Berean Standard Bible
Galatians 4:26
26But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
Galatians 4:26 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
- New International Version (NIV)But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
- New King James Version (NKJV)but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Context of Galatians 4:26
24These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar. 25Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” 28Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
Read all of Galatians 4Galatians 4:26 word by word
ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ἥτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ ἡμῶν·Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Galatians 4:26
- Psalms 87:3Glorious things are ascribed to you, O city of God. Selah
- Isaiah 2:2In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
- Isaiah 52:9Break forth in joy, sing together, O ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 62:1For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still, until her righteousness shines like a bright light, her salvation like a blazing torch.
- Isaiah 65:18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.
- Isaiah 66:10Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her, all who love her. Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn over her,
- Joel 3:17Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, never again to be overrun by foreigners.
- Micah 4:1In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.
- Philippians 3:20But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
- Hebrews 12:22Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels
- Revelation 3:12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.
- Revelation 21:2I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- Galatians 4:22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
- Galatians 5:1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
- John 8:36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
- Romans 6:14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Commentaries on Galatians 4:26
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 26But Jerusalem which is above - The apostle still follows the Jewish allegory, showing not only how the story of Hagar and Sarah, Ishmael and Isaac, was allegorized, but pointing out also that even Jerusalem was the subject of allegory; for it was a maxim among the rabbins, that "whatsoever was in the earth, the same was also found in heaven for there is no matter, howsoever small, in this world, that has not something similar to it in the spiritual…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 26But Jerusalem which is above - The spiritual Jerusalem; the true church of God. Jerusalem was the place where God was worshipped, and hence, it became synonymous with the word church, or is used to represent the people of God. The word rendered “above,” ( ̓́ anō) means properly “up above,” that which is above; and hence, heavenly, celestial; Colossians 3:1-2; John 8:23. Here it means the heavenly or celestial Jerusalem; Revelation 21:2, “And I John saw…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-27Verses 21-27 The difference between believers who rested in Christ only, and those who trusted in the law, is explained by the histories of Isaac and Ishmael. These things are an allegory, wherein, beside the literal and historical sense of the words, the Spirit of God points out something further. Hagar and Sarah were apt emblems of the two different dispensations of the covenant. The heavenly Jerusalem, the true church from above, represented by Sarah…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 26Hagar represents slavery to human effort based on Mount Sinai (4:24–25). In contrast, Sarah represents freedom in the heavenly Jerusalem, God's ideal city. Abraham’s true children by faith now live under God's rule in Jesus Christ (3:29). she is our mother: Sarah’s son, Isaac, was freely given all of God's promises apart from the law of Moses. Similarly, Jews and Gentiles who live by faith in Jesus are Sarah’s true children. They receive God's promises to…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2626. This verse stands instead of the sentence which we should expect, to correspond to Ga 4:24, "One from Mount Sinai," namely, the other covenant from the heavenly mount above, which is (answers in the allegory to) Sarah. Jerusalem ... above--(He 12:22), "the heavenly Jerusalem." "New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God" (Re 3:12; 21:2). Here "the Messianic theocracy, which before Christ's second appearing is the Church, and after it…Read the comment
Topics related to Galatians 4:26
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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