21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,
“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, 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.”
21 Sabihin ninyo sa akin, kayong nagnanais mapasailalim ng kautusan, hindi ba ninyo naririnig ang kautusan? 22 Sapagkat nasusulat na si Abraham ay nagkaroon ng dalawang anak, isa mula sa aliping babae, at ang isa ay sa babaing malaya. 23 Subalit ang mula sa alipin ay ipinanganak ayon sa laman, at ang mula sa babaing malaya ay sa pamamagitan ng pangako. 24 Ang mga bagay na ito ay isang paghahambing, sapagkat ang mga babaing ito'y dalawang tipan. Ang isa ay si Hagar na mula sa bundok ng Sinai na nanganganak para sa pagkaalipin. 25 Ngayon, si Hagar ay bundok ng Sinai sa Arabia at katumbas ng kasalukuyang Jerusalem, sapagkat siya'y nasa pagkaalipin kasama ng kanyang mga anak. 26 Ngunit ang Jerusalem na nasa itaas ay malaya, na siyang ating ina.27 Sapagkat nasusulat,
“Magalak ka, ikaw na baog, ikaw na hindi nanganganak;
bigla kang umawit at sumigaw, ikaw na hindi nakakaranas ng sakit sa panganganak;
sapagkat mas marami pa ang mga anak ng pinabayaan
kaysa mga anak ng may asawa.”
Abraham has two sons. Ishmael was his elder son with Hagar, their Egyptian slave. Isaac, however, was his son with his wife, Sarah. While Isaac was the son of the promise, Ishmael was his son according to his flesh. Sarah’s impatience had caused her to pressure Abraham to have a son with Hagar. [Gen 16:5] Does God need help from man to fulfill His promise? The flesh can’t produce the work of God.
Figuratively, Sarah and Hagar did represent two covenants. Hagar represents Mount Sinai, bearing slavery. It should be noted that Mount Sinai is where God gave His law for Israel to Moses. [see Ex 19] Earlier in this epistle, Paul has already shown that he who lives under the law of Moses is to live in slavery to his own sin. The law reveals our sin. However, it does not offer a way to be free from it (Galatians 3:19–25).
Moreover, Paul added that Hagar also corresponds to the ‘present Jerusalem’ of Paul's day. Why? Jerusalem was the seat of Jewish religious authority. The false teachers, representatives of the law, were misleading the Galatian Christians into a system of slavery to their sin.
But Paul referred that there is another Jerusalem one that is ‘above and free’. In contrast to the children of slavery, the true children of Sarah [Abraham] are free. This Jerusalem is their mother. Paul quoted Isa 54:1, that the children of the ‘barren’ woman [Sarah] will multiply in fulfilment to His promise.
Later on, John has the vision that, “ And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”[Rev 21:2-3]
