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Galatians 4:25

in Galatians 4

Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is: for she is in bondage with her children.

KJV

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

This verse in Galatians 4

Commentary

14 notes on this verse
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.

This site's exposition

These things serve as illustrations

on Galatians 4:24-26

These things serve as illustrations translates allegoroumena, Paul's own word and license for what follows: the women represent two covenants. Hagar is the one from Mount Sinai that bears children into slavery, and Sarah is the Jerusalem above, which is free.

This site's exposition

Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia

Hagar and her descendants belonged to Arabia. Mount Sinai stands in the same region. Paul links the covenant given there to the present Jerusalem, still in slavery under the law.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers4 voices

A commentator

Jerome

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.25-26 · Written before 420.

proposed

Hagar, who is interpreted as "sojourning," "wandering" or "tarrying," gives birth to Ishmael.… No wonder that the Old Covenant, which is on Mount Sinai, which is in Arabia and nearby to Jerusalem, is stated and alleged in writing to be ephemeral and not perpetual. The sojourning of Hagar stands in contrast with perpetual possession. The name of Mount Sinai means "tribulation," while Arabia means "death."

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verses 25, 26.) For this is Hagar arising from Mount Sinai, in servitude, which is Agar. For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, which corresponds to the present Jerusalem, and is in servitude with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: Rejoice, barren one who does not bear, break forth and shout, you who do not travail, for many are the children of the desolate, more numerous than those of the one who has a husband. She did not conceive for a long time, before Christ was born of the Virgin, and she was barren: not yet with the laughter of the world did Isaac, born of the chosen father, resound with the voice of sublime teachings. For Abraham, also interpreted in our language as the chosen father, is referred to with resounding sound. But Hagar, which is interpreted as sojourning, that is, inhabiting, or pilgrimage, or stay, gives birth to Ishmael, who only hears God's commandments and does not become a rustic, bloodthirsty man, roaming the desert. He is an enemy to all his brothers born of a free woman and resists them with a hostile face. It is not surprising that the old Testament, which was established and written on Mount Sinai, which is in Arabia and is adjacent to the now existing Jerusalem, is not eternal: since the inhabitance is different from perpetual possession, and the name of Mount Sinai signifies temptation, and Arabia signifies decline: and on the contrary, the Jerusalem that is above, which is the free and mother of all saints, demonstrates that the present Jerusalem is below, and immersed in lowliness and humility. […]

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Galatians 4 · Written before 407.

proposed

The bond-woman was called Hagar, and "Hagar" is the word for Mount Sinai in the language of that country. So that it is necessary that all who are born of the Old Covenant should be bondmen, for that mountain where the Old Covenant was delivered hath a name in common with the bondwoman. And it includes Jerusalem, for this is the meaning of, "And answereth to Jerusalem that now is." That is, it borders on, and is contiguous to it. "For she is in bondage with her children." What follows from hence? Not only that she was in bondage and brought forth bondmen, but that this Covenant is so too, whereof the bondwoman was a type. For Jerusalem is adjacent to the mountain of the same name with the bondwoman, and in this mountain the Covenant was delivered. Now where is the type of Sarah?

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 550.

proposed

Mount Sinai is in Arabia. There the law was given to Moses. It is near Jerusalem. That mountain Sinai itself, in the language of the Arabs, is called Hagar. And, it is said, therefore: Hagar and Sarah were types of the two covenants. The slave-girl …

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 1274.

proposed

Then he gives the explanation of the mystery when he says: "Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, which hath affinity to that Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children." But here a difficulty arises: for since Sinai is almost twenty days …
6 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Galatians · Written before 1107.

proposed

And Sinai is located in Arabia, and in the Arabic language it is called "Hagar." It corresponds to Jerusalem, that is, it is in the vicinity of, borders upon, or is likened to the earthly Jerusalem; it is compared with it, is transferred to it, …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The former, Agar, represented that which was given from mount Sinai, and which gendereth to bondage, which, though it was a dispensation of grace, yet, in comparison of the gospel state, was a dispensation of bondage, and became more so to the Jews, through their mistake of the design of it, and expecting to be justified by the works of it.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

proposed

For this is Mount Sinai in Arabia - That is, the type of Mount Sinai. And answereth to - Resembles Jerusalem that now is, and is in bondage - Like Agar, both to the law and to the Romans.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:86%@v20-25

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

For this Agar is Mount Sinai - This Hagar well represents the Law given on Mount Sinai. No one can believe that Paul meant to say that Hagar was literally Mount Sinai. A great deal of perplexity has been felt in regard to this passage, and Bentley proposed to cancel it altogether as an interpolation. But there is no good authority for this.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Translate, "For this word, Hagar, is (imports) Mount Sinai in Arabia (that is, among the Arabians--in the Arabian tongue)." So CHRYSOSTOM explains. Haraut, the traveller, says that to this day the Arabians call Sinai, "Hadschar," that is, Hagar, meaning a rock or stone.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia - Το γαρ Αγαρ Σινα ορος εστιν εν τη Αραβια. This is the common reading; but it is read differently in some of the most respectable MSS., versions, and fathers; thus: το γαρ Σινα ορος εστιν εν τῃ Αραβια, for this Sinai is a mountain of Arabia; the word Αγαρ, Agar, being omitted. This reading is supported by CFG, some others, the Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, and one copy of the Itala; by Epiphanius, Damascenus, Ambrosiaster, Jerome, Augustine, Hilary, Sedulius, and Bede; and the word is sometimes, though not always, omitted by Cyril and Origen, which proves that in their time there were doubts concerning the common reading. Of the word Agar in this verse, which renders the passage very obscure and difficult, Professor White says, forsitan delendum, “probably it should be expunged.” Griesbach has left it in the text with a note of doubtfulness. Answereth to Jerusalem - Hagar, the bond maid, bringing forth children in a state of slavery, answereth to Jerusalem that now is, συστοιχει, points out, or, bears a similitude to, Jerusalem in her present state of subjection; which, with her children - her citizens, is not only in bondage to the Romans, but in a worse bondage to the law, to its oppressive ordinances, and to the heavy curse which it has pronounced against all those who do not keep them.

The words behind it

20 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 23:37

    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you…

    it leads to

    • Luke 13:34–35

      O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you…

    • Psalms 91:4

      He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.

    • Ruth 2:12

      May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”

    • Deuteronomy 32:11–12

      As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.

    • Psalms 17:8

      Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 33:2

    He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

    it leads to

    • Revelation 5:11

      Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Psalms 68:17

    The chariots of God are tens of thousands— thousands of thousands are they; the Lord is in His sanctuary as He was at Sinai.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 33:2

      He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

    • Daniel 7:10

      A river of fire was flowing, coming out from His presence. Thousands upon thousands attended Him, and myriads upon myriads stood before Him. The court was convened, and the books were opened.

Where this verse is studied

About Galatians

This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.25-26; Jerome, Commentary on Galatians; John Chrysostom, Homily on Galatians 4; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Galatians; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Galatians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Galatians.