2 Corinthians 3:8-9 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

Ministry of the Old Testament compared with that of the New, and the superiority of the latter shown. He speaks now of the "ministration of death," not of it as the ministry of the letter; and yet it was "glorious." Compared with the revelation made to Enoch, Abraham, Jacob, it was "glorious." Whether witnessing to the unity of God or to his providence over an elect race, it was an illumination, or splendour, unequalled in the centuries before Christ. Tribes were organized as a nation,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

The old covenant and the new. In some sense it may be said that teachings respecting the relations between the older revelation in Judaism and the newer revelation in Christianity were special to the Apostle Paul. On this point he had direct revelations from Christ, and the liberal form which his teachings took exposed him to the peril of being misunderstood and misrepresented, and brought persecutions around him. No man could be found more truly loyal to the older revelation than the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:8

The ministration of the spirit. That is, "the apostolate and service of the gospel." Be rather glorious. A contrast may be intended between the ministration of the letter, which "became glorious," which had, as it were, a glory lent to it ( ἐγενήθη ἐν δόξῃ ), and that of the spirit, which is, of its own nature, in glory. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:9

The ministration of condemnation. The same antithesis between the Law as involving "condemnation" and the gospel as bestowing "righteousness" is found in Romans 5:18 , Romans 5:19 . The glory; perhaps, rather, a glory; a stronger way of describing it as "glorious." Of righteousness. Involving the further conception of "justification," as in Romans 5:21 ; Romans 1:16 , Romans 1:17 ; Romans 4:25 ; Romans 5:21 . read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Corinthians 3:8

How shall not the ministration of the Spirit - This is an argument from the less to the greater. Several things in it are worthy of notice:(1) The proper contrast to the “ministration of death” 2 Corinthians 3:7, would have been ‘ministration of life.’ But Paul chose rather to call it the ‘ministration of the spirit;’ as the source of life; or as conferring higher dignity on the gospel than to have called it simply the ministration of life.(2) By the “Spirit” here is manifestly meant the Holy... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Corinthians 3:9

For if the ministration of condemnation - Of Moses in giving the Law, the effect of which is to produce condemnation. Law condemns the guilty; it does not save them. It denounces punishment; it contains no provisions of pardon. To pardon is to depart from the Law; and must be done under the operation of another system - since a law which contains a provision for the pardon of offenders, and permits them to escape, would be a burlesque in legislation. The tendency of the Mosaic institutions,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Corinthians 3:7-8

2 Corinthians 3:7-8. But The apostle having signified that he and the other true servants of Christ were intrusted with the ministry of the new covenant, in opposition to the old, proceeds now to show the great superiority of their dispensation to that which had preceded it. This he does in three important particulars. If the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones That is, the Mosaic dispensation, the most important part of which was engraven on two tables of stone, and... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Corinthians 3:9

2 Corinthians 3:9. If, &c. The apostle now proceeds to the second particular; the ministration of condemnation be glorious Attended with such great glory. The law, whether moral or ceremonial, however glorious, was, to sinful and guilty, weak and depraved man, in his fallen state, no more than a ministration of condemnation. Even the moral part of it, though holy, just, and good, yet, being spiritual and extensive in its demands, condemned all for having violated it in time past,... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:1-18

3:1-6:13 TRUE CHRISTIAN SERVICEThe servant and the message (3:1-18)Some of the teachers who came to Corinth brought with them letters of recommendation from their home churches, and claimed that these letters gave them authority to teach. Paul carried no such letters, with the result that his opponents suggested he had no right to teach. Paul replies that pieces of paper do not guarantee the truth of people’s ministry. A better means of judging is by the fruit of their work. The Corinthian... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 2 Corinthians 3:8

not. Greek. ouchi. App-105 . read more

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:8

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:9

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Corinthians 3:8

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Corinthians 3:9

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Corinthians 3:7-8

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Corinthians 3:9

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 3:1-18

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 2 Corinthians 3:8

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