Galatians 4:21

Desire. See on v. 9. In vs. 21-31 Paul enters his final appeal against the folly of Jewish legalism as a means of salvation.

Under the law. Literally, “under law,” that is, under the legal system (see on Rom. 2:12; Gal. 2:16), seeking salvation by works. Obviously Paul cannot be referring to the condemnation of “the law,” for no one would “desire” to be under condemnation.

Hear. That is, heed, pay attention to (see on Matt. 7:24).

The law. Paul now uses the word “law” in a different sense. The illustration of v. 22 is from the Pentateuch, to which the Jews commonly referred as “the law” or “the law of Moses” (see on Luke 24:44). In order to convince the “foolish Galatians” (Gal. 3:1) of their mistake in turning to the works of the ritual law for salvation, Paul went to “the law” of Moses, which contains the ritual law, for evidence. Paul’s question was intended to arouse the Galatians to investigate the revealed word of God. Should they do so candidly, they would discover for themselves the very thing he has sought to explain to them, namely, that “the law” points to Jesus as the one on whom they must depend for their salvation. Paul was continually quoting from the Pentateuch in support of his teachings concerning the message and mission of Jesus.