Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Galatians 4:28
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
28. The previous verse is introduced parenthetically. The connexion is, ‘Jerusalem from above is our mother and we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children, not according to the flesh, but of promise’. The same conclusion as that arrived at ch. Gal 3:29.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now we, brethren – We who are Christians.
Are the children of the promise – We so far resemble Isaac, that there are great and precious promises made to us. We are not in the condition of Ishmael, to whom no promise was made.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 28. Now we] Who believe in the Lord Jesus, are the children of promise-are the spiritual offspring of the Messiah, the seed of Abraham, in whom the promise stated that all the nations of the earth should be blessed.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Isaac was the promised seed, Gen 21:12; Rom 9:7; the apostle tells the Galatians that the believing Gentiles were (as Isaac) the children of the promise. Isaac being born, not by virtue of any procreative virtue in his parents, which was now dead in them, Rom 4:19, but by virtue of the promise, and by a power above nature, was a type of the believing Gentiles, who are a spiritual seed, and that seed to whom the promise was made, being the members of Christ by faith: so as the Jews had no reason so much to glory as they did, that Abraham was their father, for those amongst them that believed not were but his carnal seed, believers only were the spiritual seed,
the children of the promise; to which the believing Gentiles had the same claim with the believing Jews, and a much better than those of them that believed not in Christ.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. weThe oldest manuscriptsand versions are divided between “we” and “ye.””We” better accords with Ga4:26, “mother of us.”
children of promisenotchildren after the flesh, but through the promise (Gal 4:23;Gal 4:29; Gal 4:31).”We are” so, and ought to wish to continue so.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,…. The Ethiopic version reads, “you, brethren”; and so one of Stephens’s copies. As the two women, Hagar and Sarah, might be, and are allegorized; so likewise their respective offspring. Isaac signified, and was a type and figure of Abraham’s spiritual seed, whether Jews or Gentiles, under the Gospel dispensation: and as he was, so they are,
the children of promise; as Isaac was promised unto Abraham, so were this spiritual seed, when it was said unto him, that he should be the father of many nations, as he is the father of us all, even of all them that believe, be they of what nation soever; and as Isaac was born by virtue, and in consequence of a promise made to Abraham of God’s free good will and pleasure, and his generation and conception were beyond the strength and course of nature, were the effects of a divine power, and were something supernatural; so this spiritual seed are born again, by virtue, and in consequence of a promise, not only made to Abraham, but to the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the covenant, that he should see his seed, enjoy a numerous offspring, and which should endure for ever; and also to the church, of whom it is said, that this and that man should be born in her; and particularly in consequence of the promise cited in the foregoing verse, from whence these words are an inference, deduction, or illustration: and these children of the promise, so called from hence, are born again, above and beyond the strength of nature; not through the power and free will of man, but through the abundant mercy and sovereign will of God, by his powerful and efficacious grace, and by the word of promise, the Gospel, as a means. Moreover, to these children, or spiritual seed of Abraham, signified by Isaac, do all the promises belong, as that of God, as a covenant God gave unto them; of Christ, as a Saviour and Redeemer; of the Holy Spirit, as a sanctifier and comforter; and of all good things, of temporal mercies, so far as are for their real good; and of all spiritual blessings, as righteousness, peace, pardon, comfort, all supplies of grace, and eternal life: and these likewise receive these promises; the Holy Spirit, as a spirit of promise, opens and applies them to them, puts them into the hand of faith, and enables them to plead them with God, and to believe the performance of them; so that this character in all respects agrees with them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Now we ( ). Some MSS. have (now ye). In either case Paul means that Christians (Jews and Gentiles) are children of the promise as Isaac was ( , after the manner of Isaac).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1 ) “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was”, (humeis de adelphoi kata Isaak) “Now brethren, you all according to Isaac” as surely as Isaac was a gift from God to Abraham, through promise, so are we as redeemed Gentiles and heirs with Abraham through Christ and His church, Mat 28:18-20; Rom 8:17; Eph 3:6; Eph 3:9-10; Eph 3:21.
2) “Are the children of promise,” (epangelias tekna este) “Are children of promise; Rom 9:24-26; Gal 3:29; As through the seed and promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all the nations were to be blessed, Gen 12:1-3; Joh 3:16; Act 20:28.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
TEXT 4:2831
(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.
