15. I speak after the manner of men--I take an illustration from a
merely human transaction of everyday occurrence.
but a man's covenant--whose purpose it is far less important to
maintain.
if it be confirmed--when once it hath been ratified.
no man disannulleth--"none setteth aside," not even the author
himself, much less any second party. None does so who acts in common
equity. Much less would the righteous God do so. The law is here,
by personification, regarded as a second person, distinct from, and
subsequent to, the promise of God. The promise is everlasting, and
more peculiarly belongs to God. The law is regarded as something
extraneous, afterwards introduced, exceptional and temporary
(Ga 3:17-19, 21-24).
addeth--None addeth new conditions "making" the covenant "of none
effect"
(Ga 3:17).
So legal Judaism could make no alteration in the fundamental relation
between God and man, already established by the promises to Abraham; it
could not add as a new condition the observance of the law, in which
case the fulfilment of the promise would be attached to a condition
impossible for man to perform. The "covenant" here is one of free
grace, a promise afterwards carried into effect in the
Gospel.
JFB.
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