2 Corinthians 4:6

For God … shined Literally, Because it is God Who shined, and therefore, if the doctrine of the ministers of Christ were not received by any, it was not because they exercised any concealment or reserve (ch. 2 Corinthians 3:13), much less on account of any adulteration of the pure word of God (2 Corinthians 4:2), but because the soul of the unbeliever deliberately refused to receive the light of God's truth. Cf. John 1:5.

who commanded the light to shine out of darkness First in the physical world (Genesis 1:3) and then in the moral and spiritual world, in the person of Jesus Christ. Cf. John 1:4; John 3:19; John 8:12, &c.

hath shined in our hearts God makes use of human instrumentality in spreading the knowledge of His glory. Cf. ch. 2 Corinthians 2:15-16Co 3:3; 2 Corinthians 3:6.

to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God Literally, in order to the enlightenment: illumination, Rhemish. Knowledge is here spoken of rather as the effect of light than light itself. See note on 2 Corinthians 4:4.

in the face of Jesus Christ The same word is used here as in ch. 2 Corinthians 2:10. See note on the words -image of God," above. "A notable place, whence we learn that God is not to be investigated in His unsearchable height, for He inhabits the light unapproachable (1 Timothy 6:16), but to be known as far as He reveals Himself in Christ … It is more useful for us to behold God as He appears in His Only-begotten Son, than to investigate His secret essence." Calvin. There is another interpretation of these words. We may translate them -in the person of Christ," and then the sense is that Christ was Himself the revealer of the glory of God. John 1:14; John 1:18.