In this chapter the apostle discourses concerning the abrogation of the ceremonial law, under which the Old Testament saints were, being as children under tutors; blames the Galatians for returning to it when they were freed from it; puts them in mind of their former affection to him and to his…

Now I say To illustrate what he had said of the law’s being a schoolmaster to the Jews until the coming of Christ, and then ceasing as such, he proposes the case of an heir during his minority, till he come to the proper time of enjoying his estate.

But is under tutors and governors The word rendered “tutors”, is adopted by the Jewish Targumists and Rabbins into their language; and by the former is used [[22]] for any ruler and governor, civil or domestic; and by the latter, for such as are guardians of infants, fatherless children, and such…

Even so we Jews, for of such the apostle is only speaking, and to whom he applies the above case of heirs in minority; it was to the Jews he had spoken of the law, as being a military guard, a prison, and a schoolmaster to them; and then having addressed the Gentiles, as being the children of God,…

But when the fulness of time was come The time agreed and fixed upon between God and his Son from all eternity, in the council and covenant of peace, when the Son of God should assume human nature; which time was diligently searched into by the prophets, was revealed unto them, and predicted by…

To redeem them that were under the law By whom are meant chiefly the Jews, who are elsewhere represented as in and under the law, in distinction from the Gentiles who were without it; see (1 Cor. 9:20, 1 Cor.

And because ye are sons That is of God, so some copies read; and the Ethiopic version, “inasmuch as ye are his sons”; not in so high a sense as Christ is the Son of God; nor in so low a sense as all men are his offspring; nor in such sense as magistrates are the children of the most High; nor…

Wherefore thou art no more a servant This is a benefit resulting from adoption, and the manifestation of it to the children of God, and supposes them to have been formerly servants; as whilst in a natural state they were the servants of sin, the vassals of Satan, slaves to the world, and the lusts…

Howbeit then, when ye know not God Whilst in Gentilism, and in a state of unregeneracy, they had no true knowledge of God; though they might know by the light of nature, and works of creation, that there was a God, yet they did not know who he was, but called either mortal men, or some one or other…

But now, after that ye have known God, &c,] God in Christ, as their covenant God and Father, through the preaching of the Gospel, and in the light of divine grace; God having caused light to shine in their dark hearts; and having given them the light of the knowledge of himself in the face of…

Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. ] Lest the apostle should be thought to suggest, without foundation, the inclination of these people to be in bondage to the ceremonies of the law, he gives this as an instance of it; which is to be understood, not of a civil observation of times,…

I am afraid of you Which shows the danger he apprehended they were in, by taking such large steps from Christianity to Judaism, and expresses the godly jealousy of the apostle over them; intimates he had some hope of them, and in the whole declares his great love and affection for them; for love is…

Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am Though they had gone so far backwards, yet still hoping well of them that they would he reclaimed, he styles them “brethren”: not in a carnal but spiritual relation, as being born of God, and belonging to his family; and out of his sincere and hearty love for…

Ye know how, through infirmity of the flesh Meaning either their infirmity, to which the apostle accommodated himself in preaching the Gospel to them, delivering it in such a manner as suited with their capacities, feeding them with milk, and not with strong meat; or his own infirmity, respecting…

And my temptation which was in my flesh The same with the infirmity of his flesh, and which was a trial of his faith and patience, and every other grace, as the afflictions of the saints be.

Where is then the blessedness you spake of? &c.] Or, as some copies read, “what was then your blessedness?” what, and how great was it? meaning, when the Gospel was first preached to them by him; when Christ was revealed to them as God’s salvation; when the doctrines of free justification by the…

Am I therefore become your enemy Not that he was an enemy to them, he had the same cordial affection for them as ever; he had their true interest at heart, and was diligently pursuing it; but they, through the insinuations of the false teachers, had entertained an ill opinion of him, and an…

They zealously affect you Or “are jealous of you”; meaning the false apostles, whose names, in contempt, he mentions not, being unworthy to be taken notice of, and their names to be transmitted to posterity.

But it is good to be zealously affected A zealous affection when right is very commendable, as the instances of Phinehas, Elijah, John the Baptist, and our Lord Jesus Christ show, and a contrary spirit is very disagreeable.

My little children A soft and tender way of speaking, used by Christ to his disciples, and frequently by that affectionate and beloved disciple, John. It is expressive of the apostle’s strong love and affection for them, and points out their tenderness in the faith, and that small degree of…

I desire to be present with you now His meaning is, either that be wished he was personally present among them; that he had but an opportunity of seeing them face to face, and telling them all his mind, and in such a manner as he could not in a single epistle; or that they would consider him, when…

Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law Not merely to obey it, as holy, just, and good, from a principle of love, and to testify subjection and gratitude to God; so all believers desire to bc under the law: but these men sought for justification and salvation by their obedience to it: they…

For it is written In that Abraham had two sons, not two sons only; for besides the two referred to, he had six more, but it being only pertinent to the apostle’s purpose to take notice of these two, he mentions no more, though he does not deny that he had any more.

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…

Which things are an allegory Or “are allegorized”: so Sarah and Hagar were allegorized by Philo the Jew [[14]], before they were by the apostle. Sarah he makes to signify virtue, and Hagar the whole circle of arts and sciences, which are, or should be, an handmaid to virtue; but these things…

For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia The Arabic version, instead of Arabia, reads “Balca”. The Syriac version makes Hagar to be a mountain, reading the words thus, “for Mount Hagar is Sinai, which is in Arabia”: and some have been of opinion that Sinai was called Hagar by the Arabians.

But Jerusalem which is above This Sarah was a type and figure of; she answered to, and agreed with this; which is to be understood, not of the church triumphant in heaven, but of the Gospel church state under the administration of the new covenant; and that, not as in the latter day glory, when the…

For it is written , which is cited to prove, that the heavenly Jerusalem, or Gospel church state, is the mother of us all, and has brought forth, and still will bring forth, many souls to Christ, even many more than were under the legal dispensation by the Jewish church, though the Lord was an…

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was The Ethiopic version reads, “you, brethren”; and so one of Stephens’s copies. As the two women, Hagar and Sarah, might be, and are allegorized; so likewise their respective offspring.

But as then In the times of Abraham, when Hagar and Sarah, the types of the two dispensations of the covenant, and Ishmael and Isaac, the figures of the two different seeds, the natural and spiritual seed of Abraham, legalists and true believers, were living: he that was born after the flesh; which…

Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture? &c.] This is a Talmudic form of citing Scriptures, and answers to (מאי קראה) , “what says the Scriptures [[4]]?” the passage referred to is and which are the words of Sarah to Abraham; but inasmuch as she spake them under divine inspiration, and they were…

So then, brethren This is the conclusion of the whole allegory, or the mystical interpretation of Agar and Sarah, and their sons: we are not children of the bondwoman; the figure of the first covenant, which gendered to bondage, and typified the Jews in a state, and under a spirit of bondage to the…