Galatians 4:22
New International Version
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

New Living Translation
The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.

English Standard Version
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.

Berean Standard Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

Berean Literal Bible
For it has been written that Abraham had two sons, one of the slave woman and one of the free.

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

New King James Version
For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.

New American Standard Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman.

NASB 1995
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman.

NASB 1977
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman.

Legacy Standard Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant-woman and one by the free woman.

Amplified Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman [Hagar] and one by the free woman [Sarah].

Christian Standard Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.

American Standard Version
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the freewoman.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
For it is written: “Abraham had two sons, one from a Maidservant and one from a Freewoman.”

Contemporary English Version
In the Scriptures we learn that Abraham had two sons. The mother of one of them was a slave, while the mother of the other one had always been free.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, and the other by a free woman.

English Revised Version
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the freewoman.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by a woman who was a slave and the other by a free woman.

Good News Translation
It says that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman, the other by a free woman.

International Standard Version
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman.

Literal Standard Version
For it has been written that Abraham had two sons, one by the maidservant and one by the free [woman],

Majority Standard Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

New American Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the freeborn woman.

NET Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

New Revised Standard Version
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman.

New Heart English Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman, and one by the free woman.

Webster's Bible Translation
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons; the one by a bond-maid, the other by a free-woman.

Weymouth New Testament
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl and one by the free woman.

World English Bible
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman.

Young's Literal Translation
for it hath been written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the maid-servant, and one by the free-woman,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Hagar and Sarah
21Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand what the law says? 22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise.…

Cross References
Genesis 16:15
And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.

Genesis 21:2
So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.

Galatians 4:23
His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born through the promise.

Galatians 4:30
But what does the Scripture say? "Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."

Galatians 4:31
Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.


Treasury of Scripture

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a female slave, the other by a free woman.

that.

Genesis 16:2-4,15
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai…

Genesis 21:1,2,10
And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken…

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Abraham Bondmaid Bond-Maid Bondwoman Free Freewoman Free-Woman Handmaid Maid Maid-Servant Servant Servant-Woman Slave Slave-Girl Writings Written
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Abraham Bondmaid Bond-Maid Bondwoman Free Freewoman Free-Woman Handmaid Maid Maid-Servant Servant Servant-Woman Slave Slave-Girl Writings Written
Galatians 4
1. We were under the law till Christ came, as the heir is under the guardian till he be of age.
5. But Christ freed us from the law;
7. therefore we are servants no longer to it.
14. Paul remembers the Galatians' good will to him, and his to them;
22. and shows that we are the sons of Abraham by the freewoman.














(22) For.--This particle would naturally not be expressed in English. It was a reason for the question which had been asked just before: "For the Law does supply a case in point."

The one by a bondmaid.--Hagar, it seems from Genesis 16:1, was an Egyptian. The word for "bondmaid" was not confined to this sense in earlier Greek, but was used for any young girl.

Verse 22 - For it is written (γέγραπται γάρ); for the Scripture saith. The phrase does not here, as it does usually, introduce the citation of a text, but prefaces a brief summary of facts; these facts being recited in words gathered out of the Septuagint Version of Genesis 16. and 21, in much the same way as the story of Melchisedec is sketched in Hebrews 7:1-4. That Abraham had two sons (ὅτι Ἀβραὰμ δύο υἱοὺς ἔσχεν); that Abraham had gotten two sons; for ἔσχεν is not exactly equivalent to εϊχεν. Attention has been drawn to other sons born of Keturah (Genesis 25:1, 2), who both in ancient and in modern days (see Windisch-mann) have been very plausibly interpreted as analogously pointing forward allegorically to those heretical bodies, now vanished, which threatened such danger to the Church in the first centuries. But the apostle's concern here is exclusively with the posture of affairs subsisting at the time of Hagar's and Ishmael's expulsion from the patriarch's family, quoted in ver. 30 from Genesis 21. Even if he had seen fit by allegorical exposition to apply Scripture to those dire forms of utterly perverted Christianity, which he certainly did look forward to as about to arise, it is very questionable whether he would have conceded to them so venerable a parentage as having Abraham for their forefather. Mosaism in its place was a thing of Divine origin, even as Christianity itself was, both of them "covenants" of God; not so the monstrous forms of Gnostic and Manichean teaching which horrified the primitive Church. In fact, typology, that is to say, the interpretation of Old Testament Scripture as bearing a designed allegorical sense, requires very cautious handling. The tracing of analogies is an interesting and pleasing exercise of theological ingenuity; but it is one thing to trace a parallelism, and a quite different thing to detect a latent predictive sense intended by the Holy Spirit. The one by a bondmaid (e%na e)k th = paidi/skh); one by the handmaid; the expression pointing to the individual mother known from the sacred history. The word παιδίσκη in classical Greek means a girl either slave or free. In the Septuagint it is generally a slave (not, however, in Ruth 4:12, where it renders the Hebrew na'arah); in the New Testament it is always a maidservant. St. Paul borrows the word from the Septuagint of Genesis 15. and 21, where it renders the Hebrew shiphehah. Hagar was the personal property of Sarah. The other by a freewoman (καὶ ἕνα ἐκ τῆς ἐλευθέρας); and one by the freewoman. The word "freewoman" is never applied to Sarah in the story in Genesis; not even in the passage freely quoted in ver. 30; but it was an obviously true description, and with perfect fairness introduced in antithesis to Hagar. As applied to one holding so princessly a position in the story as Sarah, the idea of a freewoman stands coloured with a deep tincture of dignity.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
For
γὰρ (gar)
Conjunction
Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.

it is written
γέγραπται (gegraptai)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1125: A primary verb; to 'grave', especially to write; figuratively, to describe.

that
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

Abraham
Ἀβραὰμ (Abraam)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 11: Abraham, progenitor of the Hebrew race. Of Hebrew origin; Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch.

had
ἔσχεν (eschen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

two
δύο (dyo)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1417: Two. A primary numeral; 'two'.

sons,
υἱοὺς (huious)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 5207: A son, descendent. Apparently a primary word; a 'son', used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinship.

one
ἕνα (hena)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1520: One. (including the neuter Hen); a primary numeral; one.

by
ἐκ (ek)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

the
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

slave woman
παιδίσκης (paidiskēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3814: A female slave, maidservant, maid, young girl. Feminine diminutive of pais; a girl, i.e., a female slave or servant.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

[the other]
ἕνα (hena)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1520: One. (including the neuter Hen); a primary numeral; one.

by
ἐκ (ek)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

the
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

free [woman].
ἐλευθέρας (eleutheras)
Adjective - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1658: Free, delivered from obligation. Probably from the alternate of erchomai; unrestrained, i.e. not a slave, or exempt.


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NT Letters: Galatians 4:22 For it is written that Abraham had (Gal. Ga)
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