2 Corinthians 4:3

3. But if--Yea, even if (as I grant is the case). hid--rather (in reference to 2Co 3:13-18), "veiled." "Hid" (Greek, Col 3:3) is said of that withdrawn from view altogether. "Veiled," of a thing within reach of the eye, but covered over so as not to be seen. So it was in the case of Moses' face. to them--in the case only of them: for in itself the Gospel is quite plain. that are lost--rather, "that are perishing" (1Co 1:18). So the same cloud that was "light" to the people of God, was "darkness" to the Egyptian foes of God (Ex 14:20).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Verse 3. But if our gospel be hid. Paul here calls it his gospel, because it was that which he preached, or the message which he bore. Rom 16:5. The sense here is, "if the gospel which I preach is not understood; if its meaning is obscure or hidden; if its glory is not seen." It is implied here, that to many the beauty and glory of the gospel was not perceived. This was undeniable, not withstanding the plainness and fulness with which its truths were made known. The object of Paul here is to state that this fact was not to be traced to any want of clearness in the gospel itself, but to other causes--and thus probably to meet an objection which might be made to his argument about the clearness and fulness of-the revelation in the gospel. In the language which Paul uses here, there is undoubted allusion to what he had said respecting Moses, who put a vail on his face, 2Cor 3:13. He had hid or concealed his face, as emblematic of the nature of his institutions, 2Cor 3:14; and here Paul says that it was not to be denied that the gospel was vailed also to some. But it was not from the nature of the gospel. It was not because God had purposely concealed its meaning. It was not from any want of clearness in itself. It was to be traced to other causes.

It is hid to them that are lost. On the meaning of the word here rendered "lost," 2Cor 2:15, there rendered "perish." It is hid among them, who are about to perish; who are perishing, (εντοιςαπολλυμενοις;) those who deserve to perish. It is concealed only among that class who may be designated as the perishing, or as the lost. Grotius explains this, "those who deserve to perish, who foster their vices, and will not see the truth which condemns those vices." And he adds, that this might very well be; for, "however conspicuous the gospel was in itself, yet like the sun it would not be visible to the blind." The cause was not in the gospel, but in themselves. This verse teaches, therefore,

(1.) that the beauty of the gospel may be hidden from many of the human family. This is a matter of simple fact. There are thousands and millions to whom it is preached who see no beauty in it, and who regard it as foolishness.

(2.) That there is a class of men who may be called, even now, the lost. They are lost to virtue, to piety, to happiness, to hope. They deserve to perish; and they are hastening to merited ruin. This class in the time of Paul was large; and it is large now. It is composed of those to whom the gospel is hidden, or to whom it appears to be vailed, and who see no beauty in it. It is made up indeed of all the profane, polluted, and vile; but their characteristic feature is, that the gospel is hidden from them, and that they see no beauty and glory in it.

(3.) This is not the fault of the gospel. It is not the fault of the sun where men shut their eyes and will not see it. It is not the fault of a running stream, or a bubbling fountain, if men will not drink of it, but rather choose to die of thirst. The gospel does not obscure and conceal its own glory any more than the sun does. It is in itself a clear and full revelation of God and his grace; and that glory is adapted to shed light upon the benighted minds of men.

(*) "hid" "covered" (a) "that are lost" 2Thes 2:10

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Verse 3 But if our Gospel be hid - Κεκαλυμμενον· Veiled; he refers to the subject that he had treated so particularly in the conclusion of the preceding chapter. If there be a veil on the Gospel, it is only to the wilfully blind; and if any man's heart be veiled that hears this Gospel, it is a proof that he is among the lost, απολλυμενοι, those who are fully under the power of sin; who have given up themselves to work wickedness; persons who are mere heathens, or live like such, and yet such as Jesus Christ came to seek and save; for the word does not necessarily imply those that will perish eternally, but is a common epithet to point out a man without the Gospel and without God in the world. Christ commands his disciples in preaching the Gospel to go to προβατα τα απολωλοτα, the Lost sheep of the house of Israel; Mat 10:6; for himself says, Mat 18:11, and Luk 19:10 : The Son of man is come ζητησαι και σωσαι το απολωλος, to seek and to Save that which is Lost. And such persons he represents under the parable of the lost sheep; for to find το απολωλος, that which is Lost, the good shepherd leaves the ninety-and-nine in the wilderness, and goes in search of it; Mat 18:12; Luk 15:4. The word more properly signifies, in all those connections, and in the parallel passages, not those who Are Lost, but those who are perishing; and will perish, if not sought and saved.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain