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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) And you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, like Isaac,![]()
OET-LV And you_all brothers, as Isaʼak/(Yiʦḩāq), are children of_promise.
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SR-GNT Ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, κατὰ Ἰσαὰκ, ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐστέ. ‡
(Humeis de, adelfoi, kata Isaʼak, epangelias tekna este.)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, magenta:vocative.
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).
ULT Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
UST Now, my fellow believers, you have become children of God because God has fulfilled what he promised to Abraham. You are like Isaac, who was born because God fulfilled what he promised to give Abraham.
BSB Now you,[fn] brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
4:28 WH, BYZ, and TR we
MSB Now we,[fn] brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
4:28 NA, SBL, and TH you
BLB Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
AICNT Now {you},[fn] brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise.
4:28, you: Later manuscripts read “we.” BYZ TR
OEB As for ourselves, friends, we, like Isaac, are children born in fulfilment of a promise.
WEBBE Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET But you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac.
LSV And we, brothers, as Isaac, are children of promise,
FBV Now my friends, we are children of promise just like Isaac.
TCNT § Now [fn]we, brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise.
4:28 we ¦ you NA SBL TH
T4T Now, my fellow believers, you have become children of God as a result of believing God’s promise to us, as Isaac was born as a result of Abraham believing what God promised to him [MET].
LEB But you, brothers, are children of the promise, just as Isaac.
BBE Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are the children of the undertaking of God.
Moff Now you are the children of the Promise, brothers, like Isaac;
Wymth But you, brethren, like Isaac, are children born in fulfilment of a promise.
ASV Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
DRA Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
YLT And we, brethren, as Isaac, are children of promise,
Drby But ye, brethren, after the pattern of Isaac, are children of promise.
RV Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
(Now we, brethren/brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise. )
SLT And we, brethren, as Isaac, are children of promise.
Wbstr Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
KJB-1769 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
(Now we, brethren/brothers, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. )
KJB-1611 Now wee, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
(Now wee, brethren/brothers, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.)
Bshps But brethren, we are after Isaac the chyldren of promise.
(But brethren/brothers, we are after Isaac the children of promise.)
Gnva Therefore, brethren, wee are after the maner of Isaac, children of the promise.
(Therefore, brethren/brothers, we are after the manner of Isaac, children of the promise. )
Cvdl As for vs (brethren) we are the children of Isaac acordinge to the promes.
(As for us (brethren/brothers) we are the children of Isaac according to the promes.)
TNT Brethren we are after the maner of Isaac chyldren of promes.
(Brethren we are after the manner of Isaac children of promes. )
Wycl For, britheren, we ben sones of biheeste aftir Isaac;
(For, brethren/brothers, we been sons of biheeste after Isaac;)
Luth Wir aber, liebe Brüder, sind Isaak nach der Verheißung Kinder.
(We but, love(v) brothers, are Isaak after the/of_the promise(n) children.)
ClVg Nos autem, fratres, secundum Isaac promissionis filii sumus.[fn]
(We however, brothers, after/second Isaac of_promise children we_are. )
4.28 Isaac. Risus, id est qui in lætitia serviunt, non ex tristitia, vel necessitate.
4.28 Isaac. Risus, that it_is who/which in/into/on joy they_serve, not/no from sadness, or necessitate.
UGNT ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, κατὰ Ἰσαὰκ, ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐστέ.
(humeis de, adelfoi, kata Isaʼak, epangelias tekna este.)
SBL-GNT ⸂ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, κατὰ Ἰσαὰκ ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐστέ⸃·
(⸂humeis de, adelfoi, kata Isaʼak epangelias tekna este⸃;)
RP-GNT Ἡμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, κατὰ Ἰσαάκ, ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐσμέν.
(Haʸmeis de, adelfoi, kata Isaʼak, epangelias tekna esmen.)
TC-GNT § [fn]Ἡμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, κατὰ Ἰσαάκ, ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐσμέν.
( § Haʸmeis de, adelfoi, kata Isaʼak, epangelias tekna esmen. )
4:28 ημεις … εσμεν ¦ υμεις … εστε NA SBL TH
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
4:21-31 Paul now returns to arguing from Scripture, using the contrast between Hagar and Sarah and between their children. Paul argues for a similar contrast between those who are slaves under the law and those who are free in Christ.
