Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, have you not read the law?
λεγετε μοι οι υπο νομον θελοντες ειναι τον νομον ουκ ακουετε
9 Church Fathers comment on this verse
He said well, “you who desire to be,” because the matter did not depend on the course of events, but on their inappropriate zeal. Here he calls the book of Genesis the law, as he often does, using that name for the whole Old Testament.
After he has sufficiently softened them and drawn them to himself, he again enters into dispute, showing that the law itself does not wish to be observed. Answer me, he says. He also said well, “you who desire,” because this condition did not arise from the requirement of things, but from their inappropriate passion for argument. By “law” he means the book of Genesis, since it is his custom to call the whole Old Testament the law.
People may think that in the case of Hagar, Abraham acted according to human desire. Yet the Apostle explains that this happened according to prophecy, so that in the persons of the two women and their sons the two covenants might be signified as a foreshadowing of the future. Since the Old Testament contains the type of the New, those people of God who then understood this according to their time are shown as servants and fulfillers of the Old Testament, but heirs of the New.
It is necessary to observe that by the word "Law" here he means the narratives of the book of Genesis, and not, as is commonly supposed, what must be done or what must be avoided. Everything said about Abraham, his wives, and his children is called Law. Those who desire to be under the yoke of the Law, tell me, do you not submit to the Law? It is necessary to observe that by the Law named here he means the narratives of the book of Genesis. He does not mean, as is commonly supposed, what must be done or what must be avoided. Rather, everything said about Abraham, his wives, and his children is called Law. Elsewhere also we read that the prophets too are called Law.
Therefore he hears the Law who, according to the Apostle's word, looks not at its surface, but at its innermost content, its medulla. He does not hear the Law who, like the Galatians, follows only its outward bark, its exterior cortex.
The divine Apostle said, "which things are allegorized," that is, they can also be understood in another way. He does not reject the historical meaning, but explains what was prefigured by the history. Therefore he adds: "For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai, bearing children for bondage, which is Hagar. For Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all." Why, says the Apostle, do you who are resolved to serve the Law not believe the teachings of the Law? For the Law teaches you that Abraham had two wives and became the father of two sons. One of them was born of the bondwoman, and the other of the freewoman.
This accords with what is taking place among us. There, there is one father, but two mothers and two sons. So here there is one God, but two covenants and two peoples. Hagar is the figure of the first covenant, and Sarah of the second. For the old Law was given from Mount Sinai, and near that mountain dwells the race of Hagar. That mountain corresponds to this earthly Jerusalem. Sarah, however, is the figure of the heavenly city, whose sons we are called. It is free, that is, it does not bear the yoke of the Law. The earthly Jerusalem is enslaved, and so are those subject to the Law. The Apostle also points to a prophecy that accords with this prefiguration.
“Do you not hear the law?” By directing the readers’ attention to the Law, the Apostle disposes them to accept his allegory through the obligation of all to fulfill everything said in the Law. He unfolds before them the true meaning of Abraham’s sons, Ishmael and Isaac, finding in them the true image of the two Covenants, the Old and the New.
An exhortation to the Galatians on the needless character of the Old Testament Law, acting chiefly upon their will (Gal 4:21-5:12). In this section St. Paul the Apostle shows how glorious it is to abide in freedom from the Law (Gal 4:21-5:1), how necessary this is (Gal 5:2-6), and how easy it is (Gal 5:7-12). "There are three aspects which, once recognized, move both hands and feet toward the work in which they are seen. Glory attracts by superiority. Necessity compels by inescapability. Ease gives wings by readiness" (Bishop Theophan). St. Paul the Apostle unfolds the glory of freedom from the Law through the figure of the two covenants in the history of Hagar and Sarah (Gal 4:21-5:1). The force of the apostolic words here is as follows. Abraham had two wives, one free and one a slave.
But the slave had to leave Abraham's house with her son, since Abraham's love belonged to the freewoman alone. Only her son was to inherit both the blessing and the promise given by God to Abraham. In the same way, the servile Law of the Old Covenant had to be abolished and, in time, cast out. For God assigned all the treasures of His grace only to the Gospel, and only the free sons of the New Covenant were to inherit them.
