Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Galatians 4:30

Galatians 4:30. Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? ‘Cast out the bondmaid and her son; for the son of the bondmaid shall in no wise inherit with the son of the freewoman.' Words of Sarah to Abraham on the occasion of the mocking of Ishmael, Genesis 21:10, but approved and confirmed by God, Galatians 4:12, so that Ishmael was actually expelled from the house of Abraham. Paul quotes from the LXX., with a slight change of ‘my son Isaac' into ‘the son of the freewoman,' which adapts it to his argument and saves explanation. The Apostles were no slavish literalists, but used the Bible freely in the very Spirit which gave it. ‘Shall in no wise inherit.' The double negation in Greek is emphatic: assuredly not. Judaism and Christianity, bondage and freedom, cannot exist together: the one must exclude the other. This appears very plain to us now, but before the destruction of Jerusalem it sounded strange and incredible, at least to the Judaizers, who held on to the old traditions as long as they could. ‘It is scarcely possible' (says Lightfoot) ‘to estimate the strength of conviction and depth which this declaration implies. The Apostle thus confidently sounds the death-knell of Judaism at a time when one half of Christendom clung to the Mosaic law with a jealous affection little short of frenzy, and while the Judaic party seemed to be growing in influence and was strong enough, even in the Gentile churches of his own founding, to undermine his influence and endanger his life.'

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Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Galatians 4:30

Old Testament

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