“But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.”
His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. — the contrast is temporal and modal: Ishmael's birth is 'kata' sarka' (according to flesh, natural generation), while Isaac's is 'dia tēs epangelias' (through promise), the latter grounded in God's word rather than human capacity, foreshadowing faith-righteous descent.
Church Fathers on Galatians 4:23
“Howbeit the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the son by the freewoman is born through promise.” What is the meaning of “after the flesh?” Having said that Faith united us to Abraham, and it having seemed incredible to his hearers, that those who were not begotten by Abraham should be called his sons, he proves that this paradox had actually happened long ago; for that Isaac, born not according to the order of nature, nor the law of marriage, nor the power of…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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