2 Corinthians 3:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

First he showed that this ministry of justification also is in glory, and not only in glory, but overflowing with glory. He no longer says, as above, “will not the ministry of the Spirit be much more in glory?”

Rather, he says, “it abounds in glory,” drawing this from the preceding arguments. Now he also shows how great this superiority is.

He says, “If I compare this glory with that Old Testament glory, the glory of the Old Testament will not even be glory.”

Yet by this he does not wholly take glory away from the Old Testament. He speaks of it comparatively, and therefore adds, “in this respect,” that is, by comparison.

In speaking this way, he does not disparage the Old Testament. On the contrary, he even approves it, because things that are compared usually have some kinship with each other.

If this ministry, “engraved on stones,” meaning the tablets of the Law, “was so glorious that the children of Israel could not look at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face. Which was passing away,” then how much more glorious must the ministry of the Spirit be (2 Cor 3:7-8), and the ministry “of justification” (2 Cor 3:9)?

The light of Moses’ face shone only for a time and then faded. According to the Apostle, the superiority of the New Testament ministry over the Old is so great that the glory of the latter’s ministers cannot even be compared with the glory of the ministers of the New Testament.

This is true even if one speaks of Moses himself, whose face shone with light. “What was made glorious,” that is, the Old Testament ministry, “has not even been made glorious in this respect, because of the glory that surpasses it” (2 Cor 3:10).

For it is not passing away, as the Old Testament religion was, but abiding (2 Cor 3:11).

Chrysostom’s words on the deadly character of the letters of the Old Testament Law, and on the life-giving power of New Testament grace, are very characteristic.

“If the Law catches a murderer, it condemns him to death. But if grace catches a murderer, it sanctifies him and gives him life.

But why do I speak of a murderer? The Law even seized and stoned the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath. This is what it means that the letter kills.

By contrast, grace catches countless murderers and robbers, washes them with the waters of Baptism, and releases them from their former evils. This is what it means that the Spirit gives life.”

It was given only to make an impression on the perceptive children of Israel. It was given at the institution of the Law, so that they might always see on it a reflection of its heavenly origin.

When the establishment of the Law was completed, that glory ceased. The following verse is directly connected with this thought: if what is passing away was glorious...

If this passing thing is glorious, how much more glorious must the abiding thing be?

Understanding the passage in this way, we keep our attention on Mount Sinai, before Moses with his glorified face. We measure his glory by the same measure there, given by the later course of events.

But one may also set that glory before the glory of the New Testament order and understand this passage in another way.

What was glorified does not even seem glorious before the Gospel, because of the superiority of the Gospel’s glory. It is “as the light of a lamp, strong in itself, becomes unnoticeable at midday before the light of the sun,” as Theodoret says.

Chrysostom says, “First the Apostle showed that the ministry of justification is also in glory, and not only in glory, but overflowing with glory.

Now he shows how great this superiority is, saying: if I compare this glory with the Old Testament glory, then the glory of the Old Testament will not even be glory.”

Theophylact adds, “The Law was glorious in itself and in its measure. Yet because of the abundance of the Gospel’s glory, it now appears not glorious.”