Galatians 4:27
For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The verse emphasizes that the "desolate one" will have many more children than the one who has a husband. This isn't just about numbers, but about the quality and intensity of those children, pointing to a greater, richer multiplication of spiritual offspring than the established, 'married' covenant could ever produce.
Paul uses a passage from Isaiah about Jerusalem's future restoration to highlight the contrast between the two covenants. He applies the prophecy of the barren woman becoming a mother of many to the heavenly Jerusalem, representing believers in Christ, who multiply far beyond those under the Old Covenant, symbolized by the woman with a husband. This imagery reinforces his argument that true spiritual offspring come through the promise of God, not the law.
Paul often used Old Testament stories to reveal deeper spiritual truths. Here, he unpacks the story of Sarah and Hagar to explain the difference between two kinds of 'children' under God.
Paul is drawing a powerful allegory here. The 'barren one' is Sarah, representing the 'Jerusalem above' – the true people of God, made free by faith in Christ. She is 'barren' because, before Christ, this spiritual family wasn't yet fully formed. The 'one who has a husband' is Hagar, representing the 'Jerusalem that now is' – those who try to earn God's favor through the Law. In the Old Testament, God's relationship with Israel was often described as a marriage. Hagar, through slavery and her son Ishmael, represents a life lived under bondage to rules and human effort.
Imagine being told to rejoice in a future you can't yet see, especially when your present reality is one of emptiness. That's the radical command given here.
The prophecy Paul quotes from Isaiah 54:1 wasn't just about physical children for Sarah; it points to a future explosion of God's family. The 'barren' woman, who seemed incapable of having children, is called to 'break forth and cry aloud' because her offspring will far outnumber those of the 'woman who has a husband.' This speaks volumes about God's boundless grace! It means His family isn't limited by our past failures or present limitations. The Christian church, composed largely of Gentiles (who were spiritually 'barren' and without God), would ultimately be far greater than the nation of Israel ('she which hath an husband') who had a special covenant relationship.
Understand the original words
steira · Greek Adjective
Refers to one who is physically unable to have children, often used in Scripture as a symbol of human helplessness and the necessity of divine intervention to bring about God's purpose.
teknon · Greek Noun
A chosen people or believers in a new covenant relationship who are established by divine promise rather than human effort or natural descent.
Paul's use of Isaiah 54:1 shows how God's promises extend far beyond the physical nation of Israel, embracing a spiritual family that vastly outnumbers the original covenant people.
c. 700 BC
Isaiah's Prophecy of Restoration
The prophet Isaiah speaks of Jerusalem, desolate after destruction and exile, being called to rejoice as it will be repopulated and become more glorious than before.
586 BC
Babylonian Exile Begins
Jerusalem is destroyed by the Babylonians, and many of its people are taken into exile, leaving the city desolate.
c. 538 BC
Return from Exile
A decree allows many Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple and the city, initiating a period of restoration.
c. AD 40-60— this verse
Paul Writes Galatians
The Apostle Paul writes his letter to the churches in Galatia, likely from Ephesus or Corinth, to address issues of adhering to the Law.
This is the direct source of the quotation used in Galatians 4:27, providing the original context of God's promise to a desolate Jerusalem that it would have more children than a married woman.
Genesis 17:15-16This passage records God's renaming of Sarai to Sarah and the promise that she, though previously barren, would become the mother of nations and kings, directly paralleling the imagery of the 'barren one' in Isaiah and Galatians.
Romans 9:7-8Paul explicitly connects Abraham's offspring to the promise of God, stating that 'not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel' and that 'the children of the promise are counted as offspring,' echoing the theme of children born by promise rather than by natural descent.
Galatians 4:30This verse directly interprets the allegory, stating that 'the slave woman’s child will never share the inheritance with the free woman’s child,' reinforcing the contrast between those born under law and those born of the Spirit, as illustrated by Hagar and Sarah.
cambridgeGalatians 4:27: "For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband."
27 . For it is written ] The quotation is taken exactly from the Septuagint version of Isaiah 54:1 . By the ‘barren’ we must understand Sarah, who was a type of the Gospel dispensation. Small and persecuted in its early days, the Church of Christ has now ‘many more children’ than the Jewish Church coul…
vincentGalatians 4:27: "For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband."
The last statement is proved from Scripture, lxx of Isaiah 54:1, which predicts the great growth of the people of God after the Babylonian exile. It is applied to the unfruitful Sarah, who answers to the Jerusalem above, and who is a type of God's dealings with her descendants.Break forth (ῥῆξον)In t…
The verse emphasizes that the "desolate one" will have many more children than the one who has a husband. This isn't just about numbers, but about the quality and intensity of those children, pointing to a greater, richer multiplication of spiritual offspring than the established, 'married' covenant could ever produce.
Paul uses a passage from Isaiah about Jerusalem's future restoration to highlight the contrast between the two covenants. He applies the prophecy of the barren woman becoming a mother of many to the heavenly Jerusalem, representing believers in Christ, who multiply far beyond those under the Old Covenant, symbolized by the woman with a husband. This imagery reinforces his argument that true spiritual offspring come through the promise of God, not the law.
Paul uses a passage from Isaiah about Jerusalem's future restoration to highlight the contrast between the two covenants. He applies the prophecy of the barren woman becoming a mother of many to the heavenly Jerusalem, representing believers in Christ, who multiply far beyond those under the Old Covenant, symbolized by the woman with a husband. This imagery reinforces his argument that true spiritual offspring come through the promise of God, not the law.
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"For it is written,
“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”" — The verse emphasizes that the "desolate one" will have *many more* children than the one who has a husband. This isn't just about numbers, but about the *quality* and *intensity* of those children, p…