2 Corinthians 3

KJV · Chapter 3/13

¹Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

²Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:

³Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

⁴And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:

⁵Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

⁶Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

⁷But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

⁸How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

⁹For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

¹⁰For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

¹¹For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

¹²Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

¹³And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

¹⁴But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

¹⁵But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

¹⁶Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

¹⁷Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

¹⁸But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul contrasts the old covenant, written on tablets of stone and associated with condemnation, with the new covenant of the Spirit, which brings life and freedom. He uses the image of Moses' veil to explain why many still do not fully understand the Scriptures without Christ.

Explanation

Recalling Exodus 34, when Moses' face shone after meeting with God and had to be veiled, Paul argues that that glory, though real, was fading and tied to a law that condemned by exposing sin without being able to remove it. The new covenant, through the Spirit, brings a greater and lasting glory, able to transform a person's very character “from glory to glory.” The “veil” becomes a metaphor for the spiritual inability to fully understand the Scriptures apart from a living relationship with Christ; that veil is only removed when someone turns to the Lord. Today's practical application is that true spiritual freedom and full understanding of the Word come from a real relationship with God through the Spirit, not merely from intellectual effort or rule-keeping.

Fun facts

Jewish rabbinic tradition had already discussed the meaning of Moses' veil at length long before Paul, and he reinterprets that tradition in light of Christ, a common method of Jewish-Christian argumentation in the first century.
The phrase 'the letter kills, but the spirit gives life' (v.6) has become a widely used expression even today, even outside religious contexts, to describe the difference between rigidly following rules and grasping their deeper intent.

Verse-by-verse explanation

2 Corinthians 3:1Having “letters of commendation” was a common custom among traveling teachers of the time, to prove they were trustworthy. Paul says he doesn't need that because the Corinthians' own transformed lives are already living proof of his work.
2 Corinthians 3:2Answering the ironic question of the previous verse about letters of commendation, Paul says the Corinthians themselves are his letter — living proof, known by everyone, that his work is genuine.
2 Corinthians 3:3He continues the letter metaphor: it was written not with ink, but by the Spirit of God, not on stone, but on people's hearts — a reference to Ezekiel's promise of a new heart in place of a heart of stone.
2 Corinthians 3:4Paul credits all this confidence, including the confidence that the Corinthians are proof of his work, to Christ — it isn't self-confidence, but confidence in God.
2 Corinthians 3:5He reinforces that he isn't able, on his own, to produce this result: all ability to do this work comes from God, not from talent or personal effort.
2 Corinthians 3:6Paul's phrase “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” contrasts the written law, which only demands obedience without giving the strength to fulfill it, with the work of the Holy Spirit, who changes the heart from within. It isn't a rejection of the law itself, but of what it alone can accomplish.
2 Corinthians 3:7Paul recalls the episode when Moses' face shone after speaking with God, so much that it needed a veil (Exodus 34). He uses that scene to compare the temporary glory of the old covenant with the greater, permanent glory that Christ brought.
2 Corinthians 3:8A rhetorical question following the previous argument: if even the old ministry (the law, tied to condemnation) had glory, how much more should the new ministry of the Spirit have it.
2 Corinthians 3:9He continues the “much more” argument: if the old system, which brought condemnation, was already glorious, the new system, which brings righteousness through Christ, is even more glorious.
2 Corinthians 3:10A way of saying that the old glory, compared with the new, practically disappears: not because it wasn't real, but because the glory that follows is so much greater that it outshines the former.
2 Corinthians 3:11He closes the comparison: if that which was temporary (the old covenant) already had glory, what remains forever (the new covenant in Christ) has an even greater glory.
2 Corinthians 3:12Because of this hope of a greater, permanent glory, Paul says he speaks with boldness, unafraid to hide anything — unlike the image of Moses' veil he describes next.
2 Corinthians 3:13He contrasts his frankness with the veil Moses wore after speaking with God (Exodus 34), precisely so the people wouldn't see that glory gradually fading away.
2 Corinthians 3:14Moses' veil becomes a metaphor for Paul: he says that even today, when the Jewish Scriptures are read without recognizing Christ in them, it's as if a veil still covers people's understanding.
2 Corinthians 3:15He repeats the veil idea, now in a spiritual sense: even today, when the writings of Moses are read without recognizing Christ in them, it's as if a veil still covers people's understanding.
2 Corinthians 3:16He promises a solution to that spiritual veil: when a person turns to the Lord, the veil that blocks understanding is taken away.
2 Corinthians 3:17Paul identifies this Lord mentioned in the previous verse with the Holy Spirit, and connects that presence to freedom — where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty, in contrast with the rigidity of the old law.
2 Corinthians 3:18The phrase “with open face” returns to the veil image — with nothing blocking the view, believers reflect the glory of God like a mirror, and are gradually transformed, “from glory to glory.”

Chapters

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