PARAPHRASE 4:2831
28 We therefore, brethren, who believe, even though we are not related to Abraham by natural descent, after the manner of Isaac, are children to Abraham and to Sarah by the promise, which made him the father, and her the mother of nations.
29 But even as it happened then, that Ishmael, who was begotten according to the fleshbegotten by the natural strength of his parents, and related to Abraham to natural descent onlypersecuted Isaac, who was begotten according to the Spirit, and resembled his father Abraham in the dispositions of his mind, so also it hath happened now, the Jews the natural seed persecute us the spiritual seed.
30 But what saith the scripture? She said unto Abraham, cast out this bond-woman and her son; for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And God said to Abraham, in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken to her voice: For in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
31 Well then, brethren, it appears from the law itself, that we who by faith are Abrahams sons, are not children of the bond-maid Hagar, but of the free-woman Sarah; and as her children, we are heirs of the promises, although not in bondage to the law.
COMMENT 4:28
Children of promise
1.
Paul is drawing a conclusion that the Gentiles would understand if they were Christian.
2.
The Christian is in the promise to Abraham just as Isaac was.
3.
They are children, not in a genealogical sense but in a spiritual sense.
4.
Three qualities of Isaac:
1.
A promised child. Gen. 17:16
2.
An obedient child. Gen. 22:9
3.
A fruitful child and man. Gen. 25:11
COMMENT 4:29
he that . . . persecuted him
1.
Ishmael persecuted Isaac.
2.
This persecution refers to Gen. 21:8-9 when Abraham made a great feast the day Isaac was weaned.
3.
On this occasion Sarah caught Ishmael mocking.
him that was born after the Spirit
1.
This refers to the supernatural birth of Isaac.
2.
It reminds us of the statement made to Joseph concerning his wife to beMary. For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Mat. 1:20
so it is now
1.
Judaizers were causing trouble in Galatia. See Gal. 2:13.
2.
The Jews made trouble constantly for the Apostles and evangelists.
3.
Jews followed Paul and stirred up trouble.
a.
The Jews stirred up trouble for him in Thessalonica. Act. 17:5-9
b.
The Jews followed him to Berea and stirred up trouble there. Act. 17:11
c.
The Jews mobbed him in the city of Jerusalem. Act. 21:27-33
SPECIAL STUDY
Gal. 4:21-31
SARAH AND HAGAR COMPARED
I.
Mothers
1.
Handmaid
Old CovenantGal. 4:24
2.
Freewoman
New CovenantGal. 4:26-31
II.
Sons
1.
Personalities
a.
Ishmael
Jewish persecution of ChristianGal. 4:29
b.
Isaac
Christian non-retaliation
2.
Births
a.
Ishmael
Natural birthGal. 4:29
b.
Isaac
Spiritual birthGen. 18:10; Gal. 4:29
III.
Dispensation
1.
Ishmael
Characteristic of Jews under law in Old Covenant
2.
Isaac
Characteristic of New Covenant
IV.
State
1.
Ishmael
State of bondageGal. 4:25
2.
Isaac
State of freedomGal. 4:31
V.
Results
1.
Ishmael
Rejection of JewsGal. 4:30
2.
Isaac
Acceptance of ChristiansGal. 4:30
COMMENT 4:30
Howbeit what saith the scripture
1.
This is a good question to ask in any religious problems.
2.
Many preachers run to their creeds and books of discipline instead of to the Scripture.
3.
Paul quotes from Gen. 21:10-12.
Cast out the handmaid and her son
1.
Sarah demanded this as punishment for Ismaels mocking of Isaac. Gen. 21:8-9
2.
Paul is stating that the present Jerusalem and her children shall be cast out and shall not be heirs with the sons of the free woman.
3.
The Jews were rejected because they did not come to God by faith.
4.
This was literally fulfilled in a very physical sense too.
a.
The Jews caused constant trouble for Christians, but it came to an end.
b.
Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus in 70 A.D. and like Hagar and Ishmael the Jews were cast out.
for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son
1.
The enemies could fight against scripture but they, like Ishmael, will be driven out of the fellowship of God.
