GAL 4:26 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not necessarily natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for Bible-translators and others doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still early looks into the drafted texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal Speaker(s)=Narrator (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

GHT On-the-other-hand, the up/anew Jerusalem is-being emancipated/liberated/released/free[adjective], which-what is-being mother of {all} of {us},

ULT But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.

UST But there is a heavenly Jerusalem, and because we belong to the heavenly Jerusalem, it is like a mother to all of us who believe in the Messiah. Those who belong to the heavenly Jerusalem are free from having to obey the laws of Moses and free from being condemned for failing to obey those laws.

BSB But the Jerusalem above is free, [and she] is our mother.

MSB But the Jerusalem above is free, [and she] is [the] mother of us all.[fn]

4:26 CT and she is our mother

BLB But the Jerusalem above is free, who is our mother.

AICNT But the Jerusalem above is free, which is {our mother};[fn]

4:26, our mother: Some manuscripts read “the mother of us all.” A(02) BYZ TR.

OEB But the Jerusalem above is free, and she it is who is our mother.

WEBBE & WMBB But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

NET But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

LSV and the Jerusalem above is the free [woman], which is mother of us all,

FBV But the heavenly Jerusalem is free. She is our mother.

TCNT But the Jerusalem that is above is the free woman; she is [fn]the mother of us all.

4:26 the mother of us all ¦ our mother CT

T4T But there will be a new Jerusalem in heaven [MTY], and we who will go there are free from having to obey Jewish laws. We who belong to that city consider it to be our mother [MET] city because we are God’s true children.

LEB But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.

BBE But the Jerusalem on high is free, which is our mother.

Moff But the Jerusalem on high is free, and she is "our" mother.

Wymth But the Jerusalem which is above is free, and *she* is *our* mother.

ASV But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother.

DRA But that Jerusalem, which is above, is free: which is our mother.

YLT and the Jerusalem above is the free-woman, which is mother of us all,

Drby but the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.

RV But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother.
(But the Yerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother.)

SLT But Jerusalem above is free, which is mother of us all.

Wbstr But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

KJB-1769 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
(But Yerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.)

KJB-1611 But Ierusalem which is aboue is free, which is the mother of vs all.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps But Hierusalem which is aboue, is free: which is the mother of vs all.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Gnva But Hierusalem, which is aboue, is free: which is the mother of vs all.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Cvdl But Ierusalem that is aboue, is the fre woman, which is the mother of vs all.
(But Yerusalem that is above, is the free woman, which is the mother of us all.)

TNT But Ierusalem which is above is fre: which is the mother of vs all.
(But Yerusalem which is above is fre: which is the mother of us all.)

Wycl But that Jerusalem that is aboue, is fre, whiche is oure modir.
(But that Yerusalem that is above, is fre, which is our mother.)

Luth Aber das Jerusalem, das droben ist, das ist die Freie, die ist unser aller Mutter.
(But the Yerusalem, the above/up_there is, the is the Freie, the is our all mother.)

ClVg Illa autem, quæ sursum est Jerusalem, libera est, quæ est mater nostra.[fn]
(She however, which up/above it_is Yerusalem, free it_is, which it_is mother our.)

4.26 Quæ sursum est. Superna est sanctorum civitas, licet in quisbusdam quos hic parit, adhuc peregrinetur. Sara sterilis significat quod natura humani generis peccato vitiata, et ideo damnata nihil veræ felicitatis in posterum merebatur. Isaac per repromissionem natus signat filios gratiæ: et quia hoc non per regenerationem, sed per generationem futurum erat, ideo tunc imperata est circumcisio, quando Saræ promissus est filius. Circumcisio enim significat naturam exuta vetustate novatam. Quod omnes filios et servos circumcidi jubet; ad omnes istam gratiam pertinere testatur. Quæ est mater. Quia singuli verbo et exemplo ejus instructi ex charitate serviunt.

4.26 Which up/above it_is. Superna it_is holy_place city, although in/into/on who/anybusdam which this/here gives_birth, still peregrinetur. Sara barren means that nature/element human kind sin vicesta, and therefore/for_that_reason condemnsa nothing really of_happiness in/into/on later merebatur. Isaac through promise born signs/seals children thanks: and because this not/no through regeneration, but through generation future was, therefore/for_that_reason then commandsa it_is circumcision, when Saræ promised it_is son. Circumcisio because means nature exuta old_age newtam. That everyone children and server/keepers to_be_circumcised commands; to everyone that_(one) grace to_belong testifies. Which it_is mater. Because individually word and example his/her equipped from with_love they_serve.

UGNT ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν, ἥτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ ἡμῶν.
(haʸ de anō Ierousalaʸm eleuthera estin, haʸtis estin maʸtaʸr haʸmōn.)

SBL-GNT ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν, ἥτις ἐστὶν ⸀μήτηρ ἡμῶν·
(haʸ de anō Ierousalaʸm eleuthera estin, haʸtis estin ⸀maʸtaʸr haʸmōn;)

RP-GNT Ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν, ἥτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ πάντων ἡμῶν·
(Haʸ de anō Hierousalaʸm eleuthera estin, haʸtis estin maʸtaʸr pantōn haʸmōn;)

TC-GNT ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν, ἥτις ἐστὶ μήτηρ [fn]πάντων ἡμῶν·
(haʸ de anō Hierousalaʸm eleuthera estin, haʸtis esti maʸtaʸr pantōn haʸmōn;)

4:26 παντων ¦ — ᴄᴛ

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:21–31: Because the Galatians are spiritual sons of Abraham they are free from slavery

In this section, Paul explained why the Galatians should return to freedom and reject the teaching of the false teachers. He contrasted two sons of Abraham: the son of the slave woman and the son of the free woman. The son of the slave woman represented slavery to the law. The son of the free woman represented the freedom of living in the grace of Christ. Living in slavery to the law is in conflict with living in the grace of Christ. Those who live in the grace of Christ must reject slavery to the law.

Some possible headings for this section are:

Hagar and Sarah

The covenant of the promise is better than the covenant of the law

Choose grace, not the law

Paragraph 4:24–27

In this paragraph, Paul explained why he introduced the contrast between Abraham’s two sons. He wanted the Galatians to understand the contrast between two covenants. One covenant is the covenant of law. This covenant results in slavery. God gave the covenant of law at Mount Sinai. The other covenant is the covenant of grace. This covenant results in freedom. God gave the covenant of grace to Abraham and completed it in Christ. Paul had introduced the contrast between the two covenants in 3:17.

4:26

In this verse, Paul continued the contrast between slave and free that he introduced in 4:21. In 4:25 he said that the slave woman and her offspring represent the covenant of the law. Here he contrasted them with the free woman and her offspring who represent the covenant of promise and grace. All those who believe in Christ as the means of justification are free and under the covenant of grace. They are not slaves. The “Jerusalem above” and Sarah, the free woman, represent the believers in the same way that “the present-day Jerusalem” and Hagar represented those who followed the law.

4:26a

But the Jerusalem above is free,

But the Jerusalem in heaven is free,
But the heavenly Jerusalem represents freedom,
But the woman who is not a slave is/represents the Jerusalem above.

But: There is a contrast between 4:25 and 4:26. The contrast is between the present Jerusalem (slavery) and the Jerusalem above (freedom). The BSB indicates this contrast with the conjunction But.

the Jerusalem above is free: This clause refers to the heavenly Jerusalem. The free woman (Sarah) corresponds to this Jerusalem. This Jerusalem represents those who believe in Jesus Christ as the means of being made right with God. It is contrasted with “the present-day Jerusalem” and with Hagar, which represent those who obey the law to be justified. Those who trust in Jesus for their salvation are free. They are not slaves.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

the Jerusalem in heaven represents freedom.

the heavenly Jerusalem is free.

the Jerusalem above is not a slave.

the free woman represents the Jerusalem that is above

4:26b

and she is our mother.

and this city is like our^(incl) mother.
and this city is like the mother of us who believe.
We are people of this city.

and she is our mother: This clause is also personification (like the clause “she is in slavery with her children” in 4:25c). In this personification, Paul spoke of the heavenly Jerusalem as the mother of the people who are free.

In this allegory, the heavenly Jerusalem represents salvation by faith. The people who believe in Christ to make them right with God are the children of this Jerusalem. These people are free from the law. Just as Sarah was a free woman, so the people who believe in Christ are free.

Some ways to translate this clause are:

Keep the personification. For example:
this city is our mother
our mother is the city of Jerusalem (CEV)
Translate this as a simile. For example:
and this city is like our mother
Translate the meaning without the personification. For example:
we are people of this city

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

δὲ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἡ Δέ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλήμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν ἥτις ἐστίν μήτηρ ἡμῶν)

Here, the word But is introducing a contrast between the present Jerusalem mentioned in [4:25](../04/25.md) and the Jerusalem above in this verse. Use a natural form in your language for introducing a contrast. Alternate translation: [On the other hand,]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἡ & ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ

¬which & above (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἡ Δέ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλήμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν ἥτις ἐστίν μήτηρ ἡμῶν)

The phrase the Jerusalem above refers to the heavenly city of God, which is comprised of all those who trust Jesus to save them from their sins. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent metaphor from your culture. Alternatively, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [the heavenly Jerusalem] or [God’s Jerusalem] or [God’s Jerusalem, which is made up of those who trust in Jesus,]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

ἄνω

above

Paul is describing what is heavenly (what belongs to or comes from heaven) by association with the word above, which his readers would have understood to mean “heavenly.” If it would be helpful in your language, you could use plain language.

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐλευθέρα

free

Here, the word free refers to spiritual freedom which consists of freedom from the law of Moses and freedom from the power and condemnation of sin which results in being able to freely worship God. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate that explicitly. Alternate translation: [spiritually free]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἥτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ ἡμῶν

who (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἡ Δέ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλήμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν ἥτις ἐστίν μήτηρ ἡμῶν)

Paul uses the word mother to refer to belonging to a place as a citizen of that place and possessing the rights and privileges which belong to a citizen. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent metaphor from your culture. Alternatively, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [which is the Jerusalem to which we belong] or [which is the place to which we belong]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

μήτηρ ἡμῶν

˓the˒_mother ˱of˲_us

Paul speaks of the Jerusalem above as if it was were a mother. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this meaning plainly.

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

ἡμῶν

˱of˲_us

When Paul says our, he is speaking of all believers in Jesus, which would include himself and the Galatian believers, so our would be inclusive. Your language may require you to mark these forms.

Parallel GAL 4:26

Section 4:21–31: Because the Galatians are spiritual sons of Abraham they are free from slavery

Paragraph 4:24–27

4:26

4:26a

4:26b