Galatians 4:26 Komentář

The apostle, in this chapter, is still carrying on the same general design as in the former - to recover these Christians from the impressions made upon them by the judaizing teachers, and to represent their weakness and folly in suffering themselves to be drawn away from the gospel doctrine of justification, and to be deprived of their freedom from the bondage of the law of Moses. For this purpose he makes use of various considerations; such as, I. The great excellence of the gospel state above the legal (Gal 4:1-7). II. The happy change that was made in them at their conversion (Gal 4:8-11). III. The affection they had had for him and his ministry (Gal 4:12-16). IV. The character of the false teachers by whom they had been perverted (Gal 4:17, Gal 4:18). V. The very tender affection he had for them (Gal 4:19, Gal 4:20). VI. The history of Isaac and Ishmael, by a comparison taken from which he illustrates the difference between such as rested in Christ and such as trusted in the law. And in all these, as he uses great plainness and faithfulness with them, so he expresses the tenderest concern for them.

INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS 4 In this chapter the apostle discourses concerning the abrogation of the ceremonial law, under which the Old Testament saints were, being as children under tutors; blames the Galatians for returning to it when they were freed from it; puts them in mind of their former affection to him and to his ministry; describes the false apostles, who had been the occasion of their departure from the truth, and by a beautiful allegory sets forth the difference between the legal and Gospel dispensations. And whereas in the latter part of the preceding chapter he had compared the law to a schoolmaster, under which the Jews were till Christ came; he here makes use of another simile to express the same thing by, which is that of an heir while under age being under tutors and governors, until the time fixed by the parent's will, Gal 4:1 an accommodation of which simile is in Gal 4:3, by which the Jews under the former dispensation are represented as children, and as in a state of bondage to the ceremonial law, from which there is a deliverance by Christ at the appointed time of the Father, by whom he was sent for that purpose; the act of sending is ascribed to God the Father; the person sent is described as the Son of God; the time when is called the fulness of time; and the circumstances under which he was sent were, that he was made of a woman, and made under the law, Gal 4:4, the ends of his being sent were to redeem his people from it, who were under it; and that they might receive the adoption of children, the privilege and spirit of it, Gal 4:5. Hence because they were the sons of God, and as a fruit and effect of the redemption of them by Christ, the Spirit of God is sent down into their hearts, to make known and witness their adoption, Gal 4:6, and the benefits arising from hence are, that such are or should be no longer the servants of the law, but are children and free from it, and are heirs of God, Gal 4:7, and that the grace of God might appear the more illustrious in this privilege of sonship, and the folly of the Galatians be more manifest in returning to the ceremonial law, notice is taken of what they were and did before conversion, and what they were inclined to now; that whereas whilst they were ignorant of God, they served nominal fictitious deities, such as were not by nature gods; and yet now, though they knew God, and were known of him, seemed desirous of being in a state of servitude and bondage to the weak and beggarly elements of the ceremonial law, Gal 4:8, of which instances are given in their observing days, months, times and years, Gal 4:10, which gave the apostle a great deal of concern, fearing his labour among them was in vain, and to no purpose, Gal 4:11, wherefore he entreats them as his brethren to imitate him, who being a Jew, yet had relinquished the observation of the ceremonial law, Gal 4:12, and then he reminds them of their former regard unto him; how that though he preached the Gospel to them through much weakness, yet they did not despise him and reject him on account of his infirmities, but received him with all the tokens of respect imaginable, as if he had been an angel; yea, as if he had been Christ himself, Gal 4:13, who then reckoned themselves happy persons on account of the Gospel he preached to them, and then had such an affection for him, that if it had been needful they would have given their eyes unto him; and yet now he was become their enemy for preaching the same truths he did then, justification by faith in Christ's righteousness and the abrogation of the law, Gal 4:15, next he gives an account of the false apostles, who pretended a zealous affection for the Galatians; which was not a good one, nor with right views, Gal 4:17, though zeal in a good cause, and which continues, is very commendable, Gal 4:18, and such a constant and hearty attachment had the apostle to them; wherefore he calls them his little children, says he travailed in birth on their account, it being his earnest desire that Christ might appear to be formed in them, Gal 4:19, wherefore since he was in doubt and distress about them, he was very desirous of being with them, and to alter his way of arguing with them; and from the law, and not the Gospel, show them their mistake and folly, Gal 4:20, which he does in the following allegorical way, by observing that Abraham had two sons, the one by a servant maid, the other by his lawful wife; the one was after the flesh, the other by promise; which allegorically signified the two covenants of Sinai and of Sion, Gal 4:22. Agar the bondmaid represented the covenant made at Mount Sinai in Arabia, under which the carnal Jews and their posterity were in a state of bondage; and Sarah the free woman, the covenant of grace under the Gospel dispensation and the Gospel church state, which is from above, free, fertile, and numerous, Gal 4:25, which is confirmed, Gal 4:27, by a passage out of Isa 44:1 and as these two women were typical of the two covenants, so their respective offspring represented the two sorts of professors, legalists and evangelical Christians. True believers in Christ are like Isaac, the children of the promise; legalists are like Ishmael, men after the flesh, and of the same persecuting spirit with him: wherefore as it was then, that carnal Ishmael persecuted spiritual Isaac, so at this time the carnal Jews persecuted the real Christians, Gal 4:28 nevertheless for the comfort of the latter, it is observed out of the Scripture that the former shall be cast out, and not be heir with them, Gal 4:30, and the conclusion of the whole is, that the saints under the Gospel dispensation are not in bondage to the law, but are made free by Christ; to which freedom they are called, and in which they should stand, Gal 4:31.

