Galatians 4:27Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

She too was first barren, and later became the mother of numerous offspring. Yet even this is not enough for Paul. He carefully examines how the barren woman became a mother, so that from this too he may show the closeness of the type to the truth under consideration.

And in Isaac, in the book of Isaiah, she cries out through the prophet: "If there is a nation born together" (Isa 66:8), when in one day, according to the book of Acts, three thousand and five thousand believed (Acts 2:41; Acts 4:4 and following). I see no necessity to speak about the multitude of Christians and the small number of Jews, when the standards of the Cross are unfurled throughout the whole world, and in the cities a notable Jew is rarely seen. The phrase si est gens nata simul is apparently a paraphrase or an Old Latin text. In the Vulgate there is aut parietur gens simul (Isa 66:8).

According to Bishop Theophan's explanation, the features of the spiritual birth given by our mother, the Church, are these: she gives birth without a fleshly husband, without pangs, and without fleshly birth itself. She has nothing of this fleshly order, yet she has more children than the one who has all these things. Thus spiritual birth is hindered neither by time, nor by place. It can take place always, everywhere, in a single instant, and in greater number. Here neither does the Jew have advantage, nor does the Greek meet rejection. Whoever a man may be, he is born anew without envy and becomes a child of the new Jerusalem. Heaven and earth rejoice over this. Therefore the prophet contemplates it under the image of solemn joy. St. John Chrysostom exclaims: "Who is this barren woman? Who is this desolate woman? Is it not clear that this is the Church from the Gentiles, formerly deprived of the knowledge of God? And who is she who has a husband? Clearly, the Jewish synagogue. But the barren woman surpassed her in multitude of children. Do you see how Sarah by deed, and the prophets by word, foretold our future? But see, Isaiah said that the one first barren later became the mother of many children. This happened typologically with Sarah, for she, being barren at first, later became the mother of numerous offspring." Paul also shows how the barren woman became a mother, so that from this too he may show the closeness of the type to the truth under consideration. Therefore he adds: "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise." For just as Sarah became a mother not by nature, but by promise, so in our regeneration nothing belongs to nature. Rather, the divine words spoken by the priest in the font of water, as in a mother's womb, re-create and regenerate the one being baptized. "Therefore, if we are children of the barren woman, then we are also free. Is it not madness for those chosen so many centuries before, and now having received freedom, voluntarily to subject themselves to the yoke of bondage?"

According to this prophecy, she gives birth without a fleshly husband and without fleshly seed, being barren. She gives birth without the pains of childbirth and without fleshly birth itself, for she does not give birth as they give birth according to the flesh. She is empty of all this, and has nothing fleshly of this kind. Yet she has more children than the one who has all this. Spiritual birth is hindered neither by time, nor place, nor other circumstances. It can take place always, everywhere, in a single instant, and in great number. Ambrosiaster writes: "The Apostle calls the earthly Jerusalem the one who has a husband, because she gives birth according to the flesh. But the heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of us all, he calls barren, because she does not give birth according to the flesh and does not suffer the pains of childbirth. Rather, she gives birth spiritually, without suffering." If we understand this prophecy in this way, we have no need to indicate precisely who this barren woman is among the religious communities that actually existed. The Prophet contemplated the spiritual Church of God, which has nothing fleshly and yet has many children. This is not the Jewish Church, even if one understands by it the better, hidden part within her. Nor is it the Gentile assembly, poor in every good and every truth. It is the future Church, which did not then exist, but which had been promised and expected. It is not that some actual childless mother suddenly became mother of many children. Rather, a new mother appears and gives birth to many children, not according to the laws of fleshly birth at all. Here neither the Jew has an advantage, nor does the Greek meet rejection. Whoever one may be, he is born again without envy and becomes a child of the new Jerusalem. Heaven and earth rejoice at this. Therefore the Prophet contemplates this under the image of triumphant joy. "Rejoice, break forth," burst out in joyful cries, "cry aloud" from an abundance of joy. He takes as comparison the state of a mother who has just given birth, or a mother who has borne many children. They are all so good that she cannot have enough joy as she looks upon them. Such are all true Christians. They are joy to one another and each to himself. They are joy to the Angels, who are sent to minister for those who are to inherit salvation and who rejoice over the conversion of sinners. They are joy to God, worshiped in Trinity, Who rests in them by His good pleasure, as though saying to them: here is My rest, here I will dwell. There is no need to dwell on the occasion on which the prophecy was spoken. This in no way helps us understand it in the present place. Yet we cannot fail to attend to the interpretation of the holy Fathers. They all understand the barren woman as the Church of the Gentiles, and the woman who has a husband as the Jewish Church. Under the action of evangelical grace, the former became more fruitful in children than the latter. Chrysostom says: "Who is this barren woman? Who is this empty one? Is it not obvious that she is the Church from the Gentiles, formerly deprived of the knowledge of God? And who is the woman who has a husband? Clearly, she is the Jewish synagogue. But the barren woman surpassed her in abundance of children. The synagogue embraced only one people. But the children of the Church filled Greece and the barbarian lands, the earth, the sea, and the whole inhabited world. Do you see how Sarah in deed, and the Prophet in word, wrote beforehand our future? But observe: Isaiah said that the woman who was formerly barren afterward became mother of many children. This happened typologically with Sarah. For she too, after being barren at first, afterward became mother of a numerous offspring." Blessed Theodoret adds: "As Sarah gave birth in old age beyond every human expectation, so the Gentiles, at the very end of life, were deemed worthy of the knowledge of God. And the barren woman, by the multitude of those born from her, surpassed the one who once had many children." Here is another word from Oecumenius: "He calls the synagogue of the Jews the woman who has a husband. Either because she had the Law, or because in ancient times she enjoyed God's good pleasure." So too all the other ancient interpreters, with the exception, as we have seen, of Ambrosiaster. The Church whom the Prophet bids rejoice did not consist only of Gentiles. Therefore, strictly speaking, one cannot suppose that the prophecy refers to them alone. But such an interpretation is not inappropriate by application. First, this is because it is easy to understand. Still more, it is because the matter is visible. The Church of Christ was in fact composed chiefly of Gentiles. The Jews disappeared among them, both because they were few and because they cast aside Jewish peculiarities. They merged with the others almost without trace. The holy Fathers contemplated the Church indicated by the Prophet in this form, purified of everything Jewish. It was as though none of her children had previously been Jews at all. Therefore they pointed to the prophesied mother outside Judaism. Yet that St. Paul wished in this prophecy to indicate precisely the spiritual birth of the Church's children is justified both by the preceding discourse, or its course, and by the words that follow: