Galatians 4: Adoption as Children and the Two Mothers
Scripture quotations on this page are from the World English Bible (public domain), shown in quotation marks; all commentary is written by Scripture Trove. Source: Galatians 4 · Commentary
Galatians 4 is the emotional summit of the letter to the Galatians, a chapter of extraordinarily concentrated theological density. Within its 31 verses, Paul deploys four entirely different methods of argumentation: legal reasoning, diagnosis of the present situation, personal emotional appeal, and allegorical interpretation. Every one of these methods is saying the same thing: "O Galatians, you are already sons! Why would you go back to being slaves?" Within the six-part structure of Galatians as a whole, this chapter serves as the transitional and culminating section of segments 3 and 4. Chapter 3 mounted a theological argument using "the law and the promise"; chapter 4 brings that theology down to the present "identity choice" facing the Galatian believers: will you continue as "children of promise" (free, belonging to the Jerusalem above, sons and daughters of the Spirit), or will you regress into being "slaves of the law" (bound, belonging to the present Jerusalem, offspring of the flesh)?
The position of this chapter within the theological argument of Galatians:
| Section | Passage | Theme | Method of Argument |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section 3 | 3:1-4:31 | The theological case for justification by faith | Biblical theology + allegorical interpretation |
| First half of ch. 4 | 4:1-7 | Adoption as sons + Abba, Father | Legal imagery drawn from Roman adoption law |
| Middle of ch. 4 | 4:8-20 | Do not return to the "elemental principles" + Paul's emotional plea | Diagnosis of the present situation + maternal emotion |
| Second half of ch. 4 | 4:21-31 | The Hagar-Sarah allegory | The only place in Paul's letters where he explicitly uses the word "allegory" (ἀλληγορέω) |
Two items in this chapter rise to the level of "New Testament firsts":
When these three "Abba" passages are read together, they form a complete Trinitarian picture of the prayer life: Jesus addresses the Father as Abba, and believers through the Spirit address the Father with that same Abba. This is the fundamental revolution of the Christian prayer life. In Jewish tradition, the intimate family term "Abba" was not typically used in prayer to God; instead, more formal expressions such as "Our Father" or "Most High Lord" were employed. Jesus inaugurated a new way of addressing the Father using the language of the home, and then granted this privilege to His adopted "children." The most concrete expression of "union with Christ" in the life of prayer is precisely this: addressing God as "Abba."
The two major traditions of "allegorical interpretation" in the early church:
Paul's allegorical interpretation in Galatians 4 became the "common wellspring" of these two great traditions: the Alexandrians cited it to justify the legitimacy of "allegorizing the Old Testament," while the Antiochenes cited it to argue that "allegory must be rooted in history" (Hagar and Sarah are real historical persons, not freestanding fables).
The core tension of this chapter lies in the "already and not yet" of the son's identity:
The soul of this chapter in one sentence: "You are not God's second-class child. You are not a 'stranger' mercifully permitted to draw near. You are a son fully received through legal proceedings, entitled to call out 'Abba' to the Father. This is an identity that Christ purchased at the cost of His own life. Do not lightly discard it."
Chapter 3 used the role of the law (as a tutor) to demonstrate that believers have come of age and are no longer under the law's guardianship; chapter 4 carries this thread forward, moving from "the grown-up son" into the deeper reality of "adoption as sons." Chapter 3 asked "Law versus promise"; chapter 4 asks "Slave versus son." Paul's argumentation shifts from biblical theology (chapter 3) to personal emotion (4:12-20) to allegorical rhetoric (4:21-31), yet at every turn he is saying the same thing: O Galatians, you are already sons! Why would you go back to being slaves?
The continuity between chapters 4 and 3: the closing section of chapter 3 (3:24-29) already proclaimed that "the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith" and "you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus." Chapter 4 picks up this declaration of "the son's identity" and develops it further through two specific analogies:
Both analogies are saying the same thing: identity stands as an either-or between "faith" and "law" — you cannot have it both ways. Paul's exhortation cuts like a blade: since you have already been adopted as "free sons," why would you voluntarily go back to being "slaves of the law"? It would be as if a child adopted by a Roman emperor as his heir willingly renounced his imperial standing to go back to being a household slave. This is not merely a mistake; it is madness.
This chapter belongs to the second half of the second major section, "The Theological Argument" (chapters 3-4). Chapter 4 is the emotional high point of this section. In 4:19, Paul calls the Galatians "my little children" and says he is again in travail for them — one of the most tender verses in all of the New Testament epistles.
Relationships between the paragraphs: from the legal-status argument (4:1-7) → diagnosis of the present situation (4:8-11) → private emotional appeal (4:12-20) → allegorical scriptural argument (4:21-31). Paul uses four different angles to say the same thing over and over: you are already sons — do not go back.
The core message of the entire chapter: Christ came, and the Spirit entered our hearts. This has utterly transformed our relationship with God. We are no longer little slaves under the law's custodianship; we are sons called by the Father. This identity is a gift already bestowed, and any choice to "go back to being a slave" is a squandering of the presence of Christ and the Spirit.
4:4-5 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as children.
Galatians 4:4-5（World English Bible）
4:6 And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!"
Galatians 4:6（World English Bible）
4:7 So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Galatians 4:7（World English Bible）
Dear brothers and sisters, please copy out 4:4-7 and put it somewhere you will see every single day.
Because this passage is the identity card of your spiritual life.
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as children. And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!" So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son.
You may be exhausted today, because you believe that the Christian life is about constantly proving yourself. You must pray harder, read the Bible more diligently, serve more zealously, try harder to look like a "good Christian" — and only then will God be pleased with you.
Please stop. Listen to 4:6:
"God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts" — God has already sent His Spirit into your heart. This is not a reward; it is grace.
