Text -- 2 Corinthians 3:8-18 (NET)

3:8 how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? 3:9 For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory! 3:10 For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. 3:11 For if what was made ineffective came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory! 3:12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, 3:13 and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective. 3:14 But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. 3:15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, 3:16 but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. 3:18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Co 3:8

¹ tn Grk “how will not rather the ministry of the Spirit be with glory?”

NET Notes: 2Co 3:9

¹ tn Grk “the ministry of condemnation”; translated as an objective genitive, “the ministry that produced condemnation.”

² tn Grk “the ministry of righteousness”; translated as an objective genitive, “the ministry that produces righteousness.”

³ tn Traditionally, “abound.”

NET Notes: 2Co 3:10

¹ tn Grk “in this case.”

² tn The words “of what replaced it” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to clarify the meaning.

NET Notes: 2Co 3:11

¹ tn Or “what was fading away.” See note on “which was made ineffective” in v. 7.

² tn Or “through” (διά, dia).

³ tn Or “what is permanent.”

NET Notes: 2Co 3:12

¹ tn Or “we employ great openness of speech.”

NET Notes: 2Co 3:13

¹ tn Grk “the sons of Israel.”

² tn Or “from gazing intently.”

³ tn Or “end.” The word τέλος (telos) can mean both “a point of time marking the end of a duration, end, termination, cessation” and “the goal toward which a movement is being directed, end, goal, outcome” (see BDAG 998-999 s.v.). The translation accepts the interpretation that Moses covered the glory of his face with the veil to prevent Israel from being judged by the glory of God (see S. J. Hafemann, Paul, Moses, and the History of Israel [WUNT 81], 347-62); in this case the latter meaning for τέλος is more appropriate.

⁴ tn Or “was fading away”; Grk “on the result of what was made ineffective.” The referent (glory) has been specified in the translation for clarity. See note on “which was made ineffective” in v. 7.

NET Notes: 2Co 3:14

¹ tn Grk “their minds were hardened.”

² tn Grk “the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant”; the phrase “they hear” has been introduced (“when they hear the old covenant read”) to make the link with the “Israelites” (v. 13) whose minds were closed (v. 14a) more obvious to the reader.

³ tn Or “only in Christ is it eliminated.”

NET Notes: 2Co 3:15

¹ tn Grk “their heart.”

NET Notes: 2Co 3:16

¹ tn Or perhaps “when(ever) he turns,” referring to Moses.

² sn An allusion to Exod 34:34. The entire verse may refer to Moses, viewing him as a type portraying the Jewish convert to Christianity in Paul’s day.

NET Notes: 2Co 3:17

¹ tn Grk “where the Spirit of the Lord is”; the word “present” is supplied to specify that the presence of the Lord’s Spirit is emphasized rather than the mere existence of the Lord’s Spirit.

NET Notes: 2Co 3:18

¹ tn Or “we all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror.”

² tn Grk “from glory to glory.”

³ tn Grk “just as from.”

⁴ tn Grk “from the Lord, the Spirit”; the genitive πνεύματος (pneumato") has been translated as a genitive of apposition.