---
title: 2 Corinthians 3:7
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/2-corinthians-3-7/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/2-corinthians-3-7.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 2 Corinthians 3:7
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 2 Corinthians 3:7

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory,

## JW Usage

JWs often lean on 2 Corinthians 3:7 — Moses' face shone with borrowed, fading glory after he stood before Jehovah — as the template for how Jesus reveals the Father. Just as Moses reflected Jehovah's glory without being Jehovah, Jesus reflects the Father's qualities perfectly without sharing the Father's divine nature. The analogy preserves monotheism as JWs understand it: one supreme being (Jehovah), with Jesus as the supreme creature reflecting him.

## Protestant Usage

Paul himself kills the analogy in the same chapter. 2 Corinthians 3:7 describes Moses' glory as *fading* — "the sons of Israel could not gaze intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, a glory that was to be done away with." That is the point of the passage: the old-covenant glory was transitional, temporary, and passing. In sharp contrast, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says the glory we now see in the face of Christ is being transformed *into* us "from one degree of glory to another" — increasing, not fading.
Then read Hebrews 1:3 in the NWT: Jesus is "the reflection of [God's] glory and the exact representation of his very being." The NWT preserves the second clause — *charaktēr tēs hypostaseōs autou*, the exact impression of God's essence. Moses reflected a glory that was fading; Jesus shares a glory that *is* the Father's being. The categories are not comparable. A creature can reflect; only the eternal Son can be the exact representation. That is why John 14:9 — "whoever has seen me has seen the Father" — works for Jesus and would be blasphemy on Moses' lips.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Seeing the Father in Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john14-9-seen-the-father.md) — John 14:9 / Hebrews 1:3 / Colossians 2:9 [Deity of Christ]
- [All Believers Will See Yahweh's Face](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/aaronic-blessing-unveiled-face.md) — Numbers 6:24-26 / 2 Corinthians 3:18 / 1 John 3:2 [Salvation]