2 Corinthians 3:14 says that the minds of Paul’s Jewish contemporaries were hardened, so that a veil still covers their reading of the old covenant, and that this veil is taken away only in Christ. Paul is describing why many people who read the Hebrew Scriptures still fail to see what those writings were pointing toward. He wrote this letter to the church in Corinth, a mostly Gentile congregation in a Greek city, and he uses the image of Moses’ veil to explain the difference between the old covenant and the new one.
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.
2 Corinthians 3:14 (WEB)
What 2 Corinthians 3:14 Means
The phrase “their minds were hardened” describes a spiritual dullness, a reluctance to see God’s purpose. Paul is not saying the Scriptures were unclear in themselves. He is saying that a hardened mind does not receive what is plainly there. The word “until this very day” reflects his own time, when the old covenant was still read in the synagogues every week, yet the meaning of Moses’ law remained hidden to many who heard it.
The “same veil” recalls Exodus 34, where Moses covered his face after speaking with God. In Paul’s picture, the veil is no longer on Moses’ face but over the hearts of the readers. The verse then offers the hope at its center: the veil “passes away” in Christ. Paul does not say that everyone who reads the Bible will suddenly understand it. He says that understanding comes through Christ, and that the barrier Paul is describing is removed by turning to him.
The Context of 2 Corinthians 3:14
Second Corinthians is traditionally attributed to Paul, written to a church he had founded and that had faced rival teachers who questioned his authority. In chapter 3 he defends his ministry by contrasting the letter of the law with the Spirit. He argues that the old covenant, though glorious, was passing away, and that the new covenant is far greater in glory. The Corinthians, many of them new to Jewish Scripture, needed to understand why Christ fulfilled what Moses had begun.
Just before verse 14, Paul explains that Moses veiled his face so the people would not see the fading of the glory. Just after it, in verses 15 and 16, he says the veil lies on the heart whenever Moses is read, but is taken away whenever a person turns to the Lord. Read in this setting, verse 14 is the hinge of the argument. It explains why the veil is a spiritual problem and why the answer is not a better reading of the law but a turning toward Christ.
Key Phrases in 2 Corinthians 3:14
Luke 24:45
Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.
(WEB)
In this verse the risen Jesus opens the minds of his disciples so they can understand the Scriptures. It offers a helpful parallel to 2 Corinthians 3:14, showing that the same Christ who removes the veil also enables people to grasp what the Old Testament was saying about him.
Exodus 34:33
When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.
(WEB)
This is the original scene behind Paul’s image. Reading it alongside 2 Corinthians 3:14 helps you see how Paul takes a detail from Moses’ life and uses it to explain the spiritual condition of his readers and the freedom Christ brings.
A Short Prayer From 2 Corinthians 3:14
Lord, I confess that I do not always see what your word is saying to me. Some days my heart feels stiff, and familiar passages pass by without touching me. Turn me toward you again. Take away whatever veil keeps me from seeing Christ clearly in every page of Scripture. Open my mind and soften my heart so that I may read with understanding and be changed by what I read. Thank you that the veil is taken away in Christ. Amen.