For it is written,.... Isa 44:1, which is cited to prove, that the heavenly Jerusalem, or Gospel church state, is the mother of us all, and has brought forth, and still will bring forth, many souls to Christ, even many more than were under the legal dispensation by the Jewish church, though the Lord was an husband to them, Jer 31:32. The words are, rejoice thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry thou that travailest not, for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband; by her that was "barren", and "bore" not, and "travailed" not, and was "desolate", is not meant the Gentile world, which before the coming of Christ was barren and destitute of the knowledge of him, and from among whom very few were called by grace; but the Gospel church in the first beginnings of it, in Christ's time, and especially about the time of his death, and before the pouring forth of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, when the number of its members were few; for the names of the disciples together were but 120, when it seemed to be barren, and desolate, and deprived of its husband Christ, but was quickly to have a large accession to, it, both of Jews and Gentiles; and therefore is called upon to "rejoice, break forth", and "cry"; that is, to break forth into songs of praise, and express her spiritual joy, by singing aloud, and setting forth in hymns and spiritual songs the glory of powerful and efficacious grace, in the conversion of such large numbers of souls, the like of which had never been known under the former administration. Three thousand were converted under one sermon, and added to this first Gospel church; and the number of its members still increased, and the number of the men that afterwards believed was about five thousand; and after this we hear of more believers being added to the Lord, both men and women; and also that a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith; and when out of this church, the apostles, and other preachers of the Gospel went everywhere into the Gentile world, thousands of souls were converted, and a large number of churches formed, and a spiritual seed has been preserved ever since; and in the latter day Zion will travail in birth, and bring forth a numerous offspring; a nation shall be born at once, and the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought in. Agreeably to this sense the Jewish writers, Jarchi, Kimchi, and Aben Ezra, understand this passage of Jerusalem; as does also the Chaldee paraphrase, which renders it thus: "Praise, O Jerusalem, which was as a barren woman that bringeth not forth; rejoice in praise, and be glad, who was as a woman which conceives not, for more are the children of Jerusalem forsaken than the children of the habitable city, saith the Lord.''

But in the times of the kingdom, the earth has been called again by Christ [to its pristine condition], and Jerusalem rebuilt after the pattern of the Jerusalem above, of which the prophet Isaiah says, "Behold, I have depicted thy walls upon my hands, and thou art always in my sight," And the apostle, too, writing to the Galatians, says in like manner, "But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." He does not say this with any thought of an erratic Aeon, or of any other power which departed from the Pleroma, or of Prunicus, but of the Jerusalem which has been delineated on [God's] hands. And in the Apocalypse John saw this new [Jerusalem] descending upon the new earth.

Do you know how, like a man, to enter "lawfully" upon this contest and "strive," [2 Timothy 2:5] that, in the might of the Holy Spirit, you choose this for yourself, that you may be crowned with a crown of light, and that they may lead you about in triumph through "the Jerusalem above"? [Galatians 4:26] If so be, then, that you long for all these things, conquer the body; conquer the appetites of the flesh; conquer the world in the Spirit of God; conquer these vain things of time, which pass away and grow old, and decay, and come to an end; conquer the dragon; [Revelation 12:7] conquer the lion; [1 Peter 5:8] conquer the serpent; [2 Corinthians 11:3] conquer Satan — through Jesus Christ, who does strengthen you by the hearing of His words and the divine Eucharist.

