Gálatas 4
Jerome · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Gálatas 4:1
The infant heir … signifies the whole human race up to the advent of Christ, and, to speak more largely, right up to the end of the world. For, just as all die in Adam the first man, though they are not yet born, so all those who were born before Christ's advent are now made alive in the second Adam. And so it is that we served the law in the fathers and are saved by grace in the sons. This understanding fits the catholic church, which asserts a single providence in the Old and New Testaments and does not distinguish in time those whom it makes equal in condition. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.1-2
Gálatas 4:1-2
(Chapter IV - 1, 2) However, I say that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, even though he is the Lord of all, but he is under guardians and managers until the appointed time by the father. This little heir, who is no different from a slave even though he is the Lord of all, is under guardians and managers until the appointed time by the father, represents the whole human race until the coming of Christ, and, to say more, until the end of the world. For just as all die in the first Adam, not yet born, so also all those who were born before the coming of Christ are made alive in the second Adam. And so it happens that we too served the Law in the fathers, and they are saved by grace in their children. This understanding is in agreement with the Catholic Church, which affirms the one providence of the Old and New Testament and does not distinguish in time those whom it has joined together in condition. We are all built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the chief cornerstone. In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. Through him, we are also being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:20-22) Truly, in Christ, we are all one bread, and we have come together in unity on the earth. And just as we are founded upon the prophets, so too did the patriarchs stand upon the foundation of the apostles. Moreover, the prophets can also be understood as tutors and actors, whose words we were daily instructed by in anticipation of the coming of the Savior, just as the Law was expounded by the pedagogue Moses; and the angels of the little ones who daily behold the face of the Father and intercede for them. Concerning whom it is said: 'The angels of the Lord will encamp around those who fear Him, and will deliver them' (Ps. 34:7). Both priests and rulers can be understood, who were once seen as dominating the people, now providing a form. And rightly are they called under tutors and actors, who, having the spirit of fear, have not yet deserved the spirit of liberty and adoption. For the age of infancy fears sins, fears the tutor, does not trust that it is free, even though by nature it is a mistress. And according to both interpretations, whether we called tutors and actors or prophets or angels, this child is under actors and tutors until the appointed time of the perfect man is fulfilled. But the legitimate time, as in Roman law, is terminated by a period of twenty-five years, so it is considered the coming of Christ to the perfection of the human race. As soon as he comes, and we all grow into perfect men, the pedagogue and tutor depart from us. Then we will enjoy the authority of the Lord and the possession of the inheritance, in which before we were considered somewhat estranged. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:2
"Guardians and trustees" could be taken as the prophets, by whose words we were made ready, day by day, for the coming of the Savior, just as the law of Moses is described above as a custodian.… Or the phrase could be taken to refer to priests and princes, who then held power over the people and are now a reflection of God's purpose. People are correctly said to live under tutors and overseers when, having the spirit of fear, they have not yet deserved to receive the spirit of freedom and adoption. For the age of infancy feels dread in relation to sin, fears its custodian and does not believe in its own freedom, even if it is sovereign by nature. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 4.1-2
Gálatas 4:3
He has used the name "elements of the world" for those whom he called tutors and overseers above.… Some hold that these are angels that preside over the four elements. … Many think that it is the heaven and earth with their inhabitants that are called the elements of the world, because the wise Greeks, the barbarians and the Romans, the dregs of all superstition, venerate the sun, the moon, … from which we are liberated by Christ's coming, knowing them to be creatures and not divinities. Others interpret the elements of the world as the law of Moses and the utterances of the prophets, because, commencing and setting out with these letters, we imbibe the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom.… The Mosaic law and the prophets can be taken as the elements of writing, because through them syllables and names are put together, and they are learned not so much for their own sake as for their usefulness to others.… Regarding our interpretation of the law and the prophets as the elements of the world, "world" is customarily taken to signify those who are in the world. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.3
Gálatas 4:3
(Verse 3.) And so we too, when we were little, were enslaved under the elements of this world. He called the elements of the world, the same ones he had mentioned before as tutors and guardians: because we were not yet able to receive the coming of the Son of God, we were being trained in the midst of them. Some think that these are angels who govern the four elements of the world: namely, earth, water, fire, and air: and it is necessary that before anyone believes in Christ, they be governed by these arbitrators. The elements of the world are the sky and the earth, and that which is within them is commonly called: the sun, the moon, the seas, the forests, and the mountains, which the wise men of Greece and the barbarian nations, as well as the Romans, worship as gods, the sink of all superstitions. When Christ comes, we are set free, understanding that these are creatures, not divine beings. Others interpret the elements of the world as the Law of Moses and the words of the prophets, through which we receive the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. Finally, the Apostle writes in his letter to the Hebrews to those who should already be perfect but have neglected the truth and are still clinging to the principles of teachings: 'For when by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God' (Hebrews 5:12). On the contrary, it can be objected to us that the Apostle Paul, writing to the Colossians, called the principles of the world something different: 'See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ' (Colossians 2:8). But from what he added, according to the tradition of men and empty deceit, he shows that not the same elements are named for the Colossians as for the Galatians. For from these elements, once the fullness of time has come, we are redeemed and, advancing to greater things, receive the adoption of sons. But from those elements, nothing such is said to follow; but the elements are simply understood as letters. Therefore, as we said, the Law of Moses and the prophets can be understood as elements of letters, because they are joined by syllables and names for the benefit not so much of themselves as of something else, so that we are able to read a discourse composed, in which the meaning and order of words are considered more than the principles of letters. But as for the Law and the prophets, we have interpreted them as the elements of the world, which the world commonly accepts for those who are in the world, as Paul himself says: 'God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.' And in the Gospel: 'And the world was made through Him, and the world did not receive Him.' Some also wander more freely in this matter: for example, they inquire whether the Law possesses the shadow of future goods in another world, about which the Savior says: 'I am not of this world,' so that we may first be like little children, and, being placed under the elements of the initiations, may gradually advance to the highest point, and receive the place of adoption which we once lost. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:4
(Verse 4.) But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Pay close attention to the fact that it does not say 'made through a woman,' which the heresies of Marcion and others assert, pretending that Christ's flesh was imaginary. Rather, it says 'born of a woman,' so that he may be believed to have been born not just through her, but from her. And the fact that the holy and blessed Mother of the Lord is called a woman and not a Virgin is also written in the Gospel according to Matthew: when Joseph is called her husband (Luke 2), and when the Lord Himself rebukes her as a woman (John 2). For it was not necessary to always speak cautiously and timidly of the Virgin, when the word 'woman' signifies the sex more than the union with a man. And according to the understanding of Greek, both γυνὴ can be interpreted as both 'wife' and 'woman'. But to pass over all else: just as he was made under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so he wanted to be born of a woman for the sake of those who were born of a woman. For he also received baptism in the river Jordan, as though repenting, when he was free from sins, so that he could teach others that they should be cleansed through baptism and be born again as the new children of the Spirit. Not understanding at all, John the Baptist was prohibiting him from approaching the bath, saying: I owe to be baptized by you (Matt. III, 14). And immediately the sacrament is taught: Without hesitation: for thus it befits us to fulfill all righteousness, so that he who came for the salvation of men would not pass over anything concerning the conduct of men. Let someone ask and say: If he became under the Law for this reason, to redeem those who were under the Law, which indeed would have been impossible to redeem those who were under the Law unless he himself had become under the Law: or if he became without the Law, in order to redeem those who were not under the Law; or if he did not become without the Law, he does not redeem those who were not under the Law. But if it was possible to redeem those who were without the Law, so that he himself would not be without the Law, then he was made superfluous under the Law, in order to redeem those who were under the Law. He will solve this question briefly, if anyone uses that example: and he was considered with those who were without the Law. For although it may have been poorly edited in the Latin codices due to the simplicity of the interpreters, 'And he was reckoned with the transgressors' (Luke 22:37) means something different among the Greeks, which is written here, and something different 'unjust', which is found in the Latin volumes. Anomos is called that person who is without law, and is bound by no right. Unjust is also referred to as iniquitous or unjust. Hence the Apostle himself says in another place: 'When I was not, he says, without the Law of God; but I was in the Law of Christ' (I Cor. IX): and certainly in this testimony, 'anomos' is written in Greek; and the one who interprets it here correctly could have interpreted the same word there in a similar way, if ambiguity had not deceived him. But someone will examine the word itself more sharply and will say that those who were first on God's side and then ceased to be are called redeemed; but those who were not under the Law are not so much redeemed as bought. Hence, in the letter to the Corinthians, where fornication was heard of, and such fornication that not even among the Gentiles (Ibid. V), it is written: You were bought at a price, not redeemed: for they had not been under the Law. Therefore, we receive the adoption of the children of God: and having been redeemed by Christ, we cease to be under the servitude of the elements of the world and the power of guardians. Just as we have shown the difference between redeeming and buying, let us also consider what the difference is between receiving and accepting the adoption of children. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:5
Someone might raise the problem: "If then he was made subject to the law to redeem those who were subject to the law … if he himself was not made also outside the law, he did not redeem those who had not been subject to the law." Another, however, will scrutinize the word redeemed more closely and will say that by the "redeemed" are meant those who were once of God's party and later ceased to be so, whereas those who were not subject to the law were not so much redeemed as purchased. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.4
Gálatas 4:6
(Verse 6.) But because you are sons of God, God has sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. Clearly the Apostle Paul mentions three spirits, the Spirit of the Son of God, as in this present place, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts (Rom. VIII, 14). And the Spirit of God, as in that place: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. And the Holy Spirit, as in that place: Your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you (I Cor. VI, 19). That the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Son of God is clearly and convincingly confirmed in the Gospel: Whoever speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, neither in this age nor in the age to come will be forgiven (Luke 12:10). This is because many, due to their lack of knowledge of the Scriptures (as Firmianus also states in the eighth letter to Demetrianus), assert that the Holy Spirit is often referred to as the Father and sometimes as the Son. And while we believe clearly in the Trinity, removing the third person, they do not want to be his substance, but his name. But in order not to take too long (for this is not a dialogue, but a commentary), I will briefly show the three spirits named in the fiftieth psalm, as the prophet says: Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Give me the joy of your salvation, and strengthen me with your principal spirit. He calls the principal spirit Father, because the Son is from the Father, and not the Father from the Son. But the spirit of righteousness, truth, and justice signifies Christ the Lord: for the Father has given all judgment to the Son (John V, 22), as David says: O God, give your judgment to the king, and your power to the son of the king (Psalm LXXI, 1). Moreover, he calls the Holy Spirit by its explicit name. These things, although they differ in terms and persons, are associated by substance and nature: and the same Spirit, due to the fellowship of nature, is now called the Father, now the Son. However, the argument by which he endeavors to assert that we are no longer under the Law, but under the grace of the Lord Jesus, concludes with such a purpose. He had said above that we should receive the adoption of sons: now he proves that we are children of God by the Spirit whom we have in us. For never, he says, would we dare to say: Our Father who art in heaven: Hallowed be thy name, unless from the consciousness of the Spirit dwelling within us, and with a great voice of senses and teachings crying out: Abba, Father (Rom. VIII, 15). Abba is a Hebrew word, signifying the same as Father. And Scripture preserves this custom in several places, putting the Hebrew word in its own interpretation. Aser, riches. Tabitha, Dorcas (Acts IX): and in Genesis, Mesech, a slave (Gen. XV), and so on and so forth. However, since Abba Father is said in both Hebrew and Syriac language, and our Lord in the Gospel commands that only God should be called Father (Matt. XXIII), I do not know by what license we either call others by this name in monasteries, or consent to be called by it. And certainly, he himself commanded this when he said there should be no swearing (Matt. V). If we do not swear, we should not even mention anyone's father. If we interpret the father differently, we will be forced to have different opinions about swearing. It should also be noted that in the Scriptures, a shout is not understood as a loud voice, but as an expression of knowledge and the magnitude of teachings. For in Exodus, the Lord responded to Moses: Why do you cry out to me (Exodus 14:15)? when Moses' voice did not go before him. However, Scripture called it a shout when his heart was deeply moved and he groaned for the people with tears. Therefore, just as one who has the Spirit of the Son of God is a son of God, so in reverse, one who does not have the Spirit of the Son of God cannot be called a son of God. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:7
What we say in this place we should also observe in others, that the whole human race is being treated under a single term. For all we who believe are one in Christ Jesus and members of his body. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.7
Gálatas 4:7
(Verse 7) So then, you are no longer a slave but a son. And if a son, then an heir through Christ. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession (Psalm 2:7-8). But what we say in this place, we should also observe in other cases, that in the whole human race, discussions should be conducted in the singular number. For all believers, we are one in Christ Jesus, and members of his body, and brought into a perfect man, who is our head, for the head of the man is Christ (1 Corinthians 11:2). — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:8-9
(Verse 8, 9) But at that time, not knowing God, you served those who by nature are not gods. But now, knowing God, or rather being known by God, how are you turning again to the weak and impoverished elemental forces, to which you desire to be enslaved again? He reproves the Galatians for having turned from the worship of idols to the true faith of God, and asks how they, after abandoning the idols which are not gods by nature, and knowing God, or rather being known by Him, and even receiving the Spirit of adoption, can return as it were to their earlier state of infancy, desiring to be under tutors and guardians, and enslaved again to weak and impoverished elemental forces, which were given to the weak and impoverished people in the desert because they could not bear greater things. However, the same elements that he now called weak and needy, he placed only above the elements of the world. And where the elements of the world are mentioned, there it is not added, weak and needy. Hence again, where they are called weak, world, as we said above, is a silent name. Therefore, I think as long as someone is little and has not fulfilled the appointed time by the father, so that he may be called a son and heir, he is under the elements of the world, namely the Law of Moses. But when he returned to the Law, which he owed to his son after his freedom, desiring to be circumcised and to follow the whole letter of Jewish superstition, then those things which had previously been the elements of the world for him are also called weak and needy beginnings. For they are so useless to their worshippers that they are not even able to provide them with what they had previously bestowed, Jerusalem, with the temple and altar destroyed. Let someone respond and say: If the laws and commandments written in the Law are weak and needy elements, and those who have come to know God, or rather, have been known by Him, should not observe the Law (so that they do not begin to worship not so much the God by whom they have been known, but rather those who are not gods by nature), then did Moses and the prophets observe the Law, and yet did not come to know God, nor were they known by Him? Or if they did come to know God, they certainly did not fulfill the commands of the Law. To say that both are dangerous: either they did not do what the Law commands, and thus they have come to know God, or they do not know God while they keep the weak and poor elements of the Law. And