Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Victor Paul Furnish: the "Lord" in 2 Corinthians 3:16-17 is the Father, not the Son

  

Four points in particular tell against a christological reference here: (1) Even though this is not an actual citation from scripture, not only has the text from Exod 34 been in Paul’s mind since v. 7, but its language has in certain specific ways influenced his own throughout this whole passage; (2) While there are important christological aspects to the discussion in this part of the letter, these are nevertheless secondary to a specifically theological emphasis has been present since 2:14 . . . (3) When, in 1 Thess 1:9, Paul echoes the same missionary formulation which along with Exod 34:34 has influenced the wording of the present verse . . . the reference is explicitly to God (epestrepsate pros ton Theon). (4) When Paul proceeds in the following verse to identify the Lord, he does not do so with any specifically christological title. (Victor Paul Furnish, II Corinthians [AB 32a; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1984], 211-12)