2 Corinthians

3:1-6

4. The character of Paul's ministry, 2:18-6:13

i] A servant of the new covenant

In this passage Paul encourages the members of the Corinthian church to recognize him as a divinely appointed minister of the new covenant, a minister, not of law, but of grace.

Paul has defended his integrity in 1:12-2:13, and given thanks for his apostolic ministry - for his participation in Christ's triumphs, 2:14-17. This thanksgiving leads Paul into a defence of his ministry, 3:1-6:13 (7:4, Barnett). These chapters form the centre of the letter. We see Paul expressing relief for the positive news conveyed by Titus that his apostleship is generally accepted by the church at Corinth. Yet, there are still some members who are critical of Paul's ministry, and so in chapter 3 Paul begins his defence of his ministry by establishing his role as a servant of the new covenant.

In 3:1-3 Paul begins by stating that he is not into promoting testimonial letters for himself as is the case of some who presently minister in Corinth, v1. It is likely he is referring to the judaizers, nomist believers, possibly from the Jerusalem church, who promote law-obedience as the path to holiness. Paul makes this comment because he has just given thanks for the privileges and responsibilities he has as an apostle, cf. 2:14-17. Unlike some, Paul is not blowing his own trumpet. Paul doesn't need to offer a testimonial for himself since the existence of the church in Corinth is it's own testimonial, v2-3.

In 3:4-6 Paul confidently declares that he is competent to serve as a minister of the new covenant, a competency that comes, not from himself, but from God through Christ. Paul defines this ministry as one that is not of "the letter", of the law that kills, but of "the Spirit", of grace that enlivens. Paul's declaration in these verses stems from the thanksgiving for his apostolic ministry in 2:14-17. "Who is qualified to such a task? .... In Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God."

Paul's commendation is found in the existence of the Corinthian congregation, and certainly not from himself, nor from others, v1-3.

sunistanein (sunistanw) pres. inf. "[are we beginning] to commend" - [do we begin] to commend, recommend (someone to someone else) / introduce. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "begin". Given the presence of h], "or", linking the two equative questions, it is likely that the negation mh, found in the second question, should be assumed in the first, giving the answer "no" to both questions. Paul wants to correct any thoughts that he is into recommending himself, or in need of the recommendation of others.

palin adv. "again" - Has Paul been charged before with a tendency toward self-commendation?

mh crh/zomen (crh/zw) pres. "do we need" - we do not have need of.

w{V adv. "like" - like, as. Comparative.

tineV pro. "some people" - certain. "Some" seems more likely than Harris' "many", although note 2:17, oiJ pollow, "many".

sustatikwn gen. adj. "[letters] of recommendation" - of commendatory, recommendation / introduction [epistles]. Genitive in agreement with epistolwn, "letters", which is a genitive of direct object after the ver crhzw, "need of." Such letters were common in the first century. Lietzmann suggests that Paul had no commendatory letters from the Jerusalem church to authorize his apostleship and that this was used against him by the opposition party in Corinth. On the other hand, it is quite possible that the judaizers who were troubling the Corinthian church had letters of commendation from that segment of the Jerusalem church inclined to promote nomisim - law-obedience for sanctification.

proV + acc. "to [you]" - Harris suggests "commendatory letters (twn) which are addressed to you", rather than "brought to you."

ex + gen. "from [you]" - Source / origin. The Corinthians themselves would be a source of testimonials for the nomist preachers, further bolstering their ministry as they sought to reorientate Paul's missionary church to their version of law-based Christianity.

hJmwn gen. pro. "[you yourselves are] our [letter]" - our [epistle of commendation you yourselves are]. The genitive is possessive. Note the unusual placement of the two pronouns next to each other, hJmwn uJmeiV, "our you". "Our letter you are", Barnett.

eggegammenh (eggrafw) perf. pas. part. "written" - having been written / inscribed. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting / qualifying "letter"; "a letter (which has been) inscribed on your hearts", Bruce. The perfect tense expresses the idea that the letter "cannot slip from our hearts, cannot be forgotten", Plummer.

en + dat. "on" - in, on. Space/sphere; "on our very hearts", Cassirer.

hJmwn "our [hearts]" - [the hearts] of us - The genitive is possessive. The phrase expresses relationship of a paternal kind. The "our" is well attested, but some manuscripts have "your" and this is a more sensible reading. Paul's ministry among them is well known to them and this is his commendation.

