2 Corinthians 3:12-18 – Hope & Freedom in Christ Give Us Boldness To Pray & Preach

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 5 October 2025
Underlined words in Scripture quotes indicate words that are in common with the Greek text of the sermon passage. Otherwise, underlining indicates words to emphasize when reading this transcript out loud.
Omitting greyed-out text should reduce read-aloud time to around 40 minutes.

Introduction

Read my translation of the passage, starting at verse 7:
Now, if the ministry of death consisting of legal-codes engraved in stones was brought into being with glory (such that the descendants of Israel were not able to gaze into the face of Moses, on account of the decomposing glory of his face), how much more shouldn't it be that the ministry of the Spirit will be with glory! For, if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, in much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory! For indeed what had been glorified has been de-glorified in this respect: on account of the glory surpassing it. For if what is being put out of commission has been through glory, much more must that which remains be associated-with glory.
Therefore, since we have such a hope, we use much openness, not at all like Moses used to place a veil over his own face so that the children of Israel might not gaze into the end of what was being put out of commission, nevertheless, their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this day, the same veil remains upon the reading of the old covenant, not unveiled, because it is by the Anointed One that it is being put out of commission, so even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart, but whenever it returns toward the Lord, the veil gets taken off, for the Lord IS the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So, as for us all, while seeing-mirrored, with unveiled face, the glory of the Lord, we are being metamorphasized into the same image, from glory into glory, just as it is by the Spirit of the Lord.

v. 12 Christian Hope Warrants Great Boldness In Prayer & Evangelism

Verse 12 continues the thought on which we ended our last sermon, namely that if the old order of things in the Bible before Jesus’ incarnation was glorious, the new order under the incarnate Christ must be even more glorious.
- Romans 8:11-25 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you… 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God… 21 the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God… 24 For we were saved in this hope... we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” (NKJV, cf. Acts 24:15)
That “hope” of glory gives us grounds for “much openness/great plainness of speech/being very bold¹.”
This Greek word for “openness/plainness/boldness” shows up in the New Testament mainly in two contexts: first, in our devotional relationship with God, and second, in our evangelistic relationships with other people²:
- First, God’s work of saving us through Jesus Christ gives us boldness and confidence to engage in relationship with God:
  - Ephesians 3:11-12 “...in Christ Jesus our Lord... we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.” (NKJV)
  - Heb. 4:16 “Let us therefore keep approaching the throne of grace with openness in order that we may receive mercy and find grace for the purpose of a timely rescue.” (NAW)
  - Hebrews 10:19 & 22 “Therefore, brothers, having, by means of the blood of Jesus, open-access into the entryway of the holy places… let's keep approaching with sincerity of heart in full assurance of faith...” (NAW)
  - and, 1 John 2:28, reminds that Jesus’ atonement can also give us confidence on the day of Jesus’ return in the future: “And now, dear children, stay in Him, so that whenever He is revealed, we may have an open conversation and not be embarrassed by Him in His presence” (NAW)
- The second area in which this hope of salvation shows up is in evangelism. If we believe the gospel is true, we will not be shy in sharing it:
  - In Acts chapter four, the early church prayed (in verse 29) that God would grant them “boldness” so that they could “speak the word,” and Peter and John preached with “boldness” (in verse 13) even though they were “uneducated” men!³
  - Paul was an educated man, but he also showed this same “boldness” in evangelism:
    1 Thessalonians 2:2 “...even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict.” (NKJV)
    Ephesians 6:19-20 “[Pray]... that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (NKJV, cf. Col. 4:3-4 )
    Philippians 1:19-20 “for I know that this will turn out... according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing will I be ashamed but rather in all open speech, now as always, Christ will be made great through my body, whether through life or through death” (NAW).

