What Old Testament story is referenced in Galatians 4:27, and why?

Galatians 4:27 on the Page

“For it is written: ‘Rejoice, O barren woman who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.’” (Galatians 4:27)

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The Source: Isaiah 54:1

Paul is quoting Isaiah 54:1, where the LORD addresses Israel:

• “Sing, O barren woman, who never bore a child;

break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never been in labor;

for more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband, says the LORD.”

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The Backdrop: Sarah’s Long Wait

• Isaiah’s imagery of a “barren woman” echoes the Genesis account of Sarah (Genesis 11:30; 16:1–2; 21:1–7).

• Sarah, though barren for decades, miraculously bore Isaac—the child of promise.

• Hagar, her maidservant, conceived naturally, producing Ishmael, but outside the promise.

• Paul has just finished contrasting Hagar and Sarah (Galatians 4:21-26), so Isaiah 54:1 dovetails perfectly with that contrast.

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Why Paul Picks This Passage

• Isaiah 54 celebrates God’s future, multiplied family after exile; Paul sees that fulfillment now realized in those who are “children of promise” through faith in Christ (Galatians 3:26-29).

• The “desolate” woman (Sarah/Isaiah’s Zion) ends up with far more children—pointing to the explosive growth of the gospel family, not restricted by ethnicity or Mosaic law.

• This drives home Paul’s argument: life and inheritance come supernaturally by promise, not by human effort or legal bondage.

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Layers of Meaning—Promise over Performance

• Barrenness highlights human inability; God alone opens the womb (Genesis 21:1-2).

• Promise births freedom: “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).

• Law births slavery: “The son of the slave woman… will never share in the inheritance” (Galatians 4:30).

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Related Passages That Reinforce the Point

• Romans 9:6-9 – Isaac, “the child of promise,” contrasted with mere physical descendants.

• Hebrews 11:11-12 – Sarah’s faith and the countless offspring springing from one “as good as dead.”

• 1 Peter 2:10 – “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God,” echoing Isaiah’s promise of a restored, enlarged family.

• Revelation 21:2 – “The holy city, New Jerusalem,” the ultimate realization of “Jerusalem above” (Galatians 4:26).

In Galatians 4:27, Paul reaches back to Isaiah’s prophecy—rooted in Sarah’s miraculous story—to underline that the true heirs of God’s covenant are those born of promise through faith, not those clinging to the law.