Galatians 4:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.

NIV: For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

NASB: For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman.

CSB: For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.

NLT: The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.

KJV: For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

NKJV: For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.

In this and the following verses, Paul will continue to make the case that the only way to be made right with God—to be "justified"—is by faith in Christ and not by following the works of the law.

Paul turns again to the figure of Abraham, building a somewhat complicated illustration to make his point. Since the Galatians are putting so much stock in the law-based teaching of the Judaizers, Paul will also build a case from the Old Testament Scriptures. He begins by saying "it is written," invoking the divinely inspired Scriptures as his evidence.

Paul mentions Abraham's two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. For the purposes of Paul's illustration, he is not including the sons born to Abraham much later. The free woman is Sarah, formerly Sarai, Abraham's wife. The slave woman is Hagar, Sarah's own Egyptian slave-girl.

Abraham and Sarah had waited many, many years for God's promise of a child to be fulfilled. Finally, Sarah gave in to impatience and gave her servant Hagar to Abraham as a slave-wife, so she might have a child by proxy (Genesis 16:2). Hagar's son, born in this way, was Ishmael (Genesis 16:5). Eventually, though, Sarah did indeed have her own birth son, Isaac (Genesis 21:1–3).

Paul will use the differences between Ishmael and Isaac to illustrate the distinction between trying to earn salvation by works, as opposed to accepting salvation by faith.

Galatians 4:21–31 contains Paul's allegory about Abraham's two wives, and the two sons born through them. Paul sets out to use Scripture to show the difference between being born into slavery, by human effort, as opposed to being born into freedom, by the work of God through the Holy Spirit. Ishmael was born into slavery as Abraham's son, but he was cast out when the child of promise arrived. In a similar way, living under the law became pointless when Christ arrived. Those who trust in Him become children of promise by God's power.

In this chapter, Paul uses three new methods to teach his Galatian readers an important lesson. It is futile to follow the law of Moses in order to be made right before God, since justification comes only by faith in Christ. First, Paul shows that the arrival of Christ made it possible for all people to become God's children through faith in Him. Next, Paul makes a more personal appeal, asking what has changed to cause the Galatians to turn on Paul's teaching of the gospel. Finally, Paul builds an allegory from Scripture, illustrating the difference between being born into slavery and being born into the promise by faith in Christ.

Galatians 3 ends with Paul stating, once more, that those who are in Christ are Abraham's offspring, just as He is, making us heirs along with Him. Galatians 4 continues that idea, showing how Christ's arrival signaled the moment all people could receive the inheritance with Him and be adopted as God's children. Paul makes his appeal personal, asking why the Galatians moved from blessing him to rejecting the message of Christ. The chapter ends with Paul's allegory about the difference between being born into slavery under the law and being born into freedom by the power of the Spirit through faith in Christ. Chapter 5 will continue by expanding on the freedom we have in Christ.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.