Galatians 4:21–31 — Hagar and Sarah: The Children of Promise

 Galatians 4:21–31 explains the difference between seeking an inheritance through dependence upon the
law and receiving it through God’s promise. Paul draws upon Abraham’s household—particularly Hagar, Sarah, Ishmael, and Isaac—to address believers who were being urged to accept circumcision and the Mosaic law as necessary for their standing before God.

His central declaration is that believers in Christ belong to the family of promise. Their inheritance rests upon God’s gracious action, and they must not surrender that freedom by seeking another foundation for acceptance.

This passage requires careful reading. Paul’s comparison does not erase the historical lives of Hagar and Sarah, justify mistreatment of anyone, or establish an ethnic hierarchy. It applies their story to a particular controversy concerning the law, promise, and belonging in Christ.

The biblical context

Earlier in Galatians, Paul establishes that Abraham believed God and was counted righteous. The promise preceded the Mosaic law, and the law did not cancel it (Galatians 3:6–18).

He then explains that God sent His Son to redeem those under the law so that they might receive adoption as sons. God also sent the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, crying, “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:4–6).

Immediately before this passage, Paul expresses concern about the Galatians and longs for Christ to be formed in them (Galatians 4:19). His argument is therefore pastoral as well as theological: he wants them to remain grounded in Christ.

Verse 21 — Do you hear what the law says?

“Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?”
— Galatians 4:21, KJV

Paul addresses those who desire to be “under the law.” In this controversy, that means accepting the Mosaic law as the governing basis of their covenant standing, including the requirement of circumcision.

His question contains a deliberate contrast. They want to place themselves under the law, but have they listened carefully to what the law itself records?

The second use of “law” includes the Torah’s narratives, particularly Genesis. Paul appeals to the very Scriptures his opponents invoke.

The lesson: Reverence for Scripture requires listening to its whole argument, rather than selecting commands while overlooking the history of God’s promise.

Verses 22–23 — Two sons and two circumstances of birth

“For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.”
— Galatians 4:22–23, KJV

Paul selects the two sons central to this comparison: Ishmael, born to Hagar, and Isaac, born to Sarah. He is not claiming that Abraham never had other sons; Genesis 25 records children through Keturah.

Hagar was a bondwoman, while Sarah was free. Their different household positions become important to Paul’s illustration.

“Born after the flesh”

Ishmael’s birth occurred through ordinary human reproductive capacity and the arrangement made by Sarai and Abram in Genesis 16.

Within Paul’s argument, “after the flesh” also corresponds to dependence upon human means to secure the desired outcome.

This does not mean Ishmael was less human, personally responsible for the arrangement, or excluded from every expression of God’s care. Genesis records God hearing Hagar’s affliction and blessing Ishmael.

“By promise”

Isaac was also physically born, but his birth fulfilled God’s specific promise concerning Sarah. Her advanced age and barrenness made clear that the outcome depended upon God’s intervention.

The distinction concerns the basis upon which the promised line was established. Isaac’s existence testified that God accomplished what He had spoken.

Paul uses that distinction to ask the Galatians where they are placing their confidence: in human qualifications or in God’s promise fulfilled through Christ.

Verse 24 — “Which things are an allegory”

“Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.”
— Galatians 4:24, KJV

“Agar” is the KJV form of Hagar. “Gendereth” means gives birth or brings forth.

Paul explicitly tells us that he is reading the historical account through a figurative comparison. The people and events remain historical, but their relationships illustrate the covenant issue confronting the Galatians.

Hagar represents the covenant from Mount Sinai, described here as producing children in bondage.

This is an arresting comparison. Those promoting law observance would naturally identify themselves with Abraham and his legitimate inheritance. Paul argues that dependence upon Sinai for the promised inheritance places them on the side represented by the bondwoman.

The comparison does not mean that the law was evil. Earlier, Paul asks whether the law opposes God’s promises and answers:

“God forbid.”
— Galatians 3:21, KJV

The problem is asking the law to provide the life and inheritance that come through God’s promise.

Verse 25 — Sinai and “Jerusalem which now is”

“For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.”
— Galatians 4:25, KJV

“Answereth to” means corresponds to or stands in the same category.

Paul connects Hagar, Sinai, and the present Jerusalem within his illustration. His concern is Jerusalem understood in relation to the law-centered order being urged upon the Galatians.

The verse is not a statement that every Jewish person is morally inferior or that ethnic identity determines bondage. Paul himself was Jewish, and his argument is addressed to Gentiles who were considering placing themselves under the law.

The categories concern covenant standing and the source of inheritance, not racial worth.

Nor should Paul’s reference to Sinai “in Arabia” be used by itself to settle modern debates about the mountain’s precise location. The geographical expression serves his comparison.

Verse 26 — The Jerusalem above is free

“But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
— Galatians 4:26, KJV

Paul contrasts the present Jerusalem in his comparison with “Jerusalem which is above.”

This heavenly Jerusalem represents the community whose identity and inheritance come from God. It is free and is described as the mother of believers.

The maternal image corresponds to the passage’s emphasis on birth and family. Believers belong to the household established by divine promise.

Sarah supplies the contrasting figure in the Abraham narrative, although Paul’s language here focuses upon the Jerusalem above.

Freedom does not mean independence from God. It means deliverance from the bondage of seeking one’s inheritance through the law, with the privilege of belonging to God through Christ.

