What does the apostle Paul mean when he uses the word “veil” in 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:3?

For years I didn’t really understand 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:3 because I was looking for a single referent for the veil imagery in the passage. Some time ago, though, I realized that a key to understanding the passage is to acknowledge that Paul keeps shifting the referent as he moves through this section of his letter to the Corinthians. In a span of ten verses, Paul uses the word “veil” four times along with the adjectives “unveiled” and “veiled” (once each). But what is Paul referring to when he utilizes veil imagery? Here’s the passage, with veil language bolded:

3:12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 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, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. […skipping 4:1-2 since no “veil” imagery is found in those verses…] 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 3:12-4:3).

A key to understanding Paul’s use of the veil in this passage is to acknowledge that he shifts the referent (= the thing he is referring to) each time he mentions it.

But first a bit of background. Why does Paul use the image of a veil in the first place? Paul is drawing upon something that happened to Moses during the time the children of Israel were camping out at the base of Mount Sinai. Exodus 34:29-35 explains that when Moses came down from the mountain after receiving the Law tablets, his face shone with the glory of the Lord. This freaked the people out. So Moses decided that he would wear a veil over his face when he was with people. But whenever he went to speak with God, he would take the veil off.

Paul draws upon this Old Testament story, adding a detail that doesn’t appear (at least not clearly) in Exodus 34. Moses, Paul says, kept wearing a veil because the glory on his face didn’t last — and Moses didn’t want the children of Israel to see the passing glory of his face (3:13; cf. 3:7). Paul draws upon this comment to start using the veil as an analogy for spiritual truth. But Paul doesn’t use the veil to only point up one spiritual truth. (That would be way too easy, Paul!) Instead, Paul uses it in four ways. That is, Paul points toward four referents, not one, when he metaphorically applies the veil. If you try to make the veil refer to a single idea rather than to four in this passage, you’ll misrepresent Paul’s apparent intentions. Here are Paul’s four referents:

Referent #1: When Paul refers to the veil in 3:12-13, he is contrasting his own boldness and the boldness of his ministry team (“we are very bold”) with Moses’s decision to keep a veil on his face. Moses, we are told, wore a veil because he didn’t want the people to see that the glory on his face was passing.

Summary of referent #1 (3:12-13): The veil represents lack of boldness.

Referent #2: Paul shifts the metaphor in 3:14-16 away from Moses to the children of Israel — and connects the veil to Jews living during his time. Paul says of his contemporary Jews that their minds were hardened because of their failure to accept Christ, resulting in an inability to truly understand the most important thing about the Old Covenant: Jesus. So, whenever Jews in his day read the Old Testament Law, says Paul, “a veil lies over their hearts” (3:15). But whenever a person turns to the Lord, “the veil [of misunderstanding the Law] is removed” (3:16).

Summary of referent #2 (3:14-16): The veil represents misunderstanding the Law.

Referent #3: Now Paul shifts the referent to his fellow believers, including himself and his ministry team. In 3:18, Paul doesn’t use the word “veil” explicitly, but he does say that believers in Jesus have an “unveiled face,” thus continuing to use the veil imagery. Moreover, Paul explains that those who have believed behold the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into ever-increasing glory through a work of the Spirit. The unveiling in 3:17-18 represents the transformation that comes through the Spirit to those who have turned to the Lord. This suggests that the implied veil is the incapacity to participate in the glorious transformation that God intends for his people.

Summary of referent #3 (3:17-18): The (implied) veil represents a lack of access to the transforming glory of God.

Referent #4: Finally, Paul shifts the referent of the veil to unbelievers in general in 4:3-4. Whereas the unbelievers of referent #2 (3:14-16) were Jews who did not accept Jesus, now Paul uses veil imagery to refer to anyone who does not accept Jesus: those “who are perishing” (4:3), that is, “unbelievers” in general (4:4). Paul doesn’t use the noun “veil,” but clearly implies it when he says the gospel has been “veiled” to unbelievers. The reason for the veiling is because “the god of this world” (= Satan) has blinded their minds. In other words, they can’t see the light because their spiritual eyes have been covered with a veil.

Summary of referent #4 (4:3-4): The (implied) veil represents blindness to the gospel.

Perhaps now you can sympathize with why I previously had difficulty understanding this passage. I had assumed that the “veil” likely pointed to the same spiritual reality everywhere it appeared. It was only when I noticed that Paul was trying to communicate four different truths through his veil imagery that the passage began to make sense to me.

In summary, what are the four truths that Paul wanted to communicate through his use of veil imagery?

1. We should share the gospel openly and confidently (= referent #1).

2. Jews who don’t believe in Jesus misunderstand the main point of the Law (= referent #2).

3. Believers in Jesus are being transformed by the glory of God (= referent #3).

4. Unbelievers have been blinded by Satan (= referent #4).

I hope this short foray into Paul’s veil imagery has helped you understand one rich and deep passage of the Bible just a little bit better.


This post and other resources are available at Kindle Afresh: The Blog and Website of Kenneth Berding.