Galatians 4:24

Galatians 4:24 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
• New International Version (NIV)These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.
• New King James Version (NKJV)which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—

Context of Galatians 4:24

22Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by a woman who was a slave and the other by a free woman. 23Now, the son of the slave woman was conceived in a natural way, but the son of the free woman was conceived through a promise ⌞made to Abraham⌟. I’m going to use these historical events as an illustration. The women illustrate two arrangements. The one woman, Hagar, is the arrangement made on Mount Sinai. Her children are born into slavery. 25Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She is like Jerusalem today because she and her children are slaves. 26But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

Galatians 4:24 word by word

ἅτινά ἐστιν ἀλληγορούμενα· αὗται γάρ εἰσιν δύο διαθῆκαι, μία μὲν ἀπὸ ὄρους Σινᾶ εἰς δουλείαν γεννῶσα ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἁγάρ.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Which thingsὅστιςhostis hētis ho6ti · who/whichG3748
• areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• an allegoryἀλληγορέωallēgoreo · to use an analogyG238
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• theseοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• theδιαθήκηdiathēkē · covenantG1242
• twoδύοduo · twoG1417
• the oneεἷςheis · oneG1520
• ·μένmen · on the other handG3303
• fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
• the mountὄροςoros · mountainG3735
• SinaiΣινᾶSina · (Mount) SinaiG4614
• which genderethγεννάωgennaō · to begetG1080
• toεἰςeis · towardG1519
• bondageδουλείαdouleia · slaveryG1397
• AgarἌγαρAgar · HagarG28
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588

Cross-references for Galatians 4:24

• Ezekiel 20:49Then I said, “Oh no! Almighty Lord, no! The people already say that I’m only telling stories.”
• Hosea 11:10“My people will follow me when I roar like a lion. When I roar, my children will come trembling from the west.
• Matthew 13:35So what the prophet had said came true: “I will open my mouth to illustrate points. I will tell what has been hidden since the world was made.”
• 1 Corinthians 10:11These things happened to make them an example for others. These things were written down as a warning for us who are living in the closing days of history.
• Hebrews 11:19Abraham believed that God could bring Isaac back from the dead. Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead in a figurative sense.
• Galatians 4:25Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She is like Jerusalem today because she and her children are slaves.
• Luke 22:19Then Jesus took bread and spoke a prayer of thanksgiving. He broke the bread, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given up for you. Do this to remember me.”
• 1 Corinthians 10:4and all of them drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them, and that rock was Christ.
• Galatians 3:15Brothers and sisters, let me use an example from everyday life. No one can cancel a person’s will or add conditions to it once that will is put into effect.
• Hebrews 7:22In this way Jesus has become the guarantee of a better promise.
• Hebrews 8:6Jesus has been given a priestly work that is superior to the Levitical priests’ work. He also brings a better promise from God that is based on better guarantees.
• Hebrews 9:15Because Christ offered himself to God, he is able to bring a new promise from God. Through his death he paid the price to set people free from the sins they committed under the first promise. He did this so that those who are called can be guaranteed an inheritance that will last forever.
• Hebrews 10:15The Holy Spirit tells us the same thing:
• Hebrews 12:24You have come to Jesus, who brings the new promise from God, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better message than Abel’s.
• Hebrews 13:20The God of peace brought the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, back to life through the blood of an eternal promise.
• Galatians 5:1Christ has freed us so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. Therefore, be firm ⌞in this freedom⌟, and don’t become slaves again.

Commentaries on Galatians 4:24

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 24Which things are an allegory - They are to be understood spiritually; more being intended in the account than meets the eye. Allegory, from , another, and , or , 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, ̔ , · "where the thing is to be understood differently in the interpretation than it appears in the reading." Allegories are…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 24Which things - The different accounts of Ishmael and Isaac. Are an allegory - May be regarded allegorically, or as illustrating great principles in regard to the condition of slaves and freemen; and may therefore be used to illustrate the effect of servitude to the Law of Moses compared with the freedom of the gospel. He does not mean to say that the historical record of Moses was not true, or was merely allegorical; nor does he mean to say that Moses…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. 24serve as illustrations (literally are being allegorized): In allegorical writing, every character and event symbolizes a deeper meaning. Allegorical interpretations often ignore the text's historical meaning and create imaginative meanings. Here, however, Paul understood the story in its historical context and saw it as history. But he interpreted the story's characters as symbols of the current situation. Paul's opponents were also using allegorical…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2424. 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…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 4:24

• Abraham
• Allegory
• Hagar
• Justification
• Parables
• Sinai

In the dictionaries

• Sinai
• Sinai, or Sinai
• Sinai, Horeb
• Allegory
• Doubt
• Flesh
• Hagar
• Observe
• Sarah
• Zealously

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