2.
A loss of inheritance should be a challenging word, to answer the Galatians.
the son of the freewoman
1.
The Jew can not inherit with the Christian until he comes by faith into the promise.
2.
We must not go back to the law for it is bondage and loss.
COMMENT 4:31
we are not children of the handmaid
1.
This is plain language.
2.
Why now are the Galatians going back to the children who are cast out and who are bound to lose the inheritance?
but of the freewoman
1.
This is a privilege of birth which we may choose.
2.
The promise of freedom and inheritance should be attractive to all who heed what is written.
STUDY QUESTIONS 4:2831
557.
Who is the Christian likened unto?
558.
In what way are we children of promise?
559.
Could Gentiles without an Old Testament understand this argument quickly?
560.
Do you suppose that these people had a good knowledge of Abraham before Paul discussed this subject with them? Why?
561.
Can a person be a sincere Jew and have the blessing of Christ?
562.
Who is the he of the verse?
563.
Who is the him of Pauls discussion?
564.
Do we have a record of this persecution?
565.
Who caught Ishmael mocking?
566.
Who had the spiritual birth?
567.
Did Paul observe a similarity in persecution, and what was it?
568.
Were the Jews busy at making trouble for the apostle everywhere?
569.
Is Pauls frequent use of scripture a good example for all religious discussions?
570.
What did Paul quote in this case?
571.
Who did the casting in this case?
572.
Was Paul suggesting that some casting out should take place in Galatia?
573.
Were the Jews eventually cast down by God in Jerusalem?
574.
Is the child of the handmaid cast out forever?
575.
Who is the we referred to here?
576.
Is salvation free to the sons of the freewoman?
577.
Has God made salvation possible for the children of the woman who was cast out?
578.
Do we have the privilege to choose what woman will be our mother spiritually?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(28) We.The better reading appears to be Ye. Children of promise.Children born in accomplishment of the promise. (See Rom. 9:8, and Note.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. We, brethren The direct application of the allegory to the present company. We Not as seeking circumcision, but as reposing faith in Christ.
As Isaac children of promise Isaac’s miraculous generation is type of our miraculous regeneration. The promise of his birth, first made by Jehovah to Abraham, is part of the covenant by which man is regenerate through Christ.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise.’
So Sarah, as mother of the child of promise, represents the covenant of promise, and the new heavenly Jerusalem which is ‘above’. This new Jerusalem is the ‘mother’ of Christians, and we Christians are like Isaac, being children resulting from promise. The old has passed away. We are no longer under the Law. We are reckoned righteous by faith and enjoy the full blessing of God. We are free.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The application of the lesson:
v. 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
v. 29. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
v. 30. Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bond-woman and her son; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
v. 31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free. What the prophet had foretold found its realization in the Church of the New Testament. We Christians, we believers, who by virtue of the Gospel-promise are spiritual descendants of Abraham, are, after the manner of Isaac, children of the promise. See 1Pe 1:15. As Isaac was born to Abraham by virtue of the promise of God, so we, through faith in the promise of the Gospel, have been born anew, by the Spirit of God, as His true children, Rom 9:8.
History, however, repeats itself: Just as then he that was born after the flesh made it a practice to persecute the one after the Spirit, thus it is also now. In addition to the fact that Ishmael, Gen 21:9, is called a scoffer, we here have the information that his attitude toward Isaac was that of continual nagging, boasting, and despising, a persecution all the more diabolical since it left little tangible cause for which one could call the lad to account. Isaac had been born according to the Spirit; the Spirit of God through His creative power had restored the atrophied organs of Sarah, Isaac’s birth thus being a miracle. Undoubtedly this fact had much to do with the attitude of Ishmael. But the very same disposition, the apostle says, we find in the world today; those that are in bondage under the Law and are firmly convinced that they can earn the inheritance of heaven by their works are full of hatred and enmity against those that rely upon the gracious promise of God; the self-righteous and hypocrites despise and persecute the true Christians.
