the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative plural feminine
are
εἰσίeisí
G1526
they are
the
διαθῆκαι,diathēkai
G1242
properly · noun — nominative plural feminine
two
δύοduo
G1417
"two" · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
covenants
διαθήκηdiathḗkē
G1242
properly
one
μίαmia
G1520
one · adjective — nominative singular feminine
from
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
mount
ὄρουςorous
G3735
perhaps akin to G142 (αἴρω) · noun — genitive singular neuter, a place
Sinai
ΣινᾶSina
G4614
Sina (i.e. Sinai) · noun — genitive singular neuter, a place
gendereth
γεννῶσαgennōsa
G1080
to procreate (properly · verb — present active participle, nominative singular feminine
to
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
bondage
δουλείανdouleian
G1397
slavery (ceremonially or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
which
ἥτιςhētis
G3748
which some · relative pronoun — nominative singular feminine
is
ἐστίestí
G2076
he (she or it) is
Agar
Ἁγάρ.Hagar
G28
Hagar · noun — nominative singular feminine, a proper name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 21:9-13 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
Genesis 16:8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
Genesis 16:15-16 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
Genesis 25:12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham:
Hosea 11:10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
Matthew 13:35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been ke…
1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Hebrews 10:15-18 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Galatians 4:21–end
In these verses the apostle illustrates the difference between believers who rested in Christ only and those judaizers who trusted in the law, by a comparison taken from the story of Isaac and Ishmael. This he introduces in such a manner as was proper to strike and impress their minds, and to convince them of their great weakness in departing from the truth, and suffering themselves to be deprived of the liberty of the gospel: Tell me, says he, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? He takes it for granted that they did hear the law, for among the Jews it was wont to be read in their public assemblies every sabbath day; and, since they were so very fond of being under…
are an allegory--rather, "are allegorical," that is, have another besides the literal meaning.
these are the two covenants--"these [women] are (that is, mean; omit 'the' with all the oldest manuscripts) two covenants." As among the Jews the bondage of the mother determined that of the child, the children of the free covenant of promise, answering to Sarah, are free; the children of the legal covenant of bondage are not so.
one from--that is, taking his origin from Mount Sinai. Hence, it appears, he is treating of the moral law (Gal 3:19) chiefly (Heb 12:18). Paul was familiar with the district of Sinai in Arabia (Gal 1:17), having gone thither after his conversion. At the gloomy scene of…
Which things are an allegory - They are to be understood spiritually; more being intended in the account than meets the eye.
Allegory, from αλλος, another, and αγορεω, or αγορευω, to speak, signifies a thing that is a representative of another, where the literal sense is the representative of a spiritual meaning; or, as the glossary expresses it, ἑτερως κατα μεταφρασιν νοουμενα, και ου κατα την αναγνωσιν· "where the thing is to be understood differently in the interpretation than it appears in the reading."
Allegories are frequent in all countries, and are used by all writers. In the life of Homer, the author, speaking of the marriage of Jupiter and Juno, related by that poet, says: δοκει τ…
The Church Fathers
Allegory is properly a term in the art of grammar. How it differs from metaphor and other figures of speech we learn as children. It presents one thing in words and signifies another in sense. … Understanding this, Paul (who had a certain knowledge of secular literature also) used the name of the figure of speech and called it allegory according to the usage of his own circle.
These women represent the two covenants. Moses, taking the blood of a calf in a vessel, sprinkled the people, saying "this is the blood of the covenant, etc." … The law was given on Mount Sinai. In reciting it to the people, Moses called this the book of the testament. He then sprinkled the people with blood, as I have said. This law held sinners as offenders. They soon began to be slaves of sin, as if they had been made sons of Hagar, as if returning to slavery.
Under the sure guidance of the apostle we see how clearly he shows that these two are to be taken allegorically. One may also consider the sons of Keturah under some figure of things to come. The fact that such people did these things is recorded not without purpose but under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We will perhaps find that heresies and schisms are signified in this allegory. For these are sons of the free woman, that is, of the church, and yet they again revert to life according to the flesh, not spiritually according to a promise.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Allegory — Used only in Gal. 4:24, where the apostle refers to the history of Isaac the free-born, and Ishmael the slave-born, and makes use of it allegorically. Every parable is an allegory. Nathan (2 Sam.…
Hagar — Flight, or, according to others, stranger, an Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid (Gen. 16:1; 21:9, 10), whom she gave to Abraham (q.v.) as a secondary wife (16:2). When she was about to become a mother she…
Heaven — (1.) Definitions. The phrase “heaven and earth” is used to indicate the whole universe (Gen. 1:1; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:24). According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens, (a) The firmament,…
Sarah — Princess, the wife and at the same time the half-sister of Abraham (Gen. 11:29; 20:12). This name was given to her at the time that it was announced to Abraham that she should be the mother of the…
Church Of Israel · A type of the church of Christ — A type of the church of Christ
Hagar · General references — General references
Justification · 23:6; — 23:6;
Liberty, Christian · Typified — Typified
Parables · The two covenants — The two covenants
Sinai · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Which things are an allegory,.... Or "are allegorized": so Sarah and Hagar were allegorized by Philo the Jew (p), before they were by the apostle. Sarah he makes to signify virtue, and Hagar the whole circle of arts and sciences, which are, or should be, an handmaid to virtue; but these things respecting Hagar and Sarah, the bondwoman and the free, and their several offspring, are much better allegorized by the apostle here. An allegory is a way of speaking in which one thing is expressed by another, and is a continued metaphor; and the apostle's meaning is, that these things point at some other things; have another meaning in them, a mystical and spiritual one, besides the literal; and whic…
Galatians 4:21-26
21. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
21. Dicite mihi, qui sub Lege vultis esse, Legem non auditis?
22. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
22. Scriptum est enim, quod Abraham duos filios habuit; unum ex ancilla, alterum ex libera.
23. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
23. Sed qui erat ex ancilla, secundum carnem erat genitus: qui vero ex libera, per promissionem.
24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
24. Quae…
Paul connects Abraham’s human attempt to fulfill God’s promises (4:23) with the human attempt in Galatia and elsewhere to attain salvation by keeping the law. Hagar’s status as a slave-wife corresponds with Israel’s enslaved status under the law. This status contrasts with the status of those who have faith in Christ (4:26-27).
4:24 serve as an illustration (literally are being allegorized): In allegorical writing, every character and event is symbolic of a deeper meaning. Allegorical interpretations often ignore the historical meaning of the text and invent fanciful meanings. Here, by contrast, Paul understood the story correctly in its historical context and recognized the story as histor…
