{19} And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God {m} in Christ, the {20} law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

(19) The eighth argument take by comparison, in this way: if a man's covenant (being authenticated) is firm and strong, much more is God's covenant. Therefore the Law was not given to cancel the promise made to Abraham with respect of Christ, that is to say, the end of which depended upon Christ.

(m) Which pertained to Christ.

(20) An enlarging of that argument in this way: moreover and besides that the promise is of itself firm and strong, it was also confirmed by virtue of being in place for a long time, that is, for 430 years, so that it could in no way be broken.

People's New Testament

3:17 And this I say. He returns to the argument introduced in Ga 3:15.

The covenant... the law... cannot disannul. He has just shown that this covenant was not only with Abraham, but with his spiritual seed, and hence must continue in effect until Christ came. Hence the law, made over four centuries after the covenant was given, could not disannul it. The covenant made with Abraham is still in force.

Four hundred and thirty years. According to Usher's Chronology, the promise was made to Abraham in B.C. 1921; the law was given at Sinai B.C. 1491; the interval is 430 years. But some have held that Paul made a mistake because in Exodus it said that Hebrews were in Egypt 430 years (Ex 12:12). The matter is easily explained. The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament is the one usually followed by Christ and his apostles. Its translators, following the Hebrew copy before them, render Ex 12:12, The sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, was four hundred and thirty years. Whether this is right, or our Hebrew text, does not matter. Paul gave the usually received statement. His point was simply that the law was given many ages after the covenant with Abraham.

Wesley's Notes

3:17 And this I say - What I mean is this. The covenant which was before confirmed of God - By the promise itself, by the repetition of it, and by a solemn oath, concerning the blessing all nations. Through Christ, the law which was four hundred and thirty years after - Counting from the time when the promise was first made to Abraham, Gen 12:2,3. Doth not disannul, so as to make the promise of no effect - With regard to all nations, if only the Jewish were to receive it; yea, with regard to them also, if it was by works, so as to supersede it, and introduce another way of obtaining the blessing.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

17. this I say-"this is what I mean," by what I said in Ga 3:15.

continued . of God-"ratified by God" (Ga 3:15).

in Christ-rather, "unto Christ" (compare Ga 3:16). However, Vulgate and the old Italian versions translate as English Version. But the oldest manuscripts omit the words altogether.

the law which was-Greek, "which came into existence four hundred thirty years after" (Ex 12:40, 41). He does not, as in the case of "the covenant," add "enacted by God" (Joh 1:17). The dispensation of "the promise" began with the call of Abraham from Ur into Canaan, and ended on the last night of his grandson Jacob's sojourn in Canaan, the land of promise. The dispensation of the law, which engenders bondage, was beginning to draw on from the time of his entrance into Egypt, the land of bondage. It was to Christ in him, as in his grandfather Abraham, and his father Isaac, not to him or them as persons, the promise was spoken. On the day following the last repetition of the promise orally (Ge 46:1-6), at Beer-sheba, Israel passed into Egypt. It is from the end, not from the beginning of the dispensation of promise, that the interval of four hundred thirty years between it and the law is to be counted. At Beer-sheba, after the covenant with Abimelech, Abraham called on the everlasting God, and the well was confirmed to him and his seed as an everlasting possession. Here God appeared to Isaac. Here Jacob received the promise of the blessing, for which God had called Abraham out of Ur, repeated for the last time, on the last night of his sojourn in the land of promise.

cannot-Greek, "doth not disannul."

make . of none effect-The promise would become so, if the power of conferring the inheritance be transferred from it to the law (Ro 4:14).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:15-18 The covenant God made with Abraham, was not done away by the giving the law to Moses. The covenant was made with Abraham and his Seed. It is still in force; Christ abideth for ever in his person, and his spiritual seed, who are his by faith. By this we learn the difference between the promises of the law and those of the gospel. The promises of the law are made to the person of every man; the promises of the gospel are first made to Christ, then by him to those who are by faith ingrafted into Christ. Rightly to divide the word of truth, a great difference must be put between the promise and the law, as to the inward affections, and the whole practice of life. When the promise is mingled with the law, it is made nothing but the law. Let Christ be always before our eyes, as a sure argument for the defence of faith, against dependence on human righteousness.