But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law:

“Paul, when writing to the Romans, has explained this very point: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, predestinated unto the Gospel of God, which He had promised by His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was made to Him of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was predestinated the Son of God with power through the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ." And again, writing to the Romans about Israel, he says: "Whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed for ever." And again, in his Epistle to the Galatians, he says: "But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption;" plainly indicating one God, who did by the prophets make promise of the Son, and one Jesus Christ our Lord, who was of the seed of David according to His birth from Mary; and that Jesus Christ was appointed the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, as being the first begotten in all the creation; the Son of God being made the Son of man, that through Him we may receive the adoption,-humanity sustaining, and receiving, and embracing the Son of God. With Him is nothing incomplete or out of due season, just as with the Father there is nothing incongruous. For all these things were foreknown by the Father; but the Son works them out at the proper time in perfect order and sequence. This was the reason why, when Mary was urging [Him] on to [perform] the wonderful miracle of the wine, and was desirous before the time to partake of the cup of emblematic significance, the Lord, checking her untimely haste, said, "Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come"-waiting for that hour which was foreknown by the Father. This is also the reason why, when men were often desirous to take Him, it is said, "No man laid hands upon Him, for the hour of His being taken was not yet come;" nor the time of His passion, which had been foreknown by the Father; as also says the prophet Habakkuk, "By this Thou shalt be known when the years have drawn nigh; Thou shalt be set forth when the time comes; because my soul is disturbed by anger, Thou shalt remember Thy mercy." Paul also says: "But when the fulness of time came, God sent forth His Son." By which is made manifest, that all things which had been foreknown of the Father, our Lord did accomplish in their order, season, and hour, foreknown and fitting, being indeed one and the same, but rich and great. For He fulfils the bountiful and comprehensive will of His Father, inasmuch as He is Himself the Saviour of those who are saved, and the Lord of those who are under authority, and the God of all those things which have been formed, the only-begotten of the Father, Christ who was announced, and the Word of God, who became incarnate when the fulness of time had come, at which the Son of God had to become the Son of man. Those, therefore, who allege that He took nothing from the Virgin do greatly err, [since,] in order that they may cast away the inheritance of the flesh, they also reject the analogy [between Him and Adam]. For if the one [who sprang] from the earth had indeed formation and substance from both the hand and workmanship of God, but the other not from the hand and workmanship of God, then He who was made after the image and likeness of the former did not, in that case, preserve the analogy of man, and He must seem an inconsistent piece of work, not having wherewith He may show His wisdom. But this is to say, that He also appeared putatively as man when He was not man, and that He was made man while taking nothing from man. For if He did not receive the substance of flesh from a human being, He neither was made man nor the Son of man; and if He was not made what we were, He did no great thing in what He suffered and endured. But every one will allow that we are [composed of] a body taken from the earth, and a soul receiving spirit from God. This, therefore, the Word of God was made, recapitulating in Himself His own handiwork; and on this account does He confess Himself the Son of man, and blesses "the meek, because they shall inherit the earth." The Apostle Paul, moreover, in the Epistle to the Galatians, declares plainly, "God sent His Son, made of a woman." And again, in that to the Romans, he says, "Concerning His Son, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was predestinated as the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord."”

“A certain person thought that he had cleverly solved this question: that Mary was called a woman by the angel and the apostle because she was already betrothed. For a betrothed is in some sense a bride. Yet between "in some sense" and "truly" there is a great distance.… He spoke of one who was a virgin and was called woman according to a proper usage of this term with respect to the basic quality of a virgin, which is therefore vindicated by the generic term woman.”

“That although from the beginning He had been the Son of God, yet He had to be begotten again according to the flesh. In the second Psalm: "The Lord said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of me, and I will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, and the bounds of the earth for Thy possession." Also in the Gospel according to Luke: "And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and she was filled with the Holy Ghost, and she cried out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? " Also Paul to the Galatians: "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent His Son, horn of a woman." Also in the Epistle of John: "Every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. But whosoever denies that He is come in the flesh is not of God, but is of the spirit of Antichrist."”

