In chapter 3 the Jews' preoccupation with the Law of Moses was foremost in Paul's mind. In chapter 4 he reiterated his argument for the benefit of Gentiles for whom religious syncretism and pagan idolatry were primary concerns. Whereas in chapter 3 Paul dealt mainly with justification (cf. 3:20), in chapter 4 his emphasis was primarily on sanctification (cf. 4:3).
Continuing his case for faith over the Mosaic Law Paul cited an illustration from family life. He did this to clarify the condition of believers as contrasted with nomists and to warn his readers to abandon nomism.
Paul appealed next to his past contacts with the Galatians and called on them to remember his visits to Galatia to move them to abandon nomism.
"If the reader is inclined to think Paul has been impersonal in dealing with the problems at Galatia, that he has been arguing as a scholar and not as a pastor, the present passage should disabuse him of this idea."148
"What we have in this personal aside is a poignant witness to the indissoluble linkage between theological content and pastoral concern. All true theology worthy of the name is pastoral theology."149
"Rhetorically, a major shift in Paul's argument occurs at 4:12. There are, of course, still elements of forensic rhetoric to be found in what follows, particularly in Paul's accusations against the errorists (4:17; 5:7-12; 6:12-13) and his statements of self-defense (4:13-16; 5:11; 6:14, 17). But the dominant tone from 4:12 onwards is that of deliberative rhetoric, not forensic rhetoric. Deliberative rhetoric, rather than taking a judicial or defensive stance, seeks to exhort or dissuade an audience regarding future actions by demonstrating that those actions are expedient or harmful . . . In 4:12ff. Paul is no longer so much concerned to accuse or defend as to persuade his Galatian converts to adopt a certain course of action."150
4:12-14 Paul had become as his readers were in the sense that he had lived among them as a Gentile, not under the Mosaic Law. He now called on them out of a sense of fair play to live independent of the Law as he did. This is the first imperative (in the Greek text) in Galatians.
"In seeking to win other people for Christ, our end is to make them like us, but the means to that end is to make ourselves like them. If they are to become one with us in Christian conviction and experience, we must first become one with them in Christian compassion."151
Evidently Paul suffered with some physical ailment or handicap when he preached in Galatia (v. 13). The Galatians had put up with some bodily affliction Paul had without despising him when he had evangelized them because they so valued the good news that he brought them.
The commentators have suggested many different ailments that might have been Paul's including malaria, epilepsy, ophthalmia, and others. Obviously it was something repulsive (v. 14). However there is not sufficient information in the text to be dogmatic. Whatever it was, the Galatians knew to what Paul referred. It may or may not have been Paul's "thorn in the flesh"(2 Cor. 12:7-10).
4:15-18 The Galatians were losing their good attitude toward Paul and its accompanying sense of blessing. They had appreciated Paul so much that they would have given him their most precious possessions. "Plucked out your eyes"is probably a figurative expression similar to "given your eye teeth."Now the Galatians were regarding Paul suspiciously as an enemy. The Judaizers were seeking to shut the Galatians out of the sphere of Paul's influence and gospel so his readers would be dependent on them. Paul sought his readers for the right reason, namely their need to grow in grace, not only while he was with them but always.
4:19-20 Paul's loving affection for the Galatians comes through more strongly here than before. The tender expression "my [dear] children"(Gr. tekna mou) occurs only here in Paul's writings. Paul felt as if he was going through labor pains again for them. He had done that when he had evangelized Galatia, but now he was having to repeat his work for them.
"This is a striking metaphor without parallel in any other Pauline writing. . . . Only here in Galatians does he appear in the role of a mother, a mother who willingly undergoes the ordeal of pregnancy and delivery all over again in order to secure the well-being of her children.
"The Galatians who a moment ago were described as being formed in the womb were now spoken of as expectant mothers who themselves must wait for an embryonic Christ to be fully developed (morphoo, a medical term for the growth of the fetus into an infant) within them."152
Paul wished he could be with them personally to communicate the nuances of his feelings better. Their irrational desire to become slaves to the Mosaic system and followers of the legalistic false teachers perplexed him.
Paul interpreted allegorically (figuratively, NIV) features of the history of Abraham's two sons to convince his readers that they were in danger of joining the wrong branch of Abraham's family.
The apostle appears to have used the story of Abraham the way he did because this was a common rabbinic method that the Judaizers probably employed in their teaching in Galatia.153Paul used the same method on the false teachers but taught his readers truth rather than falsehood with it.
"We have one Old Testament story, but two complimentary interpretations of it. The first [vv. 22-27] defends the equation of existence hupo nomon[under law] with captivityand thus takes up a theme from what precedes. The second [vv. 28-30] makes a statement about the freedomof the believer in preparation for what is to come."154