v. 13 Contrast with Moses who Veiled His Face

In contrast to Christians’ open communication with God and open communication of God to others, is the example of Moses, when the people of God were not allowed to have open communication with God (Only Moses could), and Moses did not openly share with them the glory of God he experienced, but rather, in ⁴Exodus 34:33, Moses put a veil over his face to conceal from the Israelites the fading of the glory he had absorbed from being with God.
“The placing by Moses of a veil over his face was in itself an action symbolical of the veil of rebellion and unbelief which curtained the hearts of the people from the true apprehension of God's glory… (John 5:46) ...Israel must turn to the Lord, the same Lord to whom Moses turned in the tabernacle and in whose presence the veil was removed from his face so that he beheld with unimpeded vision the divine glory... [T]he implication is unmistakeable, that the Lord... before whom Moses went in (Ex. 34:34) is one and the same Lord (= Christ) to whom the people are invited to turn even now.” ~Phillip Hughes, 1962 AD
Even so (as we observed in the last sermon on verse 7), the glory which Moses experienced from God faded away and was brought to a terminal point in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, but the glory which the incarnate (and now ascended!) Christ has will never fade away, but will only get greater!
“We may see the meaning of those [old Testament] types and shadows by the accomplishment, seeing the veil is done away in, Christ and he is come” ~M. Henry
Hebrews 8:4-8 “those [priests] who offer... [sacrifices] according to the law... are ministering in a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was informed when he was about to finish up the tabernacle, for He [that is, God] declared, ‘Look, you are going to make [all] according to the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.’ But actually He [Jesus] has turned out to have a more distinguished ministry, inasmuch as He is also the mediator of a better covenant which has been legally-instituted upon better promises. For if that first one were problem-free, no occasion would have been sought for a second one, yet when He identifies the problem He says to them, ‘Look, days are coming, the Lord says, when I will complete with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant… [which he summarizes in verse 11 saying] … they will all know me, from the little one among them up to the great one among them. For I will be gracious toward their unrighteousnesses, and I will never again remember their sins’ or their crimes. By saying, ‘new,’ He has made the first one old, and what is being made old - and is aging-out - is nigh to disappearance…. 5:9-12 Up to the present time this has been a parable in which both donations and sacrifices are being offered that are not able to perfect in conscience the one who ministers - and that are only being imposed until a time of rectification... But Christ, the high priest of the good things which are about to happen, having come along through the greater and more perfect tabernacle - not the hand-made one (that is, not the one of this created-order), entered once-for-all into the holy places, and not by means of the blood of goats or calves but by means of His own blood, after having obtained eternal redemption.” (NAW) I wish I could just read the rest of the book of Hebrews to you! But this is where the glory is, folks!

v. 14-15 Contrast With Veiled/Blinded Minds Of Unbelievers

Now, not only was the Old Testament a time of “parable” and shadow and typeology, there was also the fact that one of God’s judgments against His people for dishonoring Him was that He “blinded/hardened/dulled” their “minds” when they worshiped idols, so that they would experience even less of God’s glory than before!
- God told the prophet Ezekiel, “...you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.” (Ezekiel 12:2, NKJV)
  - Isa. 44:18 explains: “They do not know, and they do not understand, for He [the LORD] has covered their eyes from seeing, their hearts from considering.” (NAW, cf. 6:10)
  - Later in 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, Paul will write that “the god of this age… blinds the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,” so Satan is at least one of the means God sovereignly uses to prevent people from seeing and understanding His glory.
- This “blinding/hardening” also happened during the earthly ministry of Jesus. Many of the people who heard Jesus teach and who saw His miracles failed to grasp the truth and significance of what they saw and heard, so they never believed that Jesus is the Anointed One.
  - The Pharisees told the man who had been born blind and who had been healed by Jesus: “We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow [that is, Jesus], we do not know where He is from.” (John 9:29, NKJV) Jesus called those Pharisees “blind men” in Matthew 15:14,
  - and Jesus said in John 12:36-40 “‘While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become [children] of light.’ ... But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him... Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened⁵ their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’” (NKJV)
  - So Jesus said in Matthew 13:13 “It is on account of this that I am speaking to them in parables, so that while they are seeing they are not seeing, and while they are hearing, they are not hearing nor are they understanding.” (NAW)
  - Paul explained in Romans 1:21 “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts⁶, and their foolish hearts were darkened⁷” ... 11:7 “What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded[hardened]… 25 ... blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” (NKJV)
- In a similar manner, the world around us still “under [the control of] the Evil One” (1 John 5:19, NAW), so it should not surprise us if we try to share Biblical truths with them and they totally misunderstand or ignore us.
  - I remember reading a Rolling Stone magazine interview with Amy Grant when she came out with her first crossover album. The opening song was, “Love Of Another Kind,” and, to me, the lyrics of that song clearly communicated the good news of Jesus’ love and salvation, but the non-Christian interviewer simply could not understand this. He apparently thought that Amy was singing about some sort of alternative romantic relationship that she had gotten into, so he kept prying to try to reveal the salacious details of a sexual scandal while she was trying to share the Gospel. I remember thinking the misunderstanding was funny, but it was sad at the same time.
  - Only those from whom God has “removed the veil” will be able to understand, so we just have to keep trying to share the gospel “boldly” and then make disciples of the ones who respond in faith.
Paul tells us here in 2 Corinthians 3:14 that without Christ, even the glories of the Old Covenant lie veiled.
- This is the only place in the entire text of the Bible where we run into the label “old covenant/testament,” so I think this is another one of those polemic phrases Paul made-up for rhetorical contrast⁸.
- The veil that has to be removed is something covering the “hearts” and “minds” of unbelievers; it isn’t the law itself, nor is it something that covers over the law, the covering lies over their “reading” – how their mind interprets what they see in the Bible.⁹
- It is only when we believe that Jesus is the anointed priest who “obtained eternal redemption” for us and who is our eternal king, that the veil is lifted off of the Old Testament and we see its glory for what it is – the Glory of God, the Creator, Lawgiver, Judge, and Savior of the world!
- Those of us who know Jesus can find greater enjoyment of the Old Testament than the Jews who have remained in Christless Judaism!
And this is the problem that Paul and Timothy are addressing with the church in Corinth. Jewish teachers had come to their church after Paul had moved away, and they were attempting to convert the Christians in Corinth back to pre-Christian Judaism, pointing to its long and illustrious history¹⁰. Here, Paul is saying, “They don’t even know what glory IS, because only the Messiah can “lift the veil,” and they don’t even know who the Messiah is! We know who he is; He is Jesus, and Jesus has “lifted-off the veil.” He is “doing-away-with” it and revealing more glory than ever!
Meanwhile, “to this day, [the books of] Moses” (that is, the first five books of the Bible) are “read” out loud in Jewish “synagogues” all over the world by people whose understanding of it is darkened¹¹. Their only hope of salvation is to hear and believe the good news about Jesus:
- To the Jews at the synagogue in Psidian Antioch, Paul proclaimed in Acts 13:27-39 “For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus [as the Psalms prophesied, then he concludes]... Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” (NKJV)
To be sure, Jews who reject Jesus Christ are not the only ones living in darkness. Gentiles also have this problem, as Paul stated in Ephesians 4:18, “they continue to exist, having been darkened¹² in their understanding¹³, having been alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that continues to exist in them through the hardness of their hearts” (NAW).
- And so Paul preached the Gospel to Gentiles as well: Acts 26:18 “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” (NKJV)
- The good news of Jesus is what shreds the shroud of confusion about God, but it takes supernatural power to bring about this kind of freedom.

v. 16-17 Jesus and the Holy Spirit Take the Veil Away And Give Freedom

In verse 16, there is no explicit subject in Greek for the first verb (“it shall turn”). The Greek grammar merely tells us that it is a third person singular subject.
- Now, the only singular subject in the context is the word “heart” in verse 15, which would parallel “their minds” in v.14, so this passage is talking about when one of these Jews (who hears the Pentateuch read every Sabbath), “returns” to faith in the one true God through recognizing that Jesus is the fulfillment of all that Moses prophesied and that Jesus is his (or her) Savior and “Master.”
- (And we know from Romans 11 that Paul expected that his Jewish people would one day turn in a general movement to faith in Jesus Christ.)
- Paul is basically saying that the solution is not for the Christians in Corinth to renounce Christ but for the Judaizers in Corinth to “convert” to Christianity!
Now, since “Lord” is defined as the “Spirit” in the next verse, this “turning to the Lord” indicates submission to the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is the one who “removes the veil” by His work of regeneration to faith, conviction of sin unto repentance, and illumination to understand God’s word, giving us freedom from bondage to sin and deception.
- “‘[T]here is liberty’ ... freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, and from the servitude of corruption; liberty of access to God, and freedom of speech in prayer. The heart is set at liberty, and enlarged, to run the ways of God's commandments.” ~M. Henry, 1714
- Paul elaborates in Romans 8:2, 14-23 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death… For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (NKJV, cf. 2 Tim. 1:7, John 6:63)
This removal of the veil and freedom is also the divine work of Jesus, “the last Adam” whom Paul called the “life-giving spirit” in 1 Corinthians 15:45 -
- Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me to evangelize lowly ones. He has sent me to bind up those who are broken of heart, for the calling out of liberty¹⁴ to the captives, and opening of the eyes for those which have been bound” (NAW, cf. 29:18) Jesus said in Luke 4:21 that this prophecy was about Him – He fulfilled it.
- And in John 8:31-32, Jesus said, “...If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (NKJV)
- “[T]his... was doubtless connected with the apostle’s personal experience. There had been a point in his life at which the perception of the glorified Lord had been for him attended with the most marvellous change it is possible to undergo. The glory that shone around him on the road to Damascus had in one moment… swept away all his old beliefs and ideals, his sinful passion and pride and made of him a new creature…” ~G. Vos, “The More Excellent Ministry,” 1922 AD
Indeed, the Holy Spirit has always been collaborating with God the Father and God the Son throughout the whole history of creation, judgment, and salvation:
And that “unveiling” and that “freedom” will characterize our life in the age to come, too:
Isaiah 25:7-9 “And He [Yahweh] will swallow up... the covering that is covering all the peoples and the veil¹⁷ that is spread over all the nations. He has swallowed up death for ever; and Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from all faces... And one will say on that day, ‘Look, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He saved us...’” (NAW)

v. 18 Those Whose Eyes Are Upon Jesus Are Transformed Into His Glory

But for now, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that we all (who have been given eternal life by the Triune God) are “beholding, the glory of the Lord with unveiled/open face,” (like a bride at a wedding whose father lifts her veil off her face when he gives her hand to the groom) and yet we “behold as in a glass/mirror/reflection” – we’re seeing the real thing, but indirectly, for now.
- Paul wrote about this earlier in 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For we see now by means of a mirror¹⁸ in riddles, but then face to face [in heaven – Rev. 22:4]. Now I know of a part, but then I will fully know just as I was known.” (NAW)
- But for now, we are to “seek the things above, where the Christ is sitting on the right hand of God” (NAW) as Paul wrote in Colossians 3:1, and keep “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (KJV) as Hebrews 12:2 says.
And as we set our mind on Christ, we will be “changed/transformed/metamorphasized into the same image, from glory into glory.”
- You will become like whatever you pay the most attention to.
  - If your attention is consumed with movie-watching, you will become like the glamorous, vapid people portrayed in movies.
  - If your attention is consumed with computers and machines, you will become less personable.
  - If your attention is consumed with arguments on social media, you will become foul-mouthed, pugnacious, disrespectful, and judgmental too.
  - But if you fill your mind with God’s word and your mental space with Holy-Spirit-guided prayer, you will become more gracious and less anxious; you will be transformed from glory into glory.
- “From glory into glory” doesn’t deny the glory of the former state; we were created in the “image of God” (Gen. 1:27), and that is glorious, but there is even more glory yet to come for those whose eyes are fixed on Jesus!¹⁹
  - 1 Corinthians 15:49 “And just as we carry the likeness of the one of dust, let us carry also the likeness of the heavenly one.” (NAW)
  - 2 Corinthians 4:6 “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (NKJV)
  - Romans 8:29-30 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed^²⁰ to the image of His Son. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified…. 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (NKJV)
  - Colossians 3:10 “[We] have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (NKJV)
  - Philippians 3:21 “who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed²¹ to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” (NKJV, cf. John 17:22)
This transformation is done by the agency of the Holy Spirit - “it is by the Spirit of the Lord” (or, as many of the newer versions read, “from the Lord, who is the Spirit” – which is basically the same thing, just approaching the grammar differently).
- I side with the KJV (and perhaps the NLT) which interpreted the preposition instrumentally (“by the agency of the Spirit”), because that accommodates the comparative “just as” which is in the Greek text just before it (and which some of the newer versions dropped out, even though it’s in all the Greek manuscripts). The Holy Spirit is the agent of our transformation, which He does in comparison with what we see of the glory of God. This also fits well with the temporal interpretation of the participle “while we behold… we are being transformed… just so by the agency of the Holy Spirit.
- This is what theologians call sanctification.
As to whether the last phrase is “the Spirit of the Lord” or “the Lord who is the Spirit,” this ambiguity in the Greek text does not put us in a theological conflict, because the rest of Scripture supports both the fact that the Holy Spirit is divine and that the Holy Spirit is in unity with God the Father, so either version works, although I prefer “Spirit of the Lord.”
“In this verse Paul promised the Corinthians that if Jew and Gentile turned to Yahweh with face unveiled, the resulting vision would be glorious; yet it would be the glory of a looking-glass rather than reality, and man has to be transformed from this glory to another which is final, involving the whole race in one united Body of Christ, the Church, the perfect icon (image) of God.” ~Nigel Turner, Grammatical Insights into the New Testament, p.126, 1965.
This circles us back around to the application at the beginning of this passage in verse 12: “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we use much openness” – we pray to God boldly and we share this good news boldly with others. This unveiling of glory and transformation into greater glory is too good to pass up and to wonderful to keep to yourself!

