Galatians 4:23

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Heb 11:11 : 11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.
  • Gen 18:10-14 : 10 One of them said,“I will surely return to you when the season comes round again, and your wife Sarah will have a son!”(Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; Sarah had long since passed menopause.) 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking,“After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?” 13 The LORD said to Abraham,“Why did Sarah laugh and say,‘Will I really have a child when I am old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the LORD? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.”
  • Gen 21:1-2 : 1 The Birth of Isaac The LORD visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.
  • Rom 9:7-8 : 7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather“through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” 8 This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.
  • Rom 10:8 : 8 But what does it say?“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”(that is, the word of faith that we preach),
  • Gal 4:28-29 : 28 But you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac. 29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so it is now.
  • Rom 4:18-21 : 18 Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement,“so will your descendants be.” 19 Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead(because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do.
  • Gen 17:15-19 : 15 Then God said to Abraham,“As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name. 16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!” 17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself,“Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 Abraham said to God,“O that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said,“No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Gal 4:21-22
    2 verses
    90%

    21 An Appeal from Allegory Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law?

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

  • Gal 4:24-31
    8 verses
    85%

    24 These things may be treated as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar.

    25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and 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 woman who does not bear children; break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains, because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.”

    28 But you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac.

    29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so it is now.

    30 But what does the scripture say?“Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son” of the free woman.

    31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.

  • Gen 21:12-13
    2 verses
    75%

    12 But God said to Abraham,“Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife. Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted.

    13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”

  • Rom 9:7-10
    4 verses
    75%

    7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather“through Isaac will your descendants be counted.”

    8 This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

    9 For this is what the promise declared:“About a year from now I will return and Sarah will have a son.”

    10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our ancestor Isaac–

  • 10 So she said to Abraham,“Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

  • 12 The Sons of Ishmael This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.

  • Gal 3:14-18
    5 verses
    71%

    14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

    15 Inheritance Comes from Promises and not Law Brothers and sisters, I offer an example from everyday life: When a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it.

    16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say,“and to the descendants,” referring to many, but“and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ.

    17 What I am saying is this: The law that came four hundred thirty years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to invalidate the promise.

    18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave it to Abraham through the promise.

  • 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.

  • 16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants– not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

  • Gen 15:3-4
    2 verses
    70%

    3 Abram added,“Since you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!”

    4 But look, the LORD’s message came to him:“This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

  • 18 God had told him,“Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”

  • Rom 4:12-13
    2 verses
    70%

    12 And he is also the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised.

    13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

  • 1 The Illustration of Justification What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter?

  • Gal 4:1-4
    4 verses
    70%

    1 Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.

    2 But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.

    3 So also we, when we were minors, were enslaved under the basic forces of the world.

    4 But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

  • 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God.

  • 7 so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.

  • 1 The Birth of Ishmael Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, but she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.

  • Gen 25:23-24
    2 verses
    68%

    23 and the LORD said to her,“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

    24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, there were twins in her womb.

  • 28 The sons of Abraham:Isaac and Ishmael.

  • 13 – children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God.

  • 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

  • 6 But God spoke as follows:‘Your descendants will be foreigners in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for four hundred years.

  • 2 So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.

  • 23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household(whether born in his house or bought with money) and circumcised them on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.

  • 13 They must indeed be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant will be visible in your flesh as a permanent reminder.

  • 36 So if the son sets you free, you will be really free.

  • 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai.