Galatians 4:26
But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
BSB
ASV
But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother.
KJV
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
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 new Jerusalem shall descend from God out of heaven, but as it then was in the apostle's time, and has been since.
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.
But Jerusalem which is above - The apostle still follows the Jewish allegory, showing not only how the story of Hagar and Sarah, Ishmael and Isaac, was allegorized, but pointing out also that even Jerusalem was the subject of allegory; for it was a maxim among the rabbins, that “whatsoever was in the earth, the same was also found in heaven for there is no matter, howsoever small, in this world, that has not something similar to it in the spiritual world.” On this maxim, the Jews imagine that every earthly thing has its representative in heaven; and especially whatever concerns Jerusalem, the law, and its ordinances.
1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Here "the Messianic theocracy, which before Christ's second appearing is the Church, and after it, Christ's kingdom of glory" [MEYER]. free--as Sarah was; opposed to "she is in bondage" (Ga 4:25). all--omitted in many of the oldest manuscripts, though supported by some.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Philippians 3:20But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
leads to
Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Through
Revelation 3:12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the…
leads to
Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
Through
Revelation 21:2I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
leads to
For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
