2 Corinthians 3:16

Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Nevertheless	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
when	ἡνίκα hēnika	G2259	at which time · conjunction
turn	ἐπιστρέψῃ epistrepsē	G1994	to revert (literally · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
to	πρὸς pros	G4314	a preposition of direction · preposition
Lord	κύριον, kurion	G2962	supreme in authority · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title
vail	κάλυμμα. kalumma	G2571	a cover · noun — nominative singular neuter
away	περιαιρεῖται periaireitai	G4014	to remove all around · verb — present passive indicative, 3rd person singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 34:34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the child…
Isaiah 25:7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
Isaiah 29:18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
John 6:45-46 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, com…
Jeremiah 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the…
Romans 11:23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
Romans 11:25-27 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part i…
Lamentations 3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 3:12–end

In these verses the apostle draws two inferences from what he had said about the Old and New Testament: - I. Concerning the duty of the ministers of the gospel to use great plainness or clearness of speech. They ought not, like Moses, to put a veil upon their faces, or obscure and darken those things which they should make plain. The gospel is a more clear dispensation than the law; the things of God are revealed in the New Testament, not in types and shadows, and ministers are much to blame if they do not set spiritual things, and gospel-truth and grace, in the clearest light that is possible. Though the Israelites could not look stedfastly to the end of what was commanded, but is now abol…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Corinthians 3:16

Moses took off the veil on entering into the presence of the Lord. So as to the Israelites whom Moses represents, "whensoever their heart (it) turns (not as English Version, 'shall turn') to the Lord, the veil is (by the very fact; not as English Version, 'shall be') taken away." Exo 34:34 is the allusion; not Exo 34:30-31, as ALFORD thinks. Whenever the Israelites turn to the Lord, who is the Spirit of the law, the veil is taken off their hearts in the presence of the Lord: as the literal veil was taken off by Moses in going before God: no longer resting on the dead letter, the veil, they by the Spirit commune with God and with the inner spirit of the Mosaic covenant (which answers to the g…

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Adam Clarke on 2 Corinthians 3:16

When it shall turn to the Lord - When the Israelitish nation shall turn to the Lord Jesus, the veil shall be taken away; the true light shall shine; and they shall see all things clearly. There is an evident allusion here to the case of Moses, mentioned Exo 34:34. When he came from the Lord, and spoke to the Israelites, he put the veil over his face; but when he returned to speak with the Lord, then he took off the veil. So, when the Israelitish nation shall return to speak with and pray to the Lord Jesus, the veil of darkness and ignorance shall be taken away from their hearts; but never before that time. The words seem to imply: 1. That there will be a conversion of the Jews to Christianit…

The Church Fathers

The same is true for you as well. When you believe in Christ, the veil of your unbelief will be taken away.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 305

The Lord himself, the Holy Spirit himself, must be entreated by us to remove every cloud and all darkness which obscures the vision of our hearts, hardened with the stains of sins, in order that we may be able to behold the spiritual and wonderful knowledge of his law.
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 1

For thus the apostle said, "If anyone turns to the Lord, the veil will be removed; for where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." Therefore, the Lord himself, the Holy Spirit himself must be entreated by us to remove every cloud and all darkness which obscures the vision of our hearts hardened with the stains of sins in order that we may be able to behold the spiritual and wonderful knowledge of his law, according to him who said, "Take the veil from my eyes and I shall observe the wonders of your law."32.
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 1.4

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Moses — Drawn (or Egypt. mesu, “son;” hence Rameses, royal son). On the invitation of Pharaoh (Gen. 45:17-25), Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. This immigration took place probably about 350 years…
Thessalonians, Second Epistle To The — appears to have been written from Corinth not very long after the first, for Silvanus and Timotheus were still with St. Paul. (2 Thessalonians 1:1) In the former letter we saw chiefly the outpouring…
Jews, The · Promises respecting: The removal of their blindness — Promises respecting: The removal of their blindness
Mysteries · OF RE — OF RE
Vail Or Veil · Illustrative: Of the spiritual blindness of the Jewish nation — Illustrative: Of the spiritual blindness of the Jewish nation
Veil · .By Moses, to screen his face when he — .By Moses, to screen his face when he

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Corinthians 3:16

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 3:12–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Corinthians 3:16

Adam Clarke on 2 Corinthians 3:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Corinthians 3:16

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 3:12–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Corinthians 3:16

Adam Clarke on 2 Corinthians 3:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 2 Corinthians 3:16

John Calvin on 2 Corinthians 3:12–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Corinthians 3:16-18