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Galatians 04 General Notes
Structure and formatting
Some translations prefer to set apart quotations of the Old Testament. The ULB and many other English translations indent the lines of 4:27, which is a quotation from the Old Testament.
Special concepts in this chapter
Sonship
This is a complex issue discussed in this chapter. Scholars have many views on the issue of Israel's sonship. Not all of Abraham's physical descendants inherit the promises of Abraham. Only the children of Abraham, through his sons Isaac and Jacob, can inherit those promises and only those who follow him spiritually. It is through their faith that they become adopted into the family as sons with an inheritance ("children of promise"). (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/inherit, rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/promise, rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/spirit, rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/faith and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/adoption)
Other possible translation difficulties in this chapter
Abba
This is a word in Aramaic. Paul does not "translate" this word into Greek but chooses to "transliterate" it by transferring it into Greek, using Greek letters instead of Aramaic letters. The translators of the ULB and UDB have not translated this word either. The translator should try to form the sounds of this without translating its meaning. It was an informal way to refer to a person's father in ancient Israel.