Passage

2 Corinthians 3.7

Book: 2 Corinthians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"5. not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; 6. who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."

"7. But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory was passing away:"

"8. how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory? 9. For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory." (2 Corinthians 3:5-9, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"5. not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; 6. who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

"7. But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which was passing away:"

"8. won’t service of the Spirit be with much more glory? 9. For if the service of condemnation has glory, the service of righteousness exceeds much more in glory." (2 Corinthians 3:5-9, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6. Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. ^{giveth life: or, quickeneth}"

"7. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:"

"8. How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9. For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory." (2 Corinthians 3:5-9, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"5. not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency [is] of God, 6. who also made us sufficient [to be] ministrants of a new covenant, not of letter, but of spirit; for the letter doth kill, and the spirit doth make alive."

"7. and if the ministration of the death, in letters, engraved in stones, came in glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to look stedfastly to the face of Moses, because of the glory of his face, which was being made useless,"

"8. how shall the ministration of the Spirit not be more in glory? 9. for if the ministration of the condemnation [is] glory, much more doth the ministration of the righteousness abound in glory;" (2 Corinthians 3:5-9, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

G2673 - katargeo

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.