Lent · The Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare)
Galatians 4:21-31
Hagar and Sarah
March 15, 2026
Overview & Insights
“We are children not of the slave but of the free woman.” (Galatians 4:31)
Paul’s tone changes somewhat at this point, turning from a personal appeal back to an argument from Scripture (cf. 3:6–9) and to teaching what he and the Galatian believers already have in Christ. Paul begins with a direct address, Tell me, you who want to be under the law . The wording of the question critiques their desire, for Paul presents the law as something under which people are held.
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Commentary
Enduring Word Commentary, Galatians 4 Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik on Paul's Hagar and Sarah allegory of two covenants, slavery and freedom.
Galatians 4:21 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic commentators on the allegory of the two women and the two Jerusalems.
Galatians 4 Commentary | Precept Austin Precept Austin
Word studies and cross references on children of promise versus children of the slave.
Background & Word Study
Galatians 4:21-31, An Allegory of Sarah and Hagar | Enter the Bible Enter the Bible
Passage-specific background on how Paul reads the Genesis story as an allegory of freedom.
Overview: Galatians BibleProject
Animated overview of Paul's argument for freedom in Christ over the law.
The Covenants BibleProject
Traces the biblical covenants that Paul contrasts through Hagar and Sarah.
Galatians 4:21 Interlinear BibleHub
Greek text with parsing for the allegory of the bondwoman and the freewoman.
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
What do Hagar and Sarah stand for?
Paul reads Hagar and Sarah as two covenants, one of slavery and one of promise, and calls believers children of the free woman, born according to the Spirit.
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