Galatians 4
King James Version (1769) · Tap a verse to see it in context
About this chapter
AI-assisted, sourcedAn heir under age is no different from a servant, and so "we, when we were children, were in bondage," but "when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Paul pleads with the Galatians not to turn back to "weak and beggarly elements," recalls how they once received him "as an angel of God," and travails for them "until Christ be formed in you." He then sets out an allegory of Abraham's two sons: Agar the bondwoman stands for mount Sinai and "Jerusalem which now is," but "Jerusalem which is above is free," and "we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free." Galatians 4:1Galatians 4:3Galatians 4:4Galatians 4:5Galatians 4:9Galatians 4:14Galatians 4:19Galatians 4:22Galatians 4:24Galatians 4:25Galatians 4:26Galatians 4:31
Who, where, when, and the key verses
Who
Paul and the Galatians, whom he calls "My little children"; God's Son, "made of a woman"; and in the allegory Abraham, Agar (Hagar), Isaac and the freewoman. Galatians 4:4Galatians 4:19Galatians 4:22Galatians 4:24Galatians 4:28Galatians overview
Where
The allegory names "mount Sinai in Arabia" and contrasts "Jerusalem which now is" with "Jerusalem which is above." Paul writes to the churches of Galatia. Galatians 4:25Galatians 4:26Mount SinaiArabia 2JerusalemGalatians overview
When
Paul recalls that he preached to them "at the first" through infirmity of the flesh. Traditionally about AD 48-57. Some date it about AD 48-49, before the Jerusalem council of Acts 15; others about AD 53-57, during Paul's third journey. Galatians 4:13Galatians overview
How it fits
Chapter 3 ended "heirs according to the promise," and this chapter explains what it means to be heirs. Its close, "children... of the free," leads into chapter 5: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." Galatians 3:29Galatians 4:7Galatians 4:31Galatians 5:1
Key verses
- Verse 4
"When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law." Galatians 4:4Galatians 4:5
- Verse 6
"God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Romans 8:15 says, "ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Galatians 4:6Romans 8:15
- Verse 30
"Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." Paul quotes Genesis 21:10. Galatians 4:30Genesis 21:10
Takeaway
In Christ you are no longer a servant but a son and an heir of God, so do not go back into bondage. Galatians 4:7Galatians 4:9
Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a separate AI reader. Updated 2026-10-31.
Sons, not servants
1Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 3Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Paul's plea to the Galatians
8Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 9But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. 12Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. 13Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. 14And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. 15Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. 16Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? 17They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. 18But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. 19My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, 20I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
The bondwoman and the free
21Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 28Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.