Galatians 3:17 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Galatians 3:17
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
to invalidate · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
that
ὁho
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular masculine
make
καταργῆσαιkatargēsai
G2673
to be (render) entirely idle (useless) · verb — aorist active infinitive
promise
ἐπαγγελίαν.epangelian
G1860
an announcement (for information · noun — accusative singular feminine
effect
καταργέωkatargéō
G2673
to be (render) entirely idle (useless)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shal…
Exodus 12:40-41 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
Romans 4:13-14 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness…
Hebrews 11:39-40 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Hebrews 6:13-18 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Romans 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Isaiah 14:27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Galatians 3:6-18
The apostle having reproved the Galatians for not obeying the truth, and endeavoured to impress them with a sense of their folly herein, in these verses he largely proves the doctrine which he had reproved them for rejecting, namely, that of justification by faith without the works of the law. This he does several ways.
I. From the example of Abraham's justification. This argument the apostle uses, Rom. 4. Abraham believed God, and that was accounted to him for righteousness (Gal 3:6); that is, his faith fastened upon the word and promise of God, and upon his believing he was owned and accepted of God as a righteous man: as on this account he is represented as the father of the faithful, so…
this I say--"this is what I mean," by what I said in Gal 3:15.
continued . . . of God--"ratified by God" (Gal 3:15).
in Christ--rather, "unto Christ" (compare Gal 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" (Exo 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…
Confirmed before of God in Christ - i.e. The promise of justification, etc., made to believers in Christ Jesus, who are the spiritual seed of Christ, as they are children of Abraham, from the similitude of their faith. Abraham believed in God, and it was reckoned to him for justification; the Gentiles believed in Christ, and received justification. Probably the word Christ is to be taken, both here and in the preceding verse, for Christians, as has already been hinted. However it be taken, the sense is plainly the same; the promise of salvation must necessarily be to them who believe in Christ, for he is the promised seed, Gen 3:15, through whom every blessing is derived on mankind; and thro…
The Church Fathers
Once the promise had been established, the law was given subsequently, not so that it could undermine the promise but so that it might point to what was to be fulfilled and when it would come.
If the law justifies, Abraham was not justified, since he lived long before the law. Since they cannot say this, they are forced to admit that a man is justified not by works of the law but by faith. And he compels us to understand that all the ancients who were justified were justified from the same faith. For as we are saved by believing partly in a past event, that is, the first coming of the Lord, and partly in a future one, that is, his second coming, they believed the whole of it, that is, both comings as events. The Holy Spirit reveals this for their salvation.
"Now this I say: a covenant." For the sake of clarity he continues the discourse. "by God in Christ." For the promise was to Christ. For he said, "In your seed all the nations shall be blessed." For this is, "in you." And the seed of Abraham according to the flesh is Christ. — [PHOTIUS] "which came four hundred and thirty years later." Four hundred and thirty years are therefore gathered: from Abraham's seventy-fifth year to the one hundredth (when Isaac was born) are counted twenty-five years; Isaac was sixty years old (when Jacob was born); Jacob was ninety-five years old (when he begot Joseph); Joseph was one hundred and ten years old; the years spent in Egypt were one hundred and forty-four (from Joseph's death, according to the translation of the Seventy Translators, as appears in Exodus 12): together four hundred and thirty-four. [end of the excerpt by Photius] —
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Chronology — Is the arrangement of facts and events in the order of time. The writers of the Bible themselves do not adopt any standard era according to which they date events. Sometimes the years are reckoned,…
Exodus, Book of — Exodus is the name given in the LXX. to the second book of the Pentateuch (q.v.). It means “departure” or “outgoing.” This name was adopted in the Latin translation, and thence passed into other…
Exodus, The — of the Israelites from Egypt. the common chronology places the date of this event at B.C. 1491, deriving it in this way:—In (1 Kings 6:1) it is stated that the building of the temple, in the forth…
Law — A rule of action. (1.) The Law of Nature is the will of God as to human conduct, founded on the moral difference of things, and discoverable by natural light (Rom. 1:20; 2:14, 15). This law binds all…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Samaritan Pentateuch — On the return from the Exile, the Jews refused the Samaritans participation with them in the worship at Jerusalem, and the latter separated from all fellowship with them, and built a temple for…
And this I say,.... Assert and affirm as a certain truth, that is not to be gainsaid;
that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul; by "the covenant" is meant, not the covenant made with Adam, as the federal head of all his posterity; for this was made two thousand years before the law was given; nor that which was made with the Israelites at Mount Sinai, for that itself is the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after this covenant; nor the covenant of circumcision given to Abraham, for that was not so long by some years, before the giving of the law, as the date here fixed: but "a covenant co…
Galatians 3:15-18
15. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
15. Fratres, (secundum hominem dico) Hominis licet pactum, tamen si sit comprobatum, nemo rejicit aut addit aliquid.
16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
16. Porro Abrahae dictae sunt promissiones, et semini ejus. Non dicit, Et seminibus, tanquam Deuteronomy multis, sed tanquam Deuteronomy uno, Et semini tuo, qui est Christus.
17. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, wh…
Just as irrevocable agreements cannot be canceled (3:15), the terms of God’s covenant with Abraham were not changed by the giving of the law. • 430 years: See study note on Exod 12:40.
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
