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

24This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. 25Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. 27For it is written, “Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; For more numerous are the children of the desolate Than of the one who has a husband.” 28And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.

Galatians 4:26 word by word

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

• the JerusalemἹερουσαλήμHierousalēm · JerusalemG2419
• aboveἄνωanō · aboveG507
• is freeἐλεύθεροςeleutheros · free/freedomG1658
• she is our motherμήτηρmētēr · motherG3384

Cross-references for Galatians 4:26

• Psalms 87:3Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. Selah.
• Isaiah 2:2Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.
• Isaiah 52:9Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places 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 quiet, Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, And her salvation like a torch that is burning.
• Isaiah 65:18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness.
• Isaiah 66:10“Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,
• Joel 3:17Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, And strangers will pass through it no more.
• Micah 4:1And it will come about in the last days That 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 3:20For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
• Hebrews 12:22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,
• Revelation 3:12He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
• Revelation 21:2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
• Galatians 4:22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman.
• Galatians 5:1It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
• John 8:36So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
• Romans 6:14For sin shall not be master over you, for 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

• 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