‘The Lord Is the Spirit’ (3:17)
The interpretation of this phrase has
long been a matter of debate, particularly as it so closely identifies ‘the
Lord’ (ὁ κύριος) and ‘the Spirit’ (τὸ πνεῦμα). In addition, the place that 3:17 has
in the overall argument of 3:12–18 is very difficult to determine. The tension
here is so great that some interpreters have suggested removing the verse
altogether, on the grounds that it is a post-Pauline interpolation, perhaps
deriving from Gnostic circles. It is not surprising that the relationship of ὁ κύριος to τὸ πνεῦμα remains
crucial to any interpretation of the passage, and most exegesis has focused on
this question. Many commentators take ὁ κύριος to refer to Jesus Christ, although its
precise relationship to the articular use of τὸ πνεῦμα remains a
matter of considerable debate and in the opinion of some calls into question
this line of interpretation. Alternatively, some commentators take ὁ κύριος to refer
to Yahweh Himself, based upon a parallelism of thought with 3:16a. Such an
interpretation has the added attraction of allowing a firm linkage of thought
with 3:18b to be established. Thus, the troublesome phrase in 3:18b καθάπερ ἀπὸ κυρίου πνεύματος (with
which Paul concludes the chapter) can be paraphrased as, ‘Such is the influence
of the Lord (Yahweh), who, after all, is present with us in the form of the
Spirit (of Christ)’. In the end, it may be impossible to make a firm decision
between the two possibilities, in that the Spirit serves as the medium of the Christian’s
experience of Christ, and through him, the experience of the living God he
represents. (Larry Kreitzer, 2 Corinthians
[Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996], 99-100)