“But when He says, "As the years draw nigh, thou shalt be recognised "He means, as has been said before, that glorious recognition of our Saviour, God in the flesh, who is otherwise invisible to mortal eye; as somewhere Paul, that great interpreter of sacred mysteries, says: "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."”

“Here he states two objects and effects of the Incarnation, deliverance from evil and supply of good, things which none could compass but Christ. They are these; deliverance from the curse of the Law, and promotion to sonship. Fitly does he say, that we might "receive," "[be paid,]" implying that it was due; for the promise was of old time made for these objects to Abraham, as the Apostle has himself shown at great length. And how does it appear that we have become sons? he has told us one mode, in that we have put on Christ who is the Son; and now he mentions another, in that we have received the Spirit of adoption.”

“Here the Apostle adapts the proposed similitude to Christ. And first the adaptation itself is set forth; second, the end of the matter to which the similitude is adapted, at the place "that he might redeem those who were under the law," etc. It should be known that above, in the proposed similitude, he showed four things in order, as has been said. Here, however, in adapting those four things to Christ, he begins from the last, namely from the determination of time, the reason for which is that it was the same time in which Christ was humbled and in which the faithful were exalted. And therefore he says, "but when the fullness of time came," that is, after the time which had been predetermined by God the Father concerning the sending of his Son was completed; and it is taken in this way in Luke 2:6: "the days were fulfilled," etc. That time, moreover, is called full on account of the fullness of graces which are given in it, according to Psalm 64:10: "the river of God is filled with water," etc. Likewise on account of the fulfillment of the figures of the old law. Matthew 5:17: "I have not come to destroy the law," etc. Likewise, on account of the fulfillment of the promises. Daniel 9:27: "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week." Now this that he says, "but when the fullness of time came," etc. — and likewise in other places of Scripture where the time concerning Christ is said to be fulfilled — is not to be referred to fatal necessity, but to divine ordination, concerning which it is said in Psalm 118:91: "by your ordinance the day continues," etc. A twofold reason, moreover, is assigned as to why that time was preordained for the coming of Christ. One is taken from greatness. For since he who was to come was great, it was fitting that men be disposed toward his coming by many signs and many preparations. Hebrews 1:1: "in many parts and in many ways," etc. The other is from the condition of the one coming. For since a physician was to come, it was fitting that before his coming men be convicted of their disease, both as to the defect of knowledge under the law of nature and as to the defect of virtue under the written law. And therefore it was fitting that both, namely the law of nature and the law of Scripture, precede the coming of Christ. Second, he adapts the similitude as regards the dignity of inheritance, when he says "God sent his Son," namely his own and natural Son. And if a son, then also an heir. He says, moreover, "his Son," that is, his own, natural, and only-begotten Son, not an adoptive one. John 3:16: "so God loved the world, that," etc. He sent him, I say, not separated from himself, because he was sent by this, that he assumed human nature, and yet he was in the bosom of the Father — John 1:18: "the only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father" — eternally. John 3:13: "No one has ascended into heaven, except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven," who, although he descended through the assumption of flesh, nevertheless is in heaven. Likewise he sent him, not that he might be where before he was not; because, although he came into his own through the presence of the flesh, yet he was in the world through the presence of his deity, as is said in the Gospel, John 1:14. Similarly he did not send him as a servant, because his mission was the assumption of flesh, not the laying aside of majesty. God therefore sent his Son to heal, I say, the deviation of the concupiscible appetite, and to illumine the ignorance of the rational creature. Psalm 106:20: "he sent his word," etc. He also sent him to free men from the power of the Devil, against the infirmity of the irascible appetite. Isaiah 19:20: "he will send them a savior, who will free them." Likewise as a remedy from the obligation of eternal death. Hosea 3:14: "from the hand of death I will free them, from death I will redeem them." Likewise to save them from their sins. John 3:17: "God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him," etc. Third, he adapts the similitude as regards smallness, when he says "made of a woman." Isaiah 9:6: "a little child is born to us," etc. Philippians 2:7: "he emptied himself," etc. He made himself small, not by relinquishing his greatness, but by assuming smallness. Now in this that he says "made of a woman," two errors are to be guarded against. The first is that of Photinus, who said that Christ was a mere man and took the beginning of his being from the Virgin; and so he says that he was made of a woman as though he had taken his entire beginning from her. But this is false, because it is against what is said in Romans 1:3: "who was made to him of the seed of David according to the flesh"; it does not say "according to the person," which is from eternity, namely the very hypostasis of the Son of God. Hence, just as when a shield newly becomes white, it is not necessary to say that the very substance of the shield newly comes to be, but that whiteness has newly come to it, so from the fact that the Son of God newly assumed flesh, it is not necessary to say that the person of Christ was newly made, but that a human nature newly came to him, just as certain things happen to a body without any change in the body itself. For some things come to a thing and change it, as absolute forms and qualities; but certain things come without change, and of this sort is the assumption of flesh, inasmuch as it expresses a relation. Hence by this the person of the Word is changed in nothing. And hence it is that in speaking of divine things we use terms that signify relation even from time. Hence we say, in that verse of Psalm 89:1, "Lord, you have become a refuge for us," and that God became man. But we do not use absolute forms and qualities, as: "God became good, wise," and the like. Likewise the error of Ebion is to be avoided, who said that Christ was born of the seed of Joseph, moved to posit this by the fact that it says "of a woman." For, according to him, "woman" implies only corruption. But this is false, because this name "woman," in sacred Scripture, also designates the natural sex, according to that verse of Genesis 3:12: "the woman whom you gave me," etc. For he calls her "woman" who nevertheless was still a virgin. By this also, that it is said "made of a woman," two errors are destroyed: namely that of Valentinus, who said that Christ did not take a body from the Virgin, but brought it from heaven, and passed through the blessed Virgin as through a pipe or channel. But this is false, because if what he says were true, Christ would not have been made of a woman, as the Apostle says; for this preposition, "of," designates a material cause. Likewise, the error of Nestorius, who said that the blessed Virgin is not the mother of the Son of God, but of the son of man: this is shown to be false by this, that the Apostle says here that God sent his Son made of a woman. For he who is made of a woman is her son. If therefore the Son of God was made of a woman, namely of the blessed Virgin, it is manifest that the blessed Virgin is the mother of the Son of God. Although, however, it could be said "born of a woman," he nevertheless says pointedly "made," and not "born." For for something to be born is for it to be produced only from a conjoined principle, but to be made is also from a separate principle. For an ark is made by a craftsman, but fruit is born from a tree. The principle of human generation, however, is twofold: namely material — and as to this Christ proceeded from a conjoined principle, because he took the matter of his body from the Virgin. Hence according to this he is said to be born of her. Matthew 1:16: "of whom Jesus was born," etc. The other is the active principle, which indeed in Christ, as to that which it had as a principle, that is, as to the formation of the body, was not conjoined but separate, because the power of the Holy Spirit formed it. And as to this he is not said to be born of a woman but made, as it were from an exterior principle. From which it is clear that when he said "of a woman," this does not signify corruption, for otherwise he would have said "born" and not "made." Fourth, he adapts the similitude as regards subjection, when he says "made under the law." But against this is what is said below, 5:18: "if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." If therefore Christ is not only spiritual but even the giver of the Spirit, it seems unfitting to say that he was made under the law. I respond. It must be said that "to be under the law" is said in two ways. In one way, so that the word "under" denotes only the observance of the law, and in this way Christ was made under the law, because he was circumcised and presented in the temple. Matthew 5:17: "I have not come to destroy the law," etc. In another way, so that the word "under" denotes oppression. And in this way he is said to be under the law who is oppressed by fear of the law, and in this way neither Christ nor spiritual men are said to be under the law. Consequently, when he says "that those who were under the law," etc., he sets forth the fruit of the matter to which the similitude is adapted, namely that he willed for this reason to become subject at that time, so that they might become heirs, great and free. And he sets forth these two things: first, the fruit of liberation against subjection. And therefore he says "that he might free those who were under the law," that is, under the curse and burden of the law. Above, 3:13: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law," etc. Second, the fruit of exaltation, inasmuch as we are adopted as sons of God through this, that we receive the Spirit of Christ and are conformed to him. Romans 8:9: "if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ," etc. And this adoption belongs in a special way to Christ, because we cannot become adoptive sons unless we are conformed to the natural Son. Romans 8:29: "whom he foreknew to be conformed to the image of his Son," etc. And as to this he says "that we might receive the adoption of sons," that is, that through the natural Son of God we might be made adoptive sons according to grace, through Christ.”

