2 Corinthians 3:13-18

3:13 and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites ¹  from staring ²  at the result ³  of the glory that was made ineffective. ⁴  3:14 But their minds were closed. ⁵  For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. ⁶  It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. ⁷  3:15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, ⁸  3:16 but when one ⁹  turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁰  3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, ¹¹  there is freedom. 3:18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, ¹²  are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, ¹³  which is from ¹⁴  the Lord, who is the Spirit. ¹⁵ 

2 Corinthians 3:1-3

A Living Letter

3:1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? We don’t need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we? ¹⁶  3:2 You yourselves are our letter, ¹⁷  written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, 3:3 revealing ¹⁸  that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, ¹⁹  written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets ²⁰  but on tablets of human hearts.

[3:13]  ¹ tn Grk “the sons of Israel.”

[3:13]  ² tn Or “from gazing intently.”

[3:13]  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.

[3:13]  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.

[3:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “their minds were hardened.”

[3:14]  ⁶ 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.

[3:14]  ⁷ tn Or “only in Christ is it eliminated.”

[3:15]  ⁹ tn Grk “their heart.”

[3:16]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “when(ever) he turns,” referring to Moses.

[3:16]  ¹⁴ 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.

[3:17]  ¹⁷ 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.

[3:18]  ²¹ tn Or “we all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror.”

[3:18]  ²² tn Grk “from glory to glory.”

[3:18]  ²³ tn Grk “just as from.”

[3:18]  ²⁴ tn Grk “from the Lord, the Spirit”; the genitive πνεύματος (pneumato") has been translated as a genitive of apposition.

[3:1]  ²⁵ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply (“No, we do not”) which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ at the end, “do we?”

[3:2]  ²⁹ tn That is, “letter of recommendation.”

[3:3]  ³³ tn Or “making plain.”

[3:3]  ³⁴ tn Grk “cared for by us,” an expression that could refer either to the writing or the delivery of the letter (BDAG 229 s.v. διακονέω 1). Since the following phrase refers to the writing of the letter, and since the previous verse speaks of this “letter” being “written on our [Paul’s and his companions’] hearts” it is more probable that the phrase “cared for by us” refers to the delivery of the letter (in the person of Paul and his companions).

[3:3]  ³⁵ sn An allusion to Exod 24:12; 31:18; 34:1; Deut 9:10-11.