Passage

Galatians 4.21-31

Book: Galatians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"19. My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you, 20. but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone; for I am perplexed about you."

"21. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the freewoman. 23. Howbeit the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the son by the freewoman is born through promise. 24. Which things contain an allegory: for these women are two covenants; one from mount Sinai, bearing children unto bondage, which is Hagar. 25. Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is: for she is in bondage with her children. 26. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother. 27. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: For more are the children of the desolate than of her that hath the husband. 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, so also it is now. 30. Howbeit what saith the scripture? Cast out the handmaid and her son: for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman. 31. Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the freewoman." (Galatians 4:19-31, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"19. My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you, 20. but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you."

"21. Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don’t you listen to the law? 22. For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman. 23. However, the son by the servant was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise. 24. These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. 25. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. 26. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27. For it is written, “Rejoice, you barren who don’t bear. Break out and shout, you that don’t travail. For more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband.” 28. Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29. But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30. However what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the servant and her son, for the son of the servant will not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31. So then, brothers, we are not children of a servant, but of the free woman." (Galatians 4:19-31, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"19. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, 20. I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. ^{I stand: or, I am perplexed for you} ^{I stand: or, I am perplexed for you}"

"21. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. ^{covenants: or, testaments} ^{Sinai: Gr. Sina} 25. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. ^{answereth to: or, is in the same rank with} 26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27. For it is written, 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. 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free." (Galatians 4:19-31, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"19. my little children, of whom again I travail in birth, till Christ may be formed in you, 20. and I was wishing to be present with you now, and to change my voice, because I am in doubt about you."

"21. Tell me, ye who are willing to be under law, the law do ye not hear? 22. for it hath been written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the maid-servant, and one by the free-woman, 23. but he who [is] of the maid-servant, according to flesh hath been, and he who [is] of the free-woman, through the promise; 24. which things are allegorized, for these are the two covenants: one, indeed, from mount Sinai, to servitude bringing forth, which is Hagar; 25. for this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and doth correspond to the Jerusalem that now [is], and is in servitude with her children, 26. and the Jerusalem above is the free-woman, which is mother of us all, 27. for it hath been written, 'Rejoice, O barren, who art not bearing; break forth and cry, thou who art not travailing, because many [are] the children of the desolate, more than of her having the husband.' 28. And we, brethren, as Isaac, are children of promise, 29. but as then he who was born according to the flesh did persecute him according to the spirit, so also now; 30. but what saith the Writing? 'Cast forth the maid-servant and her son, for the son of the maid-servant may not be heir with the son of the free-woman;' 31. then, brethren, we are not a maid-servant's children, but the free-woman's." (Galatians 4:19-31, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.