Galatians 4

by on Feb.25, 2010, under Exegesis notes, Notes

1 Λέγω δέ, ἐφ᾿ ὅσον χρόνον ὁ κληρονόμος νήπιός ἐστιν, οὐδὲν διαφέρει δούλου κύριος πάντων ὤν, But I say, for as long as the heir is a child, he is no different to a slave though he is lord of all,
2 ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ ἐπιτρόπους ἐστὶν καὶ οἰκονόμους ἄχρι τῆς προθεσμίας τοῦ πατρός. but he is under guardians and stewards until the father’s set time.
3 οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς, ὅτε ἦμεν νήπιοι, ὑπὸ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου ἤμεθα δεδουλωμένοι· In this way also we, when we were children, were enslaved under the powers of the world.
4 ὅτε δὲ ἦλθεν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου, ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός, γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον, But when the fullness of time came, God sent out his son, born from a woman, born under law,
5 ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον ἐξαγοράσῃ, ἵνα τὴν υἱοθεσίαν ἀπολάβωμεν. In order to redeem those under law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
6 Ὅτι δέ ἐστε υἱοί, ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν κρᾶζον· αββα ὁ πατήρ. Now because you are sons, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father”.
7 ὥστε οὐκέτι εἶ δοῦλος ἀλλὰ υἱός· εἰ δὲ υἱός, καὶ κληρονόμος διὰ θεοῦ. Thus you are no longer a slave but a son; but if a son, also an heir through God.
8 Ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν οὐκ εἰδότες θεὸν ἐδουλεύσατε τοῖς φύσει μὴ οὖσιν θεοῖς· But then, not knowing God, you served as slaves to those by nature not being gods;
9 νῦν δὲ γνόντες θεόν, μᾶλλον δὲ γνωσθέντες ὑπὸ θεοῦ, πῶς ἐπιστρέφετε πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ καὶ πτωχὰ στοιχεῖα οἷς πάλιν ἄνωθεν δουλεύειν θέλετε; but now, knowing God, or rather being known by God, how is that you return again upon the weak and poor ‘powers’ – or do you want to be enslaved yet again?
10 ἡμέρας παρατηρεῖσθε καὶ μῆνας καὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἐνιαυτούς, You watch days and months and seasons and years,
11 φοβοῦμαι ὑμᾶς μή πως εἰκῇ κεκοπίακα εἰς ὑμᾶς. I am afraid for you, lest somehow I laboured in vain in you.
12 Γίνεσθε ὡς ἐγώ, ὅτι κἀγὼ ὡς ὑμεῖς, ἀδελφοί, δέομαι ὑμῶν. οὐδέν με ἠδικήσατε· Become like me, because I also became as you, brothers [and sisters], I beg of you. You have harmed me nothing.
13 οἴδατε δὲ ὅτι δι᾿ ἀσθένειαν τῆς σαρκὸς εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν τὸ πρότερον, You know that through weakness of the flesh we gospelled to you at first,
14 καὶ τὸν πειρασμὸν ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου οὐκ ἐξουθενήσατε οὐδὲ ἐξεπτύσατε, ἀλλὰ ὡς ἄγγελον θεοῦ ἐδέξασθέ με, ὡς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν. And though a trial for you in my flesh you neither showed contempt nor scorn, but as though an angel of God you welcomed me, as though Christ Jesus.
15 ποῦ οὖν ὁ μακαρισμὸς ὑμῶν; μαρτυρῶ γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι εἰ δυνατὸν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν ἐξορύξαντες ἐδώκατέ μοι. Therefore what [happened to?] your blessing? For I testify to you that if you were able you were digging out your eyes and gave them to me.
16 ὥστε ἐχθρὸς ὑμῶν γέγονα ἀληθεύων ὑμῖν; Have I become your enemy speaking truth to you?

17 ζηλοῦσιν ὑμᾶς οὐ καλῶς, ἀλλὰ ἐκκλεῖσαι ὑμᾶς θέλουσιν, ἵνα αὐτοὺς ζηλοῦτε· They court you – not in a good way, but they desire to isolate you so that you might court them.
18 καλὸν δὲ ζηλοῦσθαι ἐν καλῷ πάντοτε καὶ μὴ μόνον ἐν τῷ παρεῖναί με πρὸς ὑμᾶς. It is always good to be courted in a good way and not only in the presence of me before you.

19 τέκνα μου, οὓς πάλιν ὠδίνω μέχρις οὗ μορφωθῇ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν· My children, who I again bring forth in pain until Christ is formed in you,
20 ἤθελον δὲ παρεῖναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἄρτι καὶ ἀλλάξαι τὴν φωνήν μου, ὅτι ἀποροῦμαι ἐν ὑμῖν. I have desired to be present before you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed in you.

