2 Corinthians 3:17

Κυρίου, ἐλευθερία (אABCD) rather than Κυρίου, ἐκεῖ ἐλευθερία (א3D2D3FGKLP, Arm. Aeth.). Hort suspects that the original reading was κύριον, ἑλευθερία.

2 Corinthians 3:1 to 2 Corinthians 6:10. VINDICATION IN DETAIL OF HIS APOSTOLIC OFFICE, OF HIMSELF AS AN APOSTLE, AND OF THE GOSPEL WHICH HE PREACHES

17. ὁ δὲ κύριος τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν. Now the Lord is the Spirit: see on 2 Corinthians 2:16. The interpretations of this difficult passage are many, and we must be content to remain in doubt as to the Apostle’s meaning. But to whatever extent the verse throws light upon Trinitarian doctrine, there is no evidence that it was written for the purpose of doing so. ‘The Lord’ here, as in 2 Corinthians 3:16, means Christ. To turn to Christ is to turn from the letter that killeth to the spirit that giveth life (2 Corinthians 3:6). Thus Christ, and the spirit as opposed to the letter, are treated as in some sense equivalents. As both substantives have the article, we may translate, The Spirit is the Lord; but the order of the words is against it, and the preceding πρὸς Κύριον is decisive. Yet Chrysostom and others take it so, and find in the words evidence for the Divinity of the Holy Spirit, a doctrine which may be gathered from 2 Corinthians 13:13, but which is not here in question. The Lord is the Spirit is probably the right translation; and the meaning, which is at once simple and fitting, is, that to turn to Christ and receive Him is to receive the Spirit of the Lord. We may compare, ‘And the rock was Christ,’ or ‘And Christ was the rock,’ either of which may represent ἡ πέτρα δὲ ἦν ὁ Χριστός (1 Corinthians 10:4). The spiritual rock was Christ in effect. The water of the spiritual rock was to the Israelites what the sustaining presence of Christ is to Christians. The effect in each case was the same, and therefore the cause was the same; the rock was Christ. As to the relation between the effect of Christ’s presence with that of the Spirit’s presence, comp. John 14:16; John 14:26; John 16:7; John 16:14. For patristic interpretations of the passage see Lias, Appendix I., and Chase, Chrysostom, p. 93. But κύριος in both verses must mean Christ, and not Jehovah. The Jews turned to Jehovah, but refused to turn to Christ.

οὗ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα Κυρίου, ἐλευθερία. See critical note. Freedom from the trammels of the Jewish Law is perhaps specially meant, but not exclusively. Spiritual liberty of all kinds may be understood; Galatians 4:31; Galatians 5:1. By the indwelling of the Spirit bondservants are changed into sons. The freedom of the Gospel, its openness (2 Corinthians 3:2), confidence (2 Corinthians 3:4), and boldness (2 Corinthians 3:12), especially in contrast to the formalism and reserve of the Law, is a note which sounds throughout this section. ‘The Spirit bloweth where it listeth’ (John 3:8); its very life is freedom and energy in opposition to the bondage of the letter. Comp. Seneca’s saying, ‘To obey God is liberty’ (De Vit. beat. 15). See Mayor on James 1:25.

Hort conjectures κύριον for Κυρίου (WH. II. App. p. 119). But is it possible that κύριος is the right reading? S. Paul simply draws a conclusion from his previous words, and naturally simply repeats the two words on which all turn. In the latter clause κύριος is not strictly personal, but, on the other hand, is not a mere adjective, as with the reading κύριον. ‘The Lord Jesus is the Source of the life-giving spirit, as opposed to the condemning, death-giving letter: indeed the Lord is the life-giving spirit. But such an identification reveals the sovereign power of that spirit: and where, as in the realm of the Gospel, the spirit (not the letter) is Sovereign, there there is freedom.’ Acts 2:36 is some justification for the otherwise difficult transition from ὁ κύριος, which to us is a proper name, to κύριος as descriptive.