Galatians 4:25

Galatians 4:25 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
• New International Version (NIV)Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
• New King James Version (NKJV)for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—

Context of Galatians 4:25

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⌟. 24I’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. Hagar 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. 27Scripture says: “Rejoice, women who cannot get pregnant, who cannot give birth to any children! Break into shouting, those who feel no pains of childbirth! Because the deserted woman will have more children than the woman who has a husband.”

Galatians 4:25 word by word

τὸ δὲ Ἁγὰρ Σινᾶ ὄρος ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ, συστοιχεῖ δὲ τῇ νῦν Ἰερουσαλήμ, δουλεύει γὰρ μετὰ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• thisὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• AgarἌγαρAgar · HagarG28
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• mountὄροςoros · mountainG3735
• SinaiΣινᾶSina · (Mount) SinaiG4614
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• ArabiaἈραβίαArabia · ArabiaG688
• andδέde · thenG1161
• answereth toσυστοιχέωsustoicheō · to correspond toG4960
• JerusalemἹερουσαλήμHierousalēm · JerusalemG2419
• nowνῦνnun · nowG3568
• is in bondageδουλεύωdouleuō · be a slaveG1398
• withμετάmeta · with/afterG3326
• herαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• childrenτέκνονteknon · childG5043

Cross-references for Galatians 4:25

• Galatians 4:24I’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.
• Deuteronomy 33:2He said, “The Lord came from Sinai. For his people he rose from Seir ⌞like the sun⌟. He appeared like sunshine from Mount Paran. He came with tens of thousands of holy ones. On his right was a raging fire for them.
• Judges 5:5and the mountains shook in the presence of the Lord God of Sinai, in the presence of the Lord God of Israel.
• Psalms 68:8the earth quaked and the sky poured in the presence of the God of Sinai, in the presence of the God of Israel.
• Hebrews 12:18You have not come to something that you can feel, to a blazing fire, to darkness, to gloom, to a storm,
• Galatians 1:17I didn’t even go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went to Arabia and then came back to Damascus.
• Acts 1:11They asked, “Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking at the sky? Jesus, who was taken from you to heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven.”
• Matthew 23:37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you were not willing!
• Luke 13:34“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you were not willing!
• Luke 19:44They will level you to the ground and kill your people. One stone will not be left on top of another, because you didn’t recognize the time when God came to help you.”

Commentaries on Galatians 4:25

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 25For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia - . This is the common reading; but it is read differently in some of the most respectable MSS., versions, and fathers; thus: ͅ , for this Sinai is a mountain of Arabia; the word , Agar, being omitted. This reading is supported by CFG, some others, the Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and one copy of the Itala; by Epiphanius, Damascenus, Ambrosiaster, Jerome, Augustine, Hilary, Sedulius, and Bede; and the word is…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 25For this Agar is Mount Sinai - This Hagar well represents the Law given on Mount Sinai. No one can believe that Paul meant to say that Hagar was literally Mount Sinai. A great deal of perplexity has been felt in regard to this passage, and Bentley proposed to cancel it altogether as an interpolation. But there is no good authority for this. Several manuscripts and versions read it, “For this Sinai is a mountain in Arabia;” others, “to this Hagar Jerusalem…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. 25Both Hagar and Mount Sinai were symbols of Jerusalem. They represented Judaism during Paul's time. Judaism continued to trust in the law and in being Abraham's descendants for their status before God (see John 8:31–59). They rejected Jesus as Messiah and remained bound to the law (Galatians 3:23–24; 4:1–3). Mount Sinai in Arabia: Traditionally, Mount Sinai is located in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. However, some suggest that in Arabia means Mount Sinai…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2525. Translate, "For this word, Hagar, is (imports) Mount Sinai in Arabia (that is, among the Arabians--in the Arabian tongue)." So Chrysostom explains. Haraut, the traveller, says that to this day the Arabians call Sinai, "Hadschar," that is, Hagar, meaning a rock or stone. Hagar twice fled into the desert of Arabia (Ge 16:1-16; 21:9-21): from her the mountain and city took its name, and the people were called Hagarenes. Sinai, with its rugged rocks, far…Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 4:25

• Abraham
• Hagar
• Justification
• Parables
• Sinai

In the dictionaries

• Arabia
• Jerusalem
• Sinai
• Sinai, or Sinai
• Arabia, Arabian
• Sinai, Horeb
• Doubt
• Flesh
• Observe
• Sarah

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