<p>3:19 <i>For what, then, was the law? It was added because of transgressions</i>- The descendants of Jacob / Israel were not righteous, although they were God's people. The law of Moses was given to them &quot;because of transgressions&quot;. And yet the very existence of the Mosaic Law generated sin, and thereby the experience of God's wrath upon His people (Rom. 4:15). So why were Israel given the Law? In some ways (and this isn't the only reason) to confirm them in their sinfulness. The original Mosaic Law was &quot;holy, just and good&quot; in itself (Rom. 7:12). But later, God gave Israel &quot;laws that were not good&quot; (referring to the Halachas of the Scribes?) so that they would go further away from Him (Ez. 20:25). He must have done this by inspiring men to say things which were genuinely communicated by God, but which were false.</p><p><i>Until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made</i><i>. The law was given through angels by the hand of a mediator</i><i>- </i>The promise was made to the Lord Jesus, therefore, when as yet He did not exist. In this sense the promises were spoken to Christ, the seed of Abraham (:16). God's word of promise likewise spoke to us right back then in Abraham's time- even though we had not then associated with his seed.</p>