Galatians · 31 verses
Galatians 4
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
An heir can own everything and still be treated like a slave, provided he is a child and the date set by his father has not arrived.
The heir and the householdvv. 1–11
The heir owns everything, yet lives under guardians and trustees and is no different from a slave. The same shape is then given to those who were children under the basic principles of the world, until God sent His Son, born of a woman and born under the law. The result is adoption, inheritance, and the Spirit crying out in the heart, “Abba, Father!”
Then the argument takes an abrupt turn. Those who once served what were not gods are now turning back to weak and worthless principles, observing days, months, seasons, and years. The calendar has become a rather alarming master.
An illness, a welcome, and a change of tonevv. 12–20
The speaker turns from heirs to affection. An illness first brought the gospel to the Galatians; though it was a trial to them, they welcomed the sufferer as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Their former blessing was so abundant that they would have torn out their eyes and given them away—a dramatic gift, and an inconveniently anatomical one.
Now the speaker wonders whether truth has made an enemy. Other people are eager to isolate the Galatians, while the speaker describes the whole relationship as childbirth: the children are already there, but Christ is still to be formed in them. Hence the perplexity, and the wish to change tone by being present.
Two women, two covenantsvv. 21–31
The closing argument opens the household of Abraham. He has two sons: one by the slave woman, born according to the flesh, and one by the free woman, born through the promise. The women are made to represent two covenants. Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, while the Jerusalem above is free and is called the mother.
Isaac is placed among the children of promise. The son born by the flesh persecutes the son born by the Spirit, and the Scripture answers with an eviction notice: the slave woman and her son are not to share the inheritance with the free woman’s son. The chapter ends with its distinction plainly drawn: not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
The text
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Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Gal 4:1What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything.
Gal 4:2He is subject to guardians and trustees until the date set by his father.
Gal 4:3So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world.
Gal 4:4But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Gal 4:5to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.
Gal 4:6And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
Gal 4:7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God.
Gal 4:8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
Gal 4:9But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and worthless principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
Gal 4:10You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!
Gal 4:11I fear for you, that my efforts for you may have been in vain.
Gal 4:12I beg you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.
Gal 4:13You know that it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.
Gal 4:14And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.
Gal 4:15What then has become of your blessing? For I can testify that, if it were possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.
Gal 4:16Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Gal 4:17Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them.
Gal 4:18Nevertheless, it is good to be zealous if it serves a noble purpose—at any time, and not only when I am with you.
Gal 4:19My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,
Gal 4:20how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you.
Gal 4:21Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand what the law says?
Gal 4:22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
Gal 4:23His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise.
Gal 4:24These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar.
Gal 4:25Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
Gal 4:26But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
Gal 4:27For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”
Gal 4:28Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
Gal 4:29At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now.
Gal 4:30But what does the Scripture say? “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”
Gal 4:31Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 432 passages were voted onto 30 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 4Isaiah 7:14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
- 19Ephesians 4:13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.
- 6Romans 8:15–17For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
- 5Hebrews 9:15Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
- 19Romans 13:14Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
- 19Romans 8:29For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
- 16Amos 5:10There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
- 27Isaiah 54:1–5“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.
- 19Ephesians 4:24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
- 5Ephesians 1:5He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,
- 16Proverbs 9:8Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
- 6Romans 5:5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
- 30Genesis 21:10–12and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”
- 4Mark 1:15“The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”
- 51 Peter 1:18–20For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- 19Colossians 4:12Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the full will of God.
Onward