This is a continuation of the sentence started at the beginning of the previous verse. However, the relative clause beginning with who … should probably be made into a new sentence in many languages. One can begin with “Indeed, it is he [God] who…” or something similar.
On the first person plural pronouns, see comments on 2 Cor. 3.4.
Has made us competent: the verb tense in Greek may be translated with the perfect tense in English, as in Revised Standard Version (also Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), or with the simple past tense, as in Good News Translation. If, as seems likely, Paul is looking back to the specific call of God as in Gal 1.15-16, then the past tense of Good News Translation better expresses Paul’s thought here. If, on the other hand, Paul’s focus is on the results of what God did, then a translation such as New Jerusalem Bible expresses the thought clearly: “He has given us the competence to be ministers.” If the latter interpretation is followed, the habitual verb form may be required in certain languages.
The word ministers does not refer to ordained clergy or even to modern-day deacons, although the word used here, diakonos, is the origin of our English word “deacon.” The Greek word means simply “one who serves.”
The concept of a new covenant appears in the Old Testament in Jer 31.31-34, and elsewhere in the New Testament in Luke 22.20 and 1 Cor 11.25. A covenant is an agreement, usually between two parties. As indicated in A Handbook on the Letter to the Hebrews (pages 243–244), the term covenant is “the most central theological concept in the Old Testament.” In the New Testament it defines the new relationship between God and human beings that has been created by the life and death of Jesus Christ. There is both continuity and difference involved in the Old and New Testament concepts. The term also means “testament” or “will” in certain contexts. In the present context it is a special contract between God and humanity. In this agreement all the conditions are determined by one party (God), but that does not indicate that the one who sets the conditions is a tyrant. While it is true that the initiative is completely God’s, the benefits are completely for his people. The receptor language term chosen to translate covenant will almost certainly require an extensive entry in the glossary.
The words not in a written code, literally “not of a letter,” mean that the new covenant is not an agreement that has been put in writing, as was God’s written covenant expressed in the Old Testament. The word for “letter” here is not the same as in the expression “letters of recommendation” in verses 1 and 2 of this chapter but is the word for letters of the alphabet. Thus the emphasis here is on the act of writing. Note that Good News Translation, like many other modern versions, supplies the implied word “law.” Some other models are “matters written down” or “written letters” (New Jerusalem Bible).
But in the Spirit is literally “but of spirit.” This spirit is not the human spirit but the Spirit of God. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation correctly capitalize Spirit. The new covenant is “spiritual” (Revised English Bible, Knox, Translator’s New Testament). In some languages it may be necessary to say explicitly “the Spirit of God” or “the Holy Spirit” (Contemporary English Version).
The written code kills, but the Spirit gives life: in some languages it is necessary to state the object of the verbs kills and gives life. The meaning is that the Law of Moses leads to spiritual death of people, while God’s Spirit gives people spiritual life. Also, the verb “kill” may not fit naturally in the receptor language with “written law” or “written code” as its subject. In this case it may be less awkward to say “leads to death,” “causes death,” or “brings death.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .