The Bondwoman is the 10 Commandments and the Law Given at Sinai

[Aaron56]

The attending verses are below. I’ll present them in their entirety and then break them down.

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”

28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

 

[Aaron56]

It should be noted that a bondwoman is not a woman under sin. She is simply bound to something. In this state she is a slave.
Paul also used this term to describe himself: “slave to Christ” or a “bondservant”. When you are a slave to someone or you are bound to something you are not free to be either your own self or the property of another: you must do what your owner commands. A man cannot have two masters and a slave to Christ cannot be a slave to another.

Let’s break down the passage.

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?

Paul was concerned about those who desired to be under the law. This letter was addressed to “the churches in Galatia” so his audience is not unbelievers. These are believers who have come to Christ.
Earlier, he began with a comparison between Judaism and the current revelation of the grace of Christ.

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel…”

As a show of sincerity he briefly speaks about his zealousness for the law and the traditions of his fathers before he came to Christ. He is putting all things on the table, so to speak, so the message to the Galatians is clear

“For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”

Let’s continue with the original passage.

“For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.”

The sons are Isaac, born of promise with the freewoman, and Ishmael, born of the flesh with his bondwoman. The freewoman is Sarah and the bondwoman is Hagar. This is what he writes:

23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic.”

So, he says these examples are symbolic. So he’s really not talking about the people involved but what they represent. He explains:

“For these are the two covenants…”

He is using the symbols to expound upon the implications of two covenants. Which covenants?

“..the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children…”

Well, hold on! The children of Sarah were present at Sinai. These were the Jews. What was given at Sinai? The 10 Commandments and the Law. But Paul is saying here that the covenant given at Sinai corresponds to Hagar, the bondwoman and that the bondwoman corresponds to present day Jerusalem. (Just as an aside: do you know how offensive this would have been to the Jews!)

Any way…

 

[Aaron56]

So, very plainly: the 10 Commandments and the Law gave birth to bondage. And Paul further writes that because of Sinai all of earthly Jerusalem and her children remain in bondage under the 10 Commandments and the Law. Let’s continue:

“..but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.”

So, there is a different Jerusalem that did not come under bondage. This Jerusalem is “from above” so it is not like the earthly Jerusalem. This must speak of different offspring.

“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!”

Who was barren? We may think “Sarah” but let’s read on…

“For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”

Who had a husband? This was Sarah! So, Paul flips the symbols on their head: In the natural, the children of the Hagar’s children could not inherit Abraham’s estate. But here, Paul is juxtaposing that earthly estate (earthly Jerusalem) with the spiritual estate (heavenly Jerusalem).

Hagar’s natural children were never under the law that gave birth to slavery. And now, many more of those natural children will come to the covenant of heavenly Jerusalem (children of God in Christ) than those who began as slave under the Commandments and the Law.

To say it another way: Originally, no one outside of the Jewish nation could say they were God’s children. BUT, Paul says, because of the covenant at Sinai, the children of Sarah became God’s slaves. Because they were slave, they could not inherit the promises given by the Spirit. Furthermore, those who were never Jews by the flesh and who were never given the covenant at Sinai will become children of promise in Christ and will far outnumber those born to Sarah.

Let’s finish up!

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.

“Brethren”? The Galatians were not Jews. They were gentiles. See! Paul and the Galatians are brethren in the spirit.

Whereas Paul was once a child of bondage under Sinai and could not inherit the promises given by the Spirit, he is now, with all who come to Christ, a child of God!

29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

“Cast out the bondwoman and her son” This is not about casting out someone under sin. This is about having no place, within the church, for those who say we must follow the covenant at Sinai: the 10 Commandments and the Law.

Paul wrote in the next chapter: “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”

Justification by the law might sound like “Because I keep the Saturday Sabbath, God approves of me more" or "Because I practice the Jewish feasts God likes me more", etc.

Such language and doctrine gives birth to bondage and has no place in the among the children of promise.

 

[Nehemiah6]

So, very plainly: the 10 Commandments and the Law gave birth to bondage.

Only if obedience to the Ten Commandments becomes the basis of salvation, and people believe that they can be justified by the works or deeds of the Law. But the Ten Commandments are an integral part of the Law of Christ (the Law of Love).

ROMANS 13: THE LAW OF LOVE
8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

 

[Aaron56]

Only if obedience to the Ten Commandments becomes the basis of salvation, and people believe that they can be justified by the works or deeds of the Law. But the Ten Commandments are an integral part of the Law of Christ (the Law of Love).

ROMANS 13: THE LAW OF LOVE
8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Jesus actually gave us a new commandment about love:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So, the standard of love now is the same standard for God and for man.

To remain consistent, "why would Paul cite the commandment 'Love your neighbor as yourself'? He is revealing the least common denominator between believers and the unbelievers. Unbelievers, who are under the condemnation of the law, have not obtained grace. However, when we love as Christ loves, which is a greater standard than the law, then the unbelievers will have no debt against us and we will not own them anything. This passage is about debt, not about adhering to the Old Covenant. That is how he started the passage: "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another..."

 

[Nehemiah6]

Jesus actually gave us a new commandment about love

And Paul did not contradict that. But what he showed is the the Ten Commandments have not been nullified. Paul refers to the love of Christ as applicable to Christians throughout his epistles. And all this has nothing to do with unbelievers.

 

[Aaron56]

And Paul did not contradict that. But what he showed is the the Ten Commandments have not been nullified. Paul refers to the love of Christ as applicable to Christians throughout his epistles. And all this has nothing to do with unbelievers.

No, not nullified. Fulfilled. The love of Christ is greater than the love required by the law. And, with God's spirit in us we have no need for laws.

Regarding unbelievers: whenever the law is spoken of, unbelievers are the assumed recipients.

"But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person..."

If we are in Christ (the only way a man might obtain righteousness) then the law is not for us.

Who is it for? Paul continues...

"..the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine..."

 

[p_rehbein]

I found this Article about the Bondwoman

(excerpt)

What does Galatians 4:30 mean?
Paul has constructed an allegory about the difference between those who trust in following the law to save them, contrasted with those who, by faith, trust in what Christ has done. It is the difference between slavery and freedom.

To illustrate this, Paul has shown that Ishmael was born into slavery as the son of Abraham's slave-wife (Genesis 16:1–3). This was the result of human efforts, not faith. As the older son, Ishmael may have felt he was secure enough to become Abraham's primary heir, though technically a slave. Perhaps that's why he mocked baby Isaac on the day of a feast to celebrate his being weaned (Genesis 21:8–9).

Sarah, though, saw it happen. Protective of her son Isaac, born in freedom as a result of God's promise (Genesis 21:1–3), she immediately demanded that Abraham cast both Ishmael and Hagar away from their family. She did not want the son of a slave woman to share any part of the inheritance with her son. Abraham resisted, but God confirmed that he should do what Sarah said (Genesis 21:10–12).

Paul's point is very direct. Those who insisted Christians must follow the law to be truly saved correspond to Ishmael. They were still in slavery to sin, and God had cast them out, in a sense. Now that Christ had come, those who followed the law no longer had any part in the inheritance from Abraham. That inheritance is only for those who trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sin and a place in God's family.
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Context Summary
Galatians 4:21–31 contains Paul's allegory about Abraham's two wives, and the two sons born through them. Paul sets out to use Scripture to show the difference between being born into slavery, by human effort, as opposed to being born into freedom, by the work of God through the Holy Spirit. Ishmael was born into slavery as Abraham's son, but he was cast out when the child of promise arrived. In a similar way, living under the law became pointless when Christ arrived. Those who trust in Him become children of promise by God's power.

(here)

What does Galatians 4:30 mean? | BibleRef.com

 

[Pilgrimshope]

The attending verses are below. I’ll present them in their entirety and then break them down.

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”

28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

amen the bondservant was also cast out of the household and was not hier with the free son who was of promise

“Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” “

Paul is referring to abrahams life and his two sons in scriotire and what happened.

“Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭21:10, 12-13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭17:19-21‬ ‭KJV‬‬

you can see the relationship allegorically between ishmael and the nation of Israel and how that covenant was actually not the covenant but the other made through the son of promise was the covenant one was cast away and want an hier the other was the hier of Abraham

The new covenant is where his hiers are found

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:26-29‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Isaac is an example or figure of Christ