa 5:13). The imagery suggests the rich man is now separated from the presence of God.
6 tn Or “in terrible pain” (L&N 24.92).
7 sn Fire in this context is OT imagery; see Isa 66:24.
8 tn Grk “We are the seed” (an idiom).
9 tn Grk “They answered to him.”
10 tn Or “How is it that you say.”
11 tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”
12 tn Or “Our father is Abraham.”
13 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
14 tc Although most
15 tc Some important
16 tn Grk “seeking.”
17 tn Grk “has spoken to you.”
18 tn The Greek word order is emphatic: “This Abraham did not do.” The emphasis is indicated in the translation by an exclamation point.
19 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are you?”).
20 tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.
21 tn Grk “sons”
22 tn Or “race.”
23 tn Grk “and those among you who fear God,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Note how Paul includes God-fearing Gentiles as recipients of this promise.
24 tn Grk “word.”
25 tn Or “according to natural descent” (BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 4).
26 tn Grk “has found?”
27 tn Grk “of the faith, the one [existing] in uncircumcision.”
28 tn Grk “that he might be,” giving the purpose of v. 11a.
29 tn Grk “through uncircumcision.”
30 tn Grk “the father of circumcision.”
31 tn Grk “the ‘in-uncircumcision faith’ of our father Abraham.”
32 sn Although a singular noun, the promise is collective and does not refer only to Gen 12:7, but as D. Moo (Romans 1-8 [WEC], 279) points out, refers to multiple aspects of the promise to Abraham: multiplied descendants (Gen 12:2), possession of the land (Gen 13:15-17), and his becoming the vehicle of blessing to all people (Gen 12:13).
33 tn Grk “rendered inoperative.”
34 tn Or “violation.”
35 tn Grk “that it might be according to grace.”
36 tn Grk “those who are of the faith of Abraham.”
37 tn Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael.
38 tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”
39 tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.
40 tn Paul’s use of the Greek article here and before the phrase “free woman” presumes that both these characters are well known to the recipients of his letter. This verse is given as an example of the category called “well-known (‘celebrity’ or ‘familiar’) article” by ExSyn 225.
41 tn Grk “born according to the flesh”; BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 4 has “Of natural descent τὰ τέκνα τῆς σαρκός children by natural descent Ro 9:8 (opp. τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας). ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται Gal 4:23; cp. vs. 29.”
42 tn Grk “which things are spoken about allegorically.” Paul is not saying the OT account is an allegory, but rather that he is constructing an allegory based on the OT account.
43 sn 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 Jerusalem above that is free. Paul’s argument is very condensed at this point.
44 tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
45 tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”
46 tc Most
47 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
48 tn Grk “according to the flesh”; see the note on the phrase “by natural descent” in 4:23.
49 tn Or “the one born by the Spirit’s [power].”
50 sn A quotation from Gen 21:10. The phrase of the free woman does not occur in Gen 21:10.
51 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.