On Allegorizing – Is there Biblical Precedent?

Galatians 4:21–31—An Allegory?

Those who adopt an allegorical method of interpretation often appeal to Galatians 4:21–31. After all, Paul says these things “are an allegory” (v. 24). The question of whether this passage justifies adopting an allegorical hermeneutic, however, is best answered by examining what Paul is actually doing in this passage.

Paul highlights Abraham’s two sons to exemplify two ways in which Abraham sought to receive the promises. In Genesis 15 God reaffirmed the seed promise and further specified that Abraham himself would have a son (15:4, 5), and Abraham believed God (15:6). But chapter 16 reveals that Yahweh, the giver of the promise, had kept Sarah from having children. Abraham and Sarah see in Hagar a way to bring about the fulfillment of the promise. But unlike 15:2–4, Abraham does not consult with God. Because they sought the promise through their own efforts, Paul says, “he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh” (Gal. 4:23).

Genesis 21 records the birth of Abraham’s second son. Here Moses notes twice that Isaac was born “as [God] had said” and “as he had spoken” (21:1). He reinforces the fulfillment of the promise by noting that the birth took place “at the set time of which God had spoken to him” (21:2). Moses also emphasizes God’s involvement in the birth of Isaac by specifying that the Lord “visited” Sarah, indicating God’s special involvement. Abraham’s personal righteousness had nothing to do with the fulfillment, for he had failed once again in the previous chapter. His old age (21:2, 5, 7) also indicates that God fulfilled His promise. On the basis of this passage Paul says that the son of “the freewoman” was born through the “promise” (Gal. 4:23).

The circumstances of the birth of Abraham’s two sons parallel the two options that lie before the Galatians. They can seek to achieve the promises of God through human effort, or they can trust God to bring about what He has promised. Paul exploits this parallel by a figurative application that draws further parallels between the mothers of those sons and the two covenants that the Galatians may live under: the Mosaic covenant or the new covenant.

The connection between the Judaizers and the Mosaic Law is self-evident. But Paul must demonstrate the connection between the Galatian Christians and Sarah / the free woman / the new covenant / the Jerusalem above. He does this by quoting Isaiah 54:1. This passage ties together the Abrahamic covenant (54:1–3), the new covenant (54:10), and Gentile salvation (54:2, 3) while also having a nice verbal connection through the word “barren” (KJV “desolate”). Verse 1 connects to the Abrahamic covenant by speaking of Zion in terms of a barren woman having offspring. The connection continues with the reference to “spread[ing] abroad” (compare Gen. 28:14 and Isa. 54:3). Genesis 28:14 not only promises numerous offspring to Abraham but also says the blessing of Abraham’s seed would be to “all the families of the earth.” Isaiah brings those two ideas together in his exhortation for Zion to enlarge her tent because her seed will possess the nations (54:2, 3). This will happen not by natural means (as when a married woman has children), but it will be a supernatural work (like a deserted, barren woman who has never been in labor having more children than the married woman). Paul concludes that the Galatians, “as Isaac was, are the children of promise” (4:28). These Gentiles have become part of the people of God not through their own efforts but through the supernatural working of God and in accordance with his promise to Abraham (Gen. 28:14).

After establishing the identity of the Galatian Christians, Paul identifies the Judaizers: they are like Ishmael, for they persecute those “born after the Spirit” (4:29). This connection is made on the basis of Ishmael’s treatment of Isaac in Genesis 21:9. Paul then applies the judgment that falls on those aligned with Ishmael (that is, those who say it is necessary to remain under the Mosaic code): they will not receive the promised inheritance.

In verse 31 Paul reiterates the conclusion that he reached in 4:28 about the identity of Christians. In 5:1 he concludes his exhortation and prepares the way for the following section by exhorting the Galatians to stand firm in their freedom and not to submit to the slavery of the Mosaic code.

Throughout this passage Paul exploits surface similarities to illustrate aspects of his present situation (Hagar’s bondage with the bondage of the Law; Sarah’s freedom with the freedom of the new covenant; Sarah’s barrenness and later fecundity with Zion’s barrenness and later fecundity). But these surface similarities have deeply rooted, substantive connections. It is these roots that set Paul’s practice in this passage apart from the allegories of the patristic and medieval eras. For instance, Augustine extended Paul’s allegory to apply also to Abraham’s children by Keturah. Those sons, according to Augustine, represented “heresies and schisms” because they are sons of a free woman who are nevertheless born after the flesh and not according to the promise. Augustine’s allegory does make superficial connections, but an examination of Genesis 25 reveals that it lacks the roots of Paul’s “allegory.” Paul’s figurative approach in Galatians 4 remains rooted in the literal sense of Genesis and Isaiah. It does not provide a warrant for an allegorical method of interpretation.

Dr. Brian Collins is a Bible integration assistant at BJU Press and an elder at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina.

(Originally published in FrontLine • January/February 2013. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)