Galatians 4:22Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Afterward it is said of Ishmael, and surely no one will doubt that these are words of promise: "He shall be a wild man. His hand shall be against all, and the hand of all against him. He shall dwell over against all his brethren" (Gen. 16:12). To this one may answer that the promise of an angel has less weight than the promise of God. For as a star gives no rays after the sun has risen, so the words of an angel grow dim when compared with God's promise. They disappear and are counted as nothing. Yet this answer only seems to have some force. It is then destroyed by the words of Scripture, which are binding upon us. For it is written: "And Abraham said to God: Let this Ishmael live before Your face" (Gen. 17:18). And God answered him thus: "Behold, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him, an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. As for Ishmael, behold, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will multiply him and increase him greatly. He shall beget twelve nations, and I will make him into a great people. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year" (Gen. 17:19-21). From these words it is evident that by the word of God Himself it is confirmed that Ishmael was born according to promise. Yet this too is resolved as follows. Promise is given properly in the fulfillment of the covenant. It is one thing to bless, multiply, and greatly increase, as is written concerning Ishmael. It is another thing to make someone heir by testament, as is said of Isaac: "I will establish My covenant with him, an everlasting covenant. And with his seed after him." And again in the words that follow: "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you." Gifts are one thing, and an estate is another. What is determined by law is one thing, and what is received by inheritance is another. For we read that gifts were given to the sons of Abraham's concubines, while the inheritance of all the estate was left to Sarah's son. Therefore, as we have said, even a lawful blessing is one thing, and the covenant is another. Concerning Ishmael one may also say that the word, whether of the Angel or of God, came after his conception. But concerning Isaac, God gave the promise before he was conceived in Sarah's womb. We have said this only insofar as the mediocrity of our natural mind can grasp it. Yet if anyone can devise something greater to explain how Ishmael, born from the maidservant, is not a son of promise, while Isaac, born from the free woman, is such, it is better to hear him. And although, says the Apostle, you have other thoughts, God has revealed even this to you. Now we must rise in brief words to a higher meaning. Each of us is first born not according to promise, so long as he is instructed by the simple words of the Scriptures and still delights in Jewish interpretations. But when he passes to something more exalted and understands the Law as spiritual, then he is born from promise. To speak more plainly, all who constantly do the works of Abraham are born from Abraham. Those who still have the spirit of bondage again unto fear are born from the Egyptian maidservant. Those who have received the spirit of adoption are born from the free woman Sarah. With this freedom we have been endowed by Christ. To the Jews, who even now still desire to be sons of the maidservant, the Lord says: "If you abide in My word, you will truly be My disciples. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (Jn. 8:31-32). Therefore, not knowing that what was said must be understood mystically, they say: "We are Abraham's seed and have never been in bondage to anyone. How then do You say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them: "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever, but the son remains forever" (Jn. 8:33-35). If we are slaves of sin, then Hagar the Egyptian has given birth to us. But if sin does not reign in our mortal body, then we are truly sons of God.

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.

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.

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).

That is, one was born by the natural course, while the other was formed by a higher power, though from the elements of nature. The former was of lower, earthly origin, while the latter was of higher, heavenly origin. By this reminder alone the Apostle suggested to the Galatians: in submitting yourselves to the yoke of the Law, you wish thereby to enter the rights of Abraham's sonship. This is a good thing, worthy of care and zeal. But take care that you do not err in the way of attaining it. Abraham had two sons, and they were wholly opposed to one another. You too must determine more precisely according to the spirit of which of these sons you wish to become children of Abraham. The error in choosing is so grave that, while imagining yourselves to be sons of Abraham, in fact you will be no more than slaves. Chrysostom says: "Again he points to Abraham. Yet this is not repetition. Since this patriarch was held in great honor among the Jews, the Apostle shows that the types took their beginning in him. In him also the present events had been prefigured. First he shows that they, the Galatians, are sons of Abraham. But since the sons of this patriarch did not have equal dignity, for one was born of a slave woman and the other of a free woman, he then says that they are not only sons of Abraham. They are sons such as his free and noble-born son was. Such is the power of faith." What this history means and what it teaches, the Apostle explains afterward in detail. Yet the words cited, even before their mystical interpretation, could by themselves give rise to thoughts significant for the matter under discussion. According to Chrysostom, the question resolved here is this: how do we become children of Abraham, when we do not descend from him according to the flesh? In the same way that Isaac descended from him, not according to the flesh, but according to promise, that is, by the power of God. "Before, he said that faith unites us with Abraham. But since it seemed incomprehensible to the hearers that he should call those who did not descend from Abraham his sons, he shows that such an extraordinary thing had already been done by God at the very beginning. For Isaac too was a natural son, yet not according to the natural order, nor according to the law of marriage, nor from fleshly powers. He was born from bodies that had withered and from a womb grown old. The flesh did not produce the conception, nor did seed make the fruit. His mother's womb was dead both through age and through barrenness. Rather, the word spoken by God formed him. By contrast, the slave was not born in this way, but according to the laws of nature and marriage. And the one born not according to the flesh was preferred to the one born according to the flesh. Therefore do not be troubled that you were not born according to the flesh from Abraham. For you are kin to him precisely because you were not born from 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. In this way only those give birth who themselves have been born from above. Ishmael was born according to the flesh, but he was a slave. And not only was he a slave, he was even cast out of his father's house. But Isaac, born according to promise, since he was also the son of the free woman, remained master of all."