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Galatians 4 · a question people ask

"the Jerusalem that exists now" (4:25) and "the Jerusalem that is above" (4:26). What does the letter mean by them?

In the text

Only what the verses say. "For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children." (4:25). "But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all." (4:26). The letter says these things "contain an allegory, for these are two covenants" (4:24), and it says no more of either Jerusalem than these verses. These notes don't either. They apply "the Jerusalem that exists now", "the Jerusalem that is above", bondage, the servant and the free woman to no city, people, nation, land or faith today, and set no other passage beside them.

The verses

“These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
Galatians 4:24-26 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Galatians 4

Galatians 4: An heir of God

Galatians 4 begins with an heir who, while a child, "is no different from a bondservant" (4:1), and soon says, "So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." (4:7). Between them, "God sent out his Son" (4:4), and "God sent out the Spirit of his Son" (4:6).

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions