Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 3 are often misunderstood as if he were contrasting a failed Torah with a successful Messiah. But Paul is doing something far more rooted in the story of Israel. He is interpreting Exodus 32–34—the sin of the golden calf, the breaking and renewal of the covenant, and Moses’ radiant face—and showing how that story points forward to a deeper unveiling in Messiah.

Below is an exegetical walkthrough of 2 Corinthians 2:17-3:18. While multiple interpretations of this passage exist and will be referenced below, this study aims to approach the text as objectively as possible within its historical context, setting aside supersessionist assumptions. The goal is to situate several highly debated verses within the flow of Paul’s broader argument. All Scripture references are from the NASB translation.

Paul’s Apostolic Defense

“For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 2:17, NASB)

Paul starts his argument by responding to charges about his authority as an apostle that apparently has been challenged by the Corinthian community multiple times (1 Corinthians 9:1, 15:7-9). He contends that he did not use his position as an apostle to make money or raise financial support. Rather, he claims he and his colleagues speaks “from God” and “in Christ.”

“Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you?” (3:1)

In the Second Temple Period, teachers and Torah scholars carried letters of authorization from their rabbi or community. These “Sent Ones” ( In English: “Apostles”) carried these letters in order to act in the authority of the sender. One example of this occurs in the Talmud when Rabbi Chiya bar Abba sent his apostle to Rabbi Yehudah with a letter that said, “Behold, we send you a great man as our apostle, equal to ourselves until he returns to us” (y.Chagigah 76d), and the mishnah describing “A man’s agent is as himself.” (m. Berakhot 5:5). Paul actually did this himself during his lifetime in other instances as well (Acts 18:27 & Acts 9:1–2).

Paul is speaking sarcastically when he asks the community of disciples in Corinth if he needs a letter of recommendation from the apostles in Jerusalem. He asks if he should receive one from them.

“You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men.” (3:2)

Paul answers his own question, stating that the disciples in Corinth are themselves sufficient proof of his credentials. Further he expresses that he constitutes the disciples themselves as his letter of authorization from Jesus. Like Isaiah 49:3, God’s people become a visible expression of His work.

“Being manifested that you are a letter of Christ… written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (3:3)

In Paul’s description he combines the two Hebrew scriptures talking about the new covenant promises of the spiritual transformation: 1) Jeremiah 31:33: “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it.” and 2) Ezekiel 11:19-20: “I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh”. He points to the evidence of this spiritual transformation in the lives of the believers in Corinth to validate his credentials as an apostle of Jesus.

“Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (3:5-6)

Like Moses (Exodus 33:15), Paul acknowledges dependence from God. He begins the describe the new covenant as “not of the letter but of the spirit”, saying “the letter kills”. Paul uses almost the exact same language in Romans 7 when he says “for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” (Rom 7:11). In that passage he is sharing how the Torah condemns sin and sentences the sinners to death and explains that the problem is sin in the human heart.

Paul then contrasts this “letter that kills” with the “spirit that gives life”. This is in the context of the promises he just referenced from Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 11 that promise the writing of God’s instruction (Torah) within the hearts of men. The spirit gives life through the new covenant by forgiving sins and transforming human beings to sin no longer.

“But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?” (3:7–8)

Paul employs a common Jewish argument from lesser to greater. He argues that if the covenant at Sinai came with such glory that Moses’ face shone, how much more will the new covenant come with glory. affirms that Sinai came with real glory. The point is not that Sinai lacked glory, but that it pointed forward to greater glory.

It is important to note a translation decision by a few translations, in particular the ESV, that translate that the glory in the face of Moses “was being brought to an end”, while the NASB and NIV translate the verse as a form of “fading as it was” to match the implication in Exodus 34:34-35 that this glory on the face of Moses faded over time, but was rejuvenated in the prescence of the Lord.

In Paul’s interpretation, Moses himself represents the Torah of this world: The Torah of Moses. Just as Moses glowed through the glory of the God, so the Torah has been invested with the light of God’s revelation. But the Torah is tied to this temporal and fading world. While having divine origin it is tied to this impermanent world “Unitil heaven and earth pass away” (Matthew 5:18). How much more glorious are God’s promises of the new covenant that are undying.

“For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.” (3:9)

Paul refers to the old covenant as the “ministry of death” because, as mentioned earlier, through the Sinai covenant the Torah reveals sin (Romans 3:20) and therefore can condemn. But Messiah brings righteousness (Jer 23:5–6; Isai 53:11), and the new covenant promises forgiveness of sins (Jer 31:34; Matt 26:28).

