Gálatas 4:23

23 Mas el de la sierva nació según la carne; pero el de la libre nació por la promesa

Gálatas 4:23 Meaning and Commentary

Galatians 4:23

But he who was of the bondwoman
Ishmael, who was begotten and born of Hagar,

was born after the flesh;
after the common order and course of nature, through the copulation of two persons, the one able to procreate, and the other fit for the conception of children; and was typical of the Jews, the natural descendants of Abraham, who, as such, and upon that account, were not the children of God, nor heirs of the eternal inheritance:

but he of the free woman was by promise;
by a previous promise made by God to Abraham, that he should have a son in his old age, when his body was now dead, and when Sarah his wife, who had always been barren, was now grown old, and past the time of bearing children; so that Isaac was born out of the common order and course of nature; his conception and birth were owing to the promise and power of God, and to his free grace and favour to Abraham. This son of promise was a type of the spiritual seed of Abraham, whether Jews or Gentiles, the children of the promise that are counted for the seed; who are born again of the will, power, and grace of God, and are heirs, according to the promise, both of grace and glory, when they that are of the law, and the works of it, are not. All which is further illustrated in the following verses.

Gálatas 4:23 In-Context

21 Decidme, los que queréis estar bajo la ley, ¿no habéis oído la ley

22 Porque escrito está que Abraham tuvo dos hijos; uno de la sierva, el otro de la libre

23 Mas el de la sierva nació según la carne; pero el de la libre nació por la promesa

24 Las cuales cosas son dichas por alegoría, porque estas mujeres son los dos pactos; el uno ciertamente del monte Sinaí, el cual engendró para servidumbre, que es Agar

25 Porque Agar o Sinaí es un monte de Arabia, el cual corresponde a la que ahora es Jerusalén, la cual junto con sus hijos está en esclavitud