"Crying, 'Abba, Father!'" — the Spirit is already there, crying out. The Spirit does not wait until you are spiritual enough before crying out. When you are so exhausted that you have no strength left to speak, the Spirit is right there crying out on your behalf — and the one He cries out to is a Father, not a judge.
"So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son" — your identity has already changed. You are already a son. It is not "you must earn it to become a son"; it is "because Christ has already done it, therefore you are."
The Galatians threw away this astonishing identity, and Paul was so heartbroken that he was "again in travail" for them. You who read this letter today — hold fast to this identity.
When you are weary, return to 4:6: the Spirit is right now crying "Abba" within your heart. When you stumble, return to 4:7: you are no longer a bondservant, but a son. When others accuse you of "not being spiritual enough," return to 4:31: you are a child of the free woman, not a child of the servant.
All of this is not something you need to go and earn. It is something you need to receive.
Positioning of this section: Paul uses the figure of the "minor heir under Roman law" to condense salvation history into two stages — "the minority period" and "the majority period." The "minority period" corresponds to the Old Testament era (under the law, the status of a bondservant, governed by the "elemental principles of the world"); the "majority period" corresponds to the New Testament era (the coming of Christ, receiving adoption as children, the Spirit entering our hearts to cry Abba). Galatians 4:4-7 is the most concentrated Christological and soteriological declaration in the entire letter. Every phrase is a theologically dense compression: "the fullness of the time," "God sent out his Son," "born to a woman," "born under the law," "redeem those who were under the law," "receive the adoption as children," "the Spirit crying Abba, Father." This passage, together with Romans 8:15-17 and Ephesians 1:4-5 on "adoption as children," forms the three core pillars of the New Testament's "theology of adoption."
4:1-2 But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a bondservant, though he is lord of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father.
Galatians 4:1-2（World English Bible）
Carrying forward the analogy of the "tutor" from the end of chapter 3, Paul develops it further: in a Roman household, a child might be the legitimate heir to the father's entire estate, but during his minority he lived in a manner practically indistinguishable from the household servants — equally subject to orders, equally subject to discipline, equally unable to act independently.
"Guardians" (ἐπίτροπος, epitropos) — protectors, custodians "Stewards" (οἰκονόμος, oikonomos) — managers of the household's property
Both of these roles were servile in nature: they disciplined the son on behalf of the master, but they themselves were not sons.
"The day appointed by the father" (τῆς προθεσμίας τοῦ πατρός, tēs prothesmias tou patros) — a Greco-Roman legal term referring to the predetermined date of majority set in a will. This verse lays the groundwork for "the fullness of the time" in 4:4: the history of salvation likewise operates on a timetable appointed by God.
4:3 So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world.
Galatians 4:3（World English Bible）
"Elemental principles" (στοιχεῖα, stoicheia) — this word carries multiple layers of meaning:
Paul employs this word with considerable subtlety. It can refer to the "rudiments of the law" that the Judaizers prized (circumcision, festivals, dietary regulations), and it can equally refer to the "celestial powers" the Gentile pagans formerly worshiped. Both are fundamentally "enslaving, rudimentary religious systems." Whether Jew or Gentile, anyone who had not yet come to Christ was a "schoolchild" under some form of "religious custodianship."
4:4-5 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as children.
Galatians 4:4-5（World English Bible）
This is the most concentrated Christological and soteriological declaration in the entire letter to the Galatians. Every phrase is extraordinarily dense:
"The fullness of the time" (τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου) — The incarnation was an appointed moment that could neither be advanced nor delayed. Second Temple Judaism was brimming with messianic expectation; the Roman Empire had unified the entire Mediterranean under a single government, a single lingua franca (the Koine Greek of the Hellenistic world), and a single transportation network (the Roman roads). God sent His Son into the world at precisely this historical juncture — not by coincidence, but by appointment.
The "kairos and chronos" distinction within "the fullness of the time": Greek has two words for "time":
The word Paul uses in 4:4 is chronos, but by attaching πλήρωμα ("fullness, completion"), the expression conveys not the mere passage of time itself but rather "time flowing to its point of fullness." This is precisely the concept of kairos — a critical, decisive moment. Mark 1:15, "The time is fulfilled, and God's Kingdom is at hand," uses kairos: "that kairos has been fulfilled" (πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρός) — the same concept of "fullness."
The historical dimensions of "the fullness of the time": That the incarnation occurred "in the early first century AD" was no accident. This historical moment brought together multiple "preparatory conditions":
"The fullness of the time" tells us that God's timetable is flawlessly precise. Christ could not have come 100 years earlier (the Roman Empire had not yet achieved unification) or 100 years later (the church would face heretical assaults). This offers the deepest comfort to believers: the "waiting" you face today also has a timetable. God's appointed "fullness of the time" will surely come.
"God sent out his Son" (ἐξαπέστειλεν, exapesteilen, "sent out") — Christ is a pre-existent Son who was sent into the world. This single clause implicitly affirms the pre-existence of Christ: He was already the Son before He was sent.
"Born to a woman" — This is not ordinary human birth; it is the virgin birth (cf. Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38). But Paul's emphasis here is not on the virginity; it is on genuine humanity: Christ truly became human, born of a real mother.
"Born under the law" — Christ entered the system of the law. He Himself was circumcised (Luke 2:21), observed the Passover (Luke 2:41-42), and read the Scriptures in the synagogue. He experienced every requirement of the law from within.
"That he might redeem those who were under the law" — This is a purpose clause: the reason Christ entered life under the law was to redeem those who were under the law. This echoes 3:13: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us."
"The adoption as children" (υἱοθεσία, huiothesia) — This is a technical term from Roman adoption law. In Roman society, adoption was a complete legal transfer of status:
Paul uses this word to tell Gentile believers: you are not "second-class Christians." You have already been legally adopted. Your standing is fully identical to that of Jewish believers born into the flesh — you are all sons of God, all heirs of the estate.
The dual redemptive structure of "redeemed and adopted": In 4:5 Paul uses two consecutive purpose clauses:
"Redeem" (ἐξαγοράζω, exagorazō) — literally, "to buy out of the marketplace." The same root appeared in Galatians 3:13 ("Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us"). In 4:5 Paul extends the concept of "redemption" from 3:13: "redemption" is not merely "liberation from the curse" but also the gateway into "entry into the identity of sons."
This dual structure is consistent with the "double dimension" of New Testament soteriology:
This parallels the "double dimension" of the Exodus: Israel was redeemed out of "slavery in Egypt" (the negative), and simultaneously brought into "the Promised Land" (the positive). In the New Exodus accomplished in Christ, believers are redeemed out of "slavery to sin" (the negative), and simultaneously adopted as "sons of God" (the positive).
4:6 And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!"
Galatians 4:6（World English Bible）
This is the most beautiful verse in the entire letter to the Galatians. Let us slow down and read it carefully:
"Because you are children" — identity comes first. This is not "if you perform well enough, God will grant you the Spirit." It is "because you are already children, God sends the Spirit in."
"The Spirit of his Son" (πνεῦμα, pneuma, "spirit") — This is one of the clearest New Testament expressions of the truth that "the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ." The Spirit entering the believer is not some abstract "energy"; it is what enables us to experience the relationship of a child to the Father.
"Into your hearts" (εἰς τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν) — In Greek, the "heart" is not the Western notion of an "emotional center"; it is the core of the entire inner life — the totality of the will, the emotions, the mind, and the personality. The Spirit does not stand outside us exerting influence; He enters our very depths.
"Crying, 'Abba, Father!'" — "Abba" (Αββα, abba) is the Aramaic word for "father," the intimate term a child in the household would use when addressing their father. Jesus Himself used this word in His prayer at Gethsemane (Mark 14:36: "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you"). Paul is telling the believers:
You now speak to the Father using the very same word that Jesus uses when He speaks to His Father.
You are not worshiping a distant stranger-God from afar; you are an adopted son, entitled to speak to the Father with a son's intimacy.
4:7 So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Galatians 4:7（World English Bible）
This is the summary of the entire passage. Paul uses the word "son" twice and "heir" once — a dual declaration of identity and rights.
"Through God" (διὰ θεοῦ, dia theou) — your right of inheritance comes from God Himself. It does not come from anyone else's approval, it does not come from your own effort, and it does not come from any precondition that "you must first accomplish."
The opposition between "bondservant and son" occupies a central place in Paul's "theology of identity." Verse 4:7 employs a stark contrast to summarize the entire passage: "You are no longer a bondservant, but a son." This opposition appears repeatedly in Paul's letters:
"Identity determines behavior" is the core of Paul's ethics. It is not "what you do determines who you are," but "who you are determines what you do." First comes the transformation of identity (the indicative: you are a son), and then comes the call to action (the imperative: therefore live as a son). Paul's ethics always follow the order of "indicative then imperative." It is never "earn your identity through works" but always "act from the identity you already have."
Positioning of this section: In 4:1-7 Paul has already declared "adoption as sons." This section immediately pivots to a "diagnosis of the present situation." What are the Galatians actually doing? "You observe days, months, seasons, and years" (4:10) — these are the hallmarks of Jewish festival observance. Paul's anguish: you have just come out of pagan idol worship, and now you want to go back to another system of "managing life through ritual." In essence, it is the same kind of slavery. "The elemental principles of the world" (stoicheia tou kosmou) becomes the key diagnostic term. It refers both to the "celestial powers" the Gentiles formerly worshiped and to the "system of Torah festivals" the Judaizers are now imposing on the Galatians. Both are fundamentally "enslaving, rudimentary religion."
4:8-9 However at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental principles, to which you desire to be in bondage all over again?
Galatians 4:8-9（World English Bible）
"Those who by nature are not gods" — Paul is referring to their former pagan idol worship: the idols and pagan deities they once worshiped were not truly God at all.
"To be known by God" (γνωσθέντες ὑπὸ θεοῦ, gnōsthentes hypo theou) — Paul flips the sentence around. It is not that you came to know God (your knowing is only a response); rather, God knew you first (this is the true foundation of the relationship). God's sovereign initiative precedes the human response.
"The weak and miserable elemental principles" — Paul once again uses στοιχεῖα (stoicheia; cf. 4:3), but this time he attaches two pejorative adjectives:
The pagan idols the Galatian Gentile believers formerly worshiped were στοιχεῖα (stoicheia); the legal regulations the Judaizers are now imposing on them are also στοιχεῖα (stoicheia). In essence, both belong to the same category: systems of slavery that attempt to manage life through ritual. You have just come out of one form of slavery — why would you go right back into another?
4:10-11 You observe days, months, seasons, and years. I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you.
Galatians 4:10-11（World English Bible）
What specifically are the Galatians doing? "Observing days, months, seasons, and years" — these are the markers of the Jewish liturgical calendar:
What concerns Paul most is things that look outwardly "devout." People will think, "I am keeping a few more festivals, fasting a few more times, adding a few more spiritual disciplines — these are good things, aren't they?" But when these practices become a system designed to make God accept you, they become slavery.
"I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you" — Paul speaks with the pain of a pastor: I have poured so much effort into you — could it all have been for nothing? This is not a rebuke; it is heartbreak.
