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Galatians 4

1What I mean is this: as long as the heir is a minor, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is master of everything. 2Instead, he is under guardians and household managers until the time set by his father. 3So also we, when we were minors, were enslaved under the elements of the world. 4But when the fullness of time came, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6And because you are sons, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave but a son; and if a son, then also an heir through God.

8But formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those that by nature are not gods. 9Now, however, having come to know God—or rather, to be known by God—how can you turn back again to the weak and impoverished elements, to which you want to be enslaved all over again? 10You carefully observe days and months and seasons and years. 11I fear for you, lest somehow I have labored over you in vain.

12Become as I am, because I also became as you are, brothers, I beg you. You did me no wrong. 13You know that it was because of a weakness of the flesh that I first announced the good news to you. 14And though my flesh was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me, but welcomed me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15Where, then, is the blessing you felt? For I testify about you that, if possible, you would have dug out your eyes and given them to me. 16So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17They are zealous for you, but not for good; they want to shut you out, so that you may be zealous for them. 18It is good to be sought zealously in a good cause at all times, and not only when I am present with you. 19My children, for whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you! 20I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you.

21Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman. 23But the son of the slave woman was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through a promise. 24These things are being spoken allegorically, for these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children into slavery; she is Hagar. 25Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is enslaved with her children. 26But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27For it is written, “Rejoice, barren woman who does not give birth! Break out and shout, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.”

28Now you, brothers, are children of promise, like Isaac. 29But just as then the one born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so it is now as well. 30But what does Scripture say? “Drive out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will certainly not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31Therefore, brothers, we are not children of a slave woman but of the free woman.

Translation notes 7

4:1–7 — Slaves, sons, and heirs. The household illustration continues chapter 3. “Adoption as sons” retains the gendered status and inheritance image without restricting the recipients to men. “Abba” is an Aramaic address to a father; the text itself pairs it with “Father.” Verse 6 follows the Greek base's “our hearts,” after “you are sons”; verse 7 changes to singular “you” to address each hearer.

4:3, 9 — Elements of the world. This disputed expression can refer to basic principles or to elemental powers associated with the world. The slavery language and the former service of non-gods give the powers interpretation weight; “elements” retains the underlying expression without deciding its full reference. The same term is used at both verses.

4:10–11 — Observance and fear. Paul names days, months, seasons, and years without listing particular festivals. His concern belongs to the argument about renewed enslavement; the text is not expanded into a general ban on every calendar observance.

4:12–16 — Illness and welcome. “Weakness of the flesh” refers to a bodily ailment or infirmity; its diagnosis is unknown. “First” can also be understood as “formerly.” Their offer of eyes expresses extraordinary devotion but does not prove that Paul had an eye disease. “The blessing you felt” can also mean their sense of happiness or good fortune. Verse 14 follows the base's description of Paul's condition as their trial.

4:17–20 — Zeal and labor. The repeated zeal language describes eager attention and the attempt to secure the Galatians' allegiance. Paul does not name what they would be shut out of. He then pictures himself in the labor of childbirth and Christ being formed in them; both parts of the striking image remain.

4:21–27 — Two women and two covenants. Paul explicitly interprets the story allegorically, connecting Hagar with Sinai and the present Jerusalem, and the free woman with the Jerusalem above. “Are” and “is” belong to that comparison, not to a claim that a person is literally a mountain. The translation preserves the severity of the contrast. The quotation in verse 27 is from Isaiah 54:1.

4:28–31 — Children of promise. Verse 28 follows “you,” rather than the “we” of another textual reading. Verse 29 gives Paul's description of the Genesis story without replacing it with the wording of Genesis itself. “Children” is distinct from “sons” earlier in the chapter.