Continuing his discourse on the needless character of the Law, the Apostle depicts the superiority of faith over the Law through an allegorical interpretation. Abraham begot Ishmael according to the flesh, and Isaac according to the promise. The first is presented as an image of the Old Covenant, and the second of the New. To the New Covenant belong sonship of the Jerusalem above, birth into freedom, and the inalienable inheritance of heavenly blessings. Meanwhile Hagar, the bondwoman, bore slaves. The Sinaitic Law bears children for bondage and is in bondage with its children, ruling in the present Jerusalem, the center of life under the Law. In unfolding such a profound allegory, the Apostle was visibly adapting himself to the needs of his readers.
Perhaps he was also adapting himself in part to the methods by which his opponents acted. St. John Chrysostom says: "Since the patriarch Abraham was held in great honor among the Jews, the Apostle shows that the figures began in him. In him too the present events were foreshadowed. First he shows that the Galatians are sons of Abraham. But since the sons of this patriarch did not have equal dignity, for one was born of a bondwoman and the other of a freewoman, he then says that they are not only sons of Abraham. They are such sons as his free and noble-born son was." "Therefore do not be troubled that you were not born of Abraham according to the flesh. For you are kin to him precisely because you were not born of him according to the flesh. Birth according to the flesh does not increase dignity, but diminishes it. By contrast, birth not according to the flesh is a wondrous and spiritual birth. Only those who themselves have been born from above beget in this way." It is worth noting that Sinai in the language of the Arabs is called Hagar. According to St. John Chrysostom's explanation, "Hagar was called a bondwoman, and Mount Sinai in the language of the same land likewise means a bondwoman." "The Jerusalem above is the Church, and those born in her are not slaves." "She is the Jerusalem above because she is heavenly in her perfections and powers, and by her close union with heaven. With heaven she forms one whole and within herself forms heavenly citizens. She is free and gives birth to the free. If we bind ourselves to the Law, we shall become unfree and renounce the mother who bore us. At the same time this suggested: you also were and are such. Why then bind yourselves?" (Bishop Theophan).
"Having softened their heart by his tears in the preceding words, and having drawn them closer to himself, he again begins the argument. He sets before them a still weightier matter for consideration, showing that even the Law itself requires that it not be observed. If you wish, he says, to be obedient to the Law, leave it, for it itself requires this. Yet the Apostle does not say this directly, but reaches the same point by another path, making use of the history" (St. Chrysostom). By such an unexpected question he sharpened the readers' attention. Then, by offering a simple history known to all, he did not weaken that attention, but brought it into even greater tension. They desired to understand what this was and what he wished to say by it.
When the matter finally became clear, and the comparison of the things appeared so vivid, the impression could not fail to be striking. By saying that they wish to be under the Law, he suggests that they are not yet completely entangled in it. They are inclining, but have not yet yielded. At the same time he gives hope that, just as they have wished it, so they can also cease to wish it. If they attempt this, they are not brought to it by any reasonable demands, but only by a caprice of desires. St. Chrysostom says: "He said well, 'you who wish.' For the matter did not depend on the demand of the things themselves, but on a zeal already out of place." In the words, "you who wish to be under the Law," and, "do you not hear the Law?" the word "Law" does not have one meaning. In the first case it means the whole order of faith under the Law. In the second, it means all that occurred in the period under the Law by special divine ordinances, and was placed in Scripture for the instruction of later generations. He takes the event from the book of Genesis because it was required. Yet he would have taken what was needed from any other book if something else had been required, and would still have expressed himself in the same way: "Do you not hear the Law?" That is, do you not hear what God Himself, Who established the order under the Law, says to you through events? Here "do you not hear" means: do you not enter into the sense and inner meaning? Do you not take lessons and admonitions for yourselves from it and follow them? Blessed Jerome writes: "According to the Apostle, he hears the Law who sees not only its surface, but looks into its very marrow. He does not hear the Law who, like the Galatians, stops at its bark alone."
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 11 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS