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( ἸóáÜê )
Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, was superior in a variety of ways to his half-brother Ishmael. He was ‘the son of the free-woman’ ( ὁ äὲ ἐê ôῆò ἐëåõèÝñáò , Gal_4:23; ôïῦ íἱïῦ ôῆò ἐëåõèÝñáò , Gal_4:30); he was ‘born through a promise’ ( äé ʼ ἐðáããåëßáò , Gal_4:23) given to his parents in their old age; he was ‘born after the Spirit’ ( êáôὰ ðíåῦìá , Gal_4:29), who gave the promise and perhaps the strength åἰò êáôáâïëὴí óðÝñìáôïò (Heb_11:11); and, as the true son-even called the only-begotten ( ôὸí ìïíïãåíῆ , Heb_11:17)-he inherited the covenant promises given by God to Abraham. His brother, on the other hand, was ‘the son of the handmaid’ ( ὁ ìὲí ἐê ôῆò ðáéäßóêçò , Gal_4:22; ὁ õἱὸò ôῆò ðáéäßóêçò , Gal_4:30); he was ‘born after the flesh’ ( ὁ êáôὰ óÜñêá ãåííçèåßò , Gal_4:29); and he could ‘not inherit with the son of the freewoman’ (Gal_4:30).
St. Paul uses the relations of the two brothers to their father and to one another to help him to make good his distinction between ‘the children of the promise,’ who are ‘reckoned for a seed,’ and ‘the children of the flesh,’ who are not ‘children of God’ (Rom_9:8). Grappling with the problem of the incidence in his own day of the promises first given to Abraham, he contends that while mere Jewish birth and upbringing do not constitute a claim of right to spiritual privileges, no barrier except unbelief can prevent the Gentiles from inheriting them. Compressing his leaching into a single suggestive sentence, he says: ‘We [the Christian Church], like Isaac ( êáôὰ ἸóáÜê ), are children of promise’ ( ἐðáããåëßáò ôÝêíá , Gal_4:28; cf. ôὰ ôÝêíá ôῆò ἐðáããåëßáò , Rom_9:8). Born in the fullness of time, made free by the gift of the Spirit, and destined for a great heritage, the Christians of every land are prefigured in Isaac. ‘If ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise’ (Gal_3:29). The carnal Ishmael, who in this daring allegory represents orthodox Judaism, may ‘persecute’ the Spirit-born Isaac (according to the Rabbinic interpretation of the originally innocent word ‘playing’ in Gen_21:8); but, while the child of the freewoman (the Church) is established for ever in the Father’s house by a covenant of grace, the son of the bondwoman (the Jewish people) is cast out. If-as Luther says on Gal_4:24 -‘allegory is not argument,’ it may at least be extremely effective illustration. The Apostle’s strong imagination makes the simple old folk-tale suddenly Flash with new meanings, which serve to illuminate a complex and difficult modern situation.
Two other incidents in Isaac’s life are referred to in Heb_11:17 ff. (1) He was virtually offered up as a sacrifice to God (cf. Jam_2:21); in a figure ( ἐí ðáñáâïëῇ ) he came back from the dead, passing through the likeness of death and resurrection (see Abraham). (2) By blessing his son, he gave evidence of his faith concerning things to come ( ðåñὶ ìåëëüíôùí ). His trust in God made future possibilities as real as present certainties. His faith corresponded to the definition in Heb_11:1 : it was the substantiating of things hoped for ( ἐëðéæïìÝíùí ὑðüóôáóéò ).
James Strahan.