II Corinthians 3:14 · Bible study
2 Corinthians 3:14 Commentary: Unveiling the Veil
Greek · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why Paul says the veil remains over Jewish minds when the Old Testament is read, and how Christ alone removes it.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Jewish minds are hardened so that the old covenant’s true purpose, to point to Christ, remains veiled when they read the Law.
- Key words: ἐπωρώθη (were hardened), νοήματα (minds), κἀλυμμα (veil), καταργεῖται (is being removed).
- Main debate: Whether the veil remains because the covenant is not yet abolished, or because the people fail to see that it is abolished in Christ.
- Theological theme: Spiritual blindness is overcome only in Christ; the old covenant finds its fulfillment and end in him.
- Best use: To explain Jewish unbelief in the apostolic era, and to challenge Christians about their own readiness to see Christ in all Scripture.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.
WEB World English Bible 2000
But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains, because in Christ it passes away.
KJV King James Version 1769
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
but their minds were hardened: for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remaineth, it not being revealed to them that it is done away in Christ.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
but their minds were hardened, for unto this day the same vail at the reading of the Old Covenant doth remain unwithdrawn--which in Christ is being made useless--
Darby Darby Bible 1890
But their thoughts have been darkened, for unto this day the same veil remains in reading the old covenant, unremoved, which in Christ is annulled.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
But their senses were made dull. For, until this present day, the selfsame veil, in the reading of the old testament, remaineth not taken away (because in Christ it is made void).
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Empero los sentidos de ellos se embotaron; porque hasta el día de hoy les queda el mismo velo no descubierto en la lección del antiguo testamento, el cual por Cristo es quitado.
Porém suas mentes foram endurecidas, porque até hoje fica o mesmo véu ainda coberto na leitura do antigo pacto, o qual é extinto por Cristo.
Mais ils sont devenus durs d’ entendement. Car jusqu’ à ce jour le même voile demeure quand, ils font la lecture de l’ Ancien Testament, et il ne se lève pas, parce que c’ est en Christ qu’ il disparaît.
sondern ihre Sinne sind verstockt. Denn bis auf den heutigen Tag bleibt diese Decke unaufgedeckt über dem alten Testament, wenn sie es lesen, welche in Christo aufhört;
Maar hun zinnen zijn verhard geworden; want tot op den dag van heden blijft hetzelfde deksel in het lezen des Ouden Testaments, zonder ontdekt te worden, hetwelk door Christus te niet gedaan wordt.
Ma le loro menti furon rese ottuse; infatti, sino al dì d’oggi, quando fanno la lettura dell’antico patto, lo stesso velo rimane, senz’essere rimosso, perché è in Cristo ch’esso è abolito.
Ale zatwardzone są zmysły ich; albowiem aż do dzisiejszego dnia taż zasłona w czytaniu starego testamentu zostaje nie odkryta, która przez Chrystusa skażenie bierze.
Но умы их ослеплены: ибо то же самое покрывало доныне остается неснятым при чтении Ветхого Завета, потому что оно снимается Христом.
但 他們的 心地 剛硬， 直到 今日 誦讀 舊 約的時候， 這 帕子 還沒有 揭去。 這帕子在 基督 裡已經廢去了。
But their minds were made hard: for to this very day at the reading of the old agreement the same veil is still unlifted; though it is taken away in Christ.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Koine Greek)
New Testament · Koine Greek · II Corinthians 3:14
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Paul describes a spiritual hardening affecting Jewish minds when the Law is read (Barnes, Calvin). The veil on Moses’ face becomes a metaphor for this blindness. All affirm that the veil is removed only in Christ (Clarke, Gill, Wesley). The point of debate is the grammar of the final clause. The Greek has μὴ ἀνακαλυπτόμενον (not being lifted) and then hoti (that/because) and katargeitai (is being removed). Older translations (KJV) take the participle with “veil” (remaineth untaken away) and read hoti as “which”, the veil itself is done away in Christ. But most modern commentators (Vincent, Cambridge Bible) take μὴ ἀνακαλυπτόμενον as a nominative absolute: “it not being revealed that it (the old covenant) is being done away in Christ.” So the veil persists not because the covenant is still in force, but because the readers fail to see that Christ has already nullified it. The substantive agreement: unbelief, not unfinished redemption, keeps the veil in place.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Traditional (KJV reading): The veil itself is said to be done away in Christ; the grammar links ‘untaken away’ directly to the veil and hoti as a relative pronoun.
- Modern critical reading: The old covenant is being abolished in Christ, but the people do not perceive it; the participle is a nominative absolute and hoti means ‘that’ (Vincent, Cambridge Bible).
What is clear: Paul identifies a persistent spiritual blindness that only turning to Christ can remove.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Nature of the veil | It symbolizes spiritual blindness or unbelief that prevents understanding the true meaning of the Old Testament. | Some emphasize cognitive blindness (inability to grasp the meaning), while others highlight volitional hardness (refusal to submit to God). |
| Identity of 'the old covenant' | Paul refers to the Mosaic law/covenant given at Sinai, as read in synagogue worship. | Does it include just the Torah (Cambridge Bible) or the entire Old Testament corpus (Gill)? |
| Subject of 'is being done away' (καταργεῖται) | Something is rendered inoperative or abolished in Christ. | The KJV and older tradition take the subject as the veil itself; most modern versions and commentators take it as the old covenant. |
| Human responsibility vs. divine hardening | Both Moses’ veil and the present blindness are under God’s sovereign purpose and also involve human culpability. | Barnes stresses the simple fact of human hardness without assigning cause; Calvin sees it as God’s punishment for contempt of Christ. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Paul draws directly from Exodus 34:33, 35. After speaking with God, Moses’ face shone with glory, and he covered it with a veil so the Israelites would not see its radiance fade. Paul reads this as a prophetic sign: the fading glory of the old covenant was hidden by the veil, yet the people also failed to see what the veil signified, the temporary nature of the Mosaic economy.
By the first century, synagogue worship included a regular reading of the Law and the Prophets (Acts 13:15; 15:21). Adam Clarke notes that Jewish practice at the time involved covering the head with a prayer shawl (tallith) during scripture reading, which he takes as a living symbol of the continued spiritual veil. Paul’s argument in 2 Corinthians 3 contrasts the old covenant of letter and condemnation (vv. 6, 9) with the new covenant of the Spirit and righteousness. The “old covenant” here refers to the Mosaic law given at Sinai, the written code that, while glorious, was always intended to point beyond itself to Christ (v. 15 equates it with “Moses” as read in the synagogue).
The “veil” stands for the inability to see that the Law’s purpose was preparatory; it has been fulfilled in the Messiah. The tragedy Paul diagnoses is not that God has hidden the truth, but that the people’s hardened minds (ἐπωρώθη, aorist passive of πωρόω, “were hardened”, a condition they entered into) still resist the light that has come. Paul knew this blindness firsthand from his own pre-Damascus days. His hope is that the same grace that opened his eyes can open theirs, and ours.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note a textual variation involving the conjunction after μὴ ἀνακαλυπτόμενον. Some manuscripts may have read the relative pronoun ὅ (ho, “which”) instead of the conjunction ὅτι (hoti, “that/because”), which would change the clause from a statement of cause/revelation to a descriptive relative (“which veil is done away”). Vincent states that the best texts read hoti, not ho. The participle μὴ ἀνακαλυπτόμενον is also ambiguous in case; most modern editors take it as a nominative absolute. No other significant variants are mentioned in the supplied materials.
Reception History
In the early church, Chrysostom read the grammar to emphasize that the veil remains because the covenant’s passing away is not yet perceived by the hearers. During the Reformation, Calvin stressed human hardness as culpable ignorance, while the Geneva Bible linked the verse to Jewish stubbornness. Wesley and Clarke continued an allegorical reading, with Clarke connecting the veil to the Jewish prayer shawl (tallith) as a contemporary symbol of the same blindness. Across traditions, this verse has been used both to explain ongoing Jewish unbelief and to warn Christians against reading Scripture without reference to Christ.
Preaching This Verse
Three-Point Outline
- The human condition: hardened minds. Paul uses πωρόω, meaning to callous or harden. This is not passive victimhood, their own resistance is implicated. Yet Moses’ veil foretold it.
- The continuing symptom: a veil at the reading. Even when the Scriptures are read, the same covering remains. The very word of God becomes opaque when the heart is not turned toward Christ.
- The only cure: Christ removes the veil. The old covenant is not abolished in itself, it is done away in Christ. Turn to the Lord, and the veil is taken away (v. 16). This is the gospel invitation.
Five-Point Outline
- The wrong remedy, Paul’s plain speech vs. Moses’ veil (vv. 12, 13).
- The root problem, minds hardened, not merely mistaken (v. 14a).
- The enduring symptom, the same veil at every reading of the old covenant (v. 14b).
- The unseen reality, the covenant is already passing away in Christ (v. 14c).
