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Exegesis of 2 Corinthians 3:16-4:6

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Exegesis of 2 Corinthians 3:16-4:6 6 Exegesis of 2 Corinthians 3:16-4:6 As we diseussed in eh. 5, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to explain and defend his ministry, partieularly in response to opponents who had newly ar­ rived at the Corinthian ehureh. Our seleeted text, 2 Cor 3:16-4:6, is embedded in the heart of the letter. 1 It is part of a lengthy seetion that diseusses the main theme of the letter, namely, the apostolie ministry of Pau1. 2 Immediate Literary Background We will follow the deeision of several eommentators who identity this seetion as beginning at 2 Cor 2:14 and ending at 7:4. They have de­ seribed it as a "lengthy artieulation ofthe nature and purpose ofhis min­ istry,"3 a "defense ofthe ministry ofthe new eovenant,"4 and a "defenee of the apostolie ministry."5 Paul had previously experieneed challenges to his authority in the Corinthian ehureh and had responded in 1 Cor 9. There he appealed to his authority as an apostle, his personal eneounter with the Lord, his establishing of the ehureh, and their fellowship with him in the Lord. "Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?" (1 Cor 9:1). But eircumstanees had ehanged with 1 Our exegesis of this passage relies foremostly on Bamett, Second Epistle to the Corin­ thians; Barrett, Second Epistle to the Corinthians; ]oseph A. Fitzmyer, "Glory Reflected on the Face of Christ (2 Cor 3:7-4:6) and a Palestinian ]ewish Motif," TS 42 (1981); Fur­ nish, II Corinthians; Greenwood, "The Lord Is the Spirit"; Hanson, "Midrash in 2 Co­ rinthians 3"; Harris, Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Hooker, "St. Paul's Use of Scripture"; Craig S. Keener, 1-2 Corinthians (NCBC; Cambridge, UK.: Cambridge University Press, 2005); Martin, 2 Corinthians; Richardson, Paul's Language; R. V. G. Tasker, The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (TNTC 8; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963); Thrall, Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Willem Comelis van Unnik, "With Un­ veiled Face: An Exegesis of 2 Corinthians 3: 12-18," NovT 6 (1963). 2 Martin, 2 Corinthians, vii-viii. 3 Carson et al., Introduction to the NT, 261. 4 Bamett, Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 51. 5 Thrall, Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 1:xiii. 150 The Glory cif God in the Face cifJesus Christ the arrival of pseudo-apostles. They claimed their understanding and ex­ perience were superior to his, they asserted their alleged apostolic au­ thority against his (probably claiming the authority of the mother church in Jerusalem), and they cultivated their own relations hip with the Co­ rinthians in his absence. The contlict had mutated and intensified due to these new Jewish Christian voices. Consequently Paul was compelled to explain the difference between traditionalJudaism and the gospel ofJesus Christ and the distinctiveness ofhis own ministry as apostle to the Gen­ tiles. He again resorted to rhetorical questions to establish his authority, but this time he cited the Corinthian believers themselves as the fruit and proof ofhis ministry, something the new teachers could not claim. "Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? Y ou yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read byall" (2 Cor 3:1-2). Thus 2 Cor 2:14-4:6 is both apologetic and po­ lernical. 6 If2 Cor 1-7 came at the end ofthe Corinthian correspondence, the purpose was more generally instructional than strictly polemical, but Paul was still concemed to establish his apostolic authority, his ministry, and his gospel. Because of the need to respond to these Jewish Christian intluences, the engagement withJewish ideas is apparent in 2 Cor 3-4. A compari­ son with Qumran texts underscores the Jewish connection.7 Of course, Paul used this occasion to do more than respond to his opponents at Corinth. He took the opportunity to explain more generally why Jews, Gentile God-fearers, and any Christians who observed or respected the law of Moses should now focus their faith on Jesus Christ. Following is a simple oudine of 2 Cor 2:14-7:4, with an expansion of part 2 because it contains our selected passage: Nature and Purpose cif Paul' s Ministry, 2 Cor 2: 14--7: 4 1. Paul' s ministry among the Corinthians, 2: 14-17 2. Paul's ministry ofthe new covenant, 3:1-4:6 a. Letters of recommendation, 3: 1-3 b. The new covenant in contrast to the old, 3:4-15 c. New covenant work ofJesus Christ by the Spirit, 3:16-18 d. The gospel of the new covenant revealed in Jesus Christ, 4: 1-6 3. Ministry of present distress and future glory, 4:7-5:10 4. Ministry of reconciliation, 5:11-21 5. Appeal for an open heart toward Paul, 6:1-13 6. Appeal to act as the temple ofGod, 6:14-7:1 7. Appeal to accept Paul's ministry, 7:2-4 6 Richardson, Paul's Language, 142, 147. 7 Fitzmyer, "Glory Reflected," 631. .
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