2 Corinthianschapter 3
18 verses · Paul · about AD 56 · Paul's letters
It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Introduction
Paul, Paul's letters, 2 Corinthians Overview.
This chapter continues Paul's letter, with Timothy named beside him, to the church in Corinth. Paul has just asked who is qualified for the work of the gospel, and here he gives his answer. He begins with letters of recommendation, the credentials his rivals carried, and turns to a comparison with Moses coming down from Sinai. Listen for the word glory, which comes again and again in the middle verses. Listen also for the veil, first on the face of Moses and then over hearts. Hear it as teaching about what God does in those who turn to Him.
Context
- Who
- A church being courted by impressive newcomers who arrived with credentials.
- What
- Part of Paul's letter to Corinth comparing the ministry of the new covenant with the ministry given through Moses at Sinai.
- Where
- Written from Macedonia to a church at Corinth that was being visited by teachers who brought letters of recommendation.
- When
- About AD 55 to 56, during the months Paul spent in Macedonia.
- Why
- To show that Paul's credentials are the changed lives of the Corinthians, and that his ministry of the Spirit carries a glory that lasts.
Historical context
Letters of recommendation were the credentialing system of the ancient world. A traveller carried a letter from someone known to the host community vouching for his character and standing, and without one a stranger had no claim on hospitality or a hearing. Paul's rivals evidently arrived with excellent letters and expected some when they left.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
His answer is that the Corinthians themselves are his letter, written not with ink but by the Spirit, not on stone tablets but on human hearts. The contrast between writing surfaces was concrete: stone for permanent public inscriptions, papyrus and ink for correspondence, and hearts for something no chisel could do.
The Moses passage draws on Exodus, where Moses' face shone after speaking with God and he veiled it before the people. Paul reads the veil as connected to the fading of that glory, and applies the same image to a veil over the reading of Moses in the synagogue.
Nothing in the chapter treats the old covenant as bad. Paul calls it glorious and then argues that a greater glory has come, the way lamplight is not shamed but simply outshone.
Significance
For believers wondering whether Paul measured up to his polished competitors, this chapter relocated the evidence. The proof of his ministry was the congregation reading the letter.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
And it gave them a promise about their own transformation: where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and all who behold the Lord's glory with unveiled face are being changed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
You Are Our Letter, Written on Hearts
2 Corinthians 3:1-3
letters of recommendation: The rivals had come with letters of recommendation, and Paul makes the church his credentials: You yourselves are our letter. Verse 3 has it written with the Spirit of the living God on tablets of human hearts, echoing Jeremiah 31:33.
2 Corinthians 3:1
“Do we begin again - This is designed evidently to meet an objection. He had been speaking of his triumph in the ministry 2Co 2:14, and of his sincerity and honesty, as contrasted with the conduct of many who corrupted the Word of God, 2Co 2:17. It might be objected that he was magnifying himself in these statements, and designed to commend himself in this manner to the Corinthians. To this he replies in the following verses. To commend ourselves? - To recommend ourselves; do we speak this in our own praise, in order to obtain your favor.”
You yourselves are our letter: A living church served Paul better than any written reference. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown conclude that no sermon is as powerful as a consistent Christian life.
2 Corinthians 3:2
“Ye are our recommendatory letter - More convincing than bare words could be. Written on our hearts - Deeply engraven there, and plainly legible to all around us.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:2
“Ye are our epistle,.... Here a reason is given why they stood in no need of letters of commendation, to or from the church at Corinth, because that church was their living epistle, and which was much preferable to any written one.”
not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts: The letter is now Christ's, and Paul only held the pen. Adam Clarke puts it that Christ dictated and Paul wrote. Basil of Caesarea names the Holy Spirit as the scribe who writes the words of eternal life on the hearts of the faithful.
2 Corinthians 3:3
“And that the Spirit lays hold on the flesh, he says in the same Epistle, "That ye axe the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, inscribed not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart." If, therefore, in the present time, fleshly hearts are made partakers of the Spirit, what is there astonishing if, in the resurrection, they receive that life which is granted by the Spirit?”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book Vpatristic
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:3
“Compare 2Co 3:2, "As ye are our Epistle written in our hearts," so Christ has in the first instance made you "His Epistle written with the Spirit in (on) your hearts." I bear on my heart, as a testimony to all men, that which Christ has by His Spirit written in your heart [ALFORD].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Corinthians 3:3
“The apostle and others were but instruments, Christ was the author of all the good that was in them. The law of Christ was written in their hearts, and the love of Christ shed abroad in their hearts.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Corinthians 3:4-6
Such confidence before God: God has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, the phrase of Jeremiah 31:31. The clause the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life sets the law as an outward code against the Spirit who writes within.
2 Corinthians 3:4
The apostle Paul, after describing in a few words the benefits of God, states in conclusion: "And for such offices, who is sufficient?" Whence he also says in another place: "Such is the assurance we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. He also it is who made us fit ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life."
Jerome · written before 420 · Against the Pelagians 3.9patristic
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:4
“Confidence toward God is solid and real, as looking to Him for the strength needed now, and also for the reward of grace to be given hereafter. Compare Ac 24:15, "hope toward God." Human confidence is unreal in that it looks to man for its help and its reward.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
our competence comes from God: Paul guards his confidence at once. Albert Barnes reads the verse as a check against any appearance of boasting, since none of Paul's success came from his own strength.
2 Corinthians 3:5
“The Greek is, "Not that we are (even yet after so long experience as ministers) sufficient to think anything OF ourselves as (coming) FROM ourselves; but our sufficiency is (derived) FROM God." "From" more definitely refers to the source out of which a thing comes; "of" is more general. to think--Greek, to "reason out" or "devise"; to attain to sound preaching by our reasonings [THEODORET].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:5
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves - This is evidently designed to guard against the appearance of boasting, or of self-confidence. He had spoken of his confidence; of his triumph; of his success; of his undoubted evidence that God had sent him. He here says, that he did not mean to be understood as affirming that any of his success came from himself, or that he was able by his own strength to accomplish the great things which had been effected by his ministry.”
the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life: John Chrysostom asks how the law can kill when Paul elsewhere calls it spiritual. He answers that it was spiritual yet did not give the Spirit, and the Spirit alone quickens.
2 Corinthians 3:6
“Who also hath made us able ministers of the new covenant - Of the new, evangelical dispensation. Not of the law, fitly called the letter, from God's literally writing it on the two tables. But of the Spirit - Of the gospel dispensation, which is written on the tables of our hearts by the Spirit.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:6
“Rightly therefore does Paul say that the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life. For the letter circumcises a small portion of the body; the understanding spirit keeps the circumcision of the whole soul and body; that the superfluous parts being cut off, (for nothing is so superfluous as the vices of avarice, the sins of lust, which nature had not, but sin caused,) chastity might be observed, and frugality loved. The sign therefore is bodily circumcision, but the truth is spiritual circumcision, the one cuts off the member, the other cuts off sin.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Letter 74, To Irenaeuspatristic
2 Corinthians 3:6
“Who hath made us able ministers - This is a more formal answer to the question, Who is sufficient for these things? προς ταυτα τις ἱκανος; 1Co 2:16. God, says the apostle, has made us able ministers; ἱκανωσεν ἡμας διακονους, he has made us sufficient for these things; for the reader will observe that he uses the same word in both places. We apostles execute, under the Divine influence, what God himself has devised.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 3:6
“The letter killeth; this the letter of the law does, for that is the ministration of death; and if we rest only in the letter of the gospel we shall be never the better for so doing, for even that will be a savour of death unto death; but the Spirit of the gospel, going along with the ministry of the gospel, giveth life spiritual and life eternal.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
A Fading Glory Outshone
2 Corinthians 3:7-11
the ministry of death: Sinai's glory was real, since the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses. Three times Paul reasons up to the greater glory of the ministry of righteousness, which gives life and standing.
2 Corinthians 3:7
“And if the ministration of death - That is, the Mosaic dispensation, which proves such to those who prefer it to the gospel, the most considerable part of which was engraven on those two stones, was attended with so great glory.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:7
“The apostle briefly indicates the reason that these words that were read to us can be understood or not understood when he says that "the veil of the Old Testament" can "be removed" from the eyes of the one "who has been converted to the Lord." From this, he wanted it understood that these things are less clear to us to the same degree as our conversion to the Lord is less complete.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Homilies on Leviticus 6patristic
2 Corinthians 3:7
“The law was the ministration of condemnation, for that condemned and cursed every one who continued not in all things written therein to do them; but the gospel is the ministration of righteousness: therein the righteousness of God by faith is revealed.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the ministry of the Spirit: Albert Barnes notes that the expected opposite of a ministry of death was a ministry of life. Paul names the Spirit instead, the source of that life.
2 Corinthians 3:8
“The ministration of the Spirit - The Gospel dispensation, which gives the true spiritual sense of the law. Be rather glorious? - Forasmuch as the thing signified is of infinitely more consequence than that by which it is signified. The Thing bread will preserve a man alive; the Word bread can give life to nothing.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the ministry of righteousness!: Condemnation and righteousness are set side by side. John Chrysostom says the tablets showed the sinners and punished them, while this ministry made them righteous. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown tie the word to Romans 1:17 and 3:21 to 28, where righteousness is reckoned to men through faith.
2 Corinthians 3:9
“But how can the moral law (which alone was engraven on stone) be the ministration of condemnation, if it requires no more than a sincere obedience, such as is proportioned to our infirm state? If this is sufficient to justify us, then the law ceases to be a ministration of condemnation. It becomes (flatly contrary to the apostle's doctrine) the ministration of righteousness.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:9
“For if the ministration of condemnation be glory,.... So the Jews call the law, for they say, אין כבוד אלא תורה, "there is no glory but the law" (f); this is another head of opposition or difference between the law and the Gospel, from whence the superior glory of the one to the other is argued.”
in comparison to the glory that surpasses it: The old glory stays real and is outshone. John Chrysostom notes that Paul adds the words in comparison so that the old covenant is not disparaged. John Wesley says that the greater light swallows up the less.
2 Corinthians 3:10
And this is what the apostle writes in another place: "And yet what was glorified is without glory because of the surpassing glory"; for the justice of the law, to be sure, in comparison with the grace of the gospel would not appear to be justice. "For if that," he says, "which is done away with is glorious, much more will that be glorious which abides."
Jerome · written before 420 · Against the Pelagians 1.15patristic
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:10
“For even that which was made glorious - The law, which was exhibited for a time in great glory and splendor, partly when it was given, and partly by the splendor of God in the tabernacle and first temple; but all this ceased and was done away; was intended to give place to the Gospel; and has actually given place to that system; so that now, in no part of the world is that law performed, even by the people who are attached to it and reject the Gospel.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 3:10
“For even the ministration of condemnation, the law, 2Co 3:7 (which has been glorified at Sinai in Moses' person), has now (English Version translates less fitly, "was made . . . had") lost its glory in this respect by reason of the surpassing glory (of the Gospel): as the light of the stars and moon fades in the presence of the sun.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
that which endures!: Paul adds a third contrast, drawn from how long each lasts. John Chrysostom states it plainly, that the one ceased and the other abides continually. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note the change of wording, with glory for what was passing and in glory for what remains.
2 Corinthians 3:11
“He presents another syllogism. If the law that was ceasing and subject to abolition was given in glory, then how much more shall the law that is unshakeable and eternal – the New Testament – be in glory.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on 2 Corinthianspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:11
“Not only did the glory of Moses's face go away, but the glory of Moses's law is done away also; yea, the law of Moses itself is now abolished. That dispensation was only to continue for a time, and then to vanish away; whereas the gospel shall remain to the end of the world, and is always fresh and flourishing and remains glorious.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The Veil Removed, the Mirror, the Transformation
2 Corinthians 3:12-13
we have such a hope: The boldness of verse 12, parrhesia, belongs to a ministry whose glory remains. Paul sets it against Moses, and adds to Exodus 34 that the veil hid the end, telos, of what was fading away.
2 Corinthians 3:12
“Seeing - we have such hope - Such glorious prospects as those blessings which the Gospel sets before us, producing such confidence, as the fulfillment of so many promises has already done, that God will still continue to work for us and by us; We use great plainness of speech - Πολλῃ παρῥησιᾳ χρωμεθα· We speak not only with all confidence, but with all imaginable plainness; keeping back nothing; disguising nothing; concealing nothing: and here we differ greatly from the Jewish doctors, and from the Gentile philosophers, who affect obscurity, and endeavor, by figures, metaphors, and allegories, to hide every…”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
put a veil over his face: Paul reads Exodus 34 with a point of his own. Augustine of Hippo insists that what is done away in Christ is the veil, so that the Old Testament is understood through Him. John Wesley reads the end the Israelites could not see as Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:13
“And we do not act as Moses did, who put a veil over his face - Which is to be understood with regard to his writings also. So that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly to the end of that dispensation which is now abolished - The end of this was Christ.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:13
“And not as Moses - Our conduct is not like that of Moses. We make no attempt to conceal anything in regard to the nature, design, and duration of the gospel. We leave nothing designedly in mystery. Which put a vail over his face - That is, when he came down from Mount Sinai, and when his face shone.”
