Bible Strands
2 Corinthians 3:7
Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Corinthian church while defending his apostolic authority and the superiority of his gospel. He addresses the community to establish why the new covenant surpasses the old.
The words — διακονία (diakonia) translates literally as ministry, and γράμμασιν (grammasin) means letters. Paul uses these terms to identify the Mosaic covenant as a written administration.
The thread — The contrast between the old and new covenants appears in 2 Corinthians 3:6 and 2 Corinthians 3:9. The stone tablets originate in Exodus 31:18, and Christ's fulfillment of the law is noted in Romans 10:4.
Why it lands — The text states that the Mosaic covenant carried a visible, fading glory that blinded the Israelites from gazing at Moses' face. It demands recognition that the old administration was inherently temporary and inferior to the Spirit's enduring work.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But 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:
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 3:9 For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness!
- Exodus 31:18 When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
- Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.
- 1 Corinthians 13:10 but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away.
- Exodus 24:12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
- 2 Corinthians 3:3 It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
- 2 Corinthians 3:6 And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
- Deuteronomy 10:1 At that time the LORD said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood.
- Psalms 119:97 Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my meditation.
- Romans 4:15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.