Глава III

Proximity of Ap. Paul to the Corinthians (1–5). The greatness of the New Testament, Apostolic ministry before the Old Testament, Mosaic, according to its results in comparison with the results of the Old Testament ministry (6-18). 2 Corinthians 3:1–5. Ap. Paul's opponents reproached him for showing off his personality and recommending himself. In response to this, Ap. ironically says that it seems he does not need any recommendation: the Corinthian Church, founded by him, is the best recommendation for him. - However, he does not want to boast about his successes, knowing well that these successes are a matter of God’s help to him, Paul. 2Cor.3:1. Should we really get to know you again? Do we really need, like some others, letters of approval to you or from you? “To us,” that is, to me and Timothy. - “As for some.” Here is Ap. probably means his opponents - the Judaizers, who could find letters of recommendation for themselves from representatives of the Jerusalem church and receive the same from the Corinthians. 2Cor.3:2. You are our letter, written in our hearts, recognized and read by all people; “You are our letter.” Your conversion to Christ and your Christian life is a sufficient recommendation for us (cf. 1 Cor 9:2) - “Written in our hearts”, that is, we have inner confidence that you and other Christians know us well. - “Recognizable and readable by all people.” Here is another property of writing that Ap talks about. This is precisely its accessibility for everyone. All churches can see what the Corinthians owe to Paul and Timothy - the good life of the Corinthians speaks of this. 2Cor.3:3. you show by yourself that you are a letter of Christ, through our ministry written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh of the heart. “Letter of Christ”, i.e. a letter composed by Christ. Here the Church of Corinth is generally called a letter, and not an approving letter, as above, that is, a creation of Christ. The Apostle Paul and Timothy are only instruments in the hands of Christ, like scribes taking dictation. Ink, a writing instrument, replaces the Holy Spirit. The material on which the letter is written is the living hearts of the Corinthians. About “tablets of stone” instead of parchment Ap. mentions because here he was presented with the memory of the tablets of the law. – The “tablets of the heart” are called “fleshly” in order to designate the living receptivity of the readers of the epistle to the preaching of the Gospel. 2Cor.3:4. This is the confidence we have in God through Christ, 2Cor.3:5. not because we ourselves are able to think something from ourselves, as if from ourselves, but our ability is from God. “Such confidence,” that is, such a conviction as expressed by Ap. in the 2nd and 3rd art. – “We have it in God” – more correctly: in relation to God. Ap. He has such confidence because he is in close communion with God and places all his support in Him. - “Through Christ.” Ap. received all my virtues through Christ. In the same way, he bases his confidence in the benefits of his work on the fact that this confidence arose in him under the influence of Christ. - “Think that” Ap. and the ability to judge himself and his efforts received from God. - “Ability”, i.e. the ability to think about oneself and one’s business, the ability to judge correctly about it. 2 Corinthians 3:6–18. Ap. first he expresses the main idea of ​​​​his reasoning: the Old Testament is a service to the deadly letter, the new is a service to the quickening spirit. Expanding this thought, he says: there was greatness in the ministry of the Old Testament, but what does this greatness mean in comparison with the greatness of the New Testament ministry? After all, the New Testament ministry does not cease and does not lead to condemnation, like the Old Testament, but to glorification. In view of this, the Apostle rejoices and, in contrast to the people of the Old Testament, who could not directly look at the greatness of God, he looks with an open face at the glory of the Lord and is more and more enlightened by this glory. And this is Ap. speaks not only about himself, but about all true Christians. 2Cor.3:6. He has given you the ability to be ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit, because the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. "New Testament". In the New Testament, the condition for obtaining salvation is not the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, but faith in the Redeemer (1 Cor. 11:25; Rom. 10:5 et seq.). - “Not letters, but spirit.” Calling the Old Testament a letter (γράμμα) because it seems to exist in written monuments and, moreover, does not have a life-giving principle in itself. The New Testament is called spirit (πνεύμα) because the active principle in it is the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. Preachers of the Gospel are guided not by the letter, but by the Spirit. Although the law is also spiritual in its essence (Rom. 7:14) and its words are “living” (Acts VII:38), the power of sin paralyzed this power of the law. - “The letter kills.” Ap. here indicates the reason why God did not make him a minister of the letter. Mortification carried out by the letter of the law must be understood in the sense in which Ap speaks. about the law in Chapter VII. last to Rom. (Rom. 7:5–7 et seq.; cf. 1 Cor. 15:56). Through the commandment of the law, the power of sin, which had hitherto been dormant in man, was awakened to life and produced in man all kinds of lust, which led man to spiritual death, that is, to separation from God. 2Cor.3:7. If the service of the deadly letters inscribed on the stones was so glorious that the children of Israel could not look at the face of Moses because the glory of his face was passing away, - 2Cor.3:8. then should not the ministry of the spirit be much more glorious? “The service of deadly letters inscribed on stones” is more correct: “the service of death (a service that promotes the expansion of domination) in letters inscribed on stones.” Ap. refers here to the Decalogue, which owed its origin to the ministry of Moses (Exodus 34:28). Ap. adds that the Decalogue was written in letters and this emphasizes its non-spiritual character even more sharply. - “They couldn’t watch.” In the book. Exodus (Exodus 34:30) only says that the Jews were “afraid to approach” Moses. Ap.'s explanation. does, obviously, on the basis of Jewish tradition. - “Transient”. Ap. adds this expression in order to show off the superiority of the glory of the New Testament ministry, as he does directly below (see v. 11). – “Ministry of the Spirit,” i.e., the ministry of preachers of the Gospel dedicated to the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:9. For if the ministry of condemnation is glorious, much more will the ministry of justification abound in glory. “The ministry of condemnation”, i.e. leading to condemnation (cf. Rom. 7:9 et seq.; Gal. 3:10). – “The ministry of justification”, i.e. leading to justification (cf. Rom. 1:17, 3:22 et seq.). 2Cor.3:10. That which is glorified does not even turn out to be glorious from this side, because of the predominant glory of what follows. “That which is glorified”, i.e. “for in this respect - that is, in relation to the greatness of Moses’ ministry in comparison with that named (cf. v. 9) - it can be said that what is glorified is not glorified.” 2 Corinthians 3:11. For if that which passes away is glorious, much more is that which endures glorious. “Transient” is precisely the ministry of Moses. Moses ceased to be a lawgiver (Rom. 10:4). – “Continuing”, i.e. – the ministry of preachers of the Gospel, which (ministry) will continue until the end of the world (Matthew 24:14). 2 Corinthians 3:12. Having this hope, we act with great boldness, 2Cor.3:13. and not like Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the children of Israel would not look at the end of the passing. "Having such hope". Ap. here expresses confidence that the greatness of his ministry will not be destroyed. – “We act” – of course, in relation to those with whom the Christian teacher deals. - “And not like Moses.” We hide nothing and are not like Moses, who hid the brightness of his face from the Israelites (see Exodus 34:33–35). Ap., however, does not humiliate Moses with this comparison, but only points here to his pedagogical wisdom, which prompted him to take measures to hide the radiance of his face from the Jews. - “To the end of what is transitory,” that is, so that they do not come to the conclusion that the law and legal service must have an end. This, of course, would make them disregard the requirements of the law. And they could have guessed that the law should eventually lose its binding force if they had noticed a weakening of the radiance on the face of Moses. - Thus, Ap. here it complements, of course, on the basis of the tradition of the Jewish Church, an explanation of the motives that guided Moses when he covered his face. Similar interpretations are found in Ap. in the 1st last. to Corinth. (1 Cor. 10:1 et seq.), and in the last. to the Galatians (Gal.4:21 et seq.). 2 Corinthians 3:14. But their minds are blinded: for the same veil remains untaken to this day when reading the Old Testament, because it is removed by Christ. From here to the end of the chapter we are talking about the consequences that the fact that Moses covered his face with a veil had for the Israelites. - “But their minds are blinded” - more correctly: “but their thoughts (νοήματα) became hardened” (έπωρώθη or, as Blessed Theophylact reads, – έπωρώθησαν). - “For it is the same veil.” Here is proof of the fact of “hardening” just mentioned. The veil here refers to the failure to be convinced that the ministry of Moses must end. – “When reading” – more precisely: “while reading.” Ap. presents the matter like this. When the Old Testament is read on Saturday in a Jewish synagogue (Acts 15:21), this act takes place as if under cover, which does not allow the Jews to look closely at the New Testament. - “It is removed by Christ,” that is, only in Christ do people understand the transitory significance of Moses’ ministry. 2 Corinthians 3:15. To this day, when they read Moses, a veil lies over their heart; "On their hearts". The heart here means the center of mental life (cf. 2 Cor. 4:6; Rom. 1:21). 2 Corinthians 3:16. but when they turn to the Lord, then this veil is removed. “They turn to the Lord,” that is, they become believers in Christ. Ap. Here he means the message of the book. The exodus is that when Moses appeared before God, he removed the veil from his face (Ex. 34:34 et seq.). The veil will also be removed from the hearts of those Jews who convert and come to Christ. 2Cor.3:17. The Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Here is the conclusion to the thought expressed in verse 16. Here is actually a syllogism of this kind. Proposition: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Minor premise: but only those who turn to the Lord have this Spirit, because “the Lord is the Spirit.” Conclusion: As a result, the convert cannot have the said veil, but only freedom. – “Lord” (ό κύριος) is the subject (this recognition is required by the connection with verse 16). By Lord here we mean Christ: entering into communion with Christ is the same as entering into communion with the Holy Spirit. Back in the last to the Romans Ap. said that the Holy Spirit belongs to Christ and in Him Christ comes to believers (Rom. 8:9–11). Why, however, is Ap here? exposes the absolute spirituality of Christ? It must be assumed that he wanted to show by this that Christ and Christianity are not connected with the letter and have no obligations before the Law of Moses. - “There is freedom,” that is, freedom to think, feel and act. The Spirit of the Lord, as the One Ruler in the soul of a converted person, destroys all veils, all barriers belonging to an outside force. 2 Corinthians 3:18. But we all, with open face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord. “We are all,” that is, Christians. Ap. speaks now of the persons on whom freedom manifests its power. - “Open face”. Ap. changes the image. He speaks here not about those listening (as in v. 15), but about those watching, which is why he replaces the word “heart” (in v. 15) with the word “face.” To look you need to have your eyes open. - “Like in a mirror.” A Christian can see the full glory of Christ only in the future life (John 17:24; 1 John 3:2; Col 3:4), but here he sees only an image of it in the Gospel (the Gospel of the glory of Christ - see 2 Cor. 4:4). - “The Glory of the Lord,” that is, we see Christ as the Head of the Church, the Intercessor for us in heaven, the Conqueror of all His enemies, etc. - “We are transformed into the same image,” that is, we change so much that we become like the glorified Christ here on earth. - “From glory to glory,” that is, from one level of greatness we move to another (cf. Rom 1:17; Ps 83:8). – “As from the Lord’s Spirit” – more correctly: “from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (cf. v. 17). 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