Five-minute study · Day 214 · 2 Corinthians 3
2 Corinthians 3:18
A word worth stopping on: beholding/reflecting as in a mirror κατοπτριζόμενοι katoptrizomenoi
'But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.' The word translated 'beholding as in a glass' is katoptrizomai. It appears once in the entire New Testament. Only here. The word can mean two things simultaneously: to behold something in a mirror, and to reflect something like a mirror. Paul may be saying both. You gaze at the Lord's glory, and as you gaze, you become a mirror that reflects what you see. The looking and the becoming happen in the same act.
Word study: beholding/reflecting as in a mirror
- Greek
- κατοπτριζόμενοι
- Pronounced
- katoptrizomenoi
- Strong's
- G2734
- Definition
- To behold as in a mirror, to reflect as a mirror. Middle voice, which can carry either meaning or both simultaneously. From katoptron (mirror). A hapax legomenon in the New Testament.
Katoptrizomai appears only in 2 Corinthians 3:18. BDAG notes the word derives from katoptron (mirror) and in the middle voice can mean either 'beholding as in a mirror' or 'reflecting as a mirror.' The ambiguity is likely intentional. Harris's commentary on 2 Corinthians argues that both senses operate simultaneously: believers gaze at the glory of the Lord (beholding) and, in the act of gazing, become reflective surfaces (mirroring). The looking transforms the looker into a reflector.
Ancient mirrors were polished metal, typically bronze or a bronze-copper alloy. They produced a real but imperfect reflection. Corinth was famous for its bronze work. Pliny the Elder (Natural History 33.45) mentions Corinthian bronze as especially prized. Paul, writing to Corinthians, chose a mirror metaphor that his audience understood from their own city's industry. The mirrors they used daily were Corinthian bronze: functional, valuable, and slightly imperfect.
The middle voice of katoptrizomai is critical. Greek verbs in the middle voice indicate the subject acting on or for itself. The believers are actively engaged in the process. They are doing the beholding. They are becoming the mirrors. The transformation is participatory. Paul uses the present participle (katoptrizomenoi), indicating ongoing, continuous action. This is a sustained gaze that produces a sustained transformation.
The phrase 'from glory to glory' (apo doxes eis doxan) describes incremental change. The transformation is progressive. Each act of beholding produces another degree of glory. Harris notes that this contrasts with Moses' experience in Exodus 34:29-35, where the glory on his face faded and he covered it with a veil. The believers' glory does not fade. It increases. Moses' reflected glory diminished over time. The believer's reflected glory accumulates.
The agent of transformation is 'the Spirit of the Lord' (3:18b). The beholding provides the occasion. The Spirit performs the actual change. Paul's model of spiritual transformation here is visual and relational: you are changed by what you look at. Sustained attention to the glory of the Lord, mediated by the Spirit, reshapes you into the image of what you behold. You become what you gaze at.
Historical context · Mid-first century AD, Paul's correspondence with the church at Corinth
Bronze Mirrors and Unveiled Faces in Corinth
Second Corinthians was written during a period of intense conflict between Paul and the Corinthian church. False apostles had arrived in Corinth, questioning Paul's authority, his speaking ability, and his credentials (10:10, 11:5-6). Paul's response in 2 Corinthians is his most personal and emotionally raw letter. Chapter 3 addresses the nature of his ministry by comparing the old covenant (mediated through Moses, written on stone) with the new covenant (mediated through the Spirit, written on hearts).
The mirror metaphor in 3:18 draws on Exodus 34:29-35. When Moses descended from Sinai after speaking with God, his face radiated glory. The Israelites were afraid of the glow. Moses put a veil over his face. Paul interprets the veil in 3:13: Moses covered his face so the Israelites would not see the glory fading. The veil concealed the temporary nature of the old covenant's glory.
Paul's argument: in the new covenant, the veil is removed (3:16). Believers see God's glory directly, with 'unveiled face' (3:18). The removal of the veil is attributed to 'the Lord' who 'is that Spirit' (3:17). Where the Spirit of the Lord is, 'there is liberty' (3:17), the freedom to gaze without a barrier.
Corinth's bronze industry provides the material context. The city was renowned for bronze production. Corinthian bronze (aes Corinthium) was a prized alloy that Pliny, Plutarch, and Cicero all mention. Bronze mirrors were everyday objects in Corinthian households. When Paul wrote katoptrizomai to the Corinthians, he was using an image drawn from their daily experience. They polished bronze mirrors. They knew what it meant to see a reflection, slightly imperfect, recognizable, real enough to work with.
Harris notes that 3:18 is the theological climax of Paul's argument in chapters 3-4. The progression is deliberate: the old covenant had glory (3:7). The new covenant has surpassing glory (3:9). Moses veiled the fading glory (3:13). Believers behold the unfading glory with unveiled faces (3:18). The transformation from beholding to becoming is the new covenant's distinctive gift. The mirror metaphor captures both the mode (looking) and the result (reflecting). You are changed by sustained, unveiled attention to the glory of the Lord.
For reflection
Katoptrizomai means you become what you gaze at. Paul says the process is ongoing, present tense, continuous. What are you looking at most? Screen hours alone tell part of the story. What occupies your sustained attention, the thing you return to when your mind is idle? That is the mirror you are standing in front of. It is shaping you into its image. Paul says believers who gaze at the Lord's glory become mirrors of that glory. The transformation is progressive: 'from glory to glory.' One degree at a time. What would it look like to redirect your sustained gaze toward the Lord's glory for one week and see what changes?
Corinthian bronze mirrors showed a real reflection. Imperfect, slightly distorted, recognizable. You do not have to see perfectly to be transformed by what you see.
Sources: BDAG; Harris, 'The Second Epistle to the Corinthians' (NIGTC); Pliny, Natural History 33.45; Exodus 34:29-35