Allegory of Hagar and Sarah (4:21-31)

Narrative (4:21-23)

21 Λέγετέ μοι, οἱ ὑπὸ νόμον θέλοντες εἶναι, τὸν νόμον οὐκ ἀκούετε; Tell me, the ones desiring to be under law, have you not heard the law? Some later Western MSS substitute ἀναγινῶσκετε in place of ἀκούετε. This is possibly a retranslation from the Latin.
22 γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι Ἀβραὰμ δύο υἱοὺς ἔσχεν, ἕνα ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης καὶ ἕνα ἐκ τῆς ἐλευθέρας. For it stands written that Abraham had two sons, one of the slave woman and one of the free woman.
23 ἀλλ᾿ ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται, ὁ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἐλευθέρας δι᾿ ἐπαγγελίας. But the one of the slave woman was born according to flesh, and the one of the free woman through a promise.
  • P46 and B omit the first μὲν, but the balance of external evidence is in favour of its retention. Internally, a correlative conjunction construction (μὲν… δὲ) seems a appropriate at this point. The most likely explanation is scribal omission, either deliberately (to avoid having two conjunctions in such close proximity) or accidental.
  • There is a significant tradition (B D F G 062. 0278. 1739. 1881 M) that adds the definite article before ἐπαγγελίας, thus making the reference more explicit. Given the balanced external evidence, it must be noted that it is more likely that the article was consistently added to it being consistently omitted. The reading κατ᾽ἐπαγγελίας should be excluded, having only slender and late support.

Structure:

  • v21. You want the law, but do you not know the law?
  • v22. The law prescribes two kinds of sons:
    1. v23a. Slave sons, born of a free woman by the flesh;
    2. v23b. Free sons, born of a free woman by a promise.

Purpose: This section develops the theme of being sons of Abraham. It is not enough just to be a Son of Abraham, for he had two kinds of sons. In particular, we see two nexuses: flesh and slavery on one hand; and promise and freedom on the other. Ultimately, Paul’s objective is to associate the former pair with the Law, and the latter with the Spirit.

v21: The strong imperative, λέγετέ μοι, coupled with an interrogative, signals a return to Paul’s ‘interrogation’ of the Galatians (FIXME – left off where?). He is asking the Galatians to give an account of their beliefs. They are to be both witness and judge.

Whilst it is possible that οἱ ὑπὸ νόμον θέλοντες εἶναι refers to the ‘agitators’ this is unlikely, since Paul nowhere else in this Epistle directly addresses them. His concern is to encourage the Galatians to return to the Gospel they were taught at first. He has no brief for engaging in dialogue with the ‘agitators’ themselves; his attitude to them is much more direct (5:12)!

v22: In spite of the citation formula (γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι) there does not appear to be a specific quotation here.

Paul continues to draw on the example of Abraham, which he has been doing since 3:6. More specifically, he elaborates upon the idea of being ‘sons’ of Abraham by giving the examples of Abraham’s two most prominent sons. Neither mothers nor sons are named, however, signalling that this is more than simply a narration of biblical history.

The contrast developed here between slave and free is related but distinct from the image used at the beginning of the chapter of a heir who is ‘under guardians and stewards’ (Gal 4:2). There the image is a dynamic one, where one naturally progresses from child to adult and, consequently, from ‘slave’ to free. Here, the image is much more static: one’s freedom (or otherwise) is determined by the one who gave them birth, and the means by which they were conceived. In the language of the Fourth Gospel, one must be ‘born again’ (John 3:3) of a different mother, and according to promise, if they are to be free.

Is there a reference here also back to the τέκνα μου of verse 19? The question is implicit: if the Galatians are ‘children’ of Paul, with which son are they to be identified? This can only be answered by consideration of the source and mechanism of their conception.

v23. Notably, neither son is named or identified as either slave nor free. There are likely two reasons for this:

  1. Paul has already indicated In Gal 3:28 that there is ‘neither slave nor free’. His emphasis here, then, is on the mothers;
  2. By leaving the identifications vague, Paul leaves room for the dramatic reversal that is to come: the Jews are to be identified with the slave woman!

‘Flesh’ is here contrasted with ‘promise’ as the mechanism of conception/birth. One might have expected ‘spirit’ instead of ‘promise’, but the two have already been identified as coextensive (‘the promised Spirit’ 3:14). Of all Paul’s epistles, only Colossians has a higher frequency of occurrence for flesh-related words.1 However, the majority of Colossians references are either positive or neutral, whereas Paul’s usage in Galatians is overwhelmingly negative. Thus he consistently uses σάρξ (Gal 1:16; 2:16, 20; 3:3; 4:13–14, 23, 29; 5:13, 16–17, 19, 24; 6:8, 12–13) with the more neutral σῶμα in Gal 6:17.2

Interpretation (4:24-27)

24 ἅτινά ἐστιν ἀλληγορούμενα· αὗται γάρ εἰσιν δύο διαθῆκαι, μία μὲν ἀπὸ ὄρους Σινᾶ εἰς δουλείαν γεννῶσα, ἥτις ἐστὶν Ἁγάρ. These are taken allegorically; for they are two covenants, one from Mount Sinai giving birth into slavery, which is Hagar.
25 τὸ δὲ Ἁγὰρ Σινᾶ ὄρος ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ· συστοιχεῖ δὲ τῇ νῦν Ἰερουσαλήμ, δουλεύει γὰρ μετὰ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. There are two textual variants in this verse, reflecting its obscurity:
  1. There are five variant readings:
    1. τὸ δὲ Ἁγὰρ Σινᾶ ὄρος ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ (A B D 0278. 323. 365. 1175. 2464 pc syhmg bopt);
    2. το γαρ Αγαρ Σινα ορος εστιν εν τη Αραβια (Ψ 062. 33. 1881 M sy bomss);
    3. το Αγαρ ορος εστιν εν τη Αραβια (d);
    4. το γαρ Σινα ορος εστιν εν τη Αραβια (ℵ C F G 1241s. 1739 pc lat); and
    5. το δε Σινα ορος εστιν εν τη Αραβια (P46).