The scholarly debate over "days, months, seasons, and years" — whether they refer to Jewish festivals or pagan astrological calendars — continues to this day:
Both readings have their merits. Paul's use of the deliberately ambiguous term "elemental principles" (stoicheia), which could denote both Jewish rudiments and pagan astral forces, suggests he may have intentionally placed "Jewish festivals" and "pagan astrology" in the same category: both are systems of slavery that attempt to manage life through ritual, and in essence they are no different. This is one of Paul's boldest theological declarations — demoting the "outward ceremonies of the law" (what the Judaizers prized most) to the same category as "pagan astral worship" (what the Jews most despised).
Application for today's church: "keeping festivals" is not in itself the problem (Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost are all meaningful festivals). The problem lies in the heart posture: are you keeping the festival out of a heart of gratitude, "in remembrance of God's saving acts" (freedom), or out of a heart of fear, "lest I be considered unspiritual for not observing it" (slavery)? The heart posture determines everything. Festival-keeping rooted in freedom and festival-keeping driven by legalism may look identical on the outside, but the spiritual difference between them is immense.
Positioning of this section: Paul abruptly shifts from "theological argument and situational diagnosis" to a deeply "personal conversation." This is one of the most personal passages in all of the New Testament epistles. Paul recalls the circumstances of "his first visit to Galatia" (4:13-14 — he fell ill and stayed; the Galatians received him "as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus"), and then poses a piercing question: "So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (4:16). This passage reveals Paul as a pastor in the rawness of his "genuine emotion" — not a coldly detached theologian, but a mother whose heart is breaking for her "spiritual children" (4:19: "My little children, of whom I am again in travail").
4:12 I beg you, brothers, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong,
Galatians 4:12（World English Bible）
Paul suddenly changes his tone, shifting from theological argument to personal conversation.
"Become as I am" — Paul means: "Though I was born a Jew, I am no longer under the law. You Gentiles should not lock yourselves under the law either. Live in freedom, as I do."
"For I also have become as you are" — when proclaiming the gospel, Paul was willing to "become as those without the law" (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:21: "to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law"), for the sake of winning Gentiles. He himself has already laid aside his Jewish privileges — so why are you trying to take up these very "privileges"?
"You did me no wrong" — this sentence is suddenly warm. Paul is saying, "This is not a personal grudge. You have not actually wronged me personally in this matter. But you are wronging Christ."
4:13-15 but you know that because of weakness in the flesh I preached the Good News to you the first time. That which was a temptation to you in my flesh, you didn't despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. What was the blessing you enjoyed? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.
Galatians 4:13-15（World English Bible）
This is one of the most personal recollections in all the New Testament.
"Because of weakness in the flesh" (δι' ἀσθένειαν τῆς σαρκός, di' astheneian tēs sarkos) — Paul's first visit to Galatia came about because he fell ill. It may have been malaria, it may have been something else, but this illness became the occasion that caused him to stop and preach the gospel there. Suffering became God's open door.
The Galatians' response was remarkable: they did not despise Paul's illness (in the ancient world, illness was frequently regarded as divine punishment, and the sick were often avoided). Instead, they "received him as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus." This was the highest possible form of welcome — they treated Paul as though he were a heavenly messenger, as though he were the Lord Himself.
"You would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me" — this expression has fueled scholarly discussion about Paul's possible eye ailment. Many have speculated that Paul suffered from an eye disease; this may be what is implied by his comment at the end of the letter: "See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand" (Galatians 6:11) — suggesting his eyesight was poor. That the Galatians were once willing to "pluck out their eyes and give them to Paul" shows how deep their love for him ran.
4:16 So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Galatians 4:16（World English Bible）
A cutting question. Once you loved me to the point of plucking out your own eyes; now that I speak the truth, have I become your enemy instead? This is the danger of false teaching: it turns friends into enemies.
Positioning of this section: After using "recollection" in 4:12-16 to stir the Galatians' original devotion, Paul now turns to an "analysis of the opponents." He wants the Galatians to see through the true face of the Judaizers: on the surface they are "zealous" (appearing very spiritual, very concerned for you), but in reality they are "alienating" you (their goal is to cut you away from Paul and make you their own followers). This passage is one of the sharpest sets of verses in the New Testament for identifying false shepherds, forming part of a theological chain with John 10 ("the good shepherd and the hired hand"), Matthew 7:15 ("wolves in sheep's clothing"), and 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 ("false apostles disguising themselves as apostles of Christ") — the New Testament's collective "warning against false shepherds."
4:17 They zealously seek you in no good way. No, they desire to alienate you, that you may seek them.
Galatians 4:17（World English Bible）
"They zealously seek you" (ζηλοῦσιν ὑμᾶς, zēlousin hymas) — the Judaizers in Galatia were evidently very "zealous" toward the Galatian believers, showering them with warmth and attention. But Paul sees through them: "in no good way" (οὐ καλῶς, ou kalōs). Their "zeal" has an agenda: to alienate the Galatians from their relationship with Paul and to turn the Galatians into their own followers.
"Divisive shepherding" is one of the hallmarks of false teaching. The Judaizers had to first "cut" the believers out of Paul's influence before they could get the believers to accept their "additions to the gospel." This pattern is commonly seen in churches today as well: certain groups first use "super-spiritual" jargon to make believers doubt the church community that originally shepherded them, and only then can they draw them into their "deeper" teaching.
4:18-19 But it is always good to be zealous in a good cause, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you—
Galatians 4:18-19（World English Bible）
"My little children" (τέκνα μου, tekna mou) — literally "my children." This is the most tender form of address in all of the New Testament epistles. Paul likens himself to a mother: "I am again in travail for you." A pastor's love is sometimes a mother's love — not a patriarchal command, but a mother's pain and care.
