2 Corinthians 3:1-3
THE CORINTHIANS ARE ST. PAUL'S “EPISTLE OF COMMENDATION”.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CORINTHIANS ARE ST. PAUL'S “EPISTLE OF COMMENDATION”.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστ.: _are we beginning again_ (_sc._, as, for instance, in 1 Corinthians 9:15; 1Co 14:18; 1 Corinthians 15:10, or possibly he alludes to 2 Corinthians 1:12 above; _cf._ chap. 2 Corinthians 5:12; 2 Corinthians 10:18 below) _to commend ourselves?_ His opponents seem to have... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡ ἐπιστολὴ ἡμῶν κ. τ. λ.: _ye are our epistle_. They are his credentials. _Cf._ 1 Corinthians 9:2, where he tells them that they are the “seal” of his apostleship. Note the emphasis laid on ἐπιστολή by its position in the sentence. ἐγγεγραμμένη ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν : _written in our hearts, i.e._,... [ Continue Reading ]
φανερούμενοι ὅτι ἐστὲ κ. τ. λ.: _being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ_ (_sc._, written by Christ), _ministered by us_ (the Apostle conceiving of himself as his Master's amanuensis). ἐγγεγραμμένη οὐ μέλανι κ. τ. λ.: _written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in... [ Continue Reading ]
πεποίθησιν δὲ τοιαύτην κ. τ. λ.: _and such confidence have we through Christ towards God_ (_cf._ Romans 4:2; Romans 5:1 for a like use of πρὸς τὸν Θεόυ). That is “ _we_ are sufficient for these things” (see 2 Corinthians 2:16-17); but he hastens to explain the true source of his confidence.... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS SUCCESS IN THE MINISTRY OF THE NEW COVENANT IS ALTOGETHER DUE TO GOD.... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐχ ὅτι ἱκανοί κ. τ. λ.: _not that we are sufficient of ourselves to judge anything as from ourselves; sc._, to judge rightly of the methods to be followed in the discharge of the Apostolic ministry; there is no thought here of the natural depravity of man, or the like. For the constr. οὐχ ὅτι … _cf... [ Continue Reading ]
ὃς καὶ ἱκάνωσεν κ. τ. λ.: _who also_ (“qui idem”; _cf._ 1 Corinthians 1:8) _made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant_ [ministers] _not of the letter_ (_i.e._, the Law), _but of the Spirit; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life_. The Apostle's opponents at Corinth were probabl... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ δὲ ἡ διακονία κ. τ. λ.: _but if the Ministration of Death_ (see 2 Corinthians 3:6), _written, and engraven in stones, came into existence in glory, etc._ The reference is to the glory on the face of Moses (see reff.) when the Tables of the Law were brought down from Mount Sinai. St. Paul argues t... [ Continue Reading ]
DIGRESSION ON THE MINISTRY OF THE NEW COVENANT. IT IS (_a_) MORE GLORIOUS THAN THAT OF THE OLD.... [ Continue Reading ]
πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον κ. τ. λ.: _how shall not rather the Ministration of the Spirit be with glory? For if the Ministration of Condemnation be glory_ (if we read τῇ διακονίᾳ we must render, with the American Revisers, “ _has_ glory”), _much rather doth the Ministration of Righteousness exceed in glory. Cf... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ γὰρ οὐ δεδόξασται : _for that which hath been made glorious, sc._, the Ministration of the Old Covenant, _hath not_ [really] _been made glorious in this respect, viz., on account of the surpassing glory_ (of the Ministration of the New Covenant); _i.e._, the surpassing glory of the second made t... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ γὰρ τὸ καταργ. κ. τ. λ.: _for if that which passes away was with glory, much more that which abideth is in glory_. The difference of prepositions διὰ δόξης … ἐν δόξῃ should not be overlooked; the Ministration of the Old Covenant was only _with_ a transient flush of glory, that of the New abides _... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔχοντες οὖν τοιαύτην κ. τ. λ.: _having therefore such a hope_ (_sc._, of the glorious Ministration of the Spirit, 2 Corinthians 3:8; _cf._ 2 Corinthians 3:4) _we use great boldness of speech_. The verses which follow are parenthetical down to 2 Corinthians 3:18, where the subject is again _we, i.e._... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MINISTRY OF THE NEW COVENANT IS (_b_) OPEN, NOT VEILED, AS WAS THAT OF THE OLD. The illustration from the O.T. which is used in these verses has been obscured for English readers by the faulty rendering of the A.V. in Exodus 34:33. It would appear from that rendering, _viz._, “ _till_ Moses had... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ οὐ καθάπερ κ. τ. λ.: _and_ (we put no veil upon our face) _as Moses put a veil upon his face_. The construction is broken, but the sense is obvious; _cf._, for a somewhat similar abbreviation, Mark 15:8, ὁ ὄχλος ἤρξατο αἰτεῖσθαι καθὼς ἐποίει αὐτοῖς. πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἀτενίσαι κ. τ. λ.: _to the end that... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀλλʼ ἐπωρώθη τὰ νοήματα αὐτῶν : _but their minds were blinded, sc._, in reference to what they saw (_cf._ Romans 11:25); they took the brightness for an abiding glory (_cf._ Deuteronomy 29:4). πῶρος, which primarily means a kind of marble, came to mean, in medical writers, a hardening of the tissues... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀλλʼ ἕως σήμερον κ. τ. λ.: _but unto this day, whensoever Moses_ (_sc._, the Law; _cf._ Acts 15:21) _is read, a veil lieth upon their heart_. It will be observed that the image has been changed as the application of Exodus 34:29 ff. proceeds: in that history the veil was upon _the face of Moses_; he... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡνίκα δʼ ἄν κ. τ. λ.: _but whensoever it, i.e._, Israel, _shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away_; a paraphrase of Exodus 34:34, ἡνίκα δʼ ἄν εἰσεπορεύετο Μωσῆς ἔναντι Κυρίου λαλεῖν αὐτῷ, περιῃρεῖτο τὸ κάλυμμα ἔως τοῦ ἐκπορεύεσθαι.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ δὲ Κύριος τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν : _but the LORD, i.e._, the Jehovah of Israel, spoken of in the preceding quotation, _is the Spirit_, the Author of the New Covenant of grace, to whom the new Israel is invited to turn (_cf._ Acts 9:35). It is quite perverse to compare 1 Corinthians 15:45 (where it is sai... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡμεῖς δὲ πάντες κ. τ. λ.: _but we all, sc._, you as well as I, all Christian believers, _with unveiled face_ (and so not as Moses under the Old Covenant), _reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, sc._, of Jehovah (see reff.), which is the glory of Christ (_cf._ John 17:24), _are transformed in... [ Continue Reading ]