2 Corinthians 3:15Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

See v. 14. Therefore, wishing to show this more clearly, the Apostle goes on to say, “To this day, when they read Moses, a veil lies on their heart” (v. 15).

Since the Apostle said that a veil remains in the reading of the Old Testament, he did not want anyone to think these words signify obscurity in the Law.

He had already tried to show this in other words. By saying, “their minds are blinded,” he shows that the Jews themselves are at fault.

Now in this very saying he shows the same thing. Indeed, he did not say that the veil remains on the letters, but “in the reading.”

Reading is the act of those who read. Likewise he says, “when they read Moses.”

He showed this most clearly of all when he said directly that this “veil lies on their heart.”

In the same way, it lay on the face of Moses not for Moses’ sake, but because of the coarse and fleshly understanding of the Jews.

Since he said above that a veil lies over the reading of the Old Covenant, lest someone think that he calls the obscurity of the law the veil, he says: no, I call the blindness and coarseness of the Jewish heart the veil.

For it lay on the face of Moses not because of him, but because of the coarseness and weak sight of the Jews.

"To this day, when they read Moses, a veil lies upon their heart." "But to this day, when Moses is read." The Old Covenant is called by the name of the servant, just as the other Scriptures are called by the names of the prophets whose prophetic sayings they contain.

Therefore, since the writing of Moses has been placed on the same level as the writings of his fellow prophets, the promise of the Son is thereby magnified above the promises of the prophets, and the Gospel of the Lord above the preaching of the servants.

But when, he says, they read Moses, that is, the books of Moses, their hearts are covered with a dark veil instead of a bright veil.

At the reading of the Old Covenant, even to this day the veil lies upon the face of Moses. He speaks with a glorified face, and the people are unable to endure the glory of the one speaking (Ex 34:29-35).

But as soon as we turn to the Lord, the veil falls away, the obsolete letter dies, and the life-giving spirit rises. For the Lord is the Spirit, and the law is spiritual.

Hence David also prayed in the psalm: "Open my eyes, and I shall understand the wonders of Your law" (Ps 118:18).

The Apostle calls the law Moses, and he calls unbelief the veil. He then teaches how the veil can be removed. See Ex 34:33.

The sectarians deny the necessity of ecclesial guidance for the right understanding of Holy Scripture, and among other things they appeal to these words in their defense.

But "turning to the Lord" must be understood as turning to the faith of Christ. When it is said that the veil is removed by Christ, this does not mean only Christ's immediate action.

He removes the veil from the Old Covenant through the New Testament writings, through apostolic tradition, and through the instructive and guiding counsels and actions of the pastors of the Church (1 Tim 4:12-13).

Only among the most obstinate hearers of the apostolic preaching does “the same veil” of incomprehension remain to this day, untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament, because “it is taken away in Christ” (2 Cor 3:14).

As Chrysostom explains, those who have not accepted Christ, Who abolished the Law, how can they know that this Law has been abolished?

“To this day, when they,” that is, the obstinate and morally corrupted Hebrews, “read Moses, a veil” of unbelief “lies on their heart.

But when they turn to the Lord,” Christ, “this veil will be taken away,” and their intellectual blindness passes (2 Cor 3:15-16).

Thus, Chrysostom notes, the Apostle has sustained the history to the end. For Moses, when he spoke with the Jews, covered his face.

But when he turned to the Lord, he removed the veil from himself.

The most glorious meaning of the Gospel’s proclamation is encouraging not only for the newly converted, but also for the preachers themselves.

They had seen the glory of God revealed in the Only-begotten Son of God. They had tasted the glorious gifts of the Spirit of God.

Therefore they came freely with the Gospel to all, hiding nothing and fearing no one’s gaze. Moses, by contrast, struck the eyes of the Jews and covered his face to avoid this.

According to Blessed Theodoret, “By saying this, the Apostle shows that the divine Moses, foretelling the unbelief of the Jews, placed a veil over his face.

He taught thereby that they would not be able to see the end of the Law, because the end of the Law is Christ, unto justification for everyone who believes.

He says the same thought, referring only to universal experience. Everyone, he says, experiences this: when they read Moses, that is, the Law, without faith in the Lord, they see nothing there.

The veil lies on their heart. They might be able to see, but the eyes of the heart are closed by unbelief. Therefore seeing, they do not see, and reading, they do not understand.

But as soon as they believe in the Lord and turn to Him, the veil is taken from the heart. Their spiritual eyes are opened by faith, and they begin clearly to see everything hidden in the Law.

Saint Paul himself experienced this spiritual wonder and saw it in all other Jews who truly believed. By faith, the same thing is seen differently, read differently, and understood differently.