Text -- 2 Thessalonians 3:2 (NET)

3:2 and that we may be delivered from perverse and evil people. For not all have faith.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 2Th 3:2

And that we may be delivered ( kai hina rusthōmen ).

A second and more personal petition (Milligan). First aorist passive subjunctive of ruomai , old verb to rescue. Note change in tense from present to aorist (effective aorist).

Robertson: 2Th 3:2

From unreasonable and evil men ( apo tōn atopōn kai ponērōn anthrōpōn ).

Ablative case with apo . Originally in the old Greek atopos (a privative and topos ) is out of place, odd, unbecoming, perverse, outrageous, both of things and persons. Ponēros is from poneō , to work (ponos ), looking on labour as an annoyance, bad, evil. Paul had a plague of such men in Corinth as he had in Thessalonica.

Robertson: 2Th 3:2

For all have not faith ( ou gar pantōn hē pistis ).

Copula estin not expressed. Pantōn is predicate possessive genitive, faith (article with abstract substantive) does not belong to all. Hence their evil conduct.

Vincent: 2Th 3:2

Unreasonable ( ἀτόπων )

See on Luk 23:41, and comp. Act 25:5; Act 28:6. In lxx in a moral sense, iniquitous , Job 4:8; Job 11:11; Job 34:12. The word originally means out of place.

Vincent: 2Th 3:2

All men have not faith

See on Act 6:7; see on Gal 1:23.

Wesley: 2Th 3:2

And all men who have not are more or less unreasonable and wicked men.

JFB: 2Th 3:2

Literally, men out of place, inept, unseemly: out of the way bad: more than ordinarily bad. An undesigned coincidence with Act 18:5-9. Paul was now at Corinth, where the JEWS "opposed themselves" to his preaching: in answer to his prayers and those of his converts at Thessalonