Nazarene Commentary 2000©

21^st Century Paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures© –
21^st Century Version of the Christian Scriptures© [NCMM]

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THE SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

CHAPTER THREE:
QUALIFIED AND TRANSFORMED MINISTERS

[“Ministers with Shining Faces”]
Key word: Covenant-ministers
Theme Verse: 5

2 Corinthians 3:1-3 – Letters of Commendation

2CO3:1 Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or, do we have a need like some letters of commendation 36 from you or to you [Corinthians]?
36 Letters of commendation: Or, written certificates, recommendation, written testimonial. Both the Jews and the Christians of the 1^st Century used communication between congregations by letters to either warn or recommend a certain person. [Compare Acts 28:21.]
2CO3:2 You [Corinthians] are our letter, one inscribed in our hearts, 37 [Jeremiah 31:33] and being known and read by all humanity.
37 Inscribed in our hearts: Paul alludes to Jeremiah 31:33 and uses phrases from it in the following.
2CO3:3 For all of you are Christ’s epistle– written by us as ministers – being made manifest [to all] – not inscribed with black ink, but with [the] living God’s Pneuma – not on stone tablets 38 [Jeremiah 31:33] but on tablets of fleshly hearts. [Jeremiah 31:33]
38 Not on stone tablets: As in the case of the Ten Commandments. [Exodus 31:18; 34:1]

2 Corinthians 3:4-6 – Qualified by God

2CO3:4 However, we possess such confidence by Christ’s agency to approach The God. 2CO3:5 Not that we consider ourselves as adequate from ourselves, but rather our adequacy 39 originates from The God.
39 Our adequacy: Or, qualifications, competency.
2CO3:6 [He] also made us adequate as servants of a New Covenant [Jeremiah 31:33] – not of a written letter, 40 but of Pneuma. For the written letter kills, 41 but Pneuma makes alive.
40 Not of a written letter: Paul alludes to the Law of Moses. [Romans 13:9]
41 The written letter kills: Or, written Law. Meaning the Laws of Moses. [Galatians 3:10]

2 Corinthians 3:7-11 – A Superior Glory

2CO3:7 Now if the ministry of death 42 in written characters imprinted on stones 43 [Exodus 32:16] occurred in glory 44 – so that the sons of Israel were not able to gaze upon the face of Moses 45 [Exodus 39:29-35] because of the glory of his face ([a glory] to be rendered ineffectual) 46 –
42 The ministry of death: That is, the administration of the Law of Moses with its Ten Commandments. [Romans 7:10]
43 Written characters imprinted on stones: Or, KJV: written and engraven in stones. Particularly, the Ten Commandments. [Exodus 31:18; 32:16]
44 Occurred in glory: That is that phenomenon at Mount Sinai. Compare Hebrews 12:18, 19. [Exodus 19:12-19]
45 Not able to gaze upon the face of Moses: Paul alludes to Exodus 34:29ff.
46 [A glory] to be rendered ineffectual: Or, done away, pass away. The glory of the Law of Moses would come to its end.

2CO3:8 how much more the ministry of the Pneuma will be more glorious? 2CO3:9 For if the ministry of condemnation 47 was glorious, how much more so does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory!
47 The ministry of condemnation: The administration of the Law of Moses.
2CO3:10 For that which possessed a former glory has not been glorified further because of this [present] surpassing glory. 2CO3:11 For if the thing rendered ineffectual occurred in glory, 48 how much more so that thing which remains in glory.
48 If the thing rendered ineffectual occurred in glory: The Law Covenant with its Ten Commandments and other ritual and moral regulations.

2 Corinthians 3:12-18 – Unveiled and Transformed

2CO3:12 Because we possess such a hope we are using considerable outspokenness – 2CO3:13 not as Moses, who put a veil over his face so the sons of Israel could not look intently 49 [Exodus 34:29ff] toward the end of the very thing to be rendered ineffectual. 50
49 Put a veil over his face so the sons of Israel could not look intently: Paul alludes again to Exodus 34:29ff. He will use this analogy to prove the Jews under the Law of Moses remain blind to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
50 Toward the end of the very thing to be rendered ineffectual: The Law of Moses.
2CO3:14 Instead, their mental thinking was dulled. 51 For until today this same veil is upon the reading of the old covenant, 52 because in Christ it is rendered ineffectual. 53
51 Their mental thinking was dulled: That is, the thinking or mental power of the Jews with regarding to the Messiah and the New Covenant. Compare notes on Romans 11:7.
52 For until today this same veil is upon the reading of the old covenant: No matter how many times the Jews privately or publicly read the Law a covering remains over their comprehension. Any Christians, who were formerly Jews, and insisted on observance of the Law, became blind. [John 12:40]
53 In Christ it is rendered ineffectual: That is, in Christ the Law of Moses is made completely ineffective, done away with, removed, abrogated. Compare notes on Romans 7:6 and Ephesians 2:15.
2CO3:15 For a certainty, right up to this moment when Moses is read, 54 a veil lies over their heart. 55
54 When Moses is read: Compare Acts 15:21.
55 A veil lies over their heart: That is, Jewish hearts reading the Law Covenant up to this day.
2CO3:16 However, when there is a turning toward YHWH the veil is lifted. 56 [Exodus 34:34]
56 When there is a turning toward YHWH the veil is lifted: Something of an allusion and interpretation of Exodus 34:34. The Tetragram YHWH does occur in Exodus 34:33, 34. The Greek here might suggest YHWH originally occurred here. Paul does not say “the Master” but “Lord” suggesting, not Christ, but his God Yehowah.
2CO3:17 But, the Supreme Being is the Pneuma, 57 and where the Supreme Being’s Pneuma 58 – freedom! 59
57 The Supreme Being is the Pneuma: Or, KJV: the Master is that Spirit; KNX: the Spirit we have been speaking of is the Master; NEB: now the Master of whom this passage speaks is the Spirit. The Greek is HO [the] DE [but] KYRIOS [lord] TO [the] PNEUMA [spirit] ESTIN [is]. See notes below.
58 And where the Supreme Being’s Pneuma: Or, KJV: where the Spirit of the Master is. The Greek is HOU [where] DE [but] TO [the] PNEUMA [spirit] KYRIOU [lord’s]. It is likely the meaning of the whole phrase is: “YHWH is The Spirit and freedom [is] where YHWH’s spirit is.” The Nazarene declared that “The God is [a] spirit.” [John 4:24] All heavenly beings are described by the word PNEUMA, that is, these beings are invisible and may exert a pressure which becomes visible in its manifestations. For details on PNEUMA see notes in Nazarene Commentary 2000 2000© on 1 Corinthians 2:16 and the subject Holy Spirit in Error of the Trinity.
59 Freedom: Or, liberty. Paul does not mean absolute freedom for Christian disciples are also called “slaves.” Here, this “freedom” is freedom from the Law of Moses as the context suggests. Compare notes on Romans 6:14; 8:15; Galatians 5:1, 13.
2CO3:18 And so all of us, with faces unveiled, continue to reflect like mirrors 60 YHWH’s glory 61 [Isaiah 40:5] – continually transformed into the very same image, 62 from glory unto glory – even from a Supreme Being who is Pneuma. 63
60 With faces unveiled, continue to reflect like mirrors: Or, KJV: as in glass. Unlike the Jews with theirs faces veiled during the reading of Moses in the synagogue, Christians are not so blinded.

61 YHWH’s glory: The phrase is a Hebraism and may be drawn from such texts as Psalm 138:5; Isaiah 40:5; 61:1. The Greek does not permit YHWH here though the sources would all have the Tetragram.
62 Continually transformed into the very same image: Or, KJV: changed into the same image; PME: transfigured in ever-increasing splendour. The Greek word for “transformed” is META-MORPHOUMETHA and the source of the English “metamorphosis.” It is the same word used of the Nazarene’s transfiguration. [Matthew 17:2] The disciple of Jesus Christ is a person in a constant state of transformation as 2 Corinthians 7:1 suggests. [See notes on Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:24.]
63 Supreme Being who is Pneuma: Or, KJV: by the Spirit of the Master; PME: from the Master who is the Spirit; ASV: the Master the Spirit; RHM: from a Spirit that is Lord. The Greek is APO [from] KYRIOU [Lord’s] PNEUMATOS [of spirit]. The phrase is a difficult one and given to much bias. It is possible the phrase should be either “from Lord’s spirit,” “from YHWH’s spirit,” or, “from a spiritual Lord.”

Review Questions on Chapter Three

How does Paul draw on Jeremiah 31:33 regarding the Corinthians?
Who gives the ministers of a New Covenant their adequacy?
How does Paul contrast the Ten Commandments with the Pneuma?
What Scriptural analogy does Paul use to demonstrate the dulling of Jewish senses?
Where does freedom exist?
What transformation occurs within Christians?

Mark Heber Miller