THE BONDAGE OF THE LAW. FREEDOM IN CHRIST 1-7. 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 contin... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HEIR] is, of course, a son, as Galatians 4:2 shows. A CHILD] i.e. under age; a minor. DIFFERETH NOTHING] as respects the control of his destined possessions, though, in prospect, lord of all.... [ Continue Reading ]
TUTORS] RV 'guardians'; the regular term for the guardian of a minor. GOVERNORS] RV 'stewards,' who have the management of his prospective property. TIME (RV 'term') APPOINTED] the time of reaching his majority. Ramsay points out that under the Syrian law, which prevailed in S. Galatia, a child was... [ Continue Reading ]
CHILDREN] in a state of tutelage under the Law. ELEMENTS] RV 'rudiments' (cp. Galatians 4:9; Colossians 2:8); elementary religious observances belonging to the outward, visible WORLD.... [ Continue Reading ]
Cp. Galatians 3:19; Galatians 3:24; Romans 5:20; Romans 5:21. MADE] RV 'born'; entering fully into our human lot.... [ Continue Reading ]
REDEEM] i.e. save us from our bondage in sin under the Law, and introduce us into full sonship to God. UNDER THE LAW] and therefore bound to obey it, and yet guilty of infringing it. ADOPTION] Redemption is followed by the admission of the sinner among the children of grace.... [ Continue Reading ]
This emancipation being accomplished, a new sense of sonship fills the heart. ABBA] an Aramaic word commonly used in prayer, meaning 'Father.' Christ's love for us exhibited in His incarnation and all that it includes wins our love, and for His sake we overcome sin.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU ART] application of the conclusion to the individual. AN HEIR OF GOD] RV 'an heir through' (the adopting act of) 'God.' 8-11. In the past the Galatians had been idolators, in bondage to gods that were 'no gods' at all. Now they are going back again to a similar bondage. PARAPHRASE. '(8) Befor... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWBEIT THEN] RV 'At that time,' when they were yet unconverted heathen. NO GODS] cp. 1 Corinthians 8:5; 1 Corinthians 10:20 the so-called divinities of the heathen.... [ Continue Reading ]
Their lapse into Judaism is a return, not, indeed, into idolatry, but into an imperfect and rudimentary religion. In this point of view only does the Apostle class heathenism and Judaism together. The Law is WEAK, etc., as being powerless to justify and give the assurance of sonship. KNOWN GOD, OR R... [ Continue Reading ]
DAYS] Jewish feast-or fast-days. MONTHS] new moons: cp. Colossians 2:16. TIMES] RV 'seasons,' such as Passover, Pentecost, etc. YEARS] e.g. sabbatic years. These observances are 'weak and beggarly elements' (Galatians 4:9), because they are matters of dry routine, customs which the Gentiles would ad... [ Continue Reading ]
AFRAID] anxiously solicitous lest they should repudiate their Christian profession. 12-20. The Apostle appeals to his readers to return to their former allegiance to the gospel. PARAPHRASE. '(12) I plead with you to come to my point of view, even as I in renouncing slavery to the Law, have become a... [ Continue Reading ]
AS I _am_] loyal to Christ: cp. 1 Corinthians 11:1. I AM AS YE _are_] cp. 1 Corinthians 9:19. RV puts a period after '_ye are_,' and then reads 'Ye did me no wrong; but ye know that because of an infirmity,' etc. YE HAVE NOT INJURED ME] i.e. I am not personally offended.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIRST] lit, as RM 'the former time.' The Gk. word, accurately interpreted, indicates that St. Paul had paid the Galatians two visits before the date of this letter. This 'former' visit is of course that recorded in Acts 13:14 to Acts 14:24. St. Paul probably intended preaching at Perga when he l... [ Continue Reading ]
MY TEMPTATION WHICH WAS IN MY FLESH] RV 'That which was a temptation to you in my flesh.' The bodily infirmity which had attacked him had left such traces that they might have been excused for rejecting one whose 'bodily presence was weak': see 2 Corinthians 12:7 and note there. AS AN ANGEL] with ev... [ Continue Reading ]
