Galatians 4

Galatians · Chapter 4

Galatians 4:28

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.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.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.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
28Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

Galatians 4:21-31The bondwoman and the free

About Galatians 4An 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 and when in this chapter

Original Greek words

EnglishGreekSay itStrong'sMeaning
you yourselvesὑμεῖςhumeisG4771
you

σέ (se) αὐτός, -ή, -ό, determinative pron., in late Gk. much more frequently than in cl. (WM, 178f.; Jannaris, HGG, §1399). 1. Emphatic (so always in nom. exc. when preceded by the art., see infr., iii); (1) self (ipse), expressing opposition, distinction, exclusion, etc., αὐ. ἐκχυθήσεται, Luk.5:37; αὐ. ἐγινώσκεν, Jhn.2:25; αὐ.ὑμεῖς, Jhn.3:28; καὶ αὐ. ἐγώ, Rom.15:14; αὐ. Ἰησοῦς, Jhn.2:24; αὐ. καὶ οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, Mrk.2:25; ὑμεῖς αὐ., Mrk.6:31; esp. (as freq in cl.) αὐ. ὁ, Mat.3:4, Mrk.6:17, Jhn.16:27, 1Th.3:11, al.; in late Gk., sometimes weakened, ἐν αὐτῇ τ. ὥρᾳ, in that hour, Luk.10:21 (M, Pr., 91; …

now,δέ,deG1161
then

δέ (de) δέ (before vowels δ᾽; on the general neglect of the elision in NT, see WH, App., 146; Tdf., Pr., 96), post-positive conjunctive particle; 1. copulative, but, in the next place, and, now (Abbott, JG, 104): Mat.1:2ff., 2Co.6:15, 16, 2Pe.1:5-7; in repetition for emphasis, Rom.3:21, 22, 9:30, 1Co.2:6, Gal.2:2, Php.2:8; in transition to something new, Mat.1:18, 2:19, Luk.13:1, Jhn.7:14, Act.6:1, Rom.8:28, 1Co.7:1 8:1, al.; in explanatory parenthesis or addition, Jhn.3:19, Rom.5:8, 1Co.1:12, Eph.2:4, 5:32, al.; ὡς δέ, Jhn.2:9; καὶ . . . δέ, but also, Mat.10:18, Luk.1:76, Jhn.6:51, Rom.11:23, al.; …

brothers,ἀδελφοί,adelphoiG0080
brother

ἀδελφός (adelphos) ἀδελφός, -οῦ, ὁ (ἀ- copul., δελφύς, womb), in cl., a brother, born of the same parent or parents. [In LXX (Hort, Ja., 102f.), for אָח ;] 1. lit. of a brother (Gen.4:2, al.). 2. Of a neighbour (Lev.19:17). 3. Of a member of the same nation (Exo.2:14, Deu.15:3). In NT in each of these senses (1. Mat.1:2, al.; 2. Mat.7:3; 3. Rom.9:3) and also, …

likeκατὰkataG2596
according to

κατά (kata) κατά (bef. a vowel κατ᾽, καθ᾽; on the frequently neglect of elision, see Tdf., Pr., 95; WH, App., 146a), prep. with genitive, accusative, down, downwards. I. C. genitive (WM, §47, k; Bl., §42, 2). 1. C. genitive of thing(s), in local sense; (a) down, down from: Mat.8:32, Mrk.5:13, Luk.8:33, 1Co.11:4; (b) throughout (late usage; Bl, l.with): κ. ὅλης κ.τ.λ., Luk.4:14 23:5, Act.9:31 10:37; (with) in a peculiar adjectival phrase: ἡ κ. βάθους, deep or extreme poverty, 2Co.8:2. 2. C. genitive of person(s), usually in hostile sense; …

IsaacἸσαὰκIsaakG2464
Isaac

Ἰσαάκ (Isaak) Ἰσαάκ (in MSS. sometimes -σάκ; cf. Deiss., BS, 189; Thack., Gr., 100), ὁ indecl. (in FlJ, Ἴσακος, -ου), (Heb. יִצְחָק), Isaac (Gen.17:19, al.): Mat.1:2, Rom.9:10, al (AS)

of promiseἐπαγγελίαςepangeliasG1860
promise

ἐπαγγελία (epangelia) ἐπ-αγγελία, -ας, ἡ (ἐπαγγέλλω), [in LXX: Psa.56:8 (סֵפֶר), etc. ;] 1. a summons (as Attic law-term, Dem., al.). 2. a promise (Dem., Arist., al.): Act.23:21; esp. in NT of the divine promises, Act.7:17, Rom.4:14, 16 Rom.9:4, Gal.3:17-18, 21 4:23, Heb.8:6 11:9, 17, 2Pe.3:9; with inf., Heb.4:1; γίνεται, etc., with dative of person(s), Act.2:39, Rom.4:13, Gal.3:16; before πρός, Act.13:32 26:6; έπαγγέλεσθαι τὴν ἐ., 1Jn.2:25; ἔχειν ἐπαγγελίας, Heb.7:6, 2Co.7:1; εἷναι νἐ έπαγγελίᾳ, Eph.6:2; ἡ γῆ τῆς ἐ., Heb.11:9; τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐ., Rom.9:8, Gal.4:28; τ. πνεῦμα τῆς ἐ. τ. ἅγιον, Eph.1:13; αἱ διαθῆκαι τ …

childrenτέκναteknaG5043
child

τέκνον (teknon) τέκνον, -ου, τό (τίκτω), [in LXX chiefly for בֵּן, also for יֶלֶד, etc. ;] that which is begotten, born (cf. Scottish bairn), a child of either sex: Mrk.13:12, Luk.1:7, Act.7:5; pl., Mat.7:11, Mrk.7:27, Luk.1:17, Eph.6:1, al.; τέκνα ἐπαγγελίας, Rom.9:8; τ. τῆς σαρκός, ib.; in a wider sense (as Heb. בָּנִים), of posterity, Mat.2:18, Luk.3:8, al.; specif., of a male child, Mat.21:28, Act.21:21, a,l.; in voc. as a form of kindly address from an elder to a junior or from a teacher to a disciple, Mat.9:2 21:28, Mrk.2:5, Luk.2:48; τ. μου (= cl. τ. μοι; see Bl., §37, 5), Gal.4:19 (τεκνία, WH, txt.) …

you are.ἐστέ.esteG1510
you are

εἶ (ei) εἰμί, with various uses and significations, like the English verb to be. I. As substantive verb. 1. Of persons and things, to be, exist: Act.17:28, Jhn.1:1, 8:58, 17:5, al; ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν (for past ptcp.), Rev.1:4, 8, 4:8, 11:17, 16:5 (see Swete, Ap., 5; M, Pr., 228); τὰ (μὴ) ὄντα, Rom.4:17, 1Co.1:28. 2. Of times, events, etc., to be, happen, take place: Mat.24:3, Mrk.14:2, 15:42, Luk.21:23, Jhn.4:6, 23, 5:10, al. …

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.