this can be resolved by saying that they, like Paul, became a Jew to the Jews in order to win Jews over (1 Corinthians 9), and according to a vow he had taken, he shaved his head in Cenchrea (Acts 18), and in Jerusalem he practiced barefoot and baldness in the temple to appease the jealousy of those who had been taught about him, because he was accused of acting against the Law of Moses and God's prophets. In this way, holy men also did the things that the Law required, but they followed the spirit of the Law more than the letter. Those who, like Abraham, desired to see the day of Christ and rejoiced when the veil was lifted, were made weak to make the weak people strong, so that they could separate them from the idols to which they had become accustomed in Egypt, as if they themselves were under the Law. For it is absurd to think that Moses and the other speakers of God were in such a condition that we should not believe them, and that the appointed time came from the Father, and that they were redeemed from legal bondage, and obtained the adoption of sons, and inherited with Christ. For whatever wisdom God bestowed on the entire human race like a beloved Son, He has also generously bestowed the same wisdom to each of the saints in their own order and dispensation. Heretics find an opportunity to criticize the Creator by calling the Law of Moses weak and inadequate, because He created the world and established the Law. To them, we will respond with what we have already said, that those who return to those weak and inadequate elements after the grace of the Gospel are truly weak and inadequate themselves. But before the appointed time came from the Father, the elements were called not so much weak and needy as the world. Finally, before the Gospel of Christ spread throughout the whole world, they had their own brightness with the commands of the Law. But after the greater light of the grace of the Gospel shone forth, and the sun of justice revealed itself to the whole world, the light of the stars was hidden and their rays grew dim, so that the Apostle says elsewhere: For that which was glorified had no glory in this part, by reason of the excellent glory (2 Corinthians 3). What he is now saying in other words, in order to say that the Law of Moses, which was rich, wealthy, and glorious before the Gospel, became weak, poor, diminished, and destroyed after the advent of Christ, who was greater than Solomon, the temple, and Jonah. For what is written, 'He must increase, but I must decrease' (John 3:30): I believe this is said not so much by John as by the representative of the Law, because the lesser always yield to the greater, and the perfect is always preferred to the beginnings. But indeed, we will confirm the weak and meager elements, the traditions of the Jews, and the letter of low intelligence, which are not good justifications and not good precepts. For truly, the strong and rich understanding of the Law is spiritual, so that it should not be called a mere element, or rather, it should be compared to the future age and the life in Christ Jesus, in which the angels and heavenly powers now live. But in comparison to the Jewish mind, it is called not so much the beginning as the fulfillment. And when he says, 'Now that you know God, or rather are known by Him,' he shows that after the worship of idols, the Galatians understood God, or rather were considered worthy of knowing Him. Not because God, the Creator of all things, is ignorant of anything; but because it is said that they alone know who have changed error for piety. The Lord knows those who are His (II Tim. II, 19). And the Savior in the Gospel: I am the good shepherd, and I know mine, and mine know me (John X, 14). On the other hand, to the wicked: I do not know you, depart from me, workers of iniquity (Luke XIII, 27). And to the foolish virgins: I do not know you, (Matth. XXV, 12). — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:9
Now these same elements that he has now styled "weak and beggarly" he called above merely the "elements of the world." … And so I think that so long as someone is an infant … he is subject to the elements, namely, the law of Moses. But when after [receiving] the freedom due to an heir he reverts again to the law, desiring to be circumcised and to follow the whole letter of Jewish legal illusions, then those things that were merely the elements of the world to him before are now said to be "weak and beggarly elements." … The law of Moses, which before was rich, affluent and illustrious, became after Christ's advent and in comparison with him "weak and beggarly." … The "weak and beggarly elements" are those unworthy traditions of the Jews, which interpret according to the letter. They were poor excuses for interpretations and "commandments that were not good." — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.8-9
Gálatas 4:10
By "years" I think he means the seventh year of release, and the fiftieth, which they call the jubilee. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.10-11
Gálatas 4:10-11
(Verses 10, 11.) Observing days, and months, and seasons, and years, I fear for you, lest perhaps I have labored in vain among you. Whoever does not worship the Father in spirit and truth, does not know the Sabbath rest that is reserved for the holy ones, about which God speaks: 'If they shall enter into my rest' (Psalm 94:11); and does not remember those times, of which it is written: 'Remember the days of old' (Isaiah 46:9). And elsewhere: 'I remembered the days of old, and I had in mind the eternal years' (Psalm 76:6). He observes the Jewish days, and months, and seasons, and years. Days, such as the Sabbath, the new moon, and from the tenth day of the first month until the fourteenth, when the literal lamb of the sacrifice is reserved, and from the fourteenth until the twenty-first of the same month, when unleavened bread is eaten, not in sincerity and truth, but in the old leaven of malice and wickedness of the Pharisees. He also celebrates the seven weeks, which the Jewish custom calculates after the unleavened bread, the days of the Israelite Pentecost. And also the sound of trumpets on the seventh day of the first month. Similarly, on the tenth day of the same month, they observe a day of expiation and fasting, as well as the custom of setting up booths, in the Jewish manner. They also observe the months, those who observe the first and seventh month, not understanding the mystery of truth. They also honor the seasons, who come to Jerusalem three times a year, thinking they fulfill the Lord's command, saying: Three times in the year you shall hold a feast for me, the feast of unleavened bread and the feast of the first fruits of the harvest, and the feast of the ingathering at the end of the year (Exodus 23:14ff.). And elsewhere: In three times of the year your male shall appear in the sight of the Lord your God (Ibid. XVII). But what he says, 'and years,' I think is said concerning the seventh year of remission, and the fiftieth, which they call Jubilee. The Apostle explains this passage more fully in his letter to the Colossians, saying: Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come (Coloss. II, 16). He placed a part of the festival to be celebrated for the distinction of perpetual festivity, so that we have not a brief, and, as it were, a certain portion of the whole body, but the entire space of our life in perpetual celebration in Christ. And in order to connect the later with the earlier, he immediately adds and says: If you have died with Christ from the elements of this world, why do you still decree as if living in this world? You shall not touch, nor taste, nor handle, which are all things destined to perish with the using, according to the commandments and doctrines of men. Let no one judge you in matters of observing days, months, seasons, and years. We also incur a similar crime by observing the fourth day of the Sabbath, and Preparation Day, and the Lord's Day, and the fasting of Lent, and the celebration of Easter, and the joy of Pentecost, and the different times established in honor of the martyrs according to the custom of each region. To which, one who responds simply will say: the Jewish observance days are not the same as ours. For we do not celebrate the Passover of unleavened bread, but of the resurrection and the cross. Nor do we count seven weeks in Pentecost according to the custom of Israel, but we honor the coming of the Holy Spirit. And so that the disorderly gathering of the people would not diminish faith in Christ, certain days were established so that we all would come together as one. Not so much that day on which we meet is more famous, but that on whichever day we should meet, mutual joy should arise out of sight (or even out of aspect). However, whoever attempts to answer the opposite question more sharply affirms that all days are equal, not only the Friday on which Christ was crucified and the Sunday on which He rose, but that every day is holy and every day we partake of the flesh of the Lord. However, fasts and gatherings among days have been established by wise men for those who are more occupied with the world than with God, and they cannot, no, they do not want to gather together in the Church during the whole time of their lives, and to offer the sacrifice of their prayers to God before human actions. For how many people are there who at least practice these few things that have been established, either the times of prayer or the times of fasting? Therefore, just as it is permissible for us to fast at all times, or to pray at all times, and to continuously celebrate the Lord's day with the reception of the Lord's body, so it is not permissible for the Jews to sacrifice a lamb at all times, to celebrate Pentecost, to set up tabernacles, and to fast daily. However, with caution and moderation, he balanced the authority of the Apostle and the gentleness of the holy man, saying: I fear lest I have labored in vain among you. For if he had wanted to condemn them abruptly, he would certainly have said: I fear you: for I have labored without cause in you. But now, seeing that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, he did not entirely despair of their salvation, who had been deceived by a godly error, nor did he leave them blameless, lest he give occasion both to them to persist in error, and to others to make a similar mistake. I fear you, he said, for what you are. I fear for you. The teacher labors without cause, when he himself challenges the students to greater things, and they, having fallen back, return to lesser and lower things. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:12
He is saying something like this: "Just as I was made weak for your weakness and could not speak as to spiritual people … so you should also be as I am, that is, understand more spiritually." … This he says indeed as an imitator of the Savior, who … "was found in fashion as a man," that we might come to the divine life from being men. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.12
Gálatas 4:12
(Verse 12) Be as I am, for I am also as you are. What he says is such, as I became weak to you who are weak, and I could not speak to you as spiritual, but as carnal and as little ones in Christ, and because you were not yet able to eat solid food, I fed you with only milk, not wanting you to remain in infancy forever, but gradually leading you to adolescence and youth, so that you could receive solid food. Thus, you should also be as I am, to have a more perfect understanding, leaving behind milk and moving on to stronger food, and to greater nourishment. But he speaks as if he were an imitator of the Savior, who did not consider equality with God as something to be seized, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant; he was found in appearance as a man, so that we might become gods from humans, and no longer die; but rising with Christ, we are called his friends and brothers, and to be his disciples as the master, and servants as the Lord. But it can also be understood this way: I beseech you, he says, brothers, that you imitate me, who, without complaint, lived by the Law, considering everything as rubbish and garbage, so that I may gain Christ. For indeed I myself, like you now are, was held fast by the same strict observances and I persecuted and ravaged the Church of Christ because it did not follow these things. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:12
A disciple harms his master if he wastes his precepts and his work by his own neglect. The Galatians had not harmed the apostle, because they had observed his gospel and his commands right up to the present.… Or else [he means]: "When I first preached the gospel to you … I pretended to be weak that I might be helpful to you in your weakness; did you not receive me as an angel, as Christ Jesus? When, therefore, you did me no harm at that time and thought me in my downcast and lowly state to be like the Son of God, why am I harmed by you when I stir you up to greater things?" — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.13
Gálatas 4:13
This is an obscure passage and demands closer attention. "I preached to you initially," he says, "as if to infants and sucklings on account of your bodily weakness.… This economy and pretense of weakness in preaching was my own policy. You were trying to decide whether things that were rather small in themselves and were presented by me as of little account would be acceptable." … The passage could also be explained another way: "When I came to you … as a lowly and despised man … you perceived that my lowliness and the plainness of my dress were meant to try you." … Or we might suppose that the apostle was sick when he came to the Galatians.… And this could also be said, that in his first coming to the Galatians he was subject to abuse and persecution and physical beatings from the adversaries of the gospel. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.14
Gálatas 4:13
(Verse 13) Brothers, I beseech you, you have not harmed me. But you know that because of the weakness of the flesh, I preached the Gospel to you long ago. Connect the following sentence to the previous one, so that it may be made clearer, this is the order we propose: I beseech you, brothers, be like me, because I am also like you. Similar to this is that: We beseech for Christ, be reconciled to God (II Cor. 5:20). And also elsewhere: I beseech, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made (I Tim. 2:1). Peter's words also say: I ask you, as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings (1 Peter 5:1). These words indeed provoke us to humility and shake off the arrogance of bishops, who, as if stationed on some lofty pedestal, barely deign to see mortals and speak to their own subordinates. Let them learn from the Apostle that the wandering and foolish Galatians are called brothers. Let them learn from the gentle words of the reprover saying: I beseech you (1 Corinthians 11). But what he begs is that they may become his imitators, just as he is of Christ; indeed, that he may follow the present place, there is nothing great that he demands: just as he himself became less for them, from greater: so may they ascend from lesser to greater. You have not harmed me, he says. A disciple harms his master if he squanders his teachings and efforts through his negligence. The Galatians had not harmed the Apostle, as they were still keeping his Gospel and commands up to the present time. But certainly, in this way: When I first announced the Gospel to you; and because of the weakness of your flesh, because you were not able to receive the greater sacraments, I preached to you like little children, and I pretended to be weak myself, so that I might gain you who are weak: did you not receive me as an angel, as Christ Jesus? Therefore, since you did not harm me at all during that time, and you thought of me, for your sake, as humble and lowly, similar to the Son of God: how am I now being harmed by you, who provoke me to do greater things, by losing my labor and that dispensation, in which I pretended to be little, with a useless work, are you mourning? But because of the weakness of the flesh, not their own, but of those who hear, Paul announces to the Galatians: those who were unable to subject the flesh to the word of God, but as fleshly beings, received nothing of spiritual understanding. So that it may be made more evident, let us provide an example. Through the weakness of the flesh, he teaches, who says: If they cannot contain themselves, let them marry. And: If a woman's husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only in the Lord (I Cor. VII, 9, 39). Certainly, it does not teach through the weakness of the flesh when it says these things: You are released from your wife, do not seek a wife. And: It is time, that even those who have wives should be as if they do not have (Ibid. 27, 29). For certain precepts are given for the spiritual, others for the carnal. And there is something that is commanded according to authority, and something else that is commanded according to indulgence. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:14
(Verse 14.) And you did not despise or reject your temptation, which was in my flesh, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. It is a perplexing passage and requires careful attention. Indeed, I have preached to you like little ones and infants through the weakness of your flesh, starting from the least and speaking almost stammeringly. This arrangement and the feigned appearance of a weak proclamation were my doing, but your temptation was whether you would be pleased and consider great those things which, considering their nature, were smaller, and which I presented to you as humble. Indeed, you, who not taking them as small things but as great things, were so amazed that you received me, who was speaking them, as an angel and, if I may say more, as the Son of God. Therefore, your temptation, by which I was testing you in the announcement of my fleshly speech, was not despised or trivial; rather, it had more dignity than I estimated. And this place can be explained in this way: when I came to you, I did not come in the speech of wisdom, but as a humble and despised man, not bringing anything great, but the Crucified. Therefore, when you saw me in a body subject to weaknesses, promising heavenly kingdoms, you did not mock or consider me worthy of contempt. For you understood the lowliness of my flesh and the lowly state of my appearance, which was made for your temptation. Or perhaps you despised me, who was regarded as miserable by the unbelievers; but on the contrary, you received him who was humble, lowly, and despised, as if he were an angel, and more than an angel. Certainly, we can suspect that the Apostle, at the time when he first came to the Galatians, was sick; and though his body was weak, he did not cease, nor did he silence his voice, from preaching the Gospel that he had begun. For it is reported that he often suffered from a severe headache: and this was the angel of Satan, who was assigned to him, to strike him in the flesh, so that he would not be exalted. This weakness and illness of his body was a temptation among those to whom the Gospel was preached: whether they would despise him, who promised sublime things, when they saw him subject to bodily weaknesses. And also it can be said that, at the beginning of his coming to the Galatians, he endured insults, persecutions, and bodily afflictions from those who opposed the Gospel: and this was perhaps the greatest temptation for the Galatians, seeing the Apostle of Christ being beaten. But what he says, that you received me as an angel, as Christ Jesus: and by saying that Christ is greater than the angel, he shows that the one whom the Psalmist sang about as being a little lower than the angels according to the order of the flesh, is now revealed to be greater, and his words in the beginning were so powerful that they were thought to be those of angels and of Christ. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:15-16
(Verse 15,16.) So where is your happiness then? I testify to you: if it were possible, you would gouge out your eyes and give them to me. So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? Blessed is the one who walks on the path of virtues, but only if they have reached the virtues. It is not enough to have turned away from vices, unless you embrace the best. For the beginnings of good pursuits are not as commendable as the ends. For just as in a vineyard there are many stages of grapes until the winepress, and first it is necessary for the vine to bud on the vines, to promise hope in the blossoms; then, after the flower has fallen off, for the form of future clusters to be deformed, and gradually swelling, for the grape to give birth, so that it may sweat sweet musts when pressed in the winepresses. Similarly, in learning, there are individual stages of blessings, so that one may hear the word of God, conceive it, let it grow in the womb of their soul, and reach childbirth. So that when he has given birth to him, she may nourish him with milk, and throughout infancy, childhood, adolescence, and youth, she may lead him to perfect manhood. Therefore, since each, as we have said, has happiness according to their progress: if the end, and so to speak, the final touch is lacking to the work, the entire effort will be in vain; and it will be said: Where, then, is your happiness? Although, he says, at that time when you received the Gospel according to the flesh, I would call you blessed because you were fervent in your beginnings: nevertheless, now that I do not see the pinnacle of the building placed, and almost no foundation even laid, I am compelled to say: Where, then, is your happiness, which I used to praise you as blessed for? Truly, I myself also confess it, that when I was preaching to you in lowly terms, and was assailed by persecutions, you loved me in the beginning: And you would have plucked out your own eyes, if it were possible (but hyperbole must be understood in what he says), and have given them to me: You wished indeed to be blind for my sake, through the inexpressible charity you bore me, that more light of the Gospel might arise in my heart, and my advantage might increase by your loss: And this during that time, when I was preaching to you as it were to babes and sucklings, either from the infirmity of your flesh, because I announced to you things lowly and humble, or from the wrongs offered to me in my flesh, I seemed unworthy of your faith. But now because I have begun to challenge you to greater studies from the elements and syllables and childish reading, so that you may hold books in your hands, so that you may learn the words of full erudition and understanding, you resist, you get angry, you find the perfection of learning to be burdensome; and to such an extent have your feelings turned towards others, that you, who had received me as if I were an angel and Christ, to whom you wanted to entrust your eyes, now consider me an enemy, because I announce to you the full truth. But he elegantly concluded his statement, saying: So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? to show that at the beginning of his preaching, it was not so much the truth, but rather the shadow and image of truth. Similar to this is that famous saying of the Roman poet (Terence in Andria I, 1): Obedience begets friends, but truth begets hatred. But see how much better this is than that; for the Apostle tempered and made special this sentiment when he directed it specifically to the Galatians. However, the person he denounced, claiming to have a general principle and to hold it against everyone, greatly erred. For obedience, without truth, is not so much obedience as flattery and assentation: which it is clear should be called secret enmities rather than friendships. However, at the same time, we must also consider that today, as long as they remain small and infants and in whose hearts Christ never grows, they do not progress in age, wisdom, and grace before God and men, as we explain according to the literal sense of Scripture, we are praised, suspected, admired. But when we begin to challenge them a little so that they may advance to greater things, our opponents become enemies of our preachers; and they would rather follow the Jews than the apostles, who, departing from the doctrine and traditions of the Pharisees, entered into Christ Himself, the propitiation and perfection of the Law: and they do not deign to receive the divine word, which commands the teachers of the Church to ascend to higher doctrines, and to elevate their voice with all their might, without fearing the noise of barking dogs, saying: 'Go up to a high mountain, you who evangelize Zion.' Exalt your voice in strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem. Exalt, do not be afraid. (Isaiah XL, 9). — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:16
He has finished his sentence elegantly, asking: "Have I become an enemy for preaching the truth to you?" He says this to show that his initial bodily ailment in preaching was not so much truth as a shadow and image of truth.… He has tempered this sentence and made it personal because he has addressed it to the Galatians in person.… Today also, so long as we … explain the Scripture according to the letter, we are praised and respected and held in admiration. But when we make a small attempt to provoke people personally to pass on to greater things, they stop acclaiming us and become resistant. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.15-16
Gálatas 4:17-18
(Verse 17, 18.) They imitate you, but not in a good way: rather, they want to exclude you so that you may imitate them. But always imitate the good in what is good, and not only when I am present with you. Those imitate well who, when they see that others have gratitude, gifts, virtues, desire to possess those themselves: and they strive to imitate their faith, life, and industry through which they have earned those things, so that they may also attain those things which are worthy of good emulation. Of these things, the Apostle also says: Envy spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. And further: So also you, since you are eager for spiritual gifts, seek to excel for the edification of the church. And again: Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But those who envy do not do so well, for they do not desire to be better themselves in order to imitate those who are worthy of envy, but rather they want to make them worse and backwards with perverse envy. For example, let it be said: a Christian is someone who reads Moses and the prophets; he knows that everything in the shadow and the image preceded that people; but that the scriptures were written for us on whom the ends of the ages have come. He understands circumcision not so much of the foreskin, but of the ears and the heart. He has risen with Christ: he seeks the things that are above. He is freed from the burden and slavery of the Law, of not touching, not tasting, not handling, which commands: if someone wants to persuade him with the words of the Scriptures, that he should receive them not through a figure of speech, but as they are written in a literal sense, so that he may become a Jew openly, not secretly, he imitates him not well: but he quickly rushes to pull him back as he moves towards greater things; so that he may rather imitate him who goes backward: or indeed he does not advance him much further."+ "\n" +"Liberated from the burden and slavery of the Law, of not touching, not tasting, not handling, which commanded, being able to read the scriptures in their literal sense, an individual who is a Christian demonstrates the true meaning of these commandments. They understand that the Old Testament accounts serve as types and foreshadows of Christ and that the observance of these commandments no longer holds the same significance as it did for the Jewish people. They are no longer bound by the strict regulations of the Law but are free to seek the things above and live according to the spirit of the New Covenant. Therefore he speaks to the Galatians who had been led astray by the advocates of the Law, urging them to imitate the advocates of the Law, when rather the Galatians should have imitated them. For it is natural for the greater to be made from the lesser, not the lesser from the greater, and he says: 'Imitate what is good in what is good,' that is, do not imitate the advocates of Jewish observance, but imitate those things which are good. For just as someone who imitates someone else in riches, power, or dignity, not only imitates good things, but also imitates things that should be avoided; so likewise, you in turn, imitate what is good in what is good: seeking spiritual things more than carnal things; so that you may not teach them to be Jews, but to be Christians. But do this always, so that you may be able to reach the end of a good work with a persevering step. For I emulated good in you when I was with you, but after I left, you lost everything that I had handed over to you, from a secure station and a trustworthy port, and you were carried away again in the high waves. And it is not surprising that, with the Apostle departing, the Galatians were changed from a chosen vessel and one in which Christ the Lord spoke: for even now we see the same thing happening in the churches. For whenever a doctor happens in the Church, adorned with eloquence of speech and with a virtuous life, who, like some sort of spur, incites those who hear him to virtues, we see all people hasten, fervor, and run about concerning almsgiving, fasting, chastity, receiving the poor, burials, and other similar things. But when he has departed, they gradually wither away, and with food removed, they grow thin, pale, weak, and death follows all those things which were previously flourishing. Therefore, because the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few (Matthew 9:37), let us pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to reap the ears of the Christian people, which are prepared for the future wheat in the Church, to gather and carry them into the barns so that they may not perish. This is about that zeal and perverse emulation, of which it is also said elsewhere: Do not emulate the wicked (Psalm 37:1), and here: They emulate you, but not for good. But we find another kind of zeal, with which the sons of Jacob were zealous for their brother Joseph (Gen. XXXVII seqq.); and Mary and Aaron were zealous for their friend the Lord Moses (Num. XII). Neither Joseph nor Moses were incited to zeal in order to be better than others, but because they were grieved that they were better. This kind of zeal is akin to envy. It would be long if I wished to enumerate all the kinds of zeal, whether good or bad, found in the treasure of the Scriptures. We read of the righteous zeal of Phinehas (Num. XXV), Elijah (III Kings XIX), Matthias (I Macc. II), and the Apostle Judas (but not the traitor), who received the name Zealot for his outstanding virtue of zeal (Acts I). But we also read of the evil zeal, like that of Cain towards Abel (Gen. IV), and others towards one another. And there is the zeal of a man, of whom it is written: 'And if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him' (Num. V). Perhaps this is the middle kind of zeal, which cannot be taken on either the good or the bad side; rather, it is called zealotry between the two. Otherwise: Seeing that those who were from circumcision, the Galatians from the Gentiles, were abundantly filled with the virtues of the Holy Spirit, but indeed did not speak in tongues, did not have the gifts of healings; did not have the gift of prophecy, they eagerly desired to incite them with the stings of zeal, to transfer them to the burdens of the Law, so that they would begin to become like them. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:18
No wonder indeed that on the apostle's departure … the Galatians were changed, since even now we witness the same occurrence in the church. For never was there a teacher in the church so distinguished in speech and life.… We see people busy with haste and fervor about alms, fasting, sexual abstinence, relief of the poor, taking care of graves, etc. But when he departs we see that they waste away and, from loss of their food, grow thin, pale and languid. Then follows the death of all that was thriving before. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.17-18
Gálatas 4:19
(Verse 19.) My dear children, whom I am in labor pains until Christ is formed in you. Just as childbirth involves many difficulties and pain as the offspring are brought forth from the womb, the curse is declared first, saying: 'In pain you will bring forth children' (Gen. III, 16). Therefore, Paul wants to show the concern of teachers for their disciples, the emotions they suffer, so that their followers do not fall away from salvation. He says: 'My dear children, whom I am in labor pains for again.' For in another place, he had said as a father: 'Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers' (I Cor. IV, 15). Now, he speaks as a mother in Christ, so that they may recognize the anxiety and devotion of a parent in both of them. Moses said this to the people: Did I conceive all this people in my womb? Who among us is so concerned for the salvation of his disciples that he is tormented not for a few hours, or for a day or two, but throughout his entire life, until Christ is formed in them? The example of a pregnant woman who takes in and forms the seeds in herself should be carefully considered, so that we can understand what is being said. Nature is not to be blushed at, but to be revered. For just as in the womb of a woman the first formless semen is ejaculated, so that it may adhere to its furrows and bottom as if to a certain glue: of which the prophet, remembering the beginning of himself, says: Your eyes saw my unformed substance (Ps. 138:16): then, for nine months, with the blood restrained, the future human is coagulated, formed, nourished and distinguished; so that after it has throbbed in the womb, it is established in the light at the appointed time, and is born with such difficulties as to not perish afterwards, but to be nurtured: in the same way, the seed of the word of Christ, when it falls upon an attentive soul, grows through its stages, and, to pass over many things (for we can easily transfer a physical description to spiritual understanding), it remains uncertain until she who conceived gives birth. The end of learning is not immediately accomplished, but then it is the beginning of another work, just as diligent nourishment and studies lead an infantile infancy to the full age of Christ. And just as in marriage, often the semen of the husband is the cause that children are not conceived, sometimes the sterile wife does not retain the semen, and frequently neither is capable of procreation, and on the contrary both are fecund: so also in those who sow the word of God, this fourfold division is observed, so that indeed it fulfills its duty as a teacher, but the hearer is sterile: either the hearer is of good nature, but through the ignorance of the teacher, the seed of the word perishes, or the one being taught is so crazy, as the one who commands; and it rarely happens that the master and disciple agree with each other, it is clear that the teacher teaches only as much as the student can absorb: or the student can only receive as much as the teacher can provide. But now we are all judges. We do not know which psalm it is, which part of prophecy, which chapter of the Law, and we interpret with boldness in speaking what we do not understand at all. It does not pertain to us for Christ to be formed in the people: that each person, returning to his own house, may have the seed of the word of God, which, when he conceives it, he may be able to say with the prophet: 'From your fear, O Lord, we have conceived and brought forth, we have made children of your salvation upon the earth' (Isaiah 26:17-18). Tales in apostolos transeunt, et a Salvatore merentur (( Al. merebantur)) audire: Quicumque fecerit voluntatem Patris mei, ipse est frater meus, et soror, et mater (Matt. XXII, 50) : diversitate profectuum, in diversis nominibus ostensa (( Al. ostendente)). Formatur quoque Christus in corde credentium, cum omnia illis sacramenta panduntur, et ea quae obscura videbantur, perspicua fiunt. Sed et illud est intuendum, quod qui per peccatum quodammodo homo esse desierat, per poenitentiam concipitur a magistro, et rursum in eo Christi formatio repromittitur. This is against the Novatians, who do not want those who have once committed sins to be reformed. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:19
This example which he has taken from a pregnant woman deserves our close attention, so that we may understand what is being said. Nature is something to be not ashamed of but revered. For just as the seed is unformed when first sown into the mother … then at a determined time issues into the light and is now born with difficulties as great as those with which it is later nourished to keep it from dying—so too, when the seed of Christ's word falls into the soul of the hearer it increases by its proper degrees and … remains in jeopardy so long as the one who has conceived it is in labor. Nor does the work end as soon as it emerges This is but the beginning of a new labor, so that he may lead the infant, by diligent nourishment and study, up to the full maturity of Christ. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.19
Gálatas 4:19
He who in another place had spoken like a father now speaks not like a father but like a mother in Christ, so that they may recognize the dutiful anxiety of both parents. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.19
Gálatas 4:20
(Verse 20.) However, I wish to be with you soon and change my voice, for I am confused among you. The divine scripture builds and is read; but it is much more beneficial if it is translated from letters into voice, so that the one who taught through the letter may instruct those who are present. Indeed, the living voice has great power: a voice that resonates from its author's mouth, which is uttered and distinguished with the same pronunciation it was generated in the author's heart. Therefore, knowing that the Apostle has greater power in the spoken word that is done in the present, he desires to exchange the Epistolary voice, which is comprehended in letters, into presence: and because this was more expedient for those who had been corrupted in error, he wanted to bring them back to the truth while they were still alive with his speech. And the reason for this was because he was confused among them, which is more properly said in Greek. For I am perplexed, not so much by the confusion, which is called αἰσχύνη or σύγχυσις among them, as by the sense of need and poverty. Therefore, this is the meaning: I wish I could be present with you now and speak the voice of letters myself, because I am in need of you. For I do not have the fruits that teachers usually have from their students, and without cause the seed of teachings has been sown, I am compelled to suffer poverty among you, so that I may be able to burst forth with the voice of Jeremiah: I have not profited, nor has anyone profited me (Jerem. XXIII, 23). This passage can be interpreted in another way: Paul the apostle, who became a Jew to the Jews in order to gain Jews for himself (I Cor. IX), and to those who were under the Law, as if he himself were under the Law, and to the weak, as if he were weak, in order to gain the weak. According to the condition of those whom he desired to save, he changed his voice and transformed himself into the likeness of actors (indeed, he became a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men (I Cor. IV)), assuming different forms and voices. Not because it was what it pretended to be, but because it only appeared to be what it benefited others. He sees that the Galatians need different teaching, a different way of salvation, not the one by which they were first brought to the faith of Christ from Gentile customs. And he is forced to say: I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am confused about you. No, he says, I don't see that I am of any benefit if I speak the same things that I spoke before, because I am ignorant of what I should do, and torn apart and confused, I am torn to pieces and destroyed. And in the same way that doctors, when they see that the force of their art is not sufficient for a cure, pass on to another remedy, and experiment with many things until they arrive at a cure, so I, because I am confused among you and distracted here and there by ignorance, would like to speak the voice of letters directly from my mouth, so that I myself might firmly rebuke you; since a letter cannot express the voice of one who rebukes; it is not able to echo the clamor of one who is angry, nor to explain the pain of the heart with the points of a pen. However, it can also be understood more simply: I have used gentle words with you, saying: Brothers, I beseech you. And: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you; but I am gentle and mild, who have spoken to you as a father, with that love by which I do not allow my children to perish and wander forever. I wish I could be present now if the bonds of my confession did not bind me, and change a gentle voice into words of rebuke. Nor is it insincerity, if now I flatter, now I become angry; love urges me on, pain urges me on, to speak with different emotions. For I do not know into which words I should first burst forth, and with what remedy I should heal you, because I am confused by you. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:20
