05_Tack_copiaaaaa_85-112 28/04/15 12:35 Pagina 102 102 LAURA TACK that brings about transformation 57 as is also the case with the meta- morphosis described in Rom 12,2 58. As we indicated above, the Spirit is prominently present in 2 Corinthians 3. The Spirit is not only the alternative “ink” that is used to write the letter of recom- mendation (3,3); the Spirit is also the defining characteristic of the new covenant (3,6) and is above all the factor that brings about openness (3,17). According to E. Wong, “the Spirit is the unveiler” 59. According to her, this is evident from 2 Cor 3,17 which identi- fies the Spirit with freedom and which, because of its link with 2 Cor 3,16, refers to the freedom which is involved in the act of un- veiling (periairei/tai to. ka,lumma 2 Cor 3,16) 60. 2 Cor 3,2b exem- plifies the idea of openness by the letter of recommendation that is “to be known and read by all”. In 2 Cor 3,18 this idea of free open- ness is described by the unveiled face. But there is more to say about the action of the Spirit. The participle katoptrizo,menoi ex- plains what all inspired Christians are able to do with their unveiled face. They are, as it were, embodying an open letter of recommen- dation with their unveiled faces. Set within the broader literary con- text of 2 Cor 3,18, the participle thus describes the kind of transformation that is going on after this metamorphosis has been set in motion by the Spirit, as van Unnik pointed out 61. F. Back mentions a similar process that is described in the Jewish literature contemporary to Paul 62. So it seems that the subject of v. 18 is being transformed as he/she is reflecting the do,xa as a mirror. As such, katoptrizo,menoi is best understood as a modal participle, indicating the way in which the action of the main verb proceeds. If this is indeed the case, Paul might be influenced here, as Fitzmyer indicates, by an existing tradition in Qumran literature on the divine illumination of the face of the Teacher of Righteousness 63. Of course, the literary context of 2 Cor 3,18 determines whether this 57 F. BACK, Verwandlung durch Offenbarung bei Paulus. Eine religions- geschichtliche-exegetische Untersuchung zu 2 Kor 2,14 – 4,6 (WUNT II, 153; Tübingen 2002) 128-155; THRALL, Second Epistle, 288. 58 C. CRANFIELD, The Epistle to the Romans (ICC; Edinburgh 1979) II, 607. 59 WONG, “Lord”, 70. 60 Ibid., 63-64. 61 VAN UNNIK, “Unveiled”, 169. 62 BACK, Verwandlung durch Offenbarung bei Paulus, 24-38. E.g., PHILO, De Virtutibus § 217 on the conversion of Abraham. 63 FITZMYER, “Glory”, 74-78.