14 but their minds were hardened, for unto this day the same vail at the reading of the Old Covenant doth remain unwithdrawn -- which in Christ is being made useless --
and if also our good news is vailed, in those perishing it is vailed, in whom the god of this age did blind the minds of the unbelieving, that there doth not shine forth to them the enlightening of the good news of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God;
For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, of this secret -- that ye may not be wise in your own conceits -- that hardness in part to Israel hath happened till the fulness of the nations may come in;
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the recognition of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, for your knowing what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of His power to us who are believing, according to the working of the power of His might, which He wrought in the Christ, having raised him out of the dead, and did set `him' at His right hand in the heavenly `places',
because `it is' God who said, Out of darkness light `is' to shine, who did shine in our hearts, for the enlightening of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
And Jesus answering said to him, `Happy art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal `it' to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens.
What then? What Israel doth seek after, this it did not obtain, and the chosen did obtain, and the rest were hardened, according as it hath been written, `God gave to them a spirit of deep sleep, eyes not to see, and ears not to hear,' -- unto this very day, and David saith, `Let their table become for a snare, and for a trap, and for a stumbling-block, and for a recompense to them; let their eyes be darkened -- not to behold, and their back do Thou always bow down.'
I a light to the world have come, that every one who is believing in me -- in the darkness may not remain;
`He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they might not see with the eyes, and understand with the heart, and turn back, and I might heal them;'
And Jesus said, `For judgment I to this world did come, that those not seeing may see, and those seeing may become blind.' And those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and they said to him, `Are we also blind?' Jesus said to them, `If ye were blind, ye were not having had sin, but now ye say -- We see, therefore doth your sin remain.
Again, therefore, Jesus spake to them, saying, `I am the light of the world; he who is following me shall not walk in the darkness, but he shall have the light of the life.'
and he said to them, `These `are' the words that I spake unto you, being yet with you, that it behoveth to be fulfilled all the things that are written in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms, about me.' Then opened he up their understanding to understand the Writings, and he said to them -- `Thus it hath been written, and thus it was behoving the Christ to suffer, and to rise out of the dead the third day,
And he said unto them, `O inconsiderate and slow in heart, to believe on all that the prophets spake! Was it not behoving the Christ these things to suffer, and to enter into his glory?' and having begun from Moses, and from all the prophets, he was expounding to them in all the Writings the things about himself.
And having taken the twelve aside, he said unto them, `Lo, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be completed -- that have been written through the prophets -- to the Son of Man, for he shall be delivered up to the nations, and shall be mocked, and insulted, and spit upon, and having scourged they shall put him to death, and on the third day he shall rise again.' And they none of these things understood, and this saying was hid from them, and they were not knowing the things said.
`Because of this, in similes do I speak to them, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand, and fulfilled on them is the prophecy of Isaiah, that saith, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and ye shall not perceive, for made gross was the heart of this people, and with the ears they heard heavily, and their eyes they did close, lest they might see with the eyes, and with the ears might hear, and with the heart understand, and turn back, and I might heal them.
but if thine eye may be evil, all thy body shall be dark; if, therefore, the light that `is' in thee is darkness -- the darkness, how great!
Hear ye, I pray you, this, O people, foolish and without heart, Eyes they have, and they see not, Ears they have, and they hear not.
Blind `are' his watchmen -- all of them, They have not known, All of them `are' dumb dogs, they are not able to bark, Dozing, lying down, loving to slumber.
They have not known, nor do they understand, For He hath daubed their eyes from seeing, Their heart from acting wisely.
Ye deaf, hear; and ye blind, look to see. Who `is' blind but My servant? And deaf as My messenger I send? Who `is' blind as he who is at peace, Yea, blind, as the servant of Jehovah? Seeing many things, and thou observest not, Opening ears, and he heareth not.
The wicked findeth favour, He hath not learned righteousness, In a land of straightforwardness he dealeth perversely, And seeth not the excellency of Jehovah. O Jehovah, high `is' Thy hand -- they see not, They see the zeal of the people, and are ashamed, Also, the fire -- Thine adversaries, consumeth them. O Jehovah, Thou appointest peace to us, For, all our works also Thou hast wrought for us.
And swallowed up hath He in this mountain The face of the wrapping that is wrapped over all the peoples, And of the covering that is spread over all the nations.
Darkened are their eyes from seeing, And their loins continually shake Thou.
`Son of man, in the midst of the rebellious house thou art dwelling, that have eyes to see, and they have not seen; ears they have to hear, and they have not heard; for a rebellious house `are' they.
saying, Go on unto this people and say, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and ye shall not perceive, for made gross was the heart of this people, and with the ears they heard heavily, and their eyes they did close, lest they may see with the eyes, and with the heart may understand, and be turned back, and I may heal them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Corinthians 3
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
The apostle makes an apology for his seeming to commend himself, and is careful not to assume too much to himself, but to ascribe all praise unto God (v. 1-5). He then draws a comparison between the Old Testament and the New, and shows the excellency of the later above the former (v. 6-11), whence he infers what is the duty of gospel ministers, and the advantage of those who live under the gospel above those who lived under the law (v. 12-18).
2Cr 3:1-5
In these verses,
2Cr 3:6-11
Here the apostle makes a comparison between the Old Testament and the New, the law of Moses and the gospel of Jesus Christ, and values himself and his fellow-labourers by this, that they were able ministers of the New Testament, that God had made them so, v. 6. This he does in answer to the accusations of false teachers, who magnify greatly the law of Moses.
2Cr 3:12-18
In these verses the apostle draws two inferences from what he had said about the Old and New Testament:-