The crucial association in Paul’s reading of the Abraham story (Galatians 4) is the link between Hagar, Sinai, and slavery. It also seems to be the weakest link. Is it simply a geographic association?
Could the association turn on a pun?
Hagar is a “bondwoman,” paidiske in Greek (Galatians 4:22-23, 30-31). This is what Hagar is called in the LXX of Genesis 16 too. The paid– root points to her youth more than her social status; it could be translated as “young girl” as easily as “servant girl.” She is associated not only with slavery but with youth, minority.
Which reminds us of how Paul starts Galatians 4 – speaking of the law as guardian and manager over Israel in Israel’s childhood. And it reaches back further into chapter 3, where Paul describes the law explicitly as a paidagogos.
Hagar the paidikse is suitably linked with the paidagogos of the law.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
