The promise and the seed

Says In 3:15 a ratified διαθήκην (diathēkēn, “covenant”) (the noun is also used of a will) no one sets aside or adds to. In 3:16 the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed: not “to seeds,” as of many, but ὡς ἐφ’ ἑνός (hōs eph’ henos, “as of one”), the BSB’s “meaning One”, ὅς ἐστιν Χριστός (hos estin Christos, “who is Christ”). How the singular “seed” is read is set out in Covenant, seed and inheritance (3:15–18), with no verdict here. “The law that came 430 years later” does not revoke a covenant προκεκυρωμένην ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ (prokekyrōmenēn hypo tou theou, “previously ratified by God”). RP 2018 and the TR add εἰς Χριστόν after θεοῦ; the printed text lacks it (see θεοῦ / θεοῦ εἰς Χριστόν). Exodus 12:40, in the BSB, says “the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years”. In 3:18 the Greek order is τῷ δὲ Ἀβραὰμ δι’ ἐπαγγελίας κεχάρισται ὁ θεός (tō de Abraam di’ epangelias kecharistai ho theos, “to Abraham through a promise God has freely granted it”), Abraham first and God last; the BSB reorders it as “God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise”. The 430 years are treated in Covenants, wills, and the 430 years (3:15–17).

Implies Because the promise was established by God first and the law came later (3:17), the later law cannot set aside the earlier ratified promise.

Uncertain From what point the 430 years are counted, and how the figure relates to Exodus 12:40, are open; see Covenants, wills, and the 430 years (3:15–17) and Covenant, seed and inheritance (3:15–18). No verdict is given here.