Galatians 4:26

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

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. 25Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She is like Jerusalem today because she and her children are slaves. But 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.” 28Now you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac.

Galatians 4:26 word by word

ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ἥτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ ἡμῶν·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• JerusalemἹερουσαλήμHierousalēm · JerusalemG2419
• which isὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• aboveἄνωanō · aboveG507
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• freeἐλεύθεροςeleutheros · free/freedomG1658
• whichὅστιςhostis hētis ho6ti · who/whichG3748
• the motherμήτηρmētēr · motherG3384
• of usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956

Cross-references for Galatians 4:26

• Psalms 87:3Glorious things are said about you, O city of God! Selah
• Isaiah 2:2In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established as the highest of the mountains and raised above the hills. All the nations will stream to it.
• Isaiah 52:9Break out into shouts of joy, ruins of Jerusalem. The Lord will comfort his people. He will reclaim Jerusalem.
• Isaiah 62:1For Zion’s sake I will not remain silent. For Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until its righteousness shines like the dawn and its salvation burns brightly like a torch.
• Isaiah 65:18Be glad, and rejoice forever in what I’m going to create, because I’m going to create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people to be a joy.
• Isaiah 66:10All who love Jerusalem, be happy and rejoice with her. All who mourn for her, be glad with her.
• Joel 3:17“You will know that I am the Lord your God. I live on my holy mountain, Zion. Jerusalem will be holy. Foreigners will never invade it again.
• Micah 4:1In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established as the highest of the mountains and raised above the hills. People will stream to it.
• Philippians 3:20We, however, are citizens of heaven. We look forward to the Lord Jesus Christ coming from heaven as our Savior.
• Hebrews 12:22Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to tens of thousands of angels joyfully gathered together
• Revelation 3:12I will make everyone who wins the victory a pillar in the temple of my God. They will never leave it again. I will write on them the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from my God), and my new name.
• Revelation 21:2Then I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, dressed like a bride ready for her husband.
• Galatians 4:22Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by a woman who was a slave and the other by a free woman.
• 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.
• John 8:36So if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free.
• Romans 6:14Certainly, sin shouldn’t have power over you because you’re not controlled by God’s laws, but by God’s favor.

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

• Abraham
• Church
• Justification
• Parables
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Jerusalem
• Doubt
• Flesh
• Heaven
• Observe
• Sarah
• Zealously
• Abraham
• Allegory
• Citizenship

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