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2 Corinthians 3 · a question people ask

"For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (3:6). What is the letter here?

In the text

3:6 doesn't name it further. Its words end a sentence about "servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit" (3:6). Before it, the chapter speaks of writing "not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh" (3:3); after it, of "the service of death, written engraved on stones" (3:7). Christians read 3:6 in more than one way. These notes choose no reading, and use the verse against no way of reading Scripture, no church and no person.

The verses

“being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh.”
2 Corinthians 3:3 · World English Bible
“who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face, which was passing away,”
2 Corinthians 3:6-7 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Corinthians 3

2 Corinthians 3: With unveiled face

In 2 Corinthians 3 the WEB's letter stands for two Greek words: the readers are "a letter of Christ" (3:3), and "the letter kills" (3:6). And the chapter that tells of Moses' veil (3:13) ends with "we all, with unveiled face" (3:18).

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions