Galati 4
1 Ecco, io faccio un altro esempio: per tutto il tempo che l'erede è fanciullo, non è per nulla differente da uno schiavo, pure essendo padrone di tutto;
Now, I [will further] discuss [children and heirs]: [An heir is a person who will later] control all that his father has. But as long as that heir is a child, others [control] him, with the result that he is just like a slave [MET].
2 ma dipende da tutori e amministratori, fino al termine stabilito dal padre.
Until the [day that] his father [previously] determined, [other] persons supervise him and manage his father’s property.
3 Così anche noi quando eravamo fanciulli, eravamo come schiavi degli elementi del mondo.
Likewise, when we [(inc)] (OR, we [(exc) Jews]) were [like] young children [MET], we were controlled by the spiritual powers of this world. They controlled us like [masters control their slaves] [MET].
4 Ma quando venne la pienezza del tempo, Dio mandò il suo Figlio, nato da donna, nato sotto la legge,
But exactly at the time [MTY] [that God had previously determined], he sent [Jesus], who is (his Son/the man who is also God), into the world. Jesus was born to a [human] mother. He had to obey the laws [that God gave to Moses].
5 per riscattare coloro che erano sotto la legge, perché ricevessimo l'adozione a figli.
God sent Jesus in order that he might redeem us who had to obey [God’s] laws. God wanted us all to receive from [God] the status of being his children [MET].
6 E che voi siete figli ne è prova il fatto che Dio ha mandato nei nostri cuori lo Spirito del suo Figlio che grida: Abbà, Padre!
Furthermore, we know that we are God’s children because God sent the Spirit, who is intimately related to Jesus, to live in our (inner beings/hearts). [The Spirit enables us to] pray fervently, “Daddy, Father!” [This shows that we are God’s children].
7 Quindi non sei più schiavo, ma figlio; e se figlio, sei anche erede per volontà di Dio.
So, [because of what God has done], no longer is [each of] you [like] a slave. Instead, [each of you is] a child [of God]. Furthermore, since [each of you is God’s] child, God has also made you his heir, [one who will receive all that he has promised].
8 Ma un tempo, per la vostra ignoranza di Dio, eravate sottomessi a divinità, che in realtà non lo sono;
When you did not have a relationship with God [MET], you served gods that really did not exist [MET]. You were their slaves.
9 ora invece che avete conosciuto Dio, anzi da lui siete stati conosciuti, come potete rivolgervi di nuovo a quei deboli e miserabili elementi, ai quali di nuovo come un tempo volete servire?
But now you have come to know God. Perhaps [it would be better to say that] now God knows you. [So now you are acting foolishly]! (You are again believing [that by obeying] rules and rites [you will benefit spiritually]! [RHQ] [Those rules are] ineffective and inadequate! You are wanting to [obey them] again [MET] like slaves obey their masters. [RHQ]
10 Voi infatti osservate giorni, mesi, stagioni e anni!
You [non-Jews] are carefully practicing [Jewish rules and rituals about what you should do] (on [Sabbaths/on Jewish days of rest]) and [on the first day of each] month and on [special] seasons and years.
11 Temo per voi che io mi sia affaticato invano a vostro riguardo.
I (worry/am concerned) about your [mistaken ideas. I do not want] to have [so] strenuously served you in vain.
12 Siate come me, ve ne prego, poiché anch'io sono stato come voi, fratelli. Non mi avete offeso in nulla.
My fellow believers, I strongly urge you that you do as I do. [Stop thinking that you have to obey (Jewish rules and rituals/ceremonial laws]). [When I was with you], I [did not obey all the Jewish rules and rituals], just like you [did not obey them]. [At that time] you treated me entirely as you should have [LIT].
13 Sapete che fu a causa di una malattia del corpo che vi annunziai la prima volta il vangelo;
You know that the first time I preached to you, [I went to your area to regain my health, because I was physically weak].
14 e quella che nella mia carne era per voi una prova non l'avete disprezzata né respinta, ma al contrario mi avete accolto come un angelo di Dio, come Cristo Gesù.
[Although] you might have [despised me because] I was physically weak, you did not despise me or act contemptuously/disrespectfully toward me. Instead, you welcomed me like [you would welcome] an angel from God. [You welcomed me] like [you would welcome] Christ Jesus!
15 Dove sono dunque le vostre felicitazioni? Vi rendo testimonianza che, se fosse stato possibile, vi sareste cavati anche gli occhi per darmeli.
(I am disappointed that you have forgotten [that then] you [declared that you were] pleased with [me]./Have you forgotten [that then] you [declared that you were] pleased with [me]?) [RHQ] I can testify that you [would have done anything to help me]. You would have gouged out your eyes [and] given them to me, [if that would have helped me]!
16 Sono dunque diventato vostro nemico dicendovi la verità?
So I am very disappointed that you [now] act as though [RHQ] I have become hostile to you [because I have kept] speaking the true [message about Christ] to you.
17 Costoro si danno premura per voi, ma non onestamente; vogliono mettervi fuori, perché mostriate zelo per loro.
Those [who are insisting on obeying Jewish rules] are eagerly [showing interest in] you, but [what they are doing is] not good. They even want you not to associate with [me and other true] believers, because they want you to eagerly show [interest in] them, [not in us].
18 E' bello invece essere circondati di premure nel bene sempre e non solo quando io mi trovo presso di voi,
But [just like] it always feels good to have others show that they appreciate you, [I would like you] always [to appreciate me], and not only when I am with you.
19 figlioli miei, che io di nuovo partorisco nel dolore finché non sia formato Cristo in voi!
You [who are like] my children, [once] again I am very worried/concerned about you [MET], [and I will continue to] be worried/concerned until Christ’s [nature becomes developed] in you [completely and wholeheartedly] [MET] [as a child] becomes developed [in his mother’s womb].
20 Vorrei essere vicino a voi in questo momento e poter cambiare il tono della mia voce, perché non so cosa fare a vostro riguardo.
But I do wish that I could be with you now and that I might talk [more gently with you], because I do not know [what to do about] you [while we are apart].
21 Ditemi, voi che volete essere sotto la legge: non sentite forse cosa dice la legge?
Some of you desire [to obey all the laws] that God gave Moses. [I say that] you [should] consider [RHQ] [the implications of what Moses wrote in] the Scriptures.
22 Sta scritto infatti che Abramo ebbe due figli, uno dalla schiava e uno dalla donna libera.
[He] wrote that Abraham became the father of two sons. His female slave, [Hagar], bore one son, and his [wife Sarah], who was not a slave, bore the other.
23 Ma quello dalla schiava è nato secondo la carne; quello dalla donna libera, in virtù della promessa.
Also, [the sons differed. Ishmael], the [son born by] the female slave, was conceived naturally. But [Isaac], the [son born by] his wife who was not a slave, was conceived [miraculously] as a result of what [God] had promised [Abraham].
24 Ora, tali cose sono dette per allegoria: le due donne infatti rappresentano le due Alleanze; una, quella del monte Sinai, che genera nella schiavitù, rappresentata da Agar
[I am telling you this] as an illustration. These [two women] symbolize two agreements. [God made] the first [agreement, which involved obeying the laws that God gave to Moses] at Sinai Mountain. [Because that agreement forces those who accept it to keep obeying all its rules] [MET], [it is like a slave mother who] gives birth to slaves. [So] Hagar, [the female slave, symbolizes] that [agreement].
25 - il Sinai è un monte dell'Arabia -; essa corrisponde alla Gerusalemme attuale, che di fatto è schiava insieme ai suoi figli.
Also, the [word] ‘Hagar’ is [associated with] Sinai Mountain, [which is] in Arabia [land. Hagar, the female slave, also] represents Jerusalem as it is today. Jerusalem is [like] [MET] a slave [mother, and those who live there] [PRS] [are like] her slave children [MET] [because they all must obey the laws that God gave to Moses].
26 Invece la Gerusalemme di lassù è libera ed è la nostra madre.
But there will be a [new] Jerusalem in heaven [MTY], and we [who will go there] are free [from having to obey Jewish laws]. We [who belong to that city consider it to be] our mother [MET] [city because we are God’s true children].
27 Rallègrati, sterile, che non partorisci, grida nell'allegria tu che non conosci i dolori del parto, perché molti sono i figli dell'abbandonata, più di quelli della donna che ha marito. Sta scritto infatti:
[Our new city will have more people than those who live in Jerusalem now. It will be just like] Isaiah foretold about [the people whom he expected would come back to Jerusalem from exile. He expected that they would be more numerous than those who] were taken into exile. He wrote: [You who live in Jerusalem, you will] rejoice! Now you have no children, like a barren [woman] who does not give birth to [children! But some day you will] shout [joyfully], (without restraint/as loudly as you can), [even though now you are few in number, like a woman who] cannot give birth [to children, and you] feel deserted. [You will be very happy] because [you will have many children who will come to you. Those children will be] more than [the children] any woman with a husband [could have borne].
28 Ora voi, fratelli, siete figli della promessa, alla maniera di Isacco.
Now, [my] fellow believers, you have become children [of God as a result of believing God’s] promise to us, as Isaac [was born as a result of Abraham believing what God promised to him] [MET].
29 E come allora colui che era nato secondo la carne perseguitava quello nato secondo lo spirito, così accade anche ora.
[Also, long ago Abraham’s son] Ishmael, the one who was conceived naturally, caused trouble for [Abraham’s son] Isaac, who [was conceived] supernaturally [MET]. Similarly, now [those who think that we must obey the laws that God gave Moses in order that God will save us are causing trouble for those who are trusting Abraham’s descendant, Christ].
30 Però, che cosa dice la Scrittura? Manda via la schiava e suo figlio, perché il figlio della schiava non avrà eredità col figlio della donna libera.
But these are [RHQ] the words in the Scriptures [PRS]: “The son of the [woman] who was not a slave will inherit [what his father has]. The female slave’s son will certainly not inherit those things. So send away from [this place] the female slave and her son [MET]!” [That means that you should certainly expel from your groups those who insist that we obey all the laws God gave Moses] [MET].
31 Così, fratelli, noi non siamo figli di una schiava, ma di una donna libera.
[My] fellow believers, [Hagar symbolizes the laws that God gave to Moses. But we are not those who must obey all the laws that God gave to Moses] [MET]. [So] we are not [the] female slave [Hagar’s spiritual] descendants [MET]. But [Sarah’s descendants are those who were born as a result of believing what God promised to Abraham. So we are] the [spiritual] descendants of [Sarah, the woman] who was not a slave [MET].