BLESSEDNESS] RV 'Gratulation,' your felicitation of yourselves in my teaching. PLUCKED.. EYES] made any sacrifice for me, so great was your former kindness.... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'They zealously seek you in no good way; nay, they desire to shut you out that ye may seek them.' THEY] the Jewish extremists. NOT WELL] i.e. in a party spirit. EXCLUDE YOU] from the influence of other teachers, especially from my own. AFFECT (RV 'seek') THEM] cling zealously to them as partisan... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'But it is good to be zealously sought in a good matter at all times.' I am glad that you are the objects of others' zeal and interest, whether I am present or absent, provided your favour is courted in a good cause.... [ Continue Reading ]
I TRAVAIL IN BIRTH AGAIN] RV 'I am again in travail.' In his anxiety and distress he would reconvert them to Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
DESIRE] RV 'could wish,' i.e. if such a thing were possible. CHANGE MY VOICE] i.e. change my tone, speak more mildly. 21-31. This passage is an example of the rabbinical method of interpretation, which found a hidden sense, embodied and intended, in many parts of Scripture. Here a historical narrat... [ Continue Reading ]
The very Law in which the Judaisers trust is shown to be against their contentions.... [ Continue Reading ]
One son, from the circumstances of his birth, typifies bondage; the other, freedom: cp. Genesis 16, 21. IT IS WRITTEN] This does not introduce a quotation here, but simply indicates the facts as recorded in the Scripture history.... [ Continue Reading ]
One was born in a relation merely carnal, the other in fulfilment of a special. promise of God: cp. Hebrews 11:11; Hebrews 11:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
ARE (RV 'contain') AN ALLEGORY] i.e. are spoken allegorically. An allegory is a narrative where the literal sense 'half reveals and half conceals' a spiritual meaning. The best example of allegory in the English language is Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress.' Hagar and Sarah represent, respectively, the... [ Continue Reading ]
HAGAR] Some MSS of the Epistle omit this word here, in which case we should render: 'Sinai is a mountain in Arabia' (so RM)—the land of Hagar's descendants. Sinai and Jerusalem mean the same thing—law and bondage; Hagar typifies both. On St. Paul's use of allegorical interpretation, cp. 1 Corinthian... [ Continue Reading ]
JERUSALEM.. ABOVE] the spiritual commonwealth or city of God, of which believers are citizens. THE MOTHER OF US ALL] RV 'our mother,' prefigured by Sarah.... [ Continue Reading ]
This v. in its original context (Isaiah 54:1) had no reference to the Jerusalem above, only to the actual Jerusalem. It is quite in the rabbinical style for St. Paul to give it another, more spiritual application.... [ Continue Reading ]
Conclusion and application. We believers stand in a relation to God's promise and favour analogous to the descendants of Sarah, while the Judaisers take the place of the Ishmaelites.... [ Continue Reading ]
Cp. Genesis 21:9. The 'mocking' there mentioned hardly amounts to persecution. Perhaps the general hostility of Hagar's descendants to Israel is referred to: cp. Psalms 83:6; 1 Chronicles 5:10; 1 Chronicles 5:19. History was now repeating itself in the persecution of the Christians of Galatia by Jew... [ Continue Reading ]
CAST OUT] cp. Genesis 21:10; Genesis 21:12.; Hagar's spiritual descendants are the Jews and the Judaisers, who are the natural descendants of Sarah; while the heathen who have accepted Christ are the spiritual descendants of Sarah, and inherit the blessings promised to her children. For similar idea... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEN] RV 'Wherefore'; since this rejection does not apply to us; we belong to a higher lineage and order. And as we are thus spiritually free (Galatians 5:1), let us take care to maintain our freedom.... [ Continue Reading ]