2 Corinthians 3:12-18 – Comparison of Textual Traditions & Versions^A

Byzantine^B	NAW	KJV^C	Rheims^D	Murdock^E
12 ῎Εχοντες οὖν τοιαύτην ἐλπίδα πολλῇ παρρησίᾳ χρώμεθα,	12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we use much openness,	12 [Seeing] then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:	12 Having therefore such hope, we use much confidence.	12 [Seeing] therefore we have ~~this~~ hope, we the more ~~speak~~ with boldness;
13 καὶ οὐ καθάπερ Μωϋσῆς ^Fἐτίθει κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ^Gἑαυτοῦ πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἀτενίσαι τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραὴλ εἰς τὸ τέλος τοῦ καταργουμένου.	13 not at all like Moses used to place a veil over his own face so that the children of Israel might not gaze into the end of what was being put out of commission,	13 And 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 X abolished:	13 And not as Moses put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel might not steadfastly look on the ~~face~~ of that which is X made void.	13 and [are] not like Moses, who ~~threw~~ a vail over his face, that the children of Israel might not behold X the termination of that which was X abolished.
14 ἀλλ᾿ ἐπωρώθη^H τὰ νοήματα αὐτῶν. ἄχρι γὰρ τῆς σήμερον^I τὸ αὐτὸ κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τῇ ἀναγνώσει τῆς παλαιᾶς διαθήκης μένει, μὴ ἀνακαλυπτόμενον ὅτι^J ἐν Χριστῷ καταργεῖται,	14 nevertheless, their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this day, the same veil remains upon the reading of the old covenant, not unveiled, because it is by the Anointed One that it is being put out of commission,	14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is X done away in Christ.	14 But their senses were made dull. For, until this [present] day, the selfsame veil, in the reading of the old testament, remaineth not taken away (because in Christ it is X made void).	14 But they were blinded [in] their understanding; for until this day, [when] the old Testament [is] readX X, the same vail resteth upon [them]; nor is it manifest to them, that it is X abolished by the Messiah.
15 ἀλλ᾿ ἕως σήμερον, ἡνίκα ^K ἀναγινώσκηται Μωϋσῆς, κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν^L αὐτῶν κεῖται·	15 so even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart,	15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.	15 But even until this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart.	15 ~~And~~ unto this day, when Moses is read, a vail is thrown upon their heart[s^M].
16 ἡνίκα δ᾿ ^Nἂν ἐπιστρέψῃ ^O πρὸς Κύριον, περιαιρεῖται τὸ κάλυμμα.	16 but whenever it returns toward the Lord, the veil gets taken off,	16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.	16 But when ~~they~~ shall [be] converted to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.	16 But when [any of them is] turned unto the Lord, the vail is taken [from him].
17 ὁ^P δὲ^Q Κύριος τὸ^R Πνεῦμά ἐστιν· οὗ δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα^S Κυρίου, ἐκεῖ^T ἐλευθερία.	17 for the Lord IS the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.	17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.	17 Now the Lord is a Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.	17 Now the Lord himself is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 ἡμεῖς δὲ^U πάντες ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν Κυρίου κατοπτριζόμενοι^V τὴν αὐτὴν εἰκόνα μεταμορφούμεθα ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν, καθάπερ ἀπὸ^W Κυρίου Πνεύματος^X.	18 So, as for us all, while seeing-mirrored, with unveiled face, the glory of the Lord, we are being metamorphasized into the same image, from glory into glory, just as it is by the Spirit of the Lord.	18 But 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.	18 But we all, beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.	18 And we all, with uncovered face[s], behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord; and are transformed into the same likeness, from glory to glory, as by the Lord the Spirit.

1M. Vincent noted that this was “in contrast... with the dissembling with which his adversaries charged him.”
P. Hughes listed several other historical theories of what this “hope” is, finally settling where I did (“that the surpassing glory of the gospel is also a glory that is abiding and permanent”), citing Filson, Plummer, Weiss, Bengel, and Herveius in agreement.

2As Chrysostom pointed out, Paul’s boldness of speech is in exhorting the Corinthian church, but, as the proof texts show, the Biblically mostly applies it in these two areas, and these are areas that are practicable by any Christian.

3Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus… 29 "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word” (NKJV)

4Exodus 34:33-35 “And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face... And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.” (NKJV)

5This is Perfect tense (πεπώρωκεν) in the majority of Greek manuscripts of John, although the oldest-known manuscript with that spelling dates only to the 9^th century AD). It is Aorist tense (επώρωσεν) in a couple dozen Greek manuscripts (including ones dating back to the 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th centuries AD). The quote is from Isaiah 10:6, the LXX of which instead uses the verb ἐπαχύνθη (“made fat/insensitive/dull - Aorist tense). However, when Matthew (13:15) and later, Paul (Acts 28:27) quoted this same verse, they used the verb from the LXX of Isaiah.

6διαλογισμοῖς, a synonym for νοήματα in 2 Cor. 3:14.

7ἐσκοτίσθη, effectively a synonym for ἐπωρώθη in 2 Cor. 3:14.

8Geoffrey Wilson mentioned this in his commentary, also citing H. Seesemann from TDNT Vol 5, p.720.

9“[L]est any should think that this that is said is from the obscurity of the Law, he both by other things showed even before what his meaning was, (for by saying, ‘their minds were hardened,’ he shows that the fault was their own,) and, in this place too, again. For he said not, ‘The veil remaineth on the writing,’ but ‘in the reading;’ (now the reading is the act of those that read;) and again, ‘When Moses is read.” He showed this however with greater clearness in the expression which follows next, saying unreservedly, ‘The veil lieth upon their heart.’ ...[H]e [is] ... showing the superiority, not the enmity of contradiction of the New Covenant in respect to the old.” ~J. Chrysostom

10Peter noted the same problem in another part of the world in 2 Peter 2:1-3 & 19.

11Acts 15:21 James said, “For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” (NKJV)

12ἐσκοτωμένοι, effectively a synonym for ἐπωρώθη in 2 Cor. 3:14.

13Διανοια, which is semantically related to the word νοηματα used in 2 Cor 3:14.

14LXX = ἄφεσιν (“release”), a synonym to the word ἐλευθερία used in 2 Cor. 3:17.

15Αποστρεφω (“turn from”), compare with 2 Cor. 3:16 επιστρεφω “returns to.”

16And in the New Testament, we also see Trinitarian collaboration in salvation in Galatians 4:28-5:5.

17Although this word in the Greek LXX does not match Paul’s Greek word for “veil” in 2 Cor. 3, this word in the Hebrew text of Isaiah (מִכְסֶה) is the same word for “veil” in the Hebrew (Salkinson-Ginsberg) version of 2 Cor. 3:16.

18ἐσόπτρου (noun, “mirror”), compare to κατοπτριζόμενοι (participle, “mirroring ourselves”) in 2 Cor. 3:18.

19“To gaze by faith into the gospel is to behold Christ, who in this same passage is described as “the image of God” (4:4) and elsewhere as “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15) and “the effulgence of the Father's glory and the impress of His substance” (Heb. 1:3).” ~P. Hughes

20σύμμορφον, compare with μεταμορφούμεθα in 2 Cor. 3:18.

21ditto

AWhen a translation adds words not in the Greek text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics or greyed-out text, I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Greek word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original text, I use ~~strikeout~~. And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I insert an X. I also place an X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular. I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. NAW is my translation. My original chart includes annotated copies of the NKJV, NASB, NIV, and ESV, but I erase them from the online edition so as not to infringe on their copyrights.

BThis Greek New Testament is the 1904 "Patriarchal" edition of the Greek Orthodox Church. As published by E-Sword in 2016. The Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine majority text of the GNT and the Textus Receptus are very similar. The Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland, and UBS editions, however, are a slightly-different family of GNTs developed in the modern era, focusing on the few manuscripts which are older than the Byzantine manuscripts. Even so, the practical differences in the text between these two editing philosophies are minimal.

C1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain. As published by E-Sword in 2019.

DRheims New Testament first published by the English College at Rheims, A.D. 1582, Revised and Diligently Compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner, Published in 1582, 1609, 1752. As published on E-Sword in 2016.

EJames Murdock, A Literal Translation from the Syriac Peshito Version, 1851, Robert Carter & Brothers, New York. Scanned and transcribed by Gary Cernava and published electronically by Janet Magierra at http://www.lightofword.org, and published on E-Sword in 2023.

FATR suggested “used to put” as the translation for this imperfect tense verb, and Hughes also used it. Hughes commented, “It is the interruption and concealment of that glory, rather than its fading, with which Paul is now primarily concerned.”

GThis reflexive pronoun is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (dating back as early as the 4^th century), and therefore is the reading of the Textus Receptus, Greek Orthodox, and Tischendorf’s editions of the Greek New Testament (GNT), but all the other contemporary critical editions follow 20 Greek manuscripts (dating as far back as the 4^th century) which read as a regular pronoun, without the initial epsilon. Since the pronoun is Genitive either way, the meaning is not different, and all English versions – whether following the majority or critical spelling read “his.”
“[T]he A.V., by the use of ‘till,’ gives the wrong impression that Moses wore the veil while speaking to the people, in order to hide the glory of his face. The true sense of the Hebrew is given by the Sept.: ‘When he ceased speaking he put a veil on his face;’ not because the Israelites could not endure the radiance, but that they should not see it fade away. Whenever Moses went into the presence of God he removed the veil, and his face was again illumined, and shone while he delivered God's message to the people. Then, after the delivery of the message, and during his ordinary association with the people, he kept his face covered.” ~M. Vincent (plagiarized by Hughes!)

HThis verb only occurs 5 other times in the Greek Bible: Job 17:7, Mark 6:52; 8:17, John 12:40, and Rom. 11:7. Most notably, in John 12:40, it is used in the quote from Isaiah.

IThis is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest dating back to the 9^th century AD) and thus of the Greek Orthodox and Textus Receptus editions. The Peshitta appears to support this, as do most English versions (Geneva, KJV, NIV, ESV, NLT = “until this day”). However, the contemporary critical editions of the GNT all insert ἡμέρας (“day”) here, following 21 manuscripts (the oldest dating back to the year 200 AD), and this is the reading of the Vulgate. The RV, ASV, NASB, and NET also reflect this minority reading with “this very day,” but it is not significantly different in meaning.

JIt appears that the Textus Receptus placed a space between the ‘ο and the τι of ‘οτι, changing “because” to the reading of the KJV “which,” but even this doesn’t significantly change the overall meaning. The early manuscripts did not have spaces between words, so critical apparatuses which cite uncial manuscripts in favor of hoti and majority-text editions which claim support for ho ti from uncials are disingenuous. (The 1904 Patriarchal edition and Robinson-Pierpont majority edition claimed the divided word as the majority text, but the Hodges-Farstad majority text edition and the St. Spiridon edition of the Orthodox text claimed hoti as the majority text!)
As to the larger context of meaning, Blass & Debrunner followed Chrysostom in interpreting this participle as “because it has not been revealed that in Christ it is going away,” which was also the interpretation of the ASV, NIV, NET, and of Vincent (who argued that we shouldn’t accept a new word to stand for the “passing away” and that it is speaking of a veil of hard hearts, not of Christ’s work). However, Hanna argued against that interpretation, saying that “the participle is seldom used in this way. Since the noun κάλυμμα is in concord with this participle it is best to take them together.” The Geneva, KJV (‘un-taken away”), NASB, and ESV (“unlifted”), and Geoffrey Wilson and Rogers & Rogers agreed with Hanna’s position.

KThis is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (dating back as early as the 6^th century AD) and thus of the Greek Orthodox editions and the Textus Receptus, but all the contemporary critical editions of the GNT insert αν (“ever” – in the sense of adding indefiniteness), following 10 manuscripts (including the 5 oldest-known manuscripts dating back to the 4^th century AD - although one dating to the year 200 reads εαν/“if”), thus the RV/ESV, ASV/NASB, and NET “whenever.” But again, it makes no difference in meaning.

LHanna commented that, while it is not good Greek grammar to have a singular object with a plural pronoun, it is a carryover of the “distributive singular” from Hebrew and Aramaic by a Jewish author. ATR cross-referenced Mark 7:8 where Jesus observed that “the rabbis set aside the word of God by their tradition.”

MThe Peshitta is actually singular (“heart”) like the Greek is.

NThis is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest dating back to the 4^th century AD) and is therefore the reading of the Greek Orthodox and Textus Receptus editions of the GNT, but contemporary critical editions, following four manuscripts (dating back as old as the year 200 AD), insert an epsilon after the previous word and an epsilon before this word, changing “but ever” to “but if.” Of the five Greek manuscripts made before the 8^th century AD, two support the majority, two support the minority, and one goes both ways with a correction in the direction of the majority. English versions did not seem as eager to support the minority; I found none which read “if.”

OVincent followed Chrysostom’s interpretation: “it… the heart of Israel… shall turn.” Calvin (and Stanley) suggested that the subject was “Moses,” Matthew Henry = “the people,” NASB = “a person,” and Geoffrey Wilson and the NIV = “anyone”! However, there is no explicit subject in Greek for this verb (“it shall turn”); the Greek grammar merely tells us that it is a third person singular subject. The only singular subject in the context is the word “heart” in the previous verse, which would parallel “their minds” in v.14.
If this parallel holds, then not too much should be made of the active voice of this verb in proof of freewill in salvation because the hardening of the heart in v. 14 is passive, indicating the sovereignty of God in hardening it. The subjunctive merely indicates uncertainty as to “when” it turns. The Aorist tense could indicate that the veil is taken away (passive, indicating God’s sovereign work) as soon as they even “begin to turn toward the Lord.” Curiously, although this verb is spelled in the active voice in all the Greek manuscripts, the ancient Latin and Syriac versions throw this verb into the passive voice (“shall be turned/converted”), if nothing else, indicating a historic tradition of hesitance to affirm freewill in salvation.
AGNT labeled this verb with Louw & Nida semantic domain # 31.60 “change one’s beliefs,” but L&N’s first definition of this Greek word is “return” (#15.90), and I tentatively suggest that might be a better translation, fitting with: 1) the sovereignty of God in salvation implied in this passage, 2) the context of Isaiah (whose prophecy is obviously alluded-to here) and of the Jews in Paul’s day whom we know from scripture were chosen by God, then blinded, but may repent and be saved, and 3) with the repetitive cycle of apostasy and repentance throughout history of the Jews, implied by the word “whenever” which begins this verse, and 4) Paul’s expectation of a turning to Christ of his people in the future, expressed in Romans 11, also referencing Isaiah’s prophecy.

PTurner, in his Grammatical Insights Into the New Testament, commented, “in this verse the article ‘ο is likely to have an anaphoric sense (i.e., taking up an immediately previous reference). Thereby the article becomes virtually demonstrative [“this Lord”]. The immediately previous reference to κυριον is in v. 16, and it refers to Yahweh (it has no article and the discussion is centered around Ex. 34:34).” Hanna, however, noted that Turner’s rule that kurios with the article always refers to Jesus whereas kurios without the article always refers to God the Father has exceptions and should not be considered an absolute rule.

QI suggest, with the NLT (“For”), that this conjunction is an instance of L&N semantic domain # 91.3b in Smith’s Supplement (“introducing an explanatory or parenthetical comment”) instead of #91.3a (“transitional, introducing a different discourse”) which all the other English versions followed (“Now”). The next occurrence of this conjunction in the middle of this verse has an additive meaning (L&N#89.94 - “and”), and English versions are agreed on that.

RChrysostom said, “But he did not say, ‘The Lord is a Spirit,’ but, ‘The Spirit is the Lord.’ And there is a great difference between this construction and that. For when he is desirous of speaking so as you say, he does not join the article to the predicate.” However, both “the Lord” and “the Spirit” are articular.
Calvin commented, “The Lord is the Spirit... is connected with... the doctrine of the law... of death. He now, on the other hand, calls Christ its spirit, meaning by this, that it [the law] will be living and life-giving, only if it is breathed into by Christ.” Hughes followed Calvin, writing, “Already in verse 6… he has set “the spirit” in contrast to “the letter”. Now here, in verse 17, he says that “the Lord is the spirit”; that is, Christ is the source of light and life: to turn to Him is to have the veil of misunderstanding removed and to pass from death to life... This interpretation is confirmed by... I Cor. 15:45, where he uses identical terms: ‘The last Adam (=Christ) became life-giving spirit.’”
Vos, in his sermon on this passage, understood the Spirit personally as the Holy Spirit, commenting, “This language is not, of course, intended to efface the distinction between the second and the third persons of the Trinity, but simply serves to bring out the practical inseparableness of the exalted Christ and the Holy Spirit in the work of salvation.”

S“[T]he Holy Spirit is interchangeably called in the N.T. ‘the Spirit of God’ and ‘the Spirit of Christ’ (Rom. 8:9).” ~ATR
“Although some have claimed that the apostle here virtually identifies the exalted Christ with the Holy Spirit, he is not in fact confusing the distinct identity of their persons, but is stressing the unity of their work in the economy of redemption.” ~G. Wilson

TThis is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (although the oldest dates no earlier than the 9^th century AD) and therefore of the Greek Orthodox and Textus Receptus editions, but contemporary critical editions all delete this word because it does not appear in 8 manuscripts, including the six oldest-known, dating back as far as the year 200 AD, although it might be noted that the 4^th century Siniaticus and 6^th century Bezae manuscripts both have corrections in favor of the majority, but the date of the correction is unknown.

UNIV, NET, and ESV followed AGNT with seeing this conjunction as combinative (L&N#89.94 - “and”) while Geneva, KJV, RV, & NASB interpreted it as contrastive (L&N#89.124 – “but”), but I (together with the NLT) think it should be resultative (Smith’s Supplement to L&N #89.50a – “so, therefore”).

VHapex Legomenon. A.T. Robertson commented in his Word Pictures, “We all (hēmeis pantes). All of us Christians, not merely ministers…. Reflecting as in a mirror (katoptrizomenoi). Present middle participle of katoptrizō, late verb from katoptron, mirror (kata, optron, a thing to see with). In Philo (Legis Alleg. iii. 33) the word means beholding as in a mirror and that idea suits also the figure in 1Cor. 13:12. There is an inscription of third century B.C. with egkatoptrisasthai eis to hudōr, ‘to look at one’s reflection in the water.’ Plutarch uses the active for mirroring or reflecting and Chrysostom takes it so here. Either makes good sense. The point that Paul is making is that we shall not lose the glory as Moses did. But that is true if we keep on beholding or keep on reflecting (present tense).”

WAGNT labels this preposition as “from one thing into another” (L&N#13.62), which requires too much to be added to the text. M. Vincent, G. Vos, G. Wilson, ASV/NASB, NIV, and RV/ESV interpret it as L&N#90.15 (“comes from a source” – which could match the idea of there being “freedom” “where the Spirit of the Lord is,” but doesn’t match the comparative idea which is emphatically present in the καθασπερ/Just as, which the NIV, NET, and ESV had to remove in order to enforce their idea of the Spirit-as-source upon the text). I side with the Geneva and KJV (and perhaps the NLT), as well as commentators Calvin, Lenski, A.T. Robertson, and perhaps P. Hughes, who interpreted this preposition instrumentally (L&N#90.7 – “by the agency of”), because that accommodates the comparative “just as” which is in the Greek text: the Holy Spirit is the agent of our transformation which He does in comparison with what we see of the glory of God. This also fits well with the temporal interpretation of the participle “seeing in a glass/mirror” – “while we see...we are being transformed... as the Holy Spirit changes us.”

XIn Greek, the preposition apo forces its object to be in the genitive case. Here, both “Lord” and “Spirit” follow the preposition, and they are both in the genitive case, so the question is,

“Are these two genitives side-by-side because they denote two separate and equal objects of the preposition (as Chrysostom, Vincent, Vos, Rogers & Rogers, and the ASV/ NASB, NIV, NET, RV/ESV, and NLT interpreted it ‘from the Spirit who is the Lord’ – Hughes also fell into this camp gramatically, but not hermeneutically, as he denied that the Holy Spirit was anywhere in this passage, interpreting “spirit” rather in terms of its impersonal meaning in v.6 “It is the Lord, Christ, who transmutes the letter that kills into the spirit [note lower case] that makes alive.”)
or is only one of these genitives the object of the preposition ‘from,’ the other constituting another prepositional phrase (as the Geneva and KJV, and Calvin, Blass & DeBrunner, N. Turner, and A.T. Robertson interpreted it, ‘the Spirit of the Lord’)?”
In favor of “just as by the Spirit of the Lord” is: 1) that this is by far the more common way the genitive is used grammatically, 2) the appearance of the phrase “Spirit of the Lord” in the previous verse, and 3) the fact that Paul already just explicitly said that “the Spirit is the Lord” in the previous verse so there is no need for him to say it again. In favor of “from the Lord – the Spirit” is the order of the words – “Lord” first, then “Spirit,” so they have to be transposed in order to get “the Spirit of the Lord.” Thankfully, this ambiguity in the Greek text does not put us in a theological conflict, because the rest of Scripture supports both the fact that the Holy Spirit is divine and that the Holy Spirit is in unity with God the Father.