2 Corinthians 3:8

2 Corinthians 3:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
• New International Version (NIV)will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
• English Standard Version (ESV)will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?
• New King James Version (NKJV)how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

Context of 2 Corinthians 3:8

6God has made us his servants. So we are able to tell people the message of his new agreement. This new agreement is not about rules. Rules tell people what they must do and they bring death. But God's new agreement comes from his Spirit. And the Spirit brings new life to us, not death. 7Moses wrote the words of the old agreement on pieces of stone. It showed how great and powerful God was. Moses' face shone brightly after God spoke to him. It did not stay bright, but the Israelite people still could not look at Moses' face. The old agreement that brought death was powerful. So the new agreement, which comes from God's Spirit, will show the power of God even more. 9The old agreement showed people that they were guilty. God's new agreement makes people right with him. So surely the new agreement shows God's power even more than the old one did! 10The old agreement was great and powerful at one time. But now God's new agreement has come in its place. The great power of the new agreement shows that the old agreement is no longer powerful.

2 Corinthians 3:8 word by word

πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἡ διακονία τοῦ πνεύματος ἔσται ἐν δόξῃ;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Howπῶςpōs · how?!G4459
• shallεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• notοὐχίouchi · not!G3780
• the ministrationὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the ministrationδιακονίαdiakonia · serviceG1248
• of the spiritπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: spiritG4151
• ratherμᾶλλονmallon · moreG3123
• ·ἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• gloriousδόξαdoxa · gloryG1391

Cross-references for 2 Corinthians 3:8

• 2 Corinthians 3:6God has made us his servants. So we are able to tell people the message of his new agreement. This new agreement is not about rules. Rules tell people what they must do and they bring death. But God's new agreement comes from his Spirit. And the Spirit brings new life to us, not death.
• 2 Corinthians 11:4You are ready to listen to any false teachers who come to you. They might tell you about a different Jesus from the Jesus that we told you about. They might want you to receive a different spirit from the Spirit that you received from us. They might tell you a different kind of good news from the message that you heard from us. You seem to accept all this!
• Isaiah 11:2The Spirit of the Lord will be with him. The Spirit will make him wise, so that he understands things. The Spirit will show him what is right, and he will have the power to do it. The Spirit will cause him to know the Lord and to serve him truly.
• Isaiah 44:3I will pour water onto land that is thirsty. I will pour streams of water on the dry ground. I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and I will bless them.
• Isaiah 59:21The Lord says, ‘This is the covenant that I make with those people. My Spirit is now with you, and he will not leave you. I have put my words into your mouth, and they will always be with you. They will continue to be in the mouths of your children, and your descendants for ever.’ That is what the Lord says.
• Joel 2:28After that, I will pour out my Holy Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will be prophets. Your old men will dream and your young men will see pictures in their minds. (The Lord will send these to them.)
• John 1:17God gave his Law to us through Moses. But Jesus Christ brought God's grace and his truth to us.
• John 7:39Jesus was speaking about God's Spirit, who would come to people some time after that. Those people who believed in Jesus would receive God's Spirit at that later time. But God had not yet given his Spirit to people, because he had not yet raised Jesus back up to heaven.
• Acts 2:17God says “This is what I will do in the last days. I will give my Spirit to all people. Your sons and daughters will speak my message to people. Your young men will see visions in their minds. And your old men will see things in their dreams.
• Acts 2:32This man that David talked about is Jesus. After his death, God caused him to become alive again. We ourselves saw this happen. All of us saw it.
• Romans 8:9But you are not like that. You no longer obey your weak human thoughts. Instead, you obey God's Spirit as your guide. That is true if God's Spirit is really living in you. But if anyone does not have Christ's Spirit in them, that person does not belong to Christ.
• 1 Corinthians 3:16You surely know that you are like God's special house. As God's people, God's Spirit lives in you.
• 1 Corinthians 12:4The Holy Spirit helps us with different kinds of gifts. But it is the same Spirit who gives them.
• Galatians 3:2So think about this: When you received God's Spirit, was it because you had obeyed the rules of God's Law? No! You received God's Spirit because you heard the message about Christ and you believed it.
• Galatians 5:5But if we trust what Christ has done for us, God's Spirit helps us to wait. We are sure that God will accept us as right with him.
• Ephesians 2:18Now we all have received the same Holy Spirit, because of what Christ has done for us. As a result, we can all come near to God the Father.

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 3:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8The ministration of the Spirit - The Gospel dispensation, which gives the true spiritual sense of the law. Be rather glorious? - Forasmuch as the thing signified is of infinitely more consequence than that by which it is signified. The Thing bread will preserve a man alive; the Word bread can give life to nothing.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8How shall not the ministration of the Spirit - This is an argument from the less to the greater. Several things in it are worthy of notice: (1) The proper contrast to the “ministration of death” 2 Corinthians 3:7, would have been ministration of life.‘ But Paul chose rather to call it the ministration of the spirit;‘ as the source of life; or as conferring higher dignity on the gospel than to have called it simply the ministration of life. (2) by the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-11The old covenant had moments of glory, like when the face of Moses shone from talking with the Lord (Exodus 34:29–35). The old way has been replaced by the new, eternal way (Hebrews 8:8–13).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. be rather glorious--literally, "be rather (that is, still more, invested) in glory." "Shall be," that is, shall be found to be in part now, but fully when the glory of Christ and His saints shall be revealed.Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Corinthians 3:8

• Gospel
• Holy Spirit
• Law
• Minister, Christian

In the dictionaries

• Corinthians, Second Epistle to the
• Plainness
• Sufficiency
• Untaken
• Corinthians, Second Epistle to the
• Covenant, the New
• Exodus, the Book of
• Galatians, Epistle to the
• Law in the New Testament
• Paul, the Apostle

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings