23 His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.
23 The son of the slave woman was born by human connivance; the son of the free woman was born by God's promise.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,
23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God's promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God's own fulfillment of his promise.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Galatians 4:23
Commentary on Galatians 4:21-27
(Read Galatians 4:21-27)
The difference between believers who rested in Christ only, and those who trusted in the law, is explained by the histories of Isaac and Ishmael. These things are an allegory, wherein, beside the literal and historical sense of the words, the Spirit of God points out something further. Hagar and Sarah were apt emblems of the two different dispensations of the covenant. The heavenly Jerusalem, the true church from above, represented by Sarah, is in a state of freedom, and is the mother of all believers, who are born of the Holy Spirit. They were by regeneration and true faith, made a part of the true seed of Abraham, according to the promise made to him.