- The turning point, to the Lord, and the veil is gone (v. 16).
Illustration Hooks
- A frosted window. The text is right there, but the frost blinds you to the view beyond. The law is good; the frost is the hardness in us that Christ alone melts.
- Reading instructions you don’t want to follow. You scan the manual but skip the parts that require change. That is the veil: selective blindness to what demands surrender.
Questions Your Congregation Is Asking
- “If the old covenant is done away, why do Christians still read the Old Testament?”
- “How do I know if a veil is over my own heart when I read the Bible?”
- “Is spiritual blindness my fault, God’s doing, or both?”
Leading a Discussion
This verse challenges us to examine how we read Scripture. Is there a veil we bring? Why do we sometimes fail to see Jesus in the pages of the Old Testament? Paul says the problem is not the text but the heart.
Discussion Questions
- Read Exodus 34:29, 35. How did Moses’ veil originally function? What did it prevent the people from seeing?
- Paul says “their minds were hardened” (v. 14). From the commentaries, what does the Greek verb πωρόω suggest about the nature of this hardness?
- Why does Paul tie the veil specifically to the synagogue practice of reading the old covenant (v. 14)? What does that imply about ritual and receptivity?
- The grammatical debate in v. 14c: does the veil remain because the covenant is not yet abolished, or because people do not perceive that it is abolished? Which reading makes more sense of the whole passage (vv. 13, 18)?
- How does verse 16 (“whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away”) answer the problem stated in verse 14?
- Can you identify areas where a “veil” might be over your own reading of Scripture, blinding you to Christ in a particular text or topic?
- How does this passage shape your understanding of the relationship between the Old and New Testaments?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Psalms 69:23 | Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see. Let their backs be continually bent. |
| Isaiah 6:10 | Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.” |
| Isaiah 25:7 | He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations. |
| Isaiah 26:10 | Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully, and will not see Yahweh’s majesty. |
| Isaiah 26:12 | Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us. |
| Isaiah 42:18 | “Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see. |
| Isaiah 42:20 | You see many things, but don’t observe. His ears are open, but he doesn’t listen. |
| Isaiah 44:18 | They don’t know, neither do they consider, for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see, and their hearts, that they can’t understand. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
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What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke connects the veil described by Paul directly to the tallith, the prayer shawl Jews traditionally wear when reading the Law. This physical covering, he observes, perfectly symbolizes the spiritual dullness that still hides the true meaning of the Old Testament from them, a veil that can only be lifted through Christ.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that Paul uses a word meaning hardened rather than blinded: the Jewish people's minds had become dull, so they could not grasp their own Scriptures. He emphasizes Paul is stating a fact, not its cause. The veil over the Old Testament is removed only in Christ, who harmonizes every previously obscure prophecy.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin stresses that the fault lies entirely with the Jews' own blindness, not the law itself. The veil that covered Moses' face prefigured a stubborn dullness that would persist in the nation, so that even when the law is preached they see nothing. The law is bright, but its splendor is only enjoyed when Christ appears in it; since they turn away from Christ, they remain in darkness.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note stresses that the same veil that darkened Israel's minds in Moses' day still remains when the Old Testament is read, until a person turns to Christ. Only in Christ is that covering taken away, so the mind is hardened no longer.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill distinguishes between the literal veil on Moses' face and the spiritual veil of blindness still covering Jewish hearts when they read the Old Testament. He insists this veil remains until Christ removes it through His Spirit and the Gospel's light, which alone reveals how the Old Testament agrees with the New.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB stresses that the veil on Jewish hearts is a hardening of their understanding, not just a covering. It remains because they refuse to see that the Old Testament law is abolished in Christ. Only by coming to Christ is the veil removed.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry emphasizes that gospel ministers must speak plainly, unlike Moses who veiled his face. The law was obscure, full of types and shadows, but Christ has removed that veil. Now believers can clearly see the fulfillment of those shadows and are transformed by beholding the Lord's glory directly.
Vincent's Word Studies Evangelical 1887
Vincent argues that the veil over Israel's minds remains not because the old covenant is abolished in Christ, but because of their own hardened hearts. He insists the original Greek means they fail to see that the Mosaic ministry is being done away in Christ—the veil stays because this truth is not revealed to them.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley stresses that the veil over unbelievers' minds is not even partially lifted, allowing no glimmer of light. He specifies that the veil is not on the Old Testament writings themselves but on the reading of them and on the heart that refuses belief. It is removed only in Christ, from the heart of true believers.