"Again in travail" (πάλιν ὠδίνω, palin ōdinō) — once again. Paul went through labor the first time by preaching the gospel and bringing the Galatians to new birth. Now it seems they have "miscarried," and Paul must go through it all over again — bearing the agony of labor once more — until Christ is truly formed within them.
"Until Christ is formed in you" — μορφωθῇ, from μορφόω (morphoō), literally means "to take on form and shape." Christ is to be shaped within the believer. This is the work of the Spirit within, a sculpting that continues until the believer's entire life takes on the likeness of Christ.
4:20 but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.
Galatians 4:20（World English Bible）
"Change my tone" — Paul acknowledges that he has been using a harsh tone, but he wishes he could be there in person to speak more gently. His severity does not spring from anger; it springs from pain.
Positioning of this section: This is the final "heavy artillery" argument of Galatians 4. Paul uses the contrast between Hagar and Sarah to drive the chapter's theme of "bondservant versus son" all the way back to its roots in Old Testament salvation history. This passage is unique in Paul's letters — it is the only place where Paul explicitly uses the word "allegory" (4:24). Paul's letters typically employ "type" (cf. Romans 5:14, "Adam, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come"; 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11, "these things happened as examples for us"), but here he uses the rare term "allegory." This has made this passage the central starting point for the "allegory versus typology" debate throughout Christian history of interpretation. In this passage, Paul "inverts" the traditional reading of the Hagar-Sarah story: the Judaizers traditionally identified themselves as "descendants of Sarah and Isaac" (the free children of promise) and regarded the Gentiles as "descendants of Hagar and Ishmael" (in bondage). Paul turns this correspondence on its head: the present Jerusalem (the center of Torah-observant Judaism) is really the line of Hagar (in bondage), while the Jerusalem above (the community justified by faith) is the line of Sarah (free).
4:21 Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don't you listen to the law?
Galatians 4:21（World English Bible）
A pivotal question. Paul will now use the very Scriptures his opponents prize in order to refute them. "Listen to the law" — here "the law" refers to the Torah, the Pentateuch, the foundation of the entire Old Testament. The Judaizers treat the law as their ultimate authority; Paul will therefore refute them from the law itself.
4:22-23 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman. However, the son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise.
Galatians 4:22-23（World English Bible）
Abraham's two sons:
Two sons, two kinds of birth — one from human effort, one from God's promise. This contrast is the epitome of the entire letter.
4:24-26 These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Galatians 4:24-26（World English Bible）
"An allegory" (ἀλληγορούμενα, allēgoroumena) — Greek for "an allegorical reading." Paul acknowledges that this is an allegorical interpretation. He is not saying that Abraham's story can only be read this way; rather, he is saying that this narrative can be applied in this way to the present situation.
"Allegory" in the history of Greek rhetoric refers to "speaking of another meaning beneath the surface" and was one of the principal interpretive methods in the Greco-Roman world:
Paul's use of the word "allegory" is restrained. He does not, as Philo or Origen did, allegorize the entire Old Testament. Paul's allegory is limited and purposeful: he uses the specific historical figures of Hagar and Sarah to correspond to the two theological trajectories present in the Galatian church. This is a "typological allegory" — one that both preserves the historical reality of the Old Testament (Hagar and Sarah were real persons) and permits those figures to foreshadow deeper realities within the history of salvation (the two covenants, the two Jerusalems).
Paul's correspondences:
| The Servant (Hagar) | The Free Woman (Sarah) | |
|---|---|---|
| Son | Ishmael | Isaac |
| Birth | According to the flesh | Through promise |
| Covenant location | Mount Sinai | (The Promised Land) |
| Corresponding community | The present Jerusalem (Torah-observant Judaism) | The Jerusalem above (the church in Christ) |
| Status | In bondage | Free |
This contrast was subversive to the Judaizers of that day. Jewish tradition identified itself as the descendants of Sarah and Isaac; in their eyes, the Gentiles were the line of Hagar and Ishmael — in bondage.
Paul inverts this narrative: the present Jerusalem (the center of Judaism that relies on the law) is actually the line of Hagar — in bondage. The Jerusalem above (the community justified by faith) is the line of Sarah — free, heirs of the promise.
"The Jerusalem that is above" (ἡ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλήμ, hē anō Ierousalēm) — this is the eschatological Jerusalem. Compare Hebrews 12:22, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem"; Revelation 21:2, "the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God." This is the ultimate home to which Christians belong.
"Which is the mother of us all" — the Galatian believers (whether from a Jewish or Gentile background) have as their "mother" the Jerusalem above, not the earthly Jerusalem's legal system.
4:27 For it is written, "Rejoice, you barren who don't bear. Break out and shout, you who don't travail. For the desolate women have more children than her who has a husband."
Galatians 4:27（World English Bible）
A quotation of Isaiah 54:1. Isaiah prophesied concerning Israel after the return from exile: she who had been like "a barren woman" (desolate during the exile) would, by God's grace, bear more children than she would have under normal circumstances. Paul applies this prophecy to the community justified by faith: in Christ, the children born through faith will outnumber those born through physical lineage.
4:28-31 Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. However, what does the Scripture say? "Throw out the servant and her son, for the son of the servant will not inherit with the son of the free woman." So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant, but of the free woman.
Galatians 4:28-31（World English Bible）
Application:
"We are not children of a servant, but of the free woman" — chapter 4 closes with a declaration of identity: you are free, you are heirs, you are children of the Jerusalem above.
The echo between "Mount Sinai and Mount Zion" and Hebrews 12: Galatians 4:25 links "Mount Sinai" with "the present Jerusalem" into a single category (the law, bondage, the old covenant), and links "the Jerusalem above" with "the free woman" into another category (the promise, freedom, the new covenant). Hebrews 12:18-24 employs the same contrast: "For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched and that burned with fire ... But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." Together, these two passages form the complete picture of the New Testament's "theology of the two mountains":
| Dimension | Mount Sinai (Old Covenant) | Mount Zion / Jerusalem Above (New Covenant) |
|---|---|---|
| Place of promulgation | A mountain in the desert (Exodus 19) | The city of God (Hebrews 12:22) |
| Mediator | Moses as intermediary (Galatians 3:19) | Christ as mediator (Hebrews 12:24) |
| Nature | The covenant of the law (the Sinai covenant) | The covenant of promise (the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant) |
| Mode of reception | Do and live (Leviticus 18:5) | Believe and live (Habakkuk 2:4) |
| Correspondence in Galatians 4 | Hagar / present Jerusalem / bondage | Sarah / Jerusalem above / freedom |
| Correspondence in Hebrews 12 | "A mountain that might be touched + fire + blackness + storm" (fear) | "Innumerable multitudes of angels + the assembly of the firstborn + the mediator of a new covenant" (joy) |
This "theology of the two mountains" is central to the Christian view of salvation history. Salvation history is not a rupture where "the Old Testament is cancelled and the New Testament begins"; it is a continuity in which "promise-and-foreshadow gives way to promise-fulfilled." Believers have already "left Mount Sinai" and "arrived at Mount Zion" — already passed from "the fear of the law" into "the joy of grace." Paul in Galatians 4 and the author of Hebrews in chapter 12 jointly declare: do not go back to Mount Sinai; you are already at Mount Zion.
| Theme | The Argument of Galatians 4 |
|---|---|
| The timetable of salvation | The fullness of the time had to come before God sent His Son: salvation history operates on a timetable appointed by God (4:4) |
| Christ's dual identity | "Born to a woman" (truly human) + "God sent out his Son" (the pre-existent Son): Christ is fully God and fully human |
| The purpose of the atoning redemption | To redeem those who were under the law: so that we might receive the adoption as children (4:5) |
| The Trinity | The Father sends the Son (4:4) + the Father sends the Spirit of the Son (4:6): the three Persons each have a distinct role in the work of salvation |
| The cry of the sons | "Abba, Father!" is the fundamental prayer language of the Christian: identical to the language Jesus uses to address the Father (4:6) |
| The irreversibility of identity | Since you are a son, you are no longer a bondservant: to return to the law is to squander the reality of the Spirit's presence within you (4:7) |
| Identifying false teaching | The truth leads you to embrace Christ; false teaching divides you from those who first brought you the gospel (4:17-18) |
| Spiritual motherhood | The pastor, like a mother, is "again in travail": until Christ is formed in the believer (4:19) |
| The two Jerusalems | The present Jerusalem (the legal system) versus the Jerusalem above (the church of Christ) |
| Identifying the true offspring | Not by bloodline but by promise: those who believe in Christ are the true offspring of Abraham |
| Galatians 4 | New Testament Echo | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| 4:4 "born to a woman" | Luke 2:7; John 1:14 | The incarnation |
| 4:4 "born under the law" | Luke 2:21, 41-42 | Christ keeping the law |
| 4:5 "redeem those who were under the law" | Matthew 1:21; Titus 2:14 | Christ's atoning redemption |
| 4:5 "adoption as children" | Romans 8:15; Ephesians 1:5 | The identity of the adopted |
| 4:6 "the Spirit of his Son" | Romans 8:9; Philippians 1:19 | The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ |
| 4:6 "Abba, Father!" | Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15 | Sharing prayer language with Christ |
| 4:7 "a son, then an heir of God" | Romans 8:17; Titus 3:7 | Joint heirs with Christ |
| 4:9 "turn back to the weak and miserable elemental principles" | Hebrews 6:1-6; 2 Peter 2:20-22 | The danger of regression |
| 4:19 "Christ is formed in you" | Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:27 | Conformity to the image of Christ |
| 4:26 "the Jerusalem that is above" | Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21:2 | The eschatological holy city |
| 4:30 "Throw out the servant and her son" | Hebrews 12:25-28 | The exhortation against regression |
This chapter employs an unbroken chain of family imagery — sons, heirs, bondservants, mothers, the travail of childbirth, Hagar and Sarah — to transform the question of justification into a question of identity. Paul is not merely discussing a doctrine; he is asking: are you a bondservant or a son? Were you born according to the flesh, or born through the promise?
| English Term | Original | Transliteration | Brief Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| The fullness of the time | πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου | plērōma tou chronou | The appointed time brought to completion — the critical kairos moment in salvation history |
| Sent out | ἐξαποστέλλω | exapostellō | To dispatch, to send out from the source: an implicit affirmation of Christ's pre-existence |
| Adoption as children | υἱοθεσία | huiothesia | A technical term from Roman adoption law — the complete legal transfer of status |
| Abba | Αββα | abba | Aramaic for "father": appearing in three New Testament passages (Mark 14:36 + Romans 8:15 + Galatians 4:6) |
| Elemental principles of the world | στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου | stoicheia tou kosmou | Letters / elements / spiritual powers: an enslaving, rudimentary religious system |
| Guardian (custodian) | ἐπίτροπος | epitropos | Protector, custodian |
| Steward | οἰκονόμος | oikonomos | Manager of the household's property |
| Allegory | ἀλληγορούμενα | allēgoroumena | An allegorical reading: Paul uses this term explicitly only once in all his letters (4:24) |
| Formed | μορφόω | morphoō | To take on form and shape — to be sculpted: Christ being formed within the believer (4:19) |
| Travail | ὠδίνω | ōdinō | The labor pains of childbirth: Paul's maternal imagery |
| The Jerusalem above | ἡ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλήμ | hē anō Ierousalēm | The eschatological, heavenly Jerusalem: echoing Hebrews 12:22 and Revelation 21:2 |
| Through promise | δι' ἐπαγγελίας | di' epangelias | By means of the promise (in contrast to "according to the flesh") |
| Redeem | ἐξαγοράζω | exagorazō | "To buy out of the slave market": the same word as in Galatians 3:13 |
Galatians 4 follows a four-stage escalating structure, moving from the universal soteriological proclamation to its immediate application:
A. 4:1-7 Universal Proclamation of Redemption
"When the fullness of the time came... God sent out his Son"
Identity: bondservant → son
↓
B. 4:8-11 Diagnosis of the Present Situation
"Now that you have come to know God... why do you turn back?"
Problem: regressing from son back to bondservant
↓
C. 4:12-20 Personal Emotional Appeal
"My little children, of whom I am again in travail"
Relationship: from pastor to mother
↓
D. 4:21-31 Allegorical Scriptural Argument
Hagar and Sarah, the two Jerusalems
Verdict: throw out the servant
These four sections form a complete exhortation: first establish identity (you are a son), then diagnose the symptoms (you are regressing), then express emotion (my heart is breaking for you), and finally render the verdict (throw out the servant and her son). Gentle before firm, empathy before judgment — this is the mature rhythm of Paul's letters.
Galatians 4:4, "the fullness of the time" (πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου, plērōma tou chronou), finds several parallel expressions elsewhere in the New Testament:
| Passage | Expression |
|---|---|
| Galatians 4:4 | The fullness of the time |
| Ephesians 1:10 | "An administration of the fullness of the times" (πλήρωμα τῶν καιρῶν, plērōma tōn kairōn) |
| Mark 1:15 | "The time is fulfilled, and God's Kingdom is at hand" |
| Hebrews 1:1-2 | "In these last days ... has spoken to us by his Son" |
| Hebrews 9:26 | "But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed" |
| 1 Peter 1:20 | "But was revealed in this last age for your sake" |
The New Testament consistently proclaims: the coming of Christ was not an accidental event but the apex of God's appointed timetable, the focal point of the history of salvation running forward from Abraham through Moses and David.
| Passage | Expression |
|---|---|
| Exodus 4:22 | "Israel is my son, my firstborn" |
| 2 Samuel 7:14 | "I will be his father, and he will be my son" |
| Psalm 2:7 | "You are my son. Today I have become your father" |
| Hosea 11:1 | "I called my son out of Egypt" |
| John 1:12 | "But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children" |
| Romans 8:14-17 | "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God" |
| Galatians 4:5-7 | "That we might receive the adoption as children" |
| Galatians 3:26 | "For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus" |
| Ephesians 1:5 | "Having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself" |
| 1 John 3:1-2 | "We are children of God now" |
The summit of the entire Bible is "God gaining a family of children." From the election of Israel, to the house of David, to the Messiah, to the church, to the eschaton, "adoption as children" is one of the threads that runs through the entire Bible.
Galatians 4:5 uses the term huiothesia. Roman adoption law is an image of great importance in the New Testament. In Roman society, adoption was a legal act with the following distinctive features:
| Feature | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Complete transfer of identity | The adopted person received a family name, inheritance rights, and social standing fully identical to those of a natural-born son |
| Cancellation of prior debts | The debts of the adopted person's former family were automatically discharged |
| Irrevocability | Once adoption was confirmed by the court, it could not be reversed |
| Elective nature | A Roman family could proactively choose to adopt — this was commonly done by aristocratic families lacking a male heir |
| Potential superiority over birth children | The adopted person's standing could even surpass that of biological children (as when an emperor designated his successor) |
Many Roman emperors were adopted: Augustus was adopted by Caesar, Tiberius was adopted by Augustus, and Hadrian was adopted by Trajan. In Rome, adoption was regarded as a fully legitimate and fully permanent relationship.
Paul uses this imagery to tell Gentile believers: "You are not God's second-class child. You are not a 'stranger' mercifully permitted to draw near. You are a son fully received through legal proceedings, your standing fully identical to that of Jewish believers born into the flesh."
The word Αββα (abba) appears in the entire New Testament only three times:
| Passage | Setting |
|---|---|
| Mark 14:36 | Jesus praying in Gethsemane: "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you" |
| Romans 8:15 | "For you didn't receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" |
| Galatians 4:6 | "And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, 'Abba, Father!'" |
Notice: Jesus addresses the Father as "Abba," and Paul in Romans 8 and Galatians 4 both says that believers also address the Father as "Abba." Believers share with Christ the same prayer language of a son. This is the concrete expression of union with Christ in the life of prayer.
The Aramaic word Αββα originally means "Daddy" or "Father" (the word children use at home). This is the hallmark of Jesus' revolution in prayer. In Jewish tradition, Jews did not venture to address God with such an intimate term; they used "Our Father" (avinu, אבינו) or other more formal titles. Jesus inaugurated a new way of addressing the Father in the language of the home, and He bestowed this privilege on His believers.
The "Trinitarian prayer chain" of the three New Testament "Abba" passages: when read together, the three "Abba" passages form a complete Trinitarian picture of the prayer life:
This forms the "Trinitarian structure" of the Christian prayer life: believers, through the Spirit, united with the Son, cry "Abba" to the Father. These are not "three different prayers" but "the three Persons of the one God working together in prayer": the Spirit within us, the Son beside us, the Father receiving our prayer. This corresponds to Romans 8:26-27 ("In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don't know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can't be uttered") + 8:34 ("It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us") + 8:15 ("the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'"). Together these three passages form a complete "Trinitarian theology of prayer."
