en_tn_condensed/gal/04/24.md

Connecting Statement:

Paul begins a story to illustrate a truth—that law and grace cannot exist together.

These things may be interpreted as an allegory

"This story of the two sons is like a picture of what I will tell you now"

as an allegory

An "allegory" is a story in which the people and things in it represent other things. In Paul's allegory, the two women referred to in Galatians 4:22 represent two covenants.

women represent

"women are a picture of"

Mount Sinai

"Mount Sinai" here is a synecdoche for the law that Moses gave to the Israelites there. Alternate translation: "Mount Sinai, where Moses gave the law to Israel" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-synecdoche)

she gives birth to children who are slaves

Paul treats the law as if it were a person. Alternate translation: "the people under this covenant are like slaves who have to obey the law" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-personification)