1
But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a bondservant, though he is lord of all;
2
but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father.
3
So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world.
4
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,
5
that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.
6
And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!"
7
So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
L'inquiétude que Paul ressent au sujet des Galates
8
However at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods.
9
But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental principles, to which you desire to be in bondage all over again?
10
You observe days, months, seasons, and years.
11
I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you.
12
I beg you, brothers, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong,
13
but you know that because of weakness of the flesh I preached the Good News to you the first time.
14
That which was a temptation to you in my flesh, you didn't despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
15
What was the blessing you enjoyed? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.
16
So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
17
They zealously seek you in no good way. No, they desire to alienate you, that you may seek them.
18
But it is always good to be zealous in a good cause, and not only when I am present with you.
19
My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you--
20
but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.
L'exemple d'Agar et de Sara
21
Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don't you listen to the law?
22
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the free woman.
23
However, the son by the handmaid was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise.
24
These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar.
25
For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children.
26
But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27
For it is written, "Rejoice, you barren who don't bear. Break forth and shout, you that don't travail. For more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband."
28
Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
29
But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
30
However what does the Scripture say? "Throw out the handmaid and her son, for the son of the handmaid will not inherit with the son of the free woman."
31
So then, brothers, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the free woman.
1
But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a bondservant, though he is lord of all;
2
but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father.
3
So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world.
4
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,
5
that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.
6
And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!"
7
So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
L'inquiétude que Paul ressent au sujet des Galates
8
However at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods.
9
But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental principles, to which you desire to be in bondage all over again?
10
You observe days, months, seasons, and years.
11
I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you.
12
I beg you, brothers, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong,
13
but you know that because of weakness of the flesh I preached the Good News to you the first time.
14
That which was a temptation to you in my flesh, you didn't despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
15
What was the blessing you enjoyed? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.
16
So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
17
They zealously seek you in no good way. No, they desire to alienate you, that you may seek them.
18
But it is always good to be zealous in a good cause, and not only when I am present with you.
19
My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you--
20
but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.
L'exemple d'Agar et de Sara
21
Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don't you listen to the law?
22
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the free woman.
23
However, the son by the handmaid was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise.
24
These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar.
25
For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children.
26
But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27
For it is written, "Rejoice, you barren who don't bear. Break forth and shout, you that don't travail. For more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband."
28
Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
29
But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
30
However what does the Scripture say? "Throw out the handmaid and her son, for the son of the handmaid will not inherit with the son of the free woman."
31
So then, brothers, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the free woman.
On s'attendait à ce qu'il indiquerait la loi et ses prescriptions sans nombre comme ayant tenu lieu, sous l'ancienne alliance, des "tuteurs et administrateurs ;" (verset 2) c'est ce qu'il a fait ci-dessus. (Galates 3.23-25) Au lieu de cela, il nomme les rudiments ou plutôt les éléments du monde.
Ce mot qui ne se retrouve que dans Colossiens 2.8,20, et ci-dessous, verset 9 (avec des épithètes différentes), a été expliqué de diverses manières.
Le terme d'éléments, en grec comme dans notre langue, a une double signification : appliqué aux objets de la nature, il désigne les parties premières et constitutives d'une chose ; dans un ordre plus élevé, l'art, la science, la religion, il en indique les premiers principes.
Si l'on prend ici ce mot dans le premier sens, il faudrait entendre les forces de la création, la nature avec ses lois ; dans le second sens, il s'agirait des premiers principes de la connaissance religieuse, de la loi avec toutes les minutieuses prescriptions dont elle était entourée.
On n'hésiterait pas à comprendre ainsi ces paroles, si l'apôtre ne désignait ces éléments comme des éléments du monde, terme qui ne paraît guère pouvoir s'appliquer aux prescriptions de la loi mosaïque, ni au peuple juif seul, ni à toute notre humanité, ainsi qu'on l'a prétendu.
D'un autre côté, si Paul avait en vue seulement des païens, dont toute la religion n'était qu'un naturalisme divinisé ou l'adoration de la nature sous mille formes diverses, on pourrait s'arrêter au premier sens que nous avons donné au mot monde ; mais évidemment il parle surtout ici des Juifs et de leur état de servitude sous la loi ; quelle peut donc être sa pensée ? La voici, et elle réunit les deux significations du terme : tous les hommes sont asservis aux forces brutes de la nature aussi longtemps qu'ils ne connaissent pas le Dieu qui est esprit, et qui veut être adoré en esprit et en vérité.
L'homme, originairement destiné à dominer la nature, en est devenu l'esclave par le péché, et tout culte qu'il rend à Dieu se ressent de cet esclavage. Dieu, en donnant aux Juifs des prescriptions légales, symboliques, qui étaient relatives à la vie naturelle (lois sur le manger, le boire, les temps, les saisons, les jours, (verset 10) les purifications, etc.), leur avait en même temps fourni assez de lumières pour qu'ils comprissent le sens spirituel de ces ordonnances, en les interprétant comme des symboles, en s'élevant du visible à l'invisible, du corps à l'âme.
Tel était en particulier le but constant de la prédication des prophètes. Mais, à l'exception d'un petit nombre d'hommes vraiment pieux et éclairés, ce peuple, par un effet de son aveuglement charnel, resta constamment attaché au sens matériel des prescriptions ; il prit le moyen pour la fin ; son culte dès lors retomba dans un naturalisme presque païen, et ainsi, au lieu de s'élever par degrés, selon l'intention de Dieu, vers la liberté et l'adoration spirituelles, il resta dans la servitude des éléments du monde.
Voilà pourquoi l'apôtre appelle ces éléments faibles et pauvres ; (verset 9) ils ne sauraient par eux-mêmes communiquer à l'âme ni force, ni vie, ni paix. (Comparer Colossiens 2.20) C'est à ces rudiments que les faux docteurs voulaient ramener les chrétiens de Galatie, déjà en possession de cet Evangile spirituel, éternel, qui porte tous les caractères d'une œuvre du Dieu vivant. (versets 4,5)