But the confidence and supercilious attitude of the self-righteous will not be of long duration. For what does the Scripture say? Cast out the slave and her son; for the son of the slave shall not be heir together with the son of the free-woman. Gen 21:10. That was Sarah’s decision with reference to Hagar and Ishmael, the bond-woman and her offspring. And such is God’s sentence upon all those that are the spiritual descendants of Ishmael, that attempt to get to heaven by the works of the Law. In spite of the persecution to which the believers in the Gospel-promises are subjected, they have on their side the divine assurance that the plans of their enemies will be unsuccessful in the end, that they have no part in the blessings of the Kingdom of Grace and the Kingdom of Glory, for they cannot be heirs together with the children of the Spirit.
So Paul concludes triumphantly: Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free. We Christians that believe in Christ and hope by such faith to be justified before God and obtain eternal life, are not among those who, like Hagar and Ishmael, were expelled from the home of Sarah and Abraham, but by the grace of God belong to those that are typified by Isaac, the son of promise; we are true children of God and heirs of eternal life. Thus the fact which Paul intended to set forth in this allegory stands out beyond contradiction over against the Judaizing teachers: The religion of the Law brings into bondage and thus to final condemnation; only the Gospel liberates and brings salvation, and therefore the religion of the Gospel is the only true religion.
Summary
Paul reminds the Galatians that they are children of God, and that they should therefore not return to the bondage of the Law; he rebukes them for falling may from their former loving relation toward him, which, he says, is due to the sordid methods of the false teachers; he shows in an allegory that only the children of the promise will obtain salvation.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Gal 4:28 . It is not till Gal 4:29 that a new thought is entered on; hence Gal 4:28 is to be regarded as a remark explaining the fulfilment of the prophetic utterance, which has its actual realization in the case of Christians , and is to be annexed to Gal 4:27 (by a semicolon). So correctly, in opposition to the usual separation from Gal 4:27 , Hofmann, Ewald, Wieseler.
But the Christians ( individualizing; see the critical notes) are the many children of that spiritual Sarah, the heavenly Jerusalem!
] After the manner of Isaac; comp. 1Pe 1:15 ; and see Wetstein and Kypke, also Heindorf, ad Plat. Gorg . p. 225 f.
] . is emphatically prefixed: children of Abraham, who are not so by carnal descent like Ishmael, but by promise . So, namely, as Isaac was born to Abraham in virtue of the promise (Gal 4:23 ), are Christians by means of divine promise also children of Abraham, in virtue of the fact that they were promised by God to Abraham as ; without which promise, having reference to them, they would not stand in the relation of sonship to Abraham. Comp. Rom 9:8 . We must not on account of Gal 4:23 explain the expression here, any more than in Rom 9:8 (see in loc .), as liberi promissi (Winer and others).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Ver. 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac ] This the Jews to this day will not hear of, but call us Mamzer Goi, bastardly Gentiles.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
28 .] But (transitional: or rather perhaps adversative to the children of her who had an husband, which were last mentioned. With , it would be resumptive of Gal 4:26 ) ye (see var. readd.), brethren, like (the expression in full, . , occurs Heb 7:15 . Wetst. quotes from Galen, , and from Arrian, Hist. Gr. ii., : see also reff.) Isaac, are children of PROMISE ( . emphatic: are children, not , but , see Gal 4:23 , and below, Gal 4:29 ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
as Isaac was = according to (Greek. kata, as Gal 4:23)
Isaac, i.e. after the type of Isaac. Compare Rom 4:19,
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
28.] But (transitional: or rather perhaps adversative to the children of her who had an husband, which were last mentioned. With , it would be resumptive of Gal 4:26) ye (see var. readd.), brethren, like (the expression in full, . , occurs Heb 7:15. Wetst. quotes from Galen, , and from Arrian, Hist. Gr. ii., : see also reff.) Isaac, are children of PROMISE (. emphatic:-are children, not , but , see Gal 4:23, and below, Gal 4:29).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Gal 4:28. , [as] after the similitude of Isaac).-, of the promise) Gal 4:23.-) we are, and ought to wish to be so, Gal 4:31.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Gal 4:28
Gal 4:28
