Galatians 4

1 a child. Rather, “an infant”; i.e., in a legal sense; a minor, who is, for a time, like a bond-servant, under the control of others, whatever his prospects may be.

2 tutors and governors. Or, “guardians,” having the oversight of the person; “governors,” or trustees, having the management of the property.

3. Even so we. Both Jews and Gentiles, chiefly the former.

elements. Or, “rudiments” (R.V., and so in ver. 9; Col. ii. 20); i.e., an elementary state of knowledge: a ritual and ceremonial worship.

4 when the fulness of the time was come. When the time “appointed by the Father (2) was complete.”

made. Or, “born.” Our Lord was not only man, and so subject to the Divine law; but also a member of the Jewish nation, and so “under obligation to the law” in its fuller revelation by Moses. And His redemption is available even for those who have sinned against that fuller law (5), as well as for others.

5-7. See Rom. viii. 15-17, and notes.

8 ye did service unto. Rather, as R.V., “ye were in bondage to.”

9 how turn ye again, etc. This Jewish formalism, with all its observances (10), which you are adopting, is essentially as much a state of “bondage” as your former Gentile condition.

beggarly elements. “The weakness and poverty of the elemental spirits” (Moffatt).

10. Ye observe, etc. An explanation of the foregoing. The observance of these festivals for their own sake, not as the expression of truth beyond themselves, was a fruitless ritualism.

12 be as I [am]. “Imitate me in rejecting Jewish observances; for I, though a Jew, have become a Gentile like you (1 Cor. ix. 21).

13 the blessedness ye make of. “What, then, was the value of your self-congratulation?”

your own eyes. This has been taken to confirm the view that “the thorn in the flesh” from which Paul suffered, affected his eyesight: see on 2 Cor. xii. 7. But the expression may be a general one, for the surrender of what is most precious.

16 because I tell you the truth. Dealing with you faithfully respecting your faults, and your dangers from false teachers, I have thus acted the part of a friend, not of an enemy (Prov. xxvii. 6).

17. They zealously affect you. “They make much of you” (Moffatt).

19 until Christ be formed in you. “His light in their minds, His love in their hearts, His law in their Conscience; His Spirit their formative impulse and power, His presence filling and assimilating their entire inner nature, and His image in visible shape and symmetry, reproducing itself in their lives” (Eadie).

20. I desire. More exactly, as R.V., “I could wish.”

to change my voice. From tones of complaint and censure to those of satisfaction and confidence.

I stand in doubt of you. Or, “I am perplexed about you” (Meyer); i.e., as to what is best to be done in your case.

21 the law. “The law” here means the writings of Moses. You wish to attend to their injunctions, attend then to the principles illustrated in their narratives. The history of Abraham’s two sons shows the contrast between the bondage of the law and the blessed liberty of the gospel: see vers. 28-31. The apostle thus foils his adversaries with their own weapons.

23 by promise. By God’s special interposition, according to His promise: cp. Rom. iv. 19-21.

24. Which things are an allegory. “As if Paul said, that it is a representation, painted for us as in a picture, of the two covenants, in Abraham’s two wives, and of the two classes of people in the two sons” (Calvin).

these. That is, “these women.”

which gendereth, etc. “Bringing forth children into bondage.”

25. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. The second Agar is omitted by some of the best authorities. According to the ordinary text, the sense is, “The name Agar is in Arabia [i.e., is used by the Arabs for] Mount Sinai:” cp. Gen. xxi. 20, 21; 1 Chron. v. 10-20; Psa. lxxxiii. 6.

26. But Jerusalem which is above, etc. As the earthly Jerusalem (25) represents the Jewish economy, so here the heavenly one denotes the Christian dispensation, which secures freedom for all believers in Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles. This is the verse inscribed in the “Jerusalem

Chamber” of Westminster Abbey, where the Westminster Assembly met during the Long Parliament.

27. For the desolate, etc. Rather, “For many are the children of the desolate, [more] than of her who has the husband.”

28 children of promise. See ver. 23, and note; and compare the promise made to the Messiah in Isa. liii. 10.

29 even so it is now. The persecutions of Christians at this time arose mainly from the Jews: see Acts xiii. 49, 50; xiv. 1, 2, 19; xvii. 5, etc.; 1 Thess. ii. 14-16.

30. Cast out the bondwoman, etc. Sarah’s words (Gen. xxi. 12).

31 of the bondwoman. We are children of no bondmaid, but of the free wife.