格林多后书 2 Corinthians Chapter 3
2 Corinthians
Chapter 3
1 1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you?
我们岂又开始举荐我们自己吗？或者，难道我们也应像某些人一般，需要给你们递上荐书，或由你们写荐书吗？
2 You are our letter, 2 written on our hearts, known and read by all,
你们就是我们的荐书，是写在我们心上，为众人所共知共读的，
3 3 shown to be a letter of Christ administered by us, written not in ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.
因为明显地，你们就是我们供职所写的基督的书信：不是用墨水写的，而是以生活的天主圣神；不是写在石版上，而是在血肉的心版上。
4 4 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.
我们借着基督在天主前才敢这样自信，
5 Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God,
但这并不是说：我们凭自己能够承担什么事，好似出于自己一般；而是说：我们所以够资格，是出于天主，
6 who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life. 5
并且是他使我们能够做新约的仆役：这约并不是在于文字，而是在于神，因为文字叫人死，神却叫人活。
7 6 7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, was so glorious that the Israelites could not look intently at the face of Moses because of its glory that was going to fade,
如果那以文字刻在石头上而属死的职务，尚且有过光荣──甚至以色列子民为了梅瑟面貌上易于消逝的光荣，不能注视他的面貌──
8 how much more 8 will the ministry of the Spirit be glorious?
那么，属神的职务，岂不更该有光荣吗？
9 For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness will abound much more in glory.
如果先前定罪的职务有过光荣，那么，成义的职务更该多么充满光荣！
10 Indeed, what was endowed with glory has come to have no glory in this respect because of the glory that surpasses it.
其实，那先前有过光荣的，因了这更超越的光荣，已算不得光荣了，
11 For if what was going to fade was glorious, how much more will what endures be glorious.
因为如果那易于消逝的曾一度有过光荣，那么，这常存的更该多么有光荣！
12 Therefore, since we have such hope, 9 we act very boldly
所以，我们既怀有这种希望，所以坦白行事，
13 and not like Moses, 10 who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not look intently at the cessation of what was fading.
不像梅瑟一般，将帕子蒙在脸上，免得以色列子民看到那易于消逝的光荣的终结；
14 Rather, their thoughts were rendered dull, for to this present day 11 the same veil remains unlifted when they read the old covenant, because through Christ it is taken away.
但是他们的心意陷于迟钝，因为直到今天，在读旧约时，同样的帕子仍然存在，没有揭去，因为只有在基督内才得除去；
15 To this day, in fact, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts,
而且直到今天，几时读梅瑟时，还有帕子盖在他们的心上；
16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed.
他们几时转向主，帕子就会除掉。
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, 12 and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
主就是那神；主的神在那里，那里就有自由。
18 13 All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.
我们众人以揭开的脸面反映主的光荣的，渐渐地光荣上加光荣，都变成了与主同样的肖像，正如由主，即神在我们内所完成的。
Footnotes(注解)
1 [1] Paul seems to allude to certain preachers who pride themselves on their written credentials. Presumably they reproach him for not possessing similar credentials and compel him to spell out his own qualifications (2 Cor 4:2; 5:12; 6:4). The Corinthians themselves should have performed this function for Paul (2 Cor 5:12; cf 2 Cor 12:11). Since he is forced to find something that can recommend him, he points to them: their very existence constitutes his letter of recommendation (2 Cor 3:1-2). Others who engage in self-commendation will also be mentioned in 2 Cor 10:12-18.
2 [2-3] Mention of "letters of recommendation" generates a series of metaphors in which Paul plays on the word "letter": (1) the community is Paul's letter of recommendation (2 Cor 3:2a); (2) they are a letter engraved on his affections for all to see and read (2 Cor 3:2b); (3) they are a letter from Christ that Paul merely delivers (2 Cor 3:3a); (4) they are a letter written by the Spirit on the tablets of human hearts (2 Cor 3:3b). One image dissolves into another.
3 [3] This verse contrasts Paul's letter with those written . . . in ink (like the credentials of other preachers) and those written . . . on tablets of stone (like the law of Moses). These contrasts suggest that the other preachers may have claimed special relationship with Moses. If they were Judaizers zealous for the Mosaic law, that would explain the detailed contrast between the old and the new covenants (2 Cor 3:6; 4:7-6:10). If they were charismatics who claimed Moses as their model, that would explain the extended treatment of Moses himself and his glory (2 Cor 3:7-4:6). Hearts of flesh: cf Ezekiel's contrast between the heart of flesh that the Spirit gives and the heart of stone that it replaces (Ezekiel 36:26); the context is covenant renewal and purification that makes observance of the law possible.
4 [4-6] These verses resume 2 Cor 2:1-3:3. Paul's confidence (2 Cor 3:4) is grounded in his sense of God-given mission (2 Cor 2:17), the specifics of which are described in 2 Cor 3:1-3. 2 Cor 3:5-6 return to the question of his qualifications (2 Cor 2:16), attributing them entirely to God. 2 Cor 3:6 further spells out the situation described in v 3b and "names" it: Paul is living within a new covenant, characterized by the Spirit, which gives life. The usage of a new covenant is derived from Jeremiah 31:31-33 a passage that also speaks of writing on the heart; cf 2 Cor 3:2.
5 [6] This verse serves as a topic sentence for 2 Cor 3:7-6:10. For the contrast between letter and spirit, cf Romans 2:29; 7:5-6.
6 [3:7-4:6] Paul now develops the contrast enunciated in 2 Cor 3:6b in terms of the relative glory of the two covenants, insisting on the greater glory of the new. His polemic seems directed against individuals who appeal to the glorious Moses and fail to perceive any comparable glory either in Paul's life as an apostle or in the gospel he preaches. He asserts in response that Christians have a glory of their own that far surpasses that of Moses.
7 [7] The ministry of death: from his very first words, Paul describes the Mosaic covenant and ministry from the viewpoint of their limitations. They lead to death rather than life (2 Cor 3:6-7; cf 2 Cor 4:7-5:10), to condemnation rather than reconciliation (2 Cor 3:9; cf 2 Cor 5:11-6:10). Was so glorious: the basic text to which Paul alludes is Exodus 34:29-35 to which his opponents have undoubtedly laid claim. Going to fade: Paul concedes the glory of Moses' covenant and ministry, but grants them only temporary significance.
8 [8-11] How much more: the argument "from the less to the greater" is repeated three times (2 Cor 3:8, 9, 11). 2 Cor 3:10 expresses another point of view: the difference in glory is so great that only the new covenant and ministry can properly be called "glorious" at all.
9 [12] Such hope: the glory is not yet an object of experience, but that does not lessen Paul's confidence. Boldly: the term parresia expresses outspoken declaration of Christian conviction (cf 2 Cor 4:1-2). Paul has nothing to hide and no reason for timidity.
10 [13-14a] Not like Moses: in Exodus Moses veiled his face to protect the Israelites from God's reflected glory. Without impugning Moses' sincerity, Paul attributes another effect to the veil. Since it lies between God's glory and the Israelites, it explains how they could fail to notice the glory disappearing. Their thoughts were rendered dull: the problem lay with their understanding. This will be expressed in 2 Cor 3:14b-16 by a shift in the place of the veil: it is no longer over Moses' face but over their perception.
11 [14b-16] The parallelism in these verses makes it necessary to interpret corresponding parts in relation to one another. To this present day: this signals the shift of Paul's attention to his contemporaries; his argument is typological, as in 1 Cor 10. The Israelites of Moses' time typify the Jews of Paul's time, and perhaps also Christians of Jewish origin or mentality who may not recognize the temporary character of Moses' glory. When they read the old covenant: the lasting dullness prevents proper appraisal of Moses' person and covenant. When his writings are read in the synagogue, a veil still impedes their understanding. Through Christ: i.e., in the new covenant. Whenever a person turns to the Lord: Moses in Exodus appeared before God without the veil and gazed on his face unprotected. Paul applies that passage to converts to Christianity: when they turn to the Lord fully and authentically, the impediment to their understanding is removed.
12 [17] The Lord is the Spirit: the "Lord" to whom the Christian turns (, 2 Cor 3:16) is the Spirit of whom Paul has been speaking, the life-giving Spirit of the living God (2 Cor 3:6, 8), the inaugurator of the new covenant and ministry, who is also the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of the Lord: the Lord here is the living God (2 Cor 3:3), but there may also be an allusion to Christ as Lord (2 Cor 3:14, 16). Freedom: i.e., from the ministry of death (2 Cor 3:7) and the covenant that condemned (2 Cor 3:9).
13 [18] Another application of the veil image. All of us . . . with unveiled face: Christians (Israelites from whom the veil has been removed) are like Moses, standing in God's presence, beholding and reflecting his glory. Gazing: the verb may also be translated "contemplating as in a mirror"; 2 Cor 4:6 would suggest that the mirror is Christ himself. Are being transformed: elsewhere Paul speaks of transformation, conformity to Jesus, God's image, as a reality of the end time, and even 2 Cor 3:12 speaks of the glory as an object of hope. But the life-giving Spirit, the distinctive gift of the new covenant, is already present in the community (cf 2 Cor 1:22, the "first installment"), and the process of transformation has already begun. Into the same image: into the image of God, which is Christ (2 Cor 4:4).