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?
• 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?
• New Living Translation (NLT)Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?

Context of 2 Corinthians 3:8

6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory.

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 3:6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
• 2 Corinthians 11:4For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
• Isaiah 11:2The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
• Isaiah 44:3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
• Isaiah 59:21“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.
• Joel 2:28“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
• John 1:17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
• John 7:39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
• Acts 2:17“ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
• Acts 2:32God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
• Romans 8:9You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
• 1 Corinthians 3:16Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
• 1 Corinthians 12:4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.
• Galatians 3:2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?
• Galatians 5:5For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.
• Ephesians 2:18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

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