These things, brethren, I write to you concerning righteousness, not because I take anything upon myself, but because ye have invited me to do so. For neither I, nor any other such one, can come up to the wisdom of the blessed and glorified Paul. He, when among you, accurately and stedfastly taught the word of truth in the presence of those who were then alive. And when absent from you, he wrote you a letter, which, if you carefully study, you will find to be the means of building you up in that faith which has been given you, and which, being followed by hope, and preceded by love towards God, and Christ, and our neighbour, "is the mother of us all." For if any one be inwardly possessed of these graces, he hath fulfilled the command of righteousness, since he that hath love is far from all sin.

But we do confess that a kingdom is promised to us upon the earth, although before heaven, only in another state of existence; inasmuch as it will be after the resurrection for a thousand years in the divinely-built city of Jerusalem, "let down from heaven," [Revelation 21:2] which the apostle also calls "our mother from above;" [Galatians 4:26] and, while declaring that our πολίτευμα, or citizenship, is in heaven, he predicates of it that it is really a city in heaven. This both Ezekiel had knowledge of [Ezekiel 48:30-35] and the Apostle John beheld. [Revelation 21:10-23] And the word of the new prophecy which is a part of our belief, attests how it foretold that there would be for a sign a picture of this very city exhibited to view previous to its manifestation. This prophecy, indeed, has been very lately fulfilled in an expedition to the East. For it is evident from the testimony of even heathen witnesses, that in Judæa there was suspended in the sky a city early every morning for forty days. As the day advanced, the entire figure of its walls would wane gradually, and sometimes it would vanish instantly. We say that this city has been provided by God for receiving the saints on their resurrection, and refreshing them with the abundance of all really spiritual blessings, as a recompense for those which in the world we have either despised or lost; since it is both just and God-worthy that His servants should have their joy in the place where they have also suffered affliction for His name's sake. Of the heavenly kingdom this is the process. After its thousand years are over, within which period is completed the resurrection of the saints, who rise sooner or later according to their deserts there will ensue the destruction of the world and the conflagration of all things at the judgment: we shall then be changed in a moment into the substance of angels, even by the investiture of an incorruptible nature, and so be removed to that kingdom in heaven of which we have now been treating, just as if it had not been predicted by the Creator, and as if it were proving Christ to belong to the other god and as if he were the first and sole revealer of it.

But we do confess that a kingdom is promised to us upon the earth, although before heaven, only in another state of existence; inasmuch as it will be after the resurrection for a thousand years in the divinely-built city of Jerusalem, "let down from heaven," which the apostle also calls "our mother from above; " and, while declaring that our poli/teuma, or citizenship, is in heaven, he predicates of it that it is really a city in heaven.

I find it was in their foresight of all this, that the heavenly intelligences gazed with admiration on "the Jerusalem which is above," and by the mouth of Isaiah said long ago: "Who are these that fly as clouds, and as doves with their young ones, unto me? " Now, as Christ has prepared for us this ascension into heaven, He must be the Christ of whom Amos spoke: "It is He who builds His ascent up to the heavens," even for Himself and His people.

"If ye hasten to fly out of Egypt, and repair beyond the Red Sea into the wilderness "that is, from earthly intercourse to the Jerusalem above, which is the mother of the living;

Those therefore, who are born of her are not bondmen. Thus the type of the Jerusalem below was Hagar, as is plain from the mountain being so called; but of that which is above is the Church. Nevertheless he is not content with these types, but adds the testimony of Isaiah to what he has spoken. Having said that Jerusalem which is above "is our Mother," and having given that name to the Church, he cites the suffrage of the Prophet in his favor,

(Verses 25, 26.) For this is Hagar arising from Mount Sinai, in servitude, which is Agar. For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, which corresponds to the present Jerusalem, and is in servitude with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: Rejoice, barren one who does not bear, break forth and shout, you who do not travail, for many are the children of the desolate, more numerous than those of the one who has a husband. She did not conceive for a long time, before Christ was born of the Virgin, and she was barren: not yet with the laughter of the world did Isaac, born of the chosen father, resound with the voice of sublime teachings. For Abraham, also interpreted in our language as the chosen father, is referred to with resounding sound. But Hagar, which is interpreted as sojourning, that is, inhabiting, or pilgrimage, or stay, gives birth to Ishmael, who only hears God's commandments and does not become a rustic, bloodthirsty man, roaming the desert. He is an enemy to all his brothers born of a free woman and resists them with a hostile face. It is not surprising that the old Testament, which was established and written on Mount Sinai, which is in Arabia and is adjacent to the now existing Jerusalem, is not eternal: since the inhabitance is different from perpetual possession, and the name of Mount Sinai signifies temptation, and Arabia signifies decline: and on the contrary, the Jerusalem that is above, which is the free and mother of all saints, demonstrates that the present Jerusalem is below, and immersed in lowliness and humility. There are those who understand the two Testaments and other things in different ways: some interpret the divine Scripture, both the old and the new, according to the diversity of their own sense and judgment, either as a slave or as a free woman, and those who still serve the letter and have the spirit of fear in servitude, wish to be born of Hagar the Egyptian; but those who ascend to higher things and wish to understand allegorically what is written, are the children of Sarah, which in our language is translated as 'princess', in the feminine gender. And they claim this because of that necessity (or, let Al. claim it): that it would be unfair to consider Moses and all the prophets as being born from a slave woman, and indeed, any of the Gentiles as being born from a free woman. Hence, it is better that not only regarding those who are in the Church, according to the diversity of intellects as we said above, we consider some as slaves and others as free: but also regarding the same man, as long as he follows the story, we consider him the son of a slave woman; but when Jesus opens the Scriptures, his heart is set on fire and in the breaking of the bread, he sees Him whom he did not see before (Luke 24): then also Sara's son is called his. Marcion and Manichaeus did not want to remove this passage, in which the Apostle said, 'These things are allegorical,' and the rest that follow, from their own book, thinking that it would be left against us. This is because the Law should be understood differently than it is written, even though it is to be understood allegorically (which we also confess, and Paul teaches). It is not to be understood according to the will of the reader, but according to the authority of the one who wrote it. And by this very fact, they who seemed to want to preserve it against us, are destroyed. For Moses, the servant of the creator God, wrote spiritual things, as the Apostle also teaches, whom they themselves assert to be the preacher of another Christ and a better God.

Jerusalem, which he calls our mother, represents the Lord’s mystery, through which we are reborn into freedom, just as she is free. And she is called heavenly because heaven is her seat. Those to whom she gives birth will be there with her.

One and the same Jerusalem can be understood in a fourfold way: historically as the city of the Jews, allegorically as the church of Christ, anagogically as the heavenly city of God, which is the mother of all, and tropologically as the human soul, which is often upbraided or praised under this name by the Lord.

"the upper Jerusalem." The one is the figure of Hagar; in these things, behold also the figure of Sarah. The figure of her is the upper Jerusalem, that is, the heavenly. For that city of the faithful is free from the observances of the law, and is our mother, he says. Therefore Hagar fulfills the figure of the Old Covenant and of the Jews. But Sarah of the New Covenant and of us. And he called the upper Jerusalem also the Church.

In that is the type of Hagar. Look also at the type of Sarah; for she prefigured the heavenly Jerusalem. It is the city of believers, from which our law also comes: for the Gospel is from heaven. This city is free from the observances of the law, and everything in it is ordered freely and with noble dignity. For nothing among us is done for the sake of a visible reward, nor are we threatened with bodily punishments, but both the promises are more divine, and the punishments are befitting the noble — namely, excommunication from the mystical table and penances.

Then when he says, "But that Jerusalem which is above is free," he discloses the mystery of the free woman. First, he discloses the mystery; Secondly, he refers to a prophecy (v. 27). The first can be understood in two ways, accordingly as we understand this mother to be the one by whom we are engendered, which is the Church Militant, or the mother whose sons we become, which is the Church Triumphant: "He hath regenerated us unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Pet. 1:3). Hence we are so generated in the present Church Militant as to arrive at the Triumphant. Therefore in explaining it thus, our mother is described by four things: by her sublimity, when he says, "above"; secondly, by name, when he says, "Jerusalem"; thirdly by her freedom, when he says, "is free"; fourthly, by her fecundity when he says, "our mother." She is sublime on account of the face to face vision of God and the perfect enjoyment of God; and this, as to the Church Triumphant: "Then shalt thou see, and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged" (Is 60:5); "Mind the things that are above" (Col 3:2). Again she is sublime through faith and hope as to the Church Militant: "Our conversation is in heaven" (Phil 3:20); "Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights?" (Cant 8:5). Further, she is a peacemaker, because she is Jerusalem, i.e., vision of peace. This belongs to the Church Triumphant as having perfect peace: "Who hath placed peace in thy borders" (Ps 147:14); "My people shall sit in the beauty of peace" (Is 32:18). Likewise it pertains to the Church Militant which possesses the peace of resting in Christ: "In me you shall have peace" (Jn 16:33). Furthermore, she is free: "Because the creature also itself shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption" (Rom 8:21). And this both as to the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant according to Apocalypse (21:2): "I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God." Finally, she is fruitful, because she is our mother: Militant as engendering; Triumphant as the one whose sons we become: "Shall Sion say: This man and that man is born of her" (Ps 86:5); "Thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side" (Is 60:4).

