Galatians 4:23

Galatians 4:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
• New International Version (NIV)His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,

Context of Galatians 4:23

21I say this to you people who want God's Law to have authority over you. Think carefully about what that Law really says. 22The Bible says that Abraham had two sons. The mother of one of them was a slave. The mother of the other son was a free woman. Hagar was a slave. Her son was born as a result of what Abraham himself decided. But Abraham's wife, Sarah, gave birth to the other son. That son was born as a result of what God had promised to Abraham. 24These two women are like pictures of two agreements that God made with his people. Hagar is like the agreement that God made on Sinai mountain. That agreement causes people to become slaves. 25Hagar is like a picture of Sinai mountain in Arabia. Also, she is like the city of Jerusalem here on earth now, because that city and its people are slaves under the authority of God's Law.

Galatians 4:23 word by word

ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται, ὁ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἐλευθέρας δι᾽ ἐπαγγελίας.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butἀλλάalla · butG235
• heὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• ·μένmen · on the other handG3303
• ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• the bondwomanπαιδίσκηpaidiskē · maidservantG3814
• was bornγεννάωgennaō · to begetG1080
• afterκατάkata · according toG2596
• the fleshσάρξsarx · fleshG4561
• butδέde · thenG1161
• the freewomanἐλεύθεροςeleutheros · free/freedomG1658
• byδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• promiseἐπαγγελίαepaggelia · promiseG1860

Cross-references for Galatians 4:23

• Romans 9:7Not all of them are true descendants of Abraham. God told Abraham, ‘It is only Isaac that I will call the father of your descendants.’
• Genesis 17:15Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for your wife, do not call her Sarai any more. Instead, her name will be Sarah.
• Genesis 18:10Then one of the men said, ‘I will certainly return to you at about this time next year. At that time Sarah, your wife, will have a son!’ Sarah was listening to all this. She was at the door of the tent, near to where they were talking.
• Genesis 21:1The Lord was kind to Sarah. He did what he had promised to do for her.
• Romans 4:18Abraham continued to trust God. He hoped to receive what God had promised. He continued to hope even when he had no good reason to hope. That is why he became the ancestor of many different people. It happened just like God had said: ‘You will have very many descendants.’
• Romans 10:8But the Bible says: ‘God's message is near you. You can talk about it, and you can think about it.’ That is the same message that we are teaching to people. We tell people to believe in Jesus Christ.
• Hebrews 11:11Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were too old to have children. But Abraham believed God's promise that they would have children. He trusted God to do what he had promised. As a result of his faith, God made it possible for him and Sarah to have a baby.

Commentaries on Galatians 4:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23Was born after the flesh - Ishmael was born according to the course of nature, his parents being both of a proper age, so that there was nothing uncommon or supernatural in his birth: this is the proper meaning of the apostle's , after or according to the flesh, and answers to the Hebrew phrase, בשר דרך על al derec basar, according to the manner of the flesh, i.e. naturally, according to the common process of nature. By promise - Both Abraham and Sarah…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh - In the ordinary course of nature, without any special promise, or any unusual divine interposition, as in the case of Isaac. But he of the free woman … - The birth of Isaac was in accordance with a special promise, and by a remarkable divine interposition; see Genesis 18:10; Genesis 21:1-2; Hebrews 11:11-12; compare the notes at Romans 4:19-21. The idea here of Paul is, that the son of the slave…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. 22-23Ishmael was the son of the slave woman, Hagar. She was Sarah's servant (see Genesis 16:15). Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham, trying to get the heir God promised through human efforts (see Genesis 16:1–4). Isaac, Sarah's son, was born to the free woman (see Genesis 21:2–3). God did something miraculous to help Sarah have this baby. This fulfilled God's promise (see Genesis 17:15–21).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. after the flesh--born according to the usual course of nature: in contrast to Isaac, who was born "by virtue of the promise" (so the Greek), as the efficient cause of Sarah's becoming pregnant out of the course of nature (Ro 4:19). Abraham was to lay aside all confidence in the flesh (after which Ishmael was born), and to live by faith alone in the promise (according to which Isaac was miraculously born, contrary to all calculations of flesh and…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 4:23

• Abraham
• Justification
• Parables

In the dictionaries

• Doubt
• Flesh
• Observe
• Sarah
• Zealously
• Abraham
• Allegory
• Freewoman
• Galatians, Epistle to the
• Handmaid

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