This verse is often misinterpreted as endorsing ethnic or racial superiority, pitting descendants of Ishmael (Arabs or Muslims) against those of Isaac (Jews or Christians) to justify prejudice or conflict, ignoring Paul's spiritual allegory about faith versus law; others wrongly apply it to claim all worldly people inherently persecute Christians without nuance, or twist it to support violent retaliation rather than the endurance Paul advocates elsewhere, overlooking the context of Galatian legalism and the promise of freedom in Christ.
Galatians 4:29
King James Version (1769)
29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Paul draws an allegory from Genesis to illustrate the timeless conflict between the flesh and the Spirit: just as Ishmael, born according to the flesh, persecuted Isaac, born according to the promise of the Spirit, so too in the present age those relying on human effort and legalism persecute believers who live by faith and the Spirit, affirming that true children of God are those born of promise, not mere physical descent or works, and encouraging perseverance amid opposition.