Amplified Bible
Galatians 4:28
28And we, [believing] brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children [not merely of physical descent, like Ishmael, but are children born] of promise [born miraculously].
Galatians 4:28 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
- New International Version (NIV)Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
Context of Galatians 4:28
26But the Jerusalem above [that is, the way of faith, represented by Sarah] is free; she is our mother. 27For it is written [in the Scriptures], “Rejoice, o barren woman who has not given birth; Break forth into a [joyful] shout, you who are not in labor; For the desolate woman has many more children Than she who has a husband.” And we, [believing] brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children [not merely of physical descent, like Ishmael, but are children born] of promise [born miraculously]. 29But as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh persecuted the son who was born according to [the promise and working of] the Spirit, so it is now also. 30But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman [Hagar] and her son [Ishmael], For never shall the son of the bondwoman be heir and share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.”
Read all of Galatians 4Galatians 4:28 word by word
ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, κατὰ Ἰσαὰκ ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐστέ.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Galatians 4:28
- Galatians 4:23But the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth, while the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise.
- Galatians 3:29And if you belong to Christ [if you are in Him], then you are Abraham’s descendants, and [spiritual] heirs according to [God’s] promise.
- Acts 3:25You are the sons (descendants) of the prophets and [heirs] of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed (descendant) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
- Romans 4:13For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through [observing the requirements of] the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
- Romans 9:8That is, it is not the children of the body [Abraham’s natural descendants] who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are counted as [Abraham’s true] descendants.
Commentaries on Galatians 4:28
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 28Now we - Who believe in the Lord Jesus, are the children of promise - are the spiritual offspring of the Messiah, the seed of Abraham, in whom the promise stated that all the nations of the earth should be blessed.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 28Now we, brethren - We who are Christians. Are the children of the promise - We so far resemble Isaac, that there are great and precious promises made to us. We are not in the condition of Ishmael, to whom no promise was made.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 28-31Verses 28-31 The history thus explained is applied. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free. If the privileges of all believers were so great, according to the new covenant, how absurd for the Gentile converts to be under that law, which could not deliver the unbelieving Jews from bondage or condemnation! We should not have found out this allegory in the history of Sarah and Hagar, if it had not been shown to us, yet we…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 28-31Paul uses the story of Hagar and Sarah in 4:21–27 to explain the situation in Galatia. Isaac represents those born through God's promise (see 3:8) by the Spirit's power (3:2–5; see also Ephesians 1:13–14). These people trust in God for salvation through Christ by faith. Ishmael represents those who think following the law of Moses will make them acceptable to God (Galatians 3:10–11). This idea would have surprised the Judaizers, who believed they were…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2828. we--The oldest manuscripts and versions are divided between "we" and "ye." "We" better accords with Ga 4:26, "mother of us." children of promise--not children after the flesh, but through the promise (Ga 4:23, 29, 31). "We are" so, and ought to wish to continue so.Read the comment
Topics related to Galatians 4:28
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Galatians 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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