Комментарии к Библии

Ch. 2 Corinthians 3:1-6. St Paul’s Ministry no self-assumed task, but the communication of the Spirit

1. Do we begin again to commend ourselves?] A charge had been apparently brought against St Paul that he had before (probably in 1 Corinthians 2:16; 1 Corinthians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 4:11-14; 1 Corinthians 9:20-27; 1 Corinthians 14:18) indulged in unseemly self-laudation. He supposes that the same charge will be brought against him for his language in ch. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17.

as some others] The opponents of St Paul had no doubt come armed with letters of commendation from some Apostle (as the Judaizers in Galatians 2:12) or Church, and some of them had received similar letters from the Corinthian Churches on their departure, with a view to their reception by some other Church. St Paul appeals to the nature of his work among them as rendering such a proceeding on his part not only unnecessary but absurd.

epistles of commendation] Tyndale and Cranmer, better, letters of recommendation, the word from its derivation signifying rather introduction than what we now understand by commendation, i.e. praise, though it would seem to have come to this meaning in New Testament Greek. See last note but one. Instances of such letters commendatory are to be found in Acts 15:25-27; Acts 18:27; Romans 16:1; Colossians 4:10. They became a common, almost a necessary, feature in the life of the early Church, and were known as literae formatae.

2. Ye are our epistle] See note on last verse.

written in our hearts] ‘Others bear their letters of commendation in their hands, we in our consciences, being fully aware that the existence of the Church of Corinth, due, under God, to us, is a sufficient authentication of the genuineness of our ministry.’ See 1 Corinthians 9:2. Olshausen, however, regards the words as referring to St Paul’s intercession for the Corinthians, just as the High Priest (Exodus 28:15-30) bore the names of the tribes of Israel on his breast when he went into the holy place to intercede with God. “The regenerate,” he adds, “are linked to the heart of their spiritual father by a spiritual bond.” See notes above, ch. 2 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Corinthians 2:3.

known and read of all men] See note on ch. 2 Corinthians 1:13. The play upon words so characteristic of the Apostle cannot be rendered into English.

3. Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared] The Corinthians ‘fell short in no gift,’ but were ‘enriched by Christ in all utterance and in all knowledge,’ 1 Corinthians 1:7. These were notorious facts that could not be gainsaid, capable of being ‘known of all men.’

to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us] i.e. brought into existence through our instrumentality. It can hardly be said that St Paul has varied the figure of speech here. The Corinthians are an epistle. Of that epistle Christ is the author; the thoughts and sentiments are His. St Paul (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:5; 1 Corinthians 3:7; 1 Corinthians 3:9; 1 Corinthians 4:1; 2 Corinthians 6:1) is the instrument by which the epistle was written. Its characters were preserved by no visible or perishable medium, but by the invisible operation of the Spirit. It was graven, not on stone, but on human hearts. And it was recognized wherever St Paul went as the attestation of his claim to be regarded as a true minister of Christ, and this equally in his own consciousness (see last verse) and in that of all Churches which he visited. Dean Stanley remarks on the number and variety of the similes with which this chapter is crowded.

ink] A black pigment of some kind was used by the ancients for all writings of any length. For shorter writings recourse was frequently had to waxen tablets. See Jeremiah 36:18; 2 John 1:12; 3 John 1:13, and articles Atramentum, Tabulae, Stilus, Liber, in Smith’s Dictionary of Antiquities.

the Spirit of the living God] St Paul never seems to lose sight of the fact that Christianity is a communication of life,—the life of Him who alone is the fountain of life. See note on 1 Corinthians 15:1, and Romans 8:2; Romans 8:10. Cf. also John 1:4; John 5:26; John 5:40; John 14:6; 2 Timothy 1:10; 1 Peter 2:5.

not in tables of stone] See Exodus 24:12; Exodus 34:1; Deuteronomy 9:9-11; Deuteronomy 10:1. Here the Apostle first hints at what is to be the subject of the next section of the Epistle, the inferiority of the law to the Gospel. There is a slight incongruity thus introduced into the simile. One does not write with ink on tables of stone. But the Apostle, in the pregnant suggestiveness of his style, neglects such minor considerations when he has a great lesson to convey. Dean Stanley refers us to Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26-27 and also suggests that the form of the expression ‘tables of the heart,’ may be derived from Proverbs 3:3; Proverbs 7:3, not however from the LXX., which there has a different translation of the Hebrew word.

of the heart] Most recent editors read ‘in fleshy tables, namely, hearts.’ All the old English versions, however, follow the Vulgate here. It is extremely difficult to decide between the two readings, which depend upon the absence or presence of a single letter in the Greek. It should be noted here that the word translated fleshy does not mean carnal, i.e. governed by the flesh, but made of flesh.

4. such trust] Better, perhaps, with the Rhemish version, confidence (Vulgate and Calvin fiducia), i.e. the confidence which St Paul had above expressed (ch. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17) in the reality of his mission and work, or in the fact that the Corinthian Church is in itself a sufficient guarantee of his Apostolic mission (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). See also 1 Corinthians 15:10.

through Christ to God-ward] So Tyndale and Cranmer. Calvin and Erasmus erga Deum. The Vulgate, which is followed by Wiclif, the Genevan and the Rhemish version, has, more literally, ad Deum. The words have been interpreted to mean (1) which will stand the test of God’s trial. (2) Which will be proved and rewarded in the judgment of God. (3) In our relation to God. Or the analogy of John 1:1 (“has His face continually directed towards the Eternal Father,” Liddon, Bampton Lectures) may lead us to conclude (4) that our eyes are directed towards God, the source of our confidence, and that it is through Jesus Christ alone that we possess the right thus to rely on Him. This interpretation is strengthened by a reference to Matthew 19:8, where the preposition is equivalent to in regard to.

5. Not that we are sufficient] We here return to the idea touched upon in ch. 2 Corinthians 2:16, but then passed over on account of St Paul’s eagerness to assert the purity of his motives.

of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves] The two prepositions translated ‘of’ here are not the same in the Greek. The former signifies ‘from’ simply, but not excluding the idea of origination in some source outside us. The latter signifies ‘out of’ as from an original source.

but our sufficiency is of God] Cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9.

6. Who also hath made us able ministers] None of the old English versions have given the threefold repetition of the word by St Paul, who writes, ‘Who hath made us sufficient ministers.’ The word St Paul uses signifies the having reached a certain standard of ability.

of the new testament] We must dismiss all notions here of the book called the “New Testament.” The word in the original (see note on 1 Corinthians 11:25) signifies both testament and covenant. The latter should be the rendering here. St Paul is contrasting the Mosaic with the Christian covenant. There is also no article. The Apostle’s meaning may be thus paraphrased: ‘Who hath endowed us with qualifications sufficient for us to become the ministers of a new covenant.’ It is not to the covenant, but to its newness, that the Apostle would here ask our attention.

not of the letter, but of the spirit] See Jeremiah 31:31-34, and Ezekiel 11:19, before cited. There is an obvious reference to these passages in the text. The difference between the old covenant and the new was that the former prescribed, the latter inspired; the former gave written precepts, the latter the power to fulfil them; the former laid down the rules, the latter brought man’s heart into the condition in which such rules became a part of his nature. “The old form was superseded by the principle. Instead of saying, ‘Thou shalt not say Fool, or Raca,’ Christ gave the principle of Love.” Robertson. The words ‘of the letter,’ and ‘of the spirit,’ however, depend not on the word covenant, but on the word ministers. See also Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:24 and notes. Also, for the expression, Romans 2:27; Romans 7:6. “What then, was not that law spiritual? How then did he say, ‘We know that the law is spiritual?’ Spiritual indeed, for it came from God, but it bestowed not a spirit” Chrysostom.

for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life] Quykeneth, Wiclif. Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:45. The formal enactment, whether positive or negative, can only kill. For while it makes no difference whatever in the condition of the man who fulfils it, it condemns him who disobeys or neglects to perform its precepts. See John 3:17-18; Romans 3:20; Romans 4:20; Romans 5:13; Romans 7:10. The spirit, the breath or influence proceeding from God, can only give life, since it comes from Him who is life, and by breathing into man a new heart, enables him to perform naturally, without the aid of any enactments, the things that are pleasing to God. “The law, if it lay hold of a murderer, putteth him to death; the Gospel, if it lay hold of a murderer, enlighteneth and giveth him life.” Chrysostom. Cf. John 6:63; Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:45; Galatians 6:8; 1 Peter 3:18. Calvin remarks on a singular misconception of the meaning of this passage by Origen and others, who supposed that the reading of Scripture would be useless or even injurious, unless it were allegorically expounded. “Sensus ad Origenis damnata dogmata rejiciendus.” Estius.

7–18. The Ministration of the Spirit superior to that of the Law

7. But if the ministration of death] He does not say ‘which causeth,’ but ‘the ministration of death,’ for that which caused death was sin, while the Law made the sin manifest, but did not cause it. Chrysostom. See Romans 7:7; 1 Corinthians 15:56; Galatians 3:10; Galatians 3:21. As St Paul was the minister of Christ when he proclaimed the good tidings of salvation to mankind, so the law was the minister of death when it proclaimed the sentence of death to the soul that had sinned. See Ezekiel 18:4.

written and engraven in stones] Wiclif, nearer to the original, writun lettris in stones. The reference is to the two tables of the law, Exodus 31:18. Some editors read ‘the ministration of death in the letter, engraved in stones.’

was glorious] Perhaps rather, was constituted, came into being, in glory, i.e. accompanied by glory. Exodus 19:16-20; Exodus 24:6-11; Exodus 34:4-8.

so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold (literally, gaze at) the face of Moses] The brightness of God’s glory was reflected upon the face of Moses (Exodus 34:29-30) to such an extent that the children of Israel dared not approach him. See note on 2 Corinthians 3:13. The Hebrew word used for the rays of light emitted by Moses’ face is derived from a word signifying a horn, according to a simile common among Eastern writers by which the first rays of the sun are called horns, and even the sun itself a gazelle by the Arabs. This the Vulgate renders by cornuta, a rendering which, as Dr Plumptre reminds us, has been the cause why the celebrated Moses of Michael Angelo, familiar to all who have visited Rome and to many who have not, is represented with beams of light in the shape of horns upon the head.

which glory was to be done away] Rather, was being brought to nought. The original meaning of the word rendered ‘done away,’—which (see note on 1 Corinthians 13:8) is rendered in various ways in the A. V.—is to make thoroughly useless or unprofitable, and hence to do away with, abolish, bring to nought. The Apostle does not mean to say here that the brightness on Moses’ face was destined to fade, but that it was fading.

8. How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?] Literally, how shall not the ministration of the spirit rather be in glory, i.e. if the brightness which was actually fading was so glorious that the Israelites could not bear to look at it, how much more shall the ministration of the spirit, which is not destined to be transitory, be and remain glorious. The preposition ἐν denotes the permanency of the glory, the future tense of the verb indicates that whatever the glory of the Gospel dispensation now, there are greater glories in store. All this glory proceeds from the fact that it is the spirit of a Living God that the new dispensation ministers. See 2 Corinthians 3:3.