• Paul’s argument uses the allegorical techniques of rabbinic Judaism (see study note on 4:24). Having been trained as a rabbi (Acts 22:3), Paul could out-argue the Judaizers using their own methods.
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
In this paragraph, Paul showed the Galatians how the allegory about the free woman and the slave woman applied to their situation.
Now you, brothers,
¶ So then my brothers,
¶ And so, my friends,
¶ My fellow believers,
Now: In this verse, Paul began to apply his allegory of the previous paragraph. Begin this verse in a way that shows that Paul is going to make an application. For example:
And so
So then
Here is the point
In some languages, you may not need to use a connecting word or phrase.
you, brothers: Paul used the pronoun you and the word brothers to directly address the Galatians. He wanted them to pay attention to what he was about to say.
Some ways to translate these words are:
you, my dear fellow believers
you, fellow believers in Christ
you, my dear friends
you: There is a textual issue here:
Some Greek manuscripts have you. For example:
you (GNT) (BSB, ESV, CEV, GW, NASB, NCV, NET, NIV, NJB, NLT, NRSV, REB, GNT)
Other Greek manuscripts have we. For example:
we (RSV) (JBP, KJV, RSV)
It is recommended that you follow option (1), with the majority of English versions.
like Isaac, are children of promise.
you are like Isaac. You are children of the promise.
you are like Isaac. You are counted as Abraham’s children because of what God promised.
you are Abraham’s children because of the promise that God made, in the same way as Abraham’s son Isaac was born because God made a promise to Abraham.
like Isaac: Isaac was the name of the son of Abraham and Sarah, the free woman whom Paul spoke of in 4:22–23. He was free. Paul compared the Galatian believers to Isaac.
Some ways to translate this phrase are:
just like Isaac, the son of the free woman
in the same way as Isaac
are children of promise: Isaac was born because of God’s promise to give Abraham a son. In the same way, the Gentiles have been born spiritually because of God’s promise to bless all nations through Abraham. The Gentiles are Abraham’s spiritual children. They are free.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
are counted as Abraham’s children because of God’s promise
you have become Abraham’s children because of the promise that God made
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases
δέ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὑμεῖς Δέ ἀδελφοί κατά Ἰσαάκ ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐστέ)
Here, Paul uses the word Now to indicate that what he writes next is connected to what he wrote immediately before this and that he is continuing his line of thought. Use a natural form in your language to indicate that what follows is in continuity with what precedes it. Alternate translation: [And]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / simile
ὑμεῖς & ἀδελφοί, κατὰ Ἰσαὰκ, ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐστέ
you_all & brothers (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὑμεῖς Δέ ἀδελφοί κατά Ἰσαάκ ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα ἐστέ)
The point of this comparison is that the Galatian believers (who are referred to as brothers) are like Isaac because both Isaac and the Galatians are children of promise, meaning that they both owe their birth to God’s supernatural working. Isaac’s physical birth came about as a result of God’s supernatural intervention, and the Galatian believers spiritual birth came about as a result of God’s supernatural intervention. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent comparison or express this meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [my fellow believers, you are similar to Isaac in that God miraculously intervened for both you and him in order to fulfill his promise to Abraham]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular
ὑμεῖς
you_all
Here, the pronoun you is plural. Your language may require you to mark such forms.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
ἀδελφοί
brothers
See how you translated the word brothers in [1:2](../01/02.md) where it is used with the same meaning. Alternate translation: [brothers and sisters]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα
˱of˲_promise children
Here, children could be a metaphor which means that the Galatian believers are: (1) God’s spiritual descendants. If it would help your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [God’s spiritual descendants] or [God’s children] (2) Abraham’s spiritual descendants. If it would help your readers, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [Abraham’s spiritual descendants] or [Abraham’s children]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
ἐπαγγελίας τέκνα
˱of˲_promise children
Paul is using the possessive form to describe the source of these children. He means that the children are the children or descendants which God promised to supernaturally give to Abraham, and therefore they are children whose source derives from God fulfillment of his promise to Abraham. If it would be helpful in your language, you could clarify the relationship for your readers. Alternate translation: [children of God’s promise] or [children of God’s promise to Abraham]