A legal term for prior ratification or confirmation. Paul uses the perfect passive participle in Galatians 3:17 to describe the covenant God made with Abraham—a covenant previously ratified by God himself. His argument is that the law, coming 430 years later, cannot annul a covenant that had already been formally confirmed. The verb's legal precision matters: a properly ratified covenant can't be invalidated by later legislation. God's promise-covenant to Abraham stands firm regardless of Sinai.