“But when the fulness of the time was come. When the time fixed beforehand for the end of the law and the beginning of the Gospel was fully come, we were transferred from the servitude of the law to the freedom of sonship. S. Bernard (Serm. 1 de Adventu) explains the passage somewhat differently : “ The fulness and abundance of temporal things had brought about forgetfulness and famine of eternal things . It was at the moment when temporal things 288 THE EPISTLE TO THE held sway that eternal things opportunely arrived ” But this is a symbolical rather than literal explanation. Literally, the fulness of time is not the abundance of temporal things, but the full completion of the pre-determined time. God sent forth His Son , as His legate or Apostle, with full instructions to act on His behalf. He sent His Son, not by change of place, as though He left heaven and arrived at earth ; but the Son, remaining where He was, in heaven and on earth, took a new role, viz., that of a Human Ambassador from God to man. Made of a woman . Woman here denotes, not corruption, but the female sex, and applies as well to a virgin as to another woman. Made of a woman denotes conception without a male, from the sole substance of the mother. From this it clearly follows that Christ did not assume a heavenly body, which He brought to earth by passing through the Blessed Virgin as through a pipe, as the Valentinians formerly, and the Anabaptists now teach, but that His body was formed from the Virgin. Made under the law . Though Christ, even as man, was not subject to the law, because He was still the Son of God, the giver of the law, yet of His own free-will He observed it, and of His own free-will submitted Himself to circumcision, and to its other ceremonial enactments. Made , therefore, denotes, not obligation, but practice ; not right, but fact. To redeem them that were under the law . By paying the price, might bestow on them Christian liberty. The reference is to the bondage of the law, not of sin. That we might receive the adoption of sons, (i.) The Son of God was made of a woman Son of man, that He might make the sons of men sons of God. " God was made man ,” says S. Bernard, “ that man might be made God . 19 (2.) This adoption is by grace, by which we obtain not only a right to be heirs of God the Father, but also participation in the Divine Nature, the Holy Spirit Himself, and sonship with God. (3.) Although all the righteous, even before Christ, were sons of God by adoption, yet the Apostle calls them all slaves — (a) because, although the righteous were truly sons of SONS, NOT SLAVES 289 God, yet they had not the status of sons, but only of slaves, being under the law, and consequently under the spirit of servile fear, (b) Because they had not the right of sonship through the law, but through their faith in Christ yet to come ; and they belonged, therefore, more to the New Law than to the Old, as Augustine proves happily and exhaustively (contra Duos Epp . Pelag. cap . 4). (c) Because they lacked the fruit of adoption, in being unable to discern their heavenly inheritance before Christ revealed it (d) Because Christ,, in setting us free from the yoke of the law, substituted for it in the New Law the one spirit of adoption and of love”