The apostle shows that, as an heir in nonage is under tutors and guardians, so were the Galatians while under the law; and, as the heir when he comes of age is no longer under guardians, so they, when the Gospel came, arrived at full maturity, and were redeemed from the law, Gal 4:1-3. He shows, farther, that when the fullness of the time came God sent forth his Son, that we might obtain the adoption of sons, and have the strongest evidence of that adoption, Gal 4:4-6. Those who are children of God are heirs of heaven, Gal 4:7. He compares their former and latter state, and shows the reason he had to fear that his labor on their behalf was in vain, Gal 4:8-11. He mentions his trials among them, and their kindness to him, Gal 4:12-16. Shows his tender affection for them, and exhorts them to return to the Gospel, Gal 4:17-20. Shows the excellence of the Gospel beyond that of the law, by the allegory of Mount Sinai and Jerusalem, Gal 4:21-27. Shows also that the believing Gentiles are children of the promise, as Isaac was; and have been elected in the place of the Jews, who have been cast out according to the Scriptures, Gal 4:28-31.

But 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 world." On this maxim, the Jews imagine that every earthly thing has its representative in heaven; and especially whatever concerns Jerusalem, the law, and its ordinances. Rab. Kimchi, speaking of Melchizedec, king of Salem, says: זו ירושלם של מעלה zu Yerushalem shel malah, "This is the Jerusalem that is from above." This phrase frequently occurs among these writers, as may be seen in Schoettgen, who has written an express dissertation upon the subject. Hor. Hebr., vol. i. page 1205. Is free, which is the mother of us all - There is a spiritual Jerusalem, of which this is the type; and this Jerusalem, in which the souls of all the righteous are, is free from all bondage and sin: or by this, probably, the kingdom of the Messiah was intended; and this certainly answers best to the apostle's meaning, as the subsequent verse shows. There is an earthly Jerusalem, but this earthly Jerusalem typifies a heavenly Jerusalem: the former, with all her citizens, is in bondage; the latter is a free city, and all her inhabitants are free also. And this Jerusalem is our mother; it signifies the Church of Christ, the metropolis of Christianity, or rather the state of liberty into which all true believers are brought. The word παντων, of all, is omitted by almost every MS. and version of antiquity and importance, and by the most eminent of the fathers who quote this place; it is undoubtedly spurious, and the text should be read thus: But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is our mother.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED: ILLUSTRATION OF OUR SUBJECTION TO THE LAW ONLY TILL CHRIST CAME, FROM THE SUBJECTION OF AN HEIR TO HIS GUARDIAN TILL HE IS OF AGE. PETER'S GOOD WILL TO THE GALATIANS SHOULD LEAD THEM TO THE SAME GOOD WILL TO HIM AS THEY HAD AT FIRST SHOWN. THEIR DESIRE TO BE UNDER THE LAW SHOWN BY THE ALLEGORY OF ISAAC AND ISHMAEL TO BE INCONSISTENT WITH THEIR GOSPEL LIBERTY. (Gal. 4:1-31) The fact of God's sending His Son to redeem us who were under the law (Gal 4:4), and sending the Spirit of His Son into our hearts (Gal 4:6), confirms the conclusion (Gal 3:29) that we are "heirs according to the promise." the heir-- (Gal 3:29). It is not, as in earthly inheritances, the death of the father, but our Father's sovereign will simply that makes us heirs. child--Greek, "one under age." differeth nothing, &c.--that is, has no more freedom than a slave (so the Greek for "servant" means). He is not at his own disposal. lord of all--by title and virtual ownership (compare Co1 3:21-22).

This verse stands instead of the sentence which we should expect, to correspond to Gal 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-- (Heb 12:22), "the heavenly Jerusalem." "New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God" (Rev 3:12; Rev 21:2). Here "the Messianic theocracy, which before Christ's second appearing is the Church, and after it, Christ's kingdom of glory" [MEYER]. free--as Sarah was; opposed to "she is in bondage" (Gal 4:25). all--omitted in many of the oldest manuscripts, though supported by some. "Mother of us," namely, believers who are already members of the invisible Church, the heavenly Jerusalem, hereafter to be manifested (Heb 12:22).