Exodus 34:34

Hebrew Bible

32 After this all the Israelites approached, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking with them, he would put a veil on his face. 34 But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. Then he would come out and tell the Israelites what he had been commanded. 35 When the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:16

New Testament

14 But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, 16 but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

 Notes and References

"... In 2 Corinthians 3:15-18 Paul's statement that 'when one turns to the Lord the veil is lifted' (verse 16) applies to Christ, the phrasing adapted from Exodus 34:34 (where God is clearly the Kyrios before whom Moses takes off his veil). Paul goes on to link Christ with the divine Spirit (verses 17-18), and refers to him as the agent of transforming glory (doxa - Hebrew 'kavod', one of the most important attributes of God in the Old Testament, borne here by Christ) and as the divine image (eikon, 4:4) proclaimed as the Kyrios (4:5), in whose face the glory of God shines forth (4:6) ..."

Hurtado, Larry W. Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (pp. 112-113) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003

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