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.-The Christians, as Isaac, are the children of promise. The Jews are the children of Abraham according to the flesh. They are the children of Hagar, not of Sarah. [Whatever privileges the Judaizers could claim as descendants of Abraham, whatever they might hold out to others on condition of being circumcised and keeping the law of Moses, Paul also could claim the same. (2Co 11:22; Php 3:5). The Galatians, being Gentiles, of course, could claim none of them. But Paul knew that neither did his natural descent confer any advantage upon him, nor did theirs disqualify them. He, though Jew he was, must be justified by faith, not by works of the law, or on account of his fleshly relationship to Abraham. They, Gentiles, though they were, could be justified through faith, impossible as it was claimed by the Judaizers. (Rom 3:30). Thus he and they alike were children of God in virtue of the promise to Abraham, which promise had received its pledge of fulfillment in the birth of Isaac. (Gal 3:6-7).]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Gal 4:23, Gal 3:29, Act 3:25, Rom 4:13-18, Rom 9:8, Rom 9:9
Reciprocal: Gen 12:7 – Unto thy Gen 17:19 – Sarah Gen 18:10 – Sarah Gen 21:1 – Sarah as Gen 21:6 – God Gen 25:5 – General Gal 3:9 – General Phm 1:16 – a brother
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gal 4:28. , , , -But ye, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. The Received Text has , and the reading is well supported, having in its favour A, C, D3, K, L, , four MSS., the Syriac, Vulgate, Coptic, and Gothic versions, with several of the Greek fathers and Augustine. The other reading has in its favour B, D, F, four MSS., the Claromontane Latin, Origen, Irenaeus, Ambrose. This difference of reading would seem to show that , supposed to look back to in Gal 4:26, has been probably conformed to Gal 4:31, whereas the other reading is free from any such suspicion. The is more than transitional; it implies a contrast to the children of her who had the husband. The idiomatic phrase is, after the example of Isaac, he being the norm or pattern. Winer, 49; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10; 1Pe 1:15; Kypke in loc. And being not children , ye are children of promise, as Isaac was, as has been stated in Gal 4:23. The genitive denotes the source, and is equivalent in sense to , as the context shows. It does not mean liberi promissi (Bloomfield, Brown), nor children possessed of the promise, but distinctly children by means of the promise.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Gal 4:28. As Isaac was. The comparison is in the fact that Isaac was promised to Abraham and Sarah, and God performed a miracle so that the son could be produced. From that child of promise came the Seed that was to bless all nations (whether Jew or Gentile) by giving them the Gospel plan of salvation. Whoever, therefore, accepted this plan became children of God. They are termed children of promise because it is through the noted Seed that was given the world as promised to Abraham.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Gal 4:28. But ye, brethren, as Isaac was (or, after the manner of Isaac), are children of promise. Resumes the main subject; comp. Gal 4:23. Christian believers are born, like Isaac, of the unfruitful Sarah, contrary to the ordinary course of nature, by the supernatural power of the divine promise, and are therefore children of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
In the former of these two verses the apostle applies the foregoing allegory, or typical history of Sarah and Hagar, thus: “As, says he, Isaac by virtue of the promise, being born of the free-woman, was heir to all his father’s estate; in like manner, they who seek salvation not by the law, but by faith in Christ, are the free children of God, and heirs of the promise of life eternal: We, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise.”
In the latter of these two verses, which gives us an account of the persecuting enmity that was in the heart and tongue of Ishmael against Isaac, we have several things observable.
As, 1. The root and rise of Ishmael’s persecuting malice discovered, and whence it proceeded; and that was an inward antipathy to the work of grace in Isaac. Those great differences in divine heraldry, of being born after the flesh, and after the Spirit, evidently discover where the quarrel lay, and whence it arose; it was the spiritualness of Isaac that exasperated Ishmael’s rage. Isaac was born after the Spirit, and doubtless he showed some fruits of the Spirit which Ishmael could not relish, and therefore did deride and mock him.
Observe, 2. What was the kind of persecution which Isaac underwent; it was the persecution of the tongue, in derisions and cruel mockings; Moses tells us, in the book of Genesis, the manner how, and the weapon with which. Ishmael did not lift up his hand against Isaac, as Cain did against Abel, but his tongue only; yet St. Paul calls it here persecution. Mocking and scoffing either at the word, ways, or people of God, is a sin of unspeakable profaneness, a blaspheming of Christ, and a persecution of his members. He that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit.
