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

6He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. 7The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? 9If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! 10In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way.

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 enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.
• 2 Corinthians 11:4You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.
• Isaiah 11:2And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
• Isaiah 44:3For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children.
• Isaiah 59:21“And this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!
• Joel 2:28“Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.
• John 1:17For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.
• John 7:39(When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
• Acts 2:17‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.
• Acts 2:32“God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.
• Romans 8:9But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
• 1 Corinthians 3:16Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
• 1 Corinthians 12:4There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.
• Galatians 3:2Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.
• Galatians 5:5But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us.
• Ephesians 2:18Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

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