    Of these, (c) can be immediately dismissed as lacking textual support and semantically unlikely. The final two readings are identical except for the conjunction, meaning that the cumulative weight of evidence for δὲ is P46 A B D 0278. 323. 365. 1175. 2464 pc syhmg bopt. The presence or absence of the name Ἁγάρ must be decided on internal evidence; Metzger is correct to point out ”After γάρ had replaced δέ in some witnesses, the juxtaposition of γὰρ Ἁγάρ led to the accidental omission sometimes of γάρ and sometimes of Ἁγάρ.’3 Thus the preferred reading is (a) above.

  2. Later Western MSS (D* F G lat) substitute the aorist συστοιχουσα for the present συστοιχεῖ, possibly represents a retranslation from the Latin.
26 ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν, ἥτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ ἡμῶν· But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother. Several witnesses (ℵ2 A C3 0261vid. 0278 M ar b t vgmss syh; Irlat) add παντων before μήτηρ. Some have suggested that this is to broaden the inclusivity of application4 but it may simply be intensification of what was already implicit, viz. that Paul is here talking of a Jerusalem that is mother of Jews and Gentiles alike.
27 γέγραπται γάρ·

εὐφράνθητι, στεῖρα ἡ οὐ τίκτουσα,
    
ῥῆξον καὶ βόησον, ἡ οὐκ ὠδίνουσα·
ὅτι πολλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου
    
μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα.

For it stands written:
Be made glad, you barren one who does not bear,
     break forth and cry out, you not in birth-pains
Because many are the children of the desolate one
     more than the one having a husband.

Application (4:28-31)

28 ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, κατὰ Ἰσαὰκ ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐστέ. Now you, brothers [and sisters], according to Isaac you are children of a promise. A significant tradition (ℵ A C D2 Ψ 062 M lat sy bo) casts this verse in the first person plural, perhaps as an assimilation to the first person pronoun in vv. 26, 31.5
29 ἀλλ᾿ ὥσπερ τότε ὁ κατὰ σάρκα γεννηθεὶς ἐδίωκεν τὸν κατὰ πνεῦμα, οὕτως καὶ νῦν. But just as then the one born according to flesh persecuted the one according to spirit, so it is now.
30 ἀλλὰ τί λέγει ἡ γραφή; ἔκβαλε τὴν παιδίσκην καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς· οὐ γὰρ μὴ κληρονομήσει ὁ υἱὸς τῆς παιδίσκης μετὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἐλευθέρας. But why does the Scripture say: ‘Cast out the slave woman and her son; for the son of the slave woman will not inherit with the son of the free woman’? There are two variants in this verse:
  1. A number of MSS (A C F G Ψ 1739. 1881 M) support κληρονομήση in place of κληρονομήσει, however the support for this is largely late.
  2. Again, some Western MSS (D* F G it vgms) substitute μου Ισαακ for τῆς ἐλευθέρας. This is probably in order to conform to the LXX reading of Gen 21:10.6
31 διό, ἀδελφοί, οὐκ ἐσμὲν παιδίσκης τέκνα ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐλευθέρας. Therefore, brothers [and sisters] we are not children of a slave woman but of a free woman. Several different readings occur here in place of διό:
  1. ἀρὰ (P46vid D2 M syh);
  2. ἀρὰ ὀυν (F G);
  3. ἠμεις δὲ (A C P 81. 1241s. 2464 pc r bo);
  4. Omit (Ψ pc); and
  5. διό (ℵ B D✱ H 0261. 0278. 33. 365. 1175. 1739. 1881 pc sa).

Of these, none can match the early and diversified support of (5).


Endnotes

  1. Based on searching for terms in Luow & Nida “A Body (8.1–8.8)”, Colossians registers 9.25 occurrences per 1000 words, Galatians 6.86 and 1 Corinthians 6.76.
  2. Does this suggest a negative connotation for the phrase σαρκὶ καὶ αἵματι (Gal 1:16)?
  3. Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (2d, Accordance electronic ed. New York: United Bible Societies, 1994), 527.
  4. So Metzger, who quotes Zuntz: ‘gives the text a broader, pastoral application, but obscures Paul’s distinction between the ‘chosen ones’ and the ‘sons of Hagar” (Metzger, 528.; cf. Philip W. Comfort, New Testament Text and Translation Commentary (Accordance electronic ed. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2008), 570.
  5. So Metzger, 528.; Comfort, 570. Comfort also notes the frequency with which the two pronouns (ὑμεῖς and ἡμεῖς) were confused.
  6. Comfort, 570.
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