2 Corinthians 3:13
New International Version
We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.

New Living Translation
We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away.

English Standard Version
not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.

Berean Standard Bible
We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.

Berean Literal Bible
and not as Moses would put a veil over his face for the sons of Israel not to look intently into the end of that fading away.

King James Bible
And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

New King James Version
unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.

New American Standard Bible
and we are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not stare at the end of what was fading away.

NASB 1995
and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away.

NASB 1977
and are not as Moses, who used to put a veil over his face that the sons of Israel might not look intently at the end of what was fading away.

Legacy Standard Bible
and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the consequence of what was being brought to an end.

Amplified Bible
and we are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites would not gaze at the end of the glory which was fading away.

Christian Standard Bible
We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadily until the end of the glory of what was being set aside,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the end of what was fading away,

American Standard Version
and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And not as Moses who had laid a veil over his face, so that the children of Israel would not gaze at the termination of that which was ceasing.

Contemporary English Version
We are not like Moses. His face was shining, but he covered it to keep the people of Israel from seeing the brightness fade away.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And not as Moses put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel might not steadfastly look on the face of that which is made void.

English Revised Version
and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
We are not like Moses. He kept covering his face with a veil. He didn't want the people of Israel to see the glory fading away.

Good News Translation
We are not like Moses, who had to put a veil over his face so that the people of Israel would not see the brightness fade and disappear.

International Standard Version
not like Moses, who kept covering his face with a veil to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of what was fading away.

Literal Standard Version
and [are] not as Moses, who was putting a veil on his own face, for the sons of Israel not to look steadfastly into the end of that which is being made useless,

Majority Standard Bible
We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.

New American Bible
and not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not look intently at the cessation of what was fading.

NET Bible
and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective.

New Revised Standard Version
not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside.

New Heart English Bible
and not as Moses, who put a veil on his face, that the children of Israel would not look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away.

Webster's Bible Translation
And not as Moses, who put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

Weymouth New Testament
who used to throw a veil over his face to hide from the gaze of the children of Israel the passing away of what was but transitory.

World English Bible
and not as Moses, who put a veil on his face so that the children of Israel wouldn’t look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away.

Young's Literal Translation
and are not as Moses, who was putting a vail upon his own face, for the sons of Israel not stedfastly to look to the end of that which is being made useless,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Glory of the New Covenant
12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away. 14But 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.…

Cross References
Exodus 34:33
When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Exodus 34:35
and the Israelites would see that the face of Moses was radiant. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

Mark 8:25
Once again Jesus placed His hands on the man's eyes, and when he opened them his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly.

2 Corinthians 3:7
Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory,


Treasury of Scripture

And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

which.

Exodus 34:33-35
And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face…

could not.

2 Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

to the.

Romans 10:4
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Galatians 3:23,24
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed…

Ephesians 2:14,15
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; …

Jump to Previous
Abolished Annulled Children Clearly End Eyes Face Fading Fix Gaze Gazing Hide Intently Israel Israelites Moses Order Passing Present Splendor Steadfastly Stedfastly Throw Transitory Used Vail Veil Wouldn't
Jump to Next
Abolished Annulled Children Clearly End Eyes Face Fading Fix Gaze Gazing Hide Intently Israel Israelites Moses Order Passing Present Splendor Steadfastly Stedfastly Throw Transitory Used Vail Veil Wouldn't
2 Corinthians 3
1. Lest their false teachers should charge him with vain glory,
2. he shows the faith of the Corinthians to be a sufficient commendation of his ministry.
6. Whereupon entering a comparison between the ministers of the law and of the gospel,
12. he proves that his ministry is so far the more excellent,
17. as the gospel of life and liberty is more glorious than the law of condemnation.














(13) And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face.--The Apostle, it must be remembered, has in his thoughts either the LXX. version of Exodus 34:33, or an interpretation of the Hebrew answering to that version. (See Note on 2Corinthians 3:7.) What was the object of this putting on of the veil? The English version of that text suggests that it was to hide the brightness from which they shrank. But the interpretation which St. Paul follows presents a very different view. Moses put the veil over his face that they might not see the end, the fading away of that transitory glory. For them it was as though it were permanent and unfading. They did not see--this is St. Paul's way of allegorising the fact stated--that the whole system of the Law, as symbolised by that brightness, had but a fugitive and temporary being.

Could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished.--Better, look on the end of that which was perishing. Literally, the words state the fact, they could not see how the perishing glory ended. In the interpretation of the parable St. Paul seems to say that what was true of those older Israelites was true also of their descendants. They could not see the true end of the perishing system of the Law, its aim, purport, consummation. There is, perhaps, though most recent commentators have refused to recognise it, a half-allusive reference to the thought expressed in Romans 10:4, that "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness;" or, in 1Timothy 1:5, that "the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart." Had their eyes been open, they would have seen in the fading away of the old glory of the decaying "letter" the dawn of a glory that excelled it. And in the thought that this was the true "end" of the Law we find the ground for the Apostle's assertion that he used great plainness of speech. He had no need to veil his face or his meaning, for he had no fear lest the glory of the gospel of which he was a minister should fade away.

Verse 13. - And not as Moses. We need not act, as Moses was obliged to do, by putting any veil upon our faces while we speak. And here the image of "the veil" as completely seizes St. Paul's imagination as the image of the letter does in the first verses. Put a veil; literally, was putting, or, used to put, a veil on his face when he had finished speaking to the people. That the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished; rather, that the children of Israel might not gaze on the end of what was passing away. The object of the veil, according to St. Paul, was to prevent the Israelites from gazing on the last gleam of the covenant. In other words, he did not wish them to be witnesses of a fading glory. It is preposterous to imagine that St. Paul is here casting any blame on the conduct of Moses, as though he acted fraudulently or delusively. Moses was aware, and even told the people, float his legislation was not final (Deuteronomy 18:15 -19), but it would be quite natural that he should not wish the people to witness the gradual dimming of the lustre which, in St. Paul's view, was typical of that transitoriness. It seems, however, that St. Paul is here either

(1) following a different reading or rendering of Exodus 34:33; or

(2) is adopting some Jewish hagadah; or

(3) is giving his own turn to the narrative, as the rabbis habitually did, by way of midrash, or exposition. For from the narrative of Exodus we should not gather that it was the object of Moses to hide the disappearance of the splendour, but rather to render the light endurable. In our Authorized Version the verse runs, "till Moses had done speaking with them he put a veil on his face;" but the meaning of the original may be, "after he had done speaking with them," as the LXX. takes it and the Vulgate. The end. To interpret this of Christ, because of Romans 10:4, is an instance of the superstitious and unintelligent way in which systems are made out of a mosaic of broken texts. The foolish character of the interpretation is shown when we consider that it involves the inference that Moses put a veil on his face in order to prevent the Israelites from seeing Christi But this attempt to illustrate Scripture by catching at a similar, expression applied in a wholly different way in another part of Scripture, is one of the normal follies of scriptural interpretation.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
[We are]
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

not
οὐ (ou)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

like
καθάπερ (kathaper)
Adverb
Strong's 2509: Even as, just as. From katha and per; exactly as.

Moses,
Μωϋσῆς (Mōusēs)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3475: Or Moses, or Mouses of Hebrew origin; Moseus, Moses, or Mouses, the Hebrew lawgiver.

[who] would put
ἐτίθει (etithei)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 5087: To put, place, lay, set, fix, establish. A prolonged form of a primary theo to place.

a veil
κάλυμμα (kalymma)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 2571: A covering, especially a covering of head and face, a veil. From kalupto; a cover, i.e. Veil.

over
ἐπὶ (epi)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

his
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

face
πρόσωπον (prosōpon)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4383: From pros and ops; the front, i.e. The countenance, aspect, appearance, surface; by implication, presence, person.

to keep
πρὸς (pros)
Preposition
Strong's 4314: To, towards, with. A strengthened form of pro; a preposition of direction; forward to, i.e. Toward.

the
τοὺς (tous)
Article - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Israelites
Ἰσραὴλ (Israēl)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2474: Of Hebrew origin; Israel, the adopted name of Jacob, including his descendants.

[from]
μὴ (mē)
Adverb
Strong's 3361: Not, lest. A primary particle of qualified negation; not, lest; also (whereas ou expects an affirmative one) whether.

gazing
ἀτενίσαι (atenisai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 816: To direct my gaze, look steadily. From a compound of a and teino; to gaze intently.

at
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

the
τὸ (to)
Article - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

end
τέλος (telos)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 5056: (a) an end, (b) event or issue, (c) the principal end, aim, purpose, (d) a tax.

of what
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

was fading away.
καταργουμένου (katargoumenou)
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 2673: From kata and argeo; to be entirely idle, literally or figuratively.


Links
2 Corinthians 3:13 NIV
2 Corinthians 3:13 NLT
2 Corinthians 3:13 ESV
2 Corinthians 3:13 NASB
2 Corinthians 3:13 KJV

2 Corinthians 3:13 BibleApps.com
2 Corinthians 3:13 Biblia Paralela
2 Corinthians 3:13 Chinese Bible
2 Corinthians 3:13 French Bible
2 Corinthians 3:13 Catholic Bible

NT Letters: 2 Corinthians 3:13 And not as Moses who put (2 Cor. 2C iiC 2Cor ii cor iicor)
2 Corinthians 3:12
Top of Page
Top of Page