Verse 27 — The barren woman is called to rejoice

“For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.”
— Galatians 4:27, KJV

Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1.

In Isaiah, the barren woman pictures Zion in her desolation, promised restoration and an unexpected multitude of children. Paul draws upon that promise to explain the expanding family associated with the Jerusalem above.

The quotation also resonates with Sarah’s barrenness. What appeared incapable of producing children becomes fruitful through God’s action.

The emphasis is God’s ability to create a flourishing people where human circumstances offer little grounds for expectation.

This verse should not be turned into a guarantee that every woman experiencing infertility will conceive. Its immediate prophetic and apostolic application concerns God’s restored people.

The joy comes from His faithfulness and the enlargement of His family.

Verse 28 — “We … are the children of promise”

“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.”
— Galatians 4:28, KJV

Paul now applies the comparison directly.

The Galatians do not need circumcision to secure the identity he declares here. Through Christ, they belong to the family established by promise.

“As Isaac was” identifies a correspondence, not identical circumstances. Every believer’s birth need not resemble Isaac’s miraculous conception. Their shared characteristic is that their place in God’s family rests upon His promise and action.

Paul’s use of “brethren” also expresses their existing relationship. He addresses them as members of the family whose freedom he is defending.

The lesson: Faith receives an identity God gives. Religious requirements must not be added as though Christ’s work were insufficient to establish that belonging.

Verse 29 — The conflict between flesh and Spirit

“But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.”
— Galatians 4:29, KJV

Paul refers to the conflict reflected in Genesis 21:9, where Sarah sees Hagar’s son “mocking.”

He interprets that hostility as persecution and draws a comparison with the opposition experienced by the children of promise in his own day.

“Born after the Spirit” describes Isaac’s birth in terms of divine agency. It also connects the illustration with the Galatians’ life through the Spirit.

Paul does not teach that all descendants of Ishmael will persecute all descendants of Isaac. He applies the relationship within the story to the present controversy.

The wider letter associates pressure concerning circumcision with efforts to avoid persecution for the cross (Galatians 6:12). Paul insists that belonging through promise must not be abandoned because it meets opposition.

Verse 30 — The inheritance cannot rest upon both foundations

“Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”
— Galatians 4:30, KJV

Paul quotes the instruction recorded in Genesis 21:10.

Within Genesis, this concerns the household and the distinction surrounding Isaac’s inheritance. Within Galatians, it declares that the principle represented by the bondwoman cannot govern the inheritance of the children of promise.

Paul’s application is forceful: the Galatians must reject the demand that their inheritance depends upon becoming subject to the law.

They cannot rely upon Christ’s promise while treating circumcision as an additional requirement necessary to secure acceptance.

This is not permission to mistreat women, servants, Jews, Arabs, or any other community. Genesis itself records God caring for Hagar and Ishmael after their departure.

The figurative application concerns the basis of inheritance, not the denial of anyone’s humanity.

Verse 31 — The identity of the freewoman’s children

“So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.”
— Galatians 4:31, KJV

Paul concludes with a declaration of identity.

Believers belong to the family of promise. They are heirs through Christ, and their life is sustained by the Spirit.

The next verse states the practical consequence:

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
— Galatians 5:1, KJV

Paul’s appeal is to remain in the freedom Christ has given.

Later, he explains how that freedom must be exercised:

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”
— Galatians 5:13, KJV

Christian freedom produces loving service. It releases believers from seeking acceptance through the law while calling them to walk in the Spirit and bear His fruit.

The comparison at a glance

Element in Paul’s illustration	Its significance in the argument
Hagar, the bondwoman	The covenant from Sinai producing bondage
Ishmael’s birth “after the flesh”	Birth through ordinary human means, corresponding to reliance upon the flesh
Sarah, the freewoman	The contrasting household position associated with promise
Isaac’s birth	God fulfilling His promise
Present Jerusalem	The law-centered order within Paul’s comparison
Jerusalem above	The free community established by God
Children of promise	Believers whose inheritance comes through Christ

Personal application

Examine the foundation of your confidence before God. Church involvement, religious discipline, ancestry, and ministry service cannot replace Christ as the basis of your acceptance.

Receive your identity as a gift of God’s promise. You do not have to manufacture a place in His household through spiritual performance.

Respect the dignity of those appearing in biblical illustrations. Hagar’s symbolic role in Paul’s argument does not erase God’s compassion toward her in Genesis.

Stand firm when pressure encourages you to add requirements that undermine the sufficiency of Christ.

Use freedom to love. A life governed by the Spirit bears obedience, patience, generosity, and care for others.

Reflection questions

1. What were the Galatians seeking by placing themselves under the law?
2. How does Isaac’s birth illustrate dependence upon God’s promise?
3. Why must Paul’s comparison be distinguished from an ethnic hierarchy?
4. What does belonging to the Jerusalem above teach me about my identity?
5. Am I treating any religious practice as though it purchases God’s acceptance?
6. How is my freedom in Christ becoming visible through loving service?

Closing prayer

Father, thank You for receiving us through Your promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Teach us to rest our confidence in Him and to stand firm in the freedom He gives. Deliver us from pride in religious achievement and from careless interpretations that dishonor others. Fill us with Your Spirit, and let our freedom produce love, holiness, and faithful service. In Jesus’ name, Amen.