Glory Unveiled

“For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory” (3:10-11)

Paul uses this comparison language to continue the lesser and greater argument showing that the glory of the new covenant is so glorious that it makes the old covenant seem like it had no glory at all by comparison. Like stars fading before the sun, the earlier glory is overwhelmed by a greater one. The author of Hebrews makes this same argument in Heb 12:18–24.

Again here we see a couple different interpretations represented in translations. Instead of continuing to use the “fades away” language the ESV translates “was being brought to an end”, the KJV actually moves farther away from the language of the original text translating “for if that which is done away was glorious”. The NASB preserves a more faithful translation of “that which fades away”, thus highlighting that it serves in the current world that is fading away (as mentioned earlier). This is consistent with Jesus’s saying that none of the law will pass away until heaven and earth pass away (Matt 5:18). The covenant at Sinai is “becoming obsolete” and is “growing old” as the world ages, but the new covenant is eternal (Heb 8:13).

“Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ” (3:12-15)

Paul refers to his former colleagues in the academics of Torah, who studied without the enlightenment of the revelation of messiah. This is not a new idea, as even in Jewish thought when the messiah comes he will reveal the inner dimensions of the Torah (Genesis Rabbah 98:9).

Paul claims that Jesus the messiah will lift the veil the conceals the full revelation of the Torah. This corresponds to the promise of the new covenant that “No longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me” (Jer 31:34).

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (3:16-18)

It is common in modern Christian theology to think of the Torah as slavery, or being in bondage under the law. But this is not how the apostles understood the Torah, James the brother of Jesus describes the Torah as the “Law of liberty”, or the “Torah of freedom” (Jam 1:25, 2:21). This idea of the “law of liberty” has it’s origin in a midrashic interpretation of Exodus 32:16, that was recorded in the 2nd century but would have been around in the first century. This interpretation argues that the hebrew word “charut”, which means “engraved”, should be read as “cheirut” or “freedom”. (m.Avot 6:2) While this we do not handle the scripture in this way in modern evangelical circles, this was a common interpretation that appears throughout Jewish literature and would have been the source for James’ interpretation.

This lines up well with other teachings about biblical freedom, where in the scriptures it is presented as a freedom to be enslaved to God (John 8:34, Rom 6:16). This is in contrast to how we might define freedom in modern America as a form of autonomy. When Paul is using the term “freedom” in 2 Corinthians 3:17, he is pulling from the same ideas that James and other Jewish sources are pulling from. presenting freedom not as a freedom from from God’s commandments, but rather freedom from sin.

Glory to Glory

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (3:18)

The phrase “beholding the glory of the Lord” is best translated in the NASB as “Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord”. In early Jewish literature the word for “mirror” ma’ar, is the same word used for “vision” (Num 12:6, Leviticus Rabbah 1:14), and Paul echoes this same concept in 1 Corinthians 13:12 as he describes that we see this prophetic vision of the future in a dim or veiled state in the present age, but we will one day attain the same revelation that Moses experienced. (Leviticus Rabbah 1:14).

“From glory to glory” (3:18

This last statement of “from glory to glory” summarizes the section of scripture well. Paul describes that we are being transformed from the glory of the covenant at Mt. Sinai to the glory of the new covenant, from the glory of this fading world to the glory of the world to come, from the mortal body to the resurrected body.

Conclusion

This passage of scripture that often is taught to read that the old testament is dismissed in favor of the new testament, can be read in it’s original context as to highlight that the key difference between the old and new covenant is not the Torah itself, but the veiled and unveiled reading of God’s instruction (Torah). The difference is that the participant in the new covenant beholds the Torah through the revelation of the Messiah. He sees with eyes unveiled and “turns to the Lord:” (i.e. repents), it is not about a different instruction (Torah), but it is about a difference between the people reading God’s instruction (Torah).

Are you reading God’s instruction through the revelation of the messiah? or do you dismiss it parts of the Hebrew scriptures? Paul says that “all scripture is god breathed” when referring to the Hebrew scriptures. Let us read them with unveiled eyes that lead us to “turn to the Lord”!

Bibliography:

Many of these arguments came from some of the following sources, feel free to check them out yourself for further study:

Hafemann, Scott J. Paul, Moses, and the History of Israel: The Letter/Spirit Contrast and the Argument from Scripture in 2 Corinthians 3. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 81. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995.

Gorman, Michael J. Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul’s Theology and Spirituality. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2019.

Nanos, Mark D., and Magnus Zetterholm, eds. Paul within Judaism: Restoring the First-Century Context to the Apostle. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015.

Lancaster, D. Thomas. The Holy Epistle to the Hebrews, Volume 2: Sermons on a Messianic Jewish Approach. Marshfield, MO: First Fruits of Zion, 2025.

Wright, N. T. The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991.