Holy Scripture edifies even when read but is much more profitable if one passes from written characters to the voice.… Knowing, then, that speech has more force when addressed to those who are present, the apostle longs to turn the epistolary voice, the voice confined within written characters, into actual presence. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.20
Gálatas 4:20
"I used coaxing words to you just now, … but for the sake of that love which prevents me from allowing my sons to perish and stray forever I wish that I were now present—if the bonds of my ministry did not prevent me—and change my coaxing tone to one of castigation. It is not because of fickleness that I am now coaxing, now irate. I am impelled to speak by love, by grief, by diverse emotions." — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.20
Gálatas 4:21
(Verse 21) Tell me, those of you who desire to be under the Law, have you not heard the Law? It should be noted that the Law mentioned here refers to the history of Genesis, not as people commonly think, what should be done or avoided, but rather the entire narrative of Abraham and his wives and children, referred to as the Law (John 15). We also read in another place that the prophets are also called the Law. Therefore, one who truly understands the Law is one who, according to Paul, examines not just its surface, but its essence. He who follows only the external appearance, like the Galatians, does not obey the Law. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:21
One should note that the whole narrative in Genesis is here called Law, not, according to the popular assumption, simply statements of what is to be done or avoided but everything that is rehearsed concerning Abraham and his wives and sons. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.21
Gálatas 4:22-23
(Verse 22, 23.) For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through the promise. It is of great difficulty to demonstrate that only Isaac, who was born of Sarah, was generated through the promise, and not also Ishmael, who was born of the Egyptian slave Hagar. For the Scripture refers that when Hagar, fleeing from Sarah, who was mistreating her, came to her in the desert, an angel appeared to her and instructed her to submit to her mistress's authority. This same angel also spoke these words: "I will surely multiply your offspring exceedingly, so that they will not be counted for multitude" (Genesis 16:10). And afterwards concerning Ishmael (of which surely no one doubted the words of the promise): He will be a rustic man, his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him, and he will dwell opposite the face of all his brothers. But it can be answered that the promise of an angel is of less authority than that of God himself. For just as a star, when the sun rises, does not shine: so the words of angels are obscured, and vanish, and are considered as nothing in comparison to the promise of God. Indeed, this response seems to have some importance; but it is immediately countered by the authority of the following Scripture. For it is written: And Abraham said to God: May Ismael live in your sight (Ibid., XVII, 18 seqq.); and God answered him as follows: Behold, your wife Sara shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him, as an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And regarding Ismael: Behold, I have heard you, and behold, I have blessed him, and I will multiply him, and increase him greatly. Twelve nations will he beget, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year. From these statements of God it is evident that Ishmael was also born according to the promise. But this is how it is resolved: the promise is properly fulfilled in the giving of the covenant, and it is different to bless, increase, and multiply greatly, which is written concerning Ishmael. It is different to make someone an heir through the covenant, which is said regarding Isaac: I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And in the following: But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you (Gen., XVII, 19). And how different are gifts from assets: different are bequests from inheritance (for we read that gifts were given to the sons of Abraham by his concubines, but the inheritance of all his assets was left to the son of Sarah); so, as we have said, blessings and bequests are different from a covenant. But this can also be said of Ishmael, after his conception, whether by an angel or by God speaking. But concerning Isaac, before he was conceived in Sarah's womb, God had promised. These things, however, let them be said as much as the modesty of our intelligence allows. But if anyone can find something greater, how is it that Ishmael, who was born of a slave woman, is not the son of the promise, but Isaac, who was born of a free woman: he should rather be heard. And if anything, says the Apostle, you think differently, and God has revealed this to you. Now, briefly, we must strive for higher things, so that we may say that each one of us is born first, not according to the promise, as long as he is instructed by the simple words of the Scriptures and still delights in Jewish explanations: but when he surpasses to higher things and understands the spiritual law, then he is generated from the promise: and, to speak more clearly, every day those who do the works of Abraham are born from Abraham. But those who have the spirit of slavery, again in fear, are born of the Egyptian servant girl; but those who have received the spirit of adoption, are free through Sarah: by this freedom we are given by Christ. The Lord speaks to the Jews who still preferred to be the sons of the servant girl: If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32). So, those ignorant of the mystery that was being spoken, say: We are descendants of Abraham, and we have never been slaves to anyone: how can you say that we will be set free? Jesus answered them: Amen, amen I say to you, whoever commits sin is the slave of sin. But a slave does not remain in the house forever; but the son remains forever. If therefore we are the servants of sin, Agar has begotten us, the Egyptian: if sin reigns not in our mortal body, we are the sons of God indeed. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:23
From God's own Scripture it is evident that the birth of Ishmael also was according to promise. But the answer is that a promise is truly fulfilled in the giving of a covenant. It is one thing to bless, increase and multiply greatly, as is written in Ishmael's case, but another to make an heir through a covenant. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.22-23
Gálatas 4:24
Allegory is properly a term in the art of grammar. How it differs from metaphor and other figures of speech we learn as children. It presents one thing in words and signifies another in sense. … Understanding this, Paul (who had a certain knowledge of secular literature also) used the name of the figure of speech and called it allegory according to the usage of his own circle. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.24
Gálatas 4:24
(Verse 24.) These things are spoken in allegory. Allegory properly belongs to the art of grammar, and we learn in elementary schools how it differs from metaphor or other figures of speech. One thing is presented in words, another thing is signified in meaning. The books of orators (Sup. in allegories) and poets are full of them. The divine scripture is also, to a considerable extent, woven together by this. Which understanding the Apostle Paul (who also had some contact with secular literature) used the very word "figure" in order to call it allegory, as it is said among his own people: in order to show, namely, the misuse of this Greek expression in a more meaningful way. But Paul, although not perfectly, knew secular literature, as his own words attest: "One of them, a prophet of their own, said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.'" (Titus 1:12). This is a heroic verse of the poet Epimenides, which both Plato and other ancient writers mention. Also, when he was speaking in the Areopagus in Athens, he added this: "For we are indeed his offspring" as certain of your poets have said. (Acts 17:28). This hemistich is attributed to Aratus, who wrote about the sky and the stars. Also this: Bad company corrupts good morals (1 Cor. XV, 33); it is written in trimeter iambic from Menander's comedy. From these and other examples, it is evident that Paul was not ignorant of secular literature, and what he called allegory here, he called spiritual understanding elsewhere. Like here: For we know that the Law is spiritual (Rom. VII, 14), meaning allegory, or allegorically expressed. And elsewhere: All ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ (I Cor. X, 34). That the manna here, and the sudden gushing forth of the spring, and the rock itself that followed, must be understood allegorically, no one doubts. I know what objection can be made on the other side: Brothers, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness (Gal. 6, 1). And in another place: But the spiritual man judges all things; yet he himself is judged by no one (1 Corinthians 2:15); so that, what we said above may be clearly understood as a spiritual word. But we call him a spiritual man, who, understanding all the sacraments of the Scriptures, interprets them in a sublime manner, and seeing Christ in the divine books, admits nothing of the Jewish tradition in them. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:25
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." — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.25-26
Gálatas 4:25-26
(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. There are those who understand the two Testaments and other things in different ways: some interpret the divine Scripture, both the old and the new, according to the diversity of their own sense and judgment, either as a slave or as a free woman, and those who still serve the letter and have the spirit of fear in servitude, wish to be born of Hagar the Egyptian; but those who ascend to higher things and wish to understand allegorically what is written, are the children of Sarah, which in our language is translated as 'princess', in the feminine gender. And they claim this because of that necessity (or, let Al. claim it): that it would be unfair to consider Moses and all the prophets as being born from a slave woman, and indeed, any of the Gentiles as being born from a free woman. Hence, it is better that not only regarding those who are in the Church, according to the diversity of intellects as we said above, we consider some as slaves and others as free: but also regarding the same man, as long as he follows the story, we consider him the son of a slave woman; but when Jesus opens the Scriptures, his heart is set on fire and in the breaking of the bread, he sees Him whom he did not see before (Luke 24): then also Sara's son is called his. Marcion and Manichaeus did not want to remove this passage, in which the Apostle said, 'These things are allegorical,' and the rest that follow, from their own book, thinking that it would be left against us. This is because the Law should be understood differently than it is written, even though it is to be understood allegorically (which we also confess, and Paul teaches). It is not to be understood according to the will of the reader, but according to the authority of the one who wrote it. And by this very fact, they who seemed to want to preserve it against us, are destroyed. For Moses, the servant of the creator God, wrote spiritual things, as the Apostle also teaches, whom they themselves assert to be the preacher of another Christ and a better God. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:27
(Verse 27.) For it is written: rejoice, O you barren one, who does not bear; break forth and cry out, you who are not in labor; for the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband. (Isaiah 54:1.) The Synagogue had a husband, the Law; and according to the prophecy of Anna, she who was once barren in children was fertile. (1 Samuel 1.) But the Church, barren without Christ, without any conversation with the bridegroom, lay for a long time in the desert. But after she received the book of divorce into her hands, and turned all the ornaments of the husband into the idol's adornment: then the husband, with the previous belt decaying, wove another belt for his loins from the Gentiles: as soon as she was joined to the husband, she conceived and bore a child. And the Lord cries out through the prophet: 'If a nation is born at once' (Isaiah XLIX, 54): when in one day in the Acts of the Apostles three thousand, and five thousand men believed (Acts III, etc.) I do not think it necessary to speak about the multitude of Christians and the paucity of Jews, when the banners of the cross shine throughout the whole world, and a Jew appears scarce and remarkable in cities. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:28
(Verse 28.) But we, brethren, are children of promise according to Isaac. It is of no difficulty of understanding that the Apostle and those like him are said to be children of promise according to Isaac. But because Origen, explaining this passage, thus presents the example of the Apostle: But you, brethren, are children of promise according to Isaac, it is asked how he now calls the Galatians, whom he had called foolish and said had begun in the Spirit, to finish in the flesh, children of promise according to Isaac? Therefore, we say that the Apostle calls them children of the promise according to Isaac, because he does not completely despair of their salvation, and he believes that they will return to the spirit with which they had started, and become children of freedom. Even though they were born according to the flesh, they are children of the slave woman. — Commentary on Galatians
Gálatas 4:28
One might ask how he speaks of the Galatians, whom he had called fools. He accused them of starting in the Spirit and finishing in the flesh. When the apostle called them "sons of promise" in the way that Isaac was, he meant that he did not completely despair of their salvation and judged that they would return again to the Spirit, in which they had begun, and become sons of the free woman. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.28
Gálatas 4:29
Ishmael, the elder brother, persecuted him while still a nursing infant, claiming for himself the prior right of circumcision and the inheritance of the firstborn.… And it is aptly said that he who is born according to nature persecutes the spiritual. The spiritual one never persecutes the natural one but forgives him like an untutored brother, for he knows that he may progress. — EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 2.4.29-31
Gálatas 4:29-31
(Vers. 29-31.) But as then he that was born according to the flesh persecuted him that was born according to the spirit, even so it is now. But 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. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. In this liberty Christ hath made us free. I do not think it impossible to find where Ishmael persecuted Isaac; but only this, that when the son of the Egyptian, who was elder, played with Isaac, Sara was indignant, and said to Abraham: Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac. (Gen. XXI, 10). And certainly, a simple game among children is unworthy of expulsion and abandonment. But the Apostle, like a Hebrew among Hebrews, and instructed at the feet of the teacher Gamaliel, who once restrained the raging Pharisees against the Lord by council, understood from the words of Sarah saying: for the son of the maidservant will not inherit with my son Isaac, that that simple game was not. But because perhaps Ishmael, as the older one, and at that time already circumcised when he could understand and feel what he suffered, claimed for himself the right of the firstborn, the Scripture called the quarrel of the little ones a game. Unable to bear these words, Sarah, not enduring the custom of the firstborn claiming the rights of a slave woman's son from a young age, burst out in a voice: Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with my son Isaac. When this seemed harsh to Abraham (for greater things are always due to the firstborn), not only did Ishmael cease to be the firstborn, but he did not even receive an equal portion with his younger brother: God, who wanted the free woman to be inside and the slave woman to be expelled, confirms Sarah's words and speaks to Abraham: Let it not be harsh in your sight concerning the boy and the slave woman. Everything that Sara tells you, listen to her voice: for it is through Isaac that you will have descendants. Just as in the past, the older brother Ishmael persecuted the infant Isaac, claiming the privilege of circumcision and the rights of the firstborn; so now, according to the flesh, Israel (formerly Ishmael) rises up against the younger brother, the Christian people from the nations. Let us consider the foolishness of the Jews, who killed the Lord, persecuted the prophets and apostles, and opposed the will of God; and we will see much greater persecutions, as History also teaches us, stirred up by the Jews against the Christians than by the Gentiles. Do we marvel at the Jews? Even today, those who are born again in Christ and live spiritually are persecuted by those who still live in the flesh. And as they rise with Christ, they seek the things that are above, not the things that are below. Let them do what they want: let them persecute Isaac with Ishmael; let them cast out the bondwoman and her Egyptian mother. They will not inherit the promise, which only those who are born of the promise will obtain. And elegantly also, he who is born according to the flesh persecutes the spiritual. For the spiritual does not pursue the carnal; but forgives him as to a country brother: he knows that he can improve over time. And if at any time he sees the Egyptian son angry, he remembers the one father who created light, cattle, and mosquitoes: and in a great house, there are not only golden and silver vessels; but also wooden and earthen vessels. Therefore, let us say with the Apostle Paul: We are not slaves of the son, but free (2 Timothy 2); and being renewed in Christ, let us hear the words of the Lord speaking to the Jews: If you abide in my word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31, 32). The Apostle, liberated by this freedom, used to say: 'For although I am free from all, he who sins is a slave of sin' (I Cor. IX, 19). He, knowing himself free from all vices, from every desire and error, rightly rejoiced in the freedom of Christ saying: 'We are not slaves, but free: in this freedom Christ has set us free' (John VIII, 34). — Commentary on Galatians