2 Corinthians 3:14-16
their minds were closed: When Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts: the veil moves from Moses' face to the readers. Romans 11:25 defines the blindness as partial and temporary, and whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
2 Corinthians 3:14
“On the public reading of the Old Testament - The veil is not now on the face of Moses or of his writings, but on the reading of them, and on the heart of them that believe not. Which is taken away in Christ - That is, from the heart of them that truly believe on him.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:14
“For only there is superiority possible where was previously the thing over which superiority can be affirmed. But then he says, "But their minds were blinded" -of the world; certainly not the Creator's mind, but the minds of the people which are in the world.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book Vpatristic
2 Corinthians 3:14
“Parenthetical: Of Christians in general. He resumes the subject of the ministry, 2Co 4:1. minds--Greek, "mental perceptions"; "understandings." blinded--rather, "hardened." The opposite to "looking steadfastly at the end" of the law (2Co 3:13).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
a veil covers their hearts: The veil has moved from Moses's face to the hearers' hearts. John Chrysostom notes that Paul places the fault with the hearers, so the law keeps its own glory.
whenever anyone turns to the Lord: Moses took the veil off when he went in to speak with the Lord. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear Exodus 34:34 behind the verse, and the removal comes with the turning itself.
2 Corinthians 3:16
“When it shall turn to the Lord - When the Israelitish nation shall turn to the Lord Jesus, the veil shall be taken away; the true light shall shine; and they shall see all things clearly. There is an evident allusion here to the case of Moses, mentioned Exo 34:34. When he came from the Lord, and spoke to the Israelites, he put the veil over his face; but when he returned to speak with the Lord, then he took off the veil.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:16
“Shall turn to the Lord - To Christ, by living faith. The veil is taken away - That very moment; and they see, with the utmost clearness, how all the types and prophecies of the law are fully accomplished in him.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Corinthians 3:16
“Let us beware, therefore, lest not only "when Moses is read" but also when Paul is read "a veil" be "placed over" our "heart." And clearly, if we hear negligently, if we bring no zeal to learning and understanding, not only are the Scriptures of the Law and Prophets but also of the apostles and Gospels covered for us with a great veil.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Homilies on Exodus 12patristic
2 Corinthians 3:16
“Moses took off the veil on entering into the presence of the Lord. So as to the Israelites whom Moses represents, "whensoever their heart (it) turns (not as English Version, 'shall turn') to the Lord, the veil is (by the very fact; not as English Version, 'shall be') taken away." Ex 34:34 is the allusion; not Ex 34:30, 31, as ALFORD thinks.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Now the Lord is the Spirit: identifies the Lord of verse 16 with the Spirit whose ministry the chapter describes. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom: from the veil, from the condemnation of the letter, from fear.
2 Corinthians 3:17
“Now the Lord - Christ is that Spirit of the law whereof I speak, to which the letter was intended to lead. And where the Spirit of the Lord, Christ, is, there is liberty - Not the veil, the emblem of slavery. There is liberty from servile fear, liberty from the guilt and from the power of sin, liberty to behold with open face the glory of the Lord.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:17
“As then young children, so the Jews also, are under a schoolmaster. The Law is our schoolmaster, the schoolmaster brings us to our Master; and our One Master is Christ: Neither be ye called masters, for one is your Master, even, Christ. The schoolmaster is feared, the Master shews the way of salvation. Thus fear brings us to liberty, liberty to faith, faith to love; love obtains adoption, adoption the inheritance.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Letter 75.5patristic
with unveiled faces all reflect: Moses' privilege passes to the whole church, and katoptrizomenoi carries both beholding in a mirror and reflecting. The verb for are being transformed is metamorphoumetha, the transfiguration verb, so the believer grows like what he beholds.
2 Corinthians 3:18
“And, accordingly, all we that believe in him, beholding as in a glass - In the mirror of the gospel. The glory of the Lord - His glorious love. Are transformed into the same image - Into the same love.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 3:18
“But we all, with open face - The Jews were not able to look on the face of Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, and therefore he was obliged to veil it; but all we Christians, with face uncovered, behold, as clearly as we can see our own natural face in a mirror, the glorious promises and privileges of the Gospel of Christ; and while we contemplate, we anticipate them by desire and hope, and apprehend them by faith, and are changed from the glory there represented to the enjoyment of the thing which is represented, even the glorious…”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 3:18
“For the matter stands thus: The Old Testament proclaimed the Father openly and the Son more obscurely. The New manifested the Son and suggested the deity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit himself dwells among us and supplies us with a clearer demonstration of himself.”
Gregory of Nazianzus · written before 390 · Theological Oration 5.26patristic
How this psalm is built
The form: An answer to rival credentials that becomes an occasion for a discussion of the Law, as Chrysostom classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Three letters | Letter stands once in each of verses 1 to 3, first as the letters of recommendation others carried, then as the Corinthians themselves, and then as a letter from Christ. The word returns twice at verse 6 and once at verse 7 with another sense, the written code engraved on stone. John Chrysostom notes that Paul first calls the church his own letter and then Christ's letter, since the law of God is written in them.John Chrysostom, Homily 6 on 2 Corinthians, on 2 Corinthians 3:3. | 2 Corinthians 3:1, 2 Corinthians 3:2, 2 Corinthians 3:3, 2 Corinthians 3:6 |
| Glory, twelve times | Glory and glorious stand ten times in the Berean text of verses 7 to 11 and twice more in verse 18. Three times the argument runs from the lesser to the greater: the ministry of death and the ministry of the Spirit, of condemnation and of righteousness, of what was fading and of what endures. Albert Barnes names the form at verse 8, an argument from the less to the greater.Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869), on 2 Corinthians 3:8. | 2 Corinthians 3:7, 2 Corinthians 3:8, 2 Corinthians 3:9, 2 Corinthians 3:11 |
| The veil, moved and removed | Veil stands four times in verses 13 to 16, and unveiled once in verse 18. It lies first on the face of Moses, then over the reading of the old covenant, then over hearts, and at verse 18 it is gone. Augustine of Hippo insists that what is taken away in Christ is the veil, so that the Old Testament is understood through Him.Augustine of Hippo, The Usefulness of Belief 3.9, on 2 Corinthians 3:13. | 2 Corinthians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 3:14, 2 Corinthians 3:15, 2 Corinthians 3:16, 2 Corinthians 3:18 |
| Exodus 34 read through | Verses 7 and 13 draw on Exodus 34:29 to 35, where the face of Moses shone and he veiled it before the people. Verse 16 follows Exodus 34:34, where Moses removed the veil whenever he went in before the Lord. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown name Exodus 34:34 as the allusion of verse 16.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 3:16. | 2 Corinthians 3:7, 2 Corinthians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 3:16 |
How the chapter is built
7 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verses 1 to 3 answer the question of letters of recommendation. Verses 4 to 6 name the source of Paul's competence and the new covenant he serves. Verses 7 to 11 set out three comparisons of glory. Verses 12 to 18 turn to the veil, from the face of Moses to the hearts of hearers, and end with the unveiled face of every believer.
Where it stands in the letter
Chapter 2 closed with the question, who is qualified for such a task, and verses 5 and 6 answer it. The closing picture of glory seen and shared leads into 4:1 to 6, where Paul speaks of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The passage belongs to the long account of Paul's ministry that runs from 2:14 to 7:4.
The debated reading: the letter and the Spirit
John Chrysostom reads the letter that kills as the law that punishes transgressors and the Spirit as the grace that gives life through baptism, and grants that the law is spiritual while holding that it did not give the Spirit (Homily 6 on 2 Corinthians, on 2 Corinthians 3:6). Ambrose of Milan reads the contrast as circumcision of the body set against circumcision of the whole soul (Letter 74, To Irenaeus, on 2 Corinthians 3:6). Matthew Henry applies the clause to the gospel as well, which gives no life when it is rested in as bare letter (Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 3:6).
The debated reading: the Lord is the Spirit
Albert Barnes takes the Lord of verse 17 as the Lord Jesus (Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869), on 2 Corinthians 3:17), and so do Jamieson, Fausset and Brown (Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 3:17). Ambrose of Milan reads the verse as calling the Holy Spirit Lord, the Spirit and the Son being two persons of one substance (On the Holy Spirit 2.1.18, on 2 Corinthians 3:17). John Wesley reads it as Christ being the Spirit of the law, to which the letter was meant to lead (Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on 2 Corinthians 3:17).
Keep studying
Studies8
People and groups1
Words12
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on 2 Corinthians 3:11; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869), on 2 Corinthians 3:8 and John Chrysostom, Homily 6 on 2 Corinthians, on 2 Corinthians 3:3.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Corinthians; Augustine of Hippo, THE USEFULNESS OF BELIEF 3.9; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY 17 ON PSALM 44; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Frederic Godet, Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians; John Chrysostom; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EXODUS 12 and Robert Haldane, Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans.