New English Translation
Galatians 4:21
21Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law?
Galatians 4:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
- New International Version (NIV)Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
Context of Galatians 4:21
19My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you! 20I wish I could be with you now and change my tone of voice, because I am perplexed about you. Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law? 22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise.
Read all of Galatians 4Galatians 4:21 word by word
Λέγετέ μοι, οἱ ὑπὸ νόμον θέλοντες εἶναι, τὸν νόμον οὐκ ἀκούετε;Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Galatians 4:21
- Galatians 4:9But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless basic forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?
- Galatians 3:10For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.”
- Romans 6:14For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.
- Romans 7:5For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.
- Romans 9:30What shall we say then? – that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith,
- Romans 10:3For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
- Matthew 21:42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
- Matthew 22:29Jesus answered them, “You are deceived, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God.
- John 5:46If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.
- John 10:34Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?
- John 12:34Then the crowd responded, “We have heard from the law that the Christ will remain forever. How can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”
- John 15:25Now this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without reason.’
- Romans 3:19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
Commentaries on Galatians 4:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Ye that desire to be under the law - Ye who desire to incorporate the Mosaic institutions with Christianity, and thus bring yourselves into bondage to circumcision, and a great variety of oppressive rites. Do ye not hear the law? - Do ye not understand what is written in the Pentateuch relative to Abraham and his children. It is evident that the word law is used in two senses in this verse. It first means the Mosaic institutions; secondly, the Pentateuch…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Tell me - In order to show fully the nature and the effect of the Law, Paul here introduces an illustration from an important fact in the Jewish history. This allegory has given great perplexity to expositors, and, in some respects, it is attended with real difficulty. An examination of the difficulties will be found in the larger commentaries. My object, without examining the expositions which have been proposed, will be to state, in as few words as…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. 21Do you not understand what the law actually says?: The Galatians tried to achieve righteousness through the law, but they did not truly understand its meaning (see Luke 24:25–27; 1 Timothy 1:7).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. desire--of your own accord madly courting that which must condemn and ruin you. do ye not hear--do ye not consider the mystic sense of Moses' words? [Grotius]. The law itself sends you away from itself to Christ [Estius]. After having sufficiently maintained his point by argument, the apostle confirms and illustrates it by an inspired allegorical exposition of historical facts, containing in them general laws and types. Perhaps his reason for using…Read the comment
Topics related to Galatians 4:21
In the dictionaries
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
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