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, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness! Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures! Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 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. 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. And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD. Aaron and all the Israelites looked at Moses, and behold, his face was radiant. And they were afraid to approach him. But Moses called out to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. And after this all the Israelites came near, and Moses commanded them to do everything that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, 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.
Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.” “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.” The LORD continued, "There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock, and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”
And the LORD descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the LORD. Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: "The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped.
But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded,
Walk the Square · a single-voice walk of this pair around the Clowney square8:20
Significance
This is one of Paul's most sustained OT expositions in his letters. Key interpretive moves: (1) Moses' glory was "fading" (katargoumenēn)—Paul reads temporariness into the narrative; (2) The veil concealed this fading from Israel; (3) "the same veil" (3:14) now lies over Israel's hearts when Scripture is read; (4) The veil is taken away "whenever anyone turns to the Lord" (echoing Exod 34:34); (5) New covenant ministry surpasses old through a fortiori: if the ministry that condemns had glory, how much more the ministry that gives righteousness! (6) Believers now have "unveiled faces" beholding God's glory and being progressively transformed. Christologically: Christ's face is where God's glory is supremely revealed (cf. 4:6), surpassing Moses whose reflected glory faded.
Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Allusion
Connection Method(s)
Contrast (veiled, fading glory vs. unveiled, transforming glory); the Moses-mediator typology is a convergence owned by the Moses trajectory (TT 104), cross-referenced below rather than carried as this pair's method
Hermeneutical Notes
NT Use Pattern: Ironic / Inverted — Moses's veil — originally to protect Israel from the fading glory of his face — is reread by Paul as a veil that obscures the gospel for unbelieving Israel. The protective function is inverted into a hardening function.