“But when the fulness of time was come,.... The time agreed and fixed upon between God and his Son from all eternity, in the council and covenant of peace, when the Son of God should assume human nature; which time was diligently searched into by the prophets, was revealed unto them, and predicted by them; as more generally that it should be before the civil government ceased from Judah, and before the destruction of the second temple; and more particularly by Daniel in his prophecy of the "seventy weeks", towards and about the close of which there was a general expectation among the Jews of the Messiah's coming; and was the fulness of time here referred to, and what is sometimes called the dispensation of the fulness of time, the end of the Mosaic dispensation and Jewish church state, the last days of that state, and the end of the Jewish world, as to their ecclesiastical and civil polity. The Jews themselves own that the time of the Messiah's coming is fixed, and that at that time he shall come, whether they are worthy or not, for so it is asserted in their Talmud (d); "says R. Jochanan, the son of David does not come, but in an age which is all worthy, or all wicked; in a generation which is all worthy, as it is written, Isa 60:21 in a generation that is all wicked, as it is written, Isa 66:5 and it is written, "for my name's sake will I do it"; says R. Alexander, R. Joshua ben Levi objects what is written, Isa 60:22 "in its time"; and it is written, "I will hasten it"; if they are worthy I will hasten it, if they are not worthy it shall be "in its time".'' And accordingly a more modern writer of theirs says (e), "our redemption upon all accounts shall be, "in its time", whether worthy or, wicked; but if worthy its time will be hastened;'' it must be owned they do not always say so: this phrase, "the fulness of time", is an Hebraism, and is the same with , in Eze 5:2 which the Septuagint render , "the fulness of days", and we, "when the days were fulfilled", when the time was up; and the same sense it has here, and it is also the same with "the appointed time", Hab 2:3 and answers to , "the time appointed of the Father", Gal 4:2. God sent forth his Son; God not absolutely and essentially, but personally and relatively considered, is here meant, namely, God the Father, as appears from the relation the person sent stands in to him, "his Son"; not by creation, as angels, Adam, and all men are the sons of God; nor by adoption, as saints are; or by office, as magistrates be; or on account of his incarnation or resurrection from the dead, for he was the Son of God before either; but by divine generation, being the only begotten of the Father, of his divine nature and essence, equal to him, and one with him: and who was "sent" by him, not out of disrespect to him, but love to us; nor without his consent or against his will, he readily and heartily agreeing to it; nor does it imply any local motion or change of place, but only designs the assumption of human nature; nor does it suppose any superiority and inferiority, for though Christ, as man, and in his office capacity, as Mediator, is inferior to the Father, yet not as to his divine nature, or as the Son of God; but it suggests, that he existed before he was sent, and that as a person, and as a distinct person from the Father, otherwise he could not with any propriety be said to be sent by him; and also that there was an entire harmony and agreement between them in this matter, the Father agreed to send his Son, and the Son agreed to be sent; and that as to his taking upon him the office of Mediator, and his assumption of human nature in order to obtain eternal redemption: all this was not of himself, but done in concert with his Father, from whom as Mediator he had his mission and commission; made of a woman; "made", not created as Adam was; nor begotten by man, as men in common are; nor is he said to be born, though he truly was, but "made"; which word the Holy Ghost chooses, to express the mighty power of God, in his mysterious incarnation, wonderful conception, and birth; though some copies read, "born of a woman"; and so the Arabic and Ethiopic version: "of a woman"; whose seed he was from the beginning said to be; of a woman, without a man; of a woman, a virgin, as was foretold; and not only made and formed in her, but of her, of her flesh and blood, of which he took part; and which denotes the low estate and great humiliation of Christ, and shows that as sin came into the world by the woman, the Saviour from sin came also the same way: made under the law; under the civil and judicial law as a Jew, to which he was subject, paying tribute to the collectors of it; and which was necessary; that it might appear he sprung from that nation, to whom he was promised; and that he came before the civil government of that people was at an end; and to teach us subjection to the civil magistrate: and as a son of Abraham he was made under the ceremonial law, was circumcised the eighth day, kept the several feasts of tabernacles, passover, &c. and which was proper, since he was the principal end of it, in whom it centres, and for whose sake it was made; and that he might completely fulfil it, and by so doing put a period to it: and he was made under the moral law, both as a man and the surety of his people, and was subject to all the precepts of it, and bore the penalty of it, death, in their room and stead, and thereby fulfilled it, and delivered them from its curse and condemnation. So the Targumist (f), joins the incarnation of the Messiah and his subjection to the law together, as the apostle here does; "the prophet saith to the house of David, because a child is born unto us, and a son is given to us, , "and he hath took upon him the law to keep it, and his name shall be called", &c.'' (d) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 1. Vid. Jarchi & Kinachi in Isa. lx. 22. (e) Kimchi in Psal. cviii. 4. (f) In Isa. ix. 6.”

“When the fullness of the time was come - The time which God in his infinite wisdom counted best; in which all his counsels were filled up; and the time which his Spirit, by the prophets, had specified; and the time to which he intended the Mosaic institutions should extend, and beyond which they should be of no avail. God sent forth his Son - Him who came immediately from God himself, made of a woman, according to the promise, Gen 3:15; produced by the power of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary without any intervention of man; hence he was called the Son of God. See Luke, Luk 1:35, and the note there. Made under the law - In subjection to it, that in him all its designs might be fulfilled, and by his death the whole might be abolished; the law dying when the Son of God expired upon the cross.”

“The supernatural character of His conception, without human agency, is intimated. " He named the holy and blessed mother of the Lord a woman, rather than a virgin ; for it was not necessary that he should always, as it were cau- tiously and timidly, style her a virgin, since woman marks rather the sex, than sexual intercourse." St. Jerome.”

“the fulness of the time--namely, "the time appointed by the Father" (Gal 4:2). Compare Note, see on Eph 1:10; Luk 1:57; Act 2:1; Eze 5:2. "The Church has its own ages" [BENGEL]. God does nothing prematurely, but, foreseeing the end from the beginning, waits till all is ripe for the execution of His purpose. Had Christ come directly after the fall, the enormity and deadly fruits of sin would not have been realized fully by man, so as to feel his desperate state and need of a Saviour. Sin was fully developed. Man's inability to save himself by obedience to the law, whether that of Moses, or that of conscience, was completely manifested; all the prophecies of various ages found their common center in this particular time: and Providence, by various arrangements in the social and political, as well as the moral world, had fully prepared the way for the coming Redeemer. God often permits physical evil long before he teaches the remedy. The smallpox had for long committed its ravages before inoculation, and then vaccination, was discovered. It was essential to the honor of God's law to permit evil long before He revealed the full remedy. Compare "the set time" (Psa 102:13). was come--Greek, "came." sent forth--Greek, "sent forth out of heaven from Himself" [ALFORD and BENGEL]. The same verb is used of the Father's sending forth the Spirit (Gal 4:6). So in Act 7:12. Compare with this verse, Joh 8:42; Isa 48:16. his--emphatical. "His own Son." Not by adoption, as we are (Gal 4:5): nor merely His Son by the anointing of the Spirit which God sends into the heart (Gal 4:6; Joh 1:18). made of a woman--"made" is used as in Co1 15:45, "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul," Greek, "made to be (born) of a woman." The expression implies a special interposition of God in His birth as man, namely, causing Him to be conceived by the Holy Ghost. So ESTIUS. made under the law--"made to be under the law." Not merely as GROTIUS and ALFORD explain, "Born subject to the law as a Jew." But "made" by His Father's appointment, and His own free will, "subject to the law," to keep it all, ceremonial and moral, perfectly for us, as the Representative Man, and to suffer and exhaust the full penalty of our whole race's violation of it. This constitutes the significance of His circumcision, His being presented in the temple (Luk 2:21-22, Luk 2:27; compare Mat 5:17), and His baptism by John, when He said (Mat 3:15), "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."”

“Although in this place the "making" might be understood of his nativity, for there is indeed a distinction between making and generation, … the apostle spoke in this way since the flesh of the Lord was not produced from a human seed in the virgin's womb and made into a body but by the efficacy and power of the Holy Spirit. For it is one thing for blood to come together with an admixture of seed and cause birth, another to procreate by divine power.”