Romans 9:7-9

9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” ¹  9:8 This means ²  it is not the children of the flesh ³  who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants. 9:9 For this is what the promise declared: ⁴  “About a year from now ⁵  I will return and Sarah will have a son.” ⁶ 

Galatians 4:22-26

4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the ⁷  slave woman and the other by the free woman. 4:23 But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, ⁸  while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise. 4:24 These things may be treated as an allegory, ⁹  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, ¹⁰  and she is our mother.

¹ 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.

² tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”

³ tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.

⁴ tn Grk “For this is the word of promise.”

⁵ tn Grk “About this time I will return.” Since this refers to the time when the promised child would be born, it would be approximately a year later.

⁶ sn A quotation from Gen 18:10, 14.

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.”

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ 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.