ginwskomenh (ginwskw) pres. pas. part. "known" - being known. The participle, as with "being read" and "being manifested", v3, is adjectival along with written; "an epistle which has been written on our hearts and which is being known and read by all men and a revelation that ....." The present tense is durative, possibly iterative.

anaginwskomenh (anaginwskw) pres. pas. part. "read" - being read. cf. 1Cor.9:2. "You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord", in the sense of Paul's evidence to the world.

uJpo + gen. "by [everyone]" - by [all men]. Expressing agency, as NIV. The evidence of the gospel, ministered by Paul and at work in the Corinthians, can be accessed by anyone who looks on.

faneroumenoi (fanerow) pres. mid. part. "You show" - revealing. The participle is possibly adverbial; "since you are manifested", or "because it is manifest that.....", but more likely still adjectival, limiting / qualifying "letter"; see above. Heiring suggests the participle is middle, rather than passive, and therefore, the Corinthians are a "manifestment." The Corinthian church serves as a communication from Christ to the world.

oJti "that" - Introducing a object clause / dependent statement expressing what is revealed / made manifest.

Cristou (oV) gen. "[a letter] from Christ" - [a letter] of Christ. The genitive is ablative, expressing source / origin, as NIV.

uJf (uJpo) + gen. "the result of [our]" - [having been ministered, served] by [us]. Expressing agency.

diakonhqeisa (diakonew) aor. pas. part. "ministry" - having been served. The participle is adjectival, limiting epistolh, "letter"; "a letter which has been ministered by us." Given that the Corinthian church is here described as "a letter", the sense is probably "delivered" or "supplied" by Paul's ministry team. "You are like a letter written by Christ and delivered by us", CEV.

eggegrammenh (eggrafw) perf. pas. pat. "written" - having been written. The participle is again adjectival, limiting "letter"; "a letter .... which has been written."

ou melani dat. adj. "not with ink" - not black, ink. The dative is probably instrumental", as NIV. Ink can we washed away, but the Spirit's inscription (the gospel), evident in the lives of the Corinthians, is permanent.

alla "but" - Strong adversative.

pneumati (a atoV) dat. "with the Spirit" - The dative is instrumental, as NIV.

qeou (oV) gen. "of [the living] God" - of [a living] God. The genitive is adjectival, relational or possessive, possibly ablative, source / origin. The participle "living", zwntoV, genitive in agreement with "God", is adjectival, limiting "God"; "the God who is living" = "the living God."

en + dat. "[not] on" - Expressing space / sphere.

plaxin (ax axoV) dat. "tablets" - A writing tablet usually moulded out of clay.

all (alla) "but" - Contrastive.

sarkinaiV dat. adj. "human [hearts]" - fleshly, mortal [hearts]. The adjective limits "hearts" and together stand in apposition to "tablets", dative in agreement with "tablets". Written on human hearts as opposed to something written on stone. The evidence of the gospel written in the lives of the Corinthians, replaces the evidence of the of the old covenant written on stone (the Law / ten commandments).

The ministry of the new covenant - a ministry of grace, not law, v4-6. Although Paul is not into self commendation, claiming for himself a self-sufficiency apart from God, he is, none-the-less, confident of his competence as a minister of the new covenant, and this through Christ, toward God. "The Spirit has changed the inner lives of the Corinthians, making them obedient from the heart to God, which is expressed in their observable behavior, v2-3, giving Paul confidence that as an apostle to the Messiah Jesus, the Son of God, whom he has proclaimed to the Corinthians, he is a minister of the covenant prophesied by Jeremiah / Ezekiel, in this long-awaited day of God's salvation", Barnett.

de "-" - but, and. Transitional, ie., introducing a new paragraph so not translated, as NIV, but possibly coordinative given the backward referencing toiauthn.

toiauthn pro. "such [confidence] as this" - such, of such a kind. Referencing back; "he is confident that the very existence of the church in Corinth furnishes him with his apostolic credentials", Thrall, so Barrett, Barnett, ..

ecomen (ecw) pres. "is ours" - we have. The plural is probably "we apostles", but possibly "we members of the mission team."

pepoiqhsin (iV ewV) "confidence" - confidence, trust. Emphatic by position. Literally, "we have such confidence." "It is in full reliance upon God through Christ", Barclay.

dia + gen. "through [Christ]" - through, by means of [Christ]. Instrumental; "by means of our union with Christ."

proV + gen. "before God" - Barrett suggests "in God", in that Paul would not be suggesting that he is relying on his own worth. His confidence is not self-confidence. So, his confidence before God is in God. "In the presence of God", Martin.

ouc "not" - Introducing two contrastive clauses; "not ..... (alla) but ....."

oJti "that" - Here forming an epexegetic clause explaining the nature of Paul's "confidence", v4, in the form of a qualification; "however, it is not that we are of ourselves competent ...", Cassirer. The syntax of the epexegetic clause is somewhat complex. It seems likely that Paul is making two points resting on the two prepositions apo and ex: i] "I am not of myself adequate", and ii] "I do not regard anything as derived from myself", cf. Thrall.

iJkanoi adj. "[we are] competent" - [we are] sufficient, competent, capable, qualified, able, worthy. "There is nothing in us that allows us to claim that we are capable of doing this work", TEV.

af (apo) + gen. "in [ourselves]" - from [ourselves]. Expressing source, "out of, from" = "of ourselves."

logisasqai (logizomai) aor. inf. "to claim" - to consider, think, evaluate, reckon / claim, to put down to one's account. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of iJkanoi, "competent, able." "Paul is not himself competent to consider anything as deriving from his own resources", Thrall.

ti "anything" - Any part of Paul's apostolic ministry.

wJV "-" - as if. Comparative.

ex + gen. "for [ourselves]" - out of, from [ourselves]. Expressing source / origin.

all (alla) "but" - Strong adversative; "but on the contrary."

hJ iJkanothV (hV htoV) "competence" - sufficiency, competence, capability. The word is sometimes used of God, the All Sufficient One. Dodd suggests the word has covenantal links. Paul's missionary effort find its source and authority in God and thus is adequate for the task.

ek + gen. "from [God]" - out of, from [God]. Expressing source / origin. As above, "is found in God."

kai "and" - Probably here adjunctive; "who also gave us our sufficiency", Barrett.

o}V rel. pro. "He [has made us competent]" - who [made competent, sufficient, enabled]. Functioning as the subject of the verb "to make [someone] sufficient", obviously "God", v5.

diakonouV (oV) "as ministers" - ministers, servants, agents. The verb is carried from v3, so "to be ministers", ministers of the gospel.

diaqhkhV (h) gen. "of a [new] covenant" - of a [new] covenant, testament. The genitive may be objective, "agents for a new covenant", but adjectival, either possessive, or relational, "in the interests of a new agreement", Goodspeed, may be better. The anarthrous (without an article) construction reflects Jer.38:31, LXX. In Biblical use it takes on the particular Hebrew meaning of an "agreement", particularly a one sided agreement between God and mankind. The covenant is possibly kainoV, "new", in that it is "fresh and effective, with plenty of time to run, in contrast with the old which is worn out and obsolete", Barnett. Yet, it is more likely "new" in that it is "now", ie. "the time of God's favor, the time of salvation", the time promised of old to Abraham and his descendents, the time when it is possible for all humanity to be reconciled to God, the time of covenant realization is a now time in and through Christ. So, here Paul is claiming to be a minister of the covenant prophesied by Jeremiah, and inaugurated by Christ at the Last Supper.

ou grammatoV (a atoV) "not of the letter" - The genitive is adverbial, reference / respect; "not with respect to the letter." Paul is most likely referring to the Mosaic Law here, the letter engraved on stone, v3, ie., the ten commandments. As suggested, the Corinthians possibly put weight on letters of recommendation to validate any ministry undertaken in their church. For Paul, his letter of recommendation is the Corinthians themselves, who are more properly a letter from Christ to the world. Continuing this negative vain, the letter now becomes the Law, or more particularly the nomistic teaching of the Law by members of the Judaizing party. Although not corrupt in itself, the Law is corrupted by the way nomists use it to further their Christian lives. When the Law is used this way it kills, whereas the gospel expedites the life-giving and freeing ministry of the Spirit.

alla "but" - Contrastive.

pneumatoV (a atoV) "of the Spirit" - The genitive is adverbial, reference / respect; "but with respect to the Spirit."

gar "for" - Expressing cause / reason; explaining why the ministry of the new covenant is not of the letter, but of the Spirit.

to ... gramma (a atoV) "the letter [kills]" - Here referring to the Mosaic Law; "for the written law brings death", Barclay.

zwopoiei (zwpoiew) "gives life" - makes alive. "The Spirit of God alone can give life to the soul", Phillips.

Introduction

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