E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Galatians 4:23
born = begotten. Greek. gennao after = according to. Greek. kata . App-104 . by. Greek. dia . App-104 .Galatians 4:1 . promise . See Luke 24:49 , read more
ガラテヤ人への手紙 4:23, ガラテヤ人への手紙 4:28 Jcb
E.W. Bullinger
James Burton Coffman
Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Galatians 4:23
Howbeit the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the son of the freewoman is born through promise.Ishmael was born as a result of the selfishness of Sarah and the natural cohabitation of Abraham with her slave girl. God was simply not in the arrangement; but Isaac, the son of promise, was born through the enabling promise of God himself, contrary to all natural expectations.These two sons, as Paul would promptly point out, typified the two types of "sons of Abraham," as represented... read more
Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Galatians 4:23
23. after the flesh—born according to the usual course of nature: in contrast to Isaac, who was born "by virtue of the promise" (so the Greek), as the efficient cause of Sarah's becoming pregnant out of the course of nature (Romans 4:19). Abraham was to lay aside all confidence in the flesh (after which Ishmael was born), and to live by faith alone in the promise (according to which Isaac was miraculously born, contrary to all calculations of flesh and blood). read more
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Galatians 4:21-23
The biblical story 4:21-23 read more
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Galatians 4:21-31
3. The biblical illustration 4:21-31Paul interpreted allegorically (i.e., 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. [Note: R. Alan Cole, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, pp. 128-29. Longenecker... read more
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Galatians 4:22-23
He pointed out two contrasts between Ishmael and Isaac. First, Ishmael’s mother was a slave, but Isaac’s mother was free. These conditions affected the status of their sons in Abraham’s household. Second, Ishmael was born naturally, but Isaac was born supernaturally in fulfillment of God’s promise."In the scriptural record of the birth of these two sons of Abraham Paul recognizes the same opposition between reliance on self (’according to the flesh’) and reliance on God (’through promise’) as... read more
John Dummelow
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Galatians 4:1-31
The Bondage of the Law. Freedom in Christ1-7. Under the Law we were in bondage; under the Gospel we have received the freedom of sons.Paraphrase. ’(1) The heir before he comes of age can no more enter upon his inheritance than a servant in the family can possess himself of it, (2) but must continue, until the set time, in a subordinate position, and under the authority and training of others. (3) So, when we were under the elementary Law system, we were in a position like that of the heir in... read more
Charles John Ellicott
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Galatians 4:21-31
(21-31) The next eleven verses contain an elaborate argument from the history of the two sons of Abraham, as types of the two covenants, in further proof that freedom is the essential character of the Christian dispensation.We have seen that St. Paul applies the history of the natural Israel allegorically to the spiritual Israel; and not only does he do this with reference to the history of the formed theocracy, but he goes back to its origin in the time of the patriarchs, and traces there the... read more
Charles John Ellicott
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Galatians 4:23
(23) But.—Both were alike in being children of Abraham; they were unlike in that one was born naturally, the other by divine instrumentality.Was born.—Strictly, is born—i.e., is stated to have been born, was born as we still read.After the flesh—i.e., in the regular course of nature.By promise.—The birth of Isaac is regarded as due to the direct agency of the promise, The promise itself is conceived of as possessing a creative power. The birth of Isaac was the result of a miraculous... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Galatians 4:21-31
Example of Hagar and Sarah (4:21-31)Paul now attacks the Judaisers by using a form of argument that they themselves liked to use. He returns to the story of Abraham to show that law-keeping is slavery and it cannot be mixed with grace. (For the background to the illustration that follows read Genesis 15:1-6; Genesis 16:1-16; Genesis 17:15-22; Genesis 18:1-15; Genesis 21:1-21.) Abraham had two sons, Ishmael, who was born as a result of human arrangements that lacked any exercise of faith, and... read more