The application of the "Abba" prayer revolution for today's Chinese church: in Chinese culture, the term "father" tends to evoke the image of the "stern father" (reverence and distance) rather than the "loving father" (intimacy and safety). Many Chinese believers find it more natural to pray using "Lord" or "God" and find "Daddy" or "Abba" to feel irreverent. But Paul in Galatians 4:6 and Romans 8:15 explicitly tells us: this is the prayer language of sons and daughters. If you do not address God as "Father" in the intimate sense, you have not yet entered into "the prayer of a son." This is not irreverence; it is the privilege that Christ purchased for us. Do not allow the cultural shadow of the "stern father" to rob you of this intimacy that the gospel bestows.
This word appears in Galatians 4:3 and 4:9, as well as in Colossians 2:8 and 2:20. Scholarly debate over its meaning continues unabated:
| Interpretation | Representative Scholars | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Basic doctrines | Mainstream view among the church fathers | The law is the "elementary stage" of religion; Christ is the "advanced stage" |
| Physical elements (earth, water, fire, wind) | Greek philosophical background | The basic elements of the natural world |
| Spiritual powers (deified celestial bodies) | Most modern scholars | The ancient world believed the sun, moon, and stars were spiritual powers governing human life |
| Comprehensive system | F. F. Bruce and others | Any "rudimentary religious system that manages life through ritual and rules" — whether Jewish or pagan |
The most fitting reading is the comprehensive system interpretation. When Paul uses this word, he is referring both to the pagan spiritual forces the Gentiles formerly worshiped (4:8: "those who by nature are not gods") and to the legal system the Judaizers are imposing on the Galatians (4:10: observing "days, months, seasons, and years"). Both are fundamentally "slavery through ritual management of life."
Paul's use of the word "allegory" (ἀλληγορέω) in Galatians 4:24 became the common wellspring of two major traditions in the history of Christian interpretation, but these two traditions subsequently diverged in dramatically different directions:
| Dimension | Alexandrian School | Antiochene School |
|---|---|---|
| Key figures | (Transliterations omitted) | Theodore of Mopsuestia + Chrysostom (John Chrysostom) + Theodoret |
| Period | 2nd-4th centuries | 4th-5th centuries |
| Interpretive tendency | Inclined toward allegorization: virtually every Old Testament verse was thought to contain a "spiritual meaning" beneath the surface | Inclined toward literal + historical interpretation: wary of excessive allegorization |
| Philosophical background | Influenced by Platonism + Philo | Influenced by Aristotle, emphasizing the concreteness of history and text |
| Strength | Emphasized the overall coherence of Scripture and its Christ-centered focus | Respected the historical reality and authorial intent of Scripture |
| Danger | Runaway allegorization: any passage could be made to "say" anything | Excessive literalism: may miss the typological depth of a passage |
A representative controversy between the two schools concerns the interpretation of the Song of Solomon:
Paul's approach in Galatians 4 is the "common ancestor" of both schools. He explicitly uses the word "allegory" (the Alexandrians' basis), yet he also preserves the historical reality of Hagar and Sarah (the Antiochenes' basis). The Reformed approach to interpretation takes "the literal and historical sense" as its foundation while acknowledging "typological depth" (typological interpretation) — and this is precisely Paul's method in Galatians 4. This is the mainstream position of Chinese evangelical interpretation today: neither "over-allegorizing" (finding an allegory in every verse) nor "rigid literalism" (refusing to recognize any typology).
In 4:29, "he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit," Paul is drawing on a Jewish traditional reading of Genesis 21:9.
The Hebrew מְצַחֵק (meṣaḥeq) literally means "laughing at, playing with." But Jewish rabbinic literature (Genesis Rabbah 53:11) interpreted this word as a serious act of wickedness — possibly mockery, seduction, sexual assault, or attempted murder — although this goes beyond the literal meaning.
Paul evidently knew this Jewish interpretive tradition. He uses "persecuted" (ἐδίωκεν, ediōken) to render meṣaḥeq. This amounts to telling the Judaizers: even your own rabbinic tradition acknowledges that this was persecution. And you are now doing to the true children of promise exactly what Ishmael did to Isaac — persecuting those who are truly born according to the Spirit.
| Character | Identity and Positioning | Function in This Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| God (the Father) | The initiator who sends the Son | 4:4: "When the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son" |
| Christ (the Son) | The incarnate Redeemer | "Born to a woman, born under the law": bearing the full weight of the law's curse |
| The Holy Spirit | The Spirit of the Son | Entering the hearts of believers to cry "Abba, Father!" — a clear declaration of the Trinity |
| Abraham | The father of faith | His two sons become the allegorical representation of the two covenants |
| Hagar / Ishmael | The servant and the son born according to the flesh | Allegorically representing the Sinai covenant / the present Jerusalem / the legal system |
| Sarah / Isaac | The free woman and the son born through promise | Allegorically representing the covenant of promise / the Jerusalem above / the community justified by faith |
| Paul | The mother who preached the gospel | "My little children, of whom I am again in travail" |
| The Galatian believers | People who once loved Paul enough to pluck out their eyes for him | Now being divided away by "those people": Paul's heartbreak |
| "Those people" (the Judaizers) | Agitators masked by false zeal | Using "divisive zeal" to cut the believers away from Paul |
The difficulty of Galatians 4:21-31 lies in the fact that Paul reads a family story from Genesis as a contrast between two covenants. The key is not to indiscriminately allegorize every detail, but to grasp what Genesis itself already presents: two lines of birth — one arranged by human effort according to the flesh, and the other born through the divine promise. Paul uses this to show that those who rely on the law to establish their identity actually fall into bondage, while those who inherit the promise through faith are the true children of the free woman.