Observe, 3. That the persecution of the tongue, at least, is that which the children and church of God have met with in all former, and must expect to meet with in future ages: As it was then, says the apostle, even so it is now; afflictions are the donatives of the gospel, and persecution is the church’s patrimony: To us it is given on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but to suffer, Php 1:29.
Observe lastly, From Ishmael’s being brother to Isaac, and yet his bitter persecutor, that the sorest trials and sharpest persecutions which the saints endure, are very often from the nearest relations, who are tied to them by the strongest obligations either of kindred or acquaintance. Bitterest things are sometimes endured from the hands of those from whom better things might justly have been expected. Christ foretold all this, The brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son. Cain is dead, but the spirit of Cain yet lives; they that scoff, would bite, and make their teeth meet, had they power to use their cheekbone; he that is born after the flesh, will persecute those of his own flesh and family that are born after the Spirit; as it was then, we may go on to say, even so it is now.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Gal 4:28-30. Now That I may apply what has just been advanced to ourselves; we, brethren Who believe, whether Jews or Gentiles; as Isaac was , after the manner of Isaac; are children of promise Are children of God, being children of Abraham and Sarah, by the promise which made him the father, and her the mother, of nations. In other words, we are children, not born in a natural way, but by the supernatural power of God; and as such, we are heirs of the promise made to believing Abraham. And, if believers, after the manner of Isaac, are children begotten to Abraham by the divine power accompanying the promise, can it be doubted that they were typified by Isaac, and that his procreation was deferred till the bodies of his parents were dead as to these things, that being supernaturally begotten, he might be a fit type of those who by divine power become the seed of Abraham, through faith. But Indeed the parallel holds further still; for as then, he that was born after the flesh That is, Ishmael, in whose production there was nothing beyond the common course of nature, and who was related to Abraham by natural descent only; persecuted him who was born after the Spirit That is, Isaac, who was produced by the special energy of Gods miraculous power; even so it is now The carnal Jews, who are the seed of Abraham after the flesh, abuse and persecute us who believe in Christ, and are therefore Abrahams seed after the Spirit. Ishmaels persecution of Isaac consisted in his mocking at the feast of his weaning, Gen 21:9. No doubt he pretended that by right of primogeniture he was his fathers heir, and therefore he ridiculed the feast made in honour of Isaac as the heir, together with Sarahs laying claim to the whole of the inheritance for her son. This action was typical of the contempt with which the Jews, Abrahams natural posterity, would treat his spiritual seed, and their hopes of salvation through faith; typical also of the claim which the natural seed would set up, of being the only heirs of God, because they were first his people. But what saith the Scripture Showing the consequence of this? Cast out the bond-woman and her son Who mocked Isaac. Which sentence, however grievous it might be to Abraham, when pronounced by Sarah, God confirmed, and they were cast out of Abrahams family. And so, as the apostles discourse implies, shall all who reject Christ, and seek justification and salvation by the law of Moses, notwithstanding their boasted descent from Abraham, be cast out of the church and family of God, and rejected from being his people; especially if they persecute them who are his children by faith; and they shall not be permitted to be heirs of his promise with them. So that, as in his birth and condition, his character and actions; so likewise in his being cast out of his fathers house, Ishmael was a fit type of the unbelieving and disobedient Jews. So then To sum up all; we Who believe; are not the children of the bond-woman Are not under subjection to the servile dispensation of the law, nor have any thing to do with it; but we are children of the free-woman And have the privilege of being called into a state of liberty under the spiritual covenant of the gospel, being free from the curse and bond of the law, and from the power of sin and Satan.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Isn’t that just what I said? 🙂 Messiah came to provide adoptability for all that would come to the Savior, through the promise.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
4:28 Now we, brethren, {g} as Isaac was, are the children of {h} promise.
(g) After the manner of Isaac, who is the first begotten of the heavenly Jerusalem, as Israel is of the slavish synagogue.
(h) That seed to which the promise belongs.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The practical application 4:28-31
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Paul drew three applications from his interpretation. First, Christians are similar to Isaac in that they experience a supernatural birth and are part of the fulfillment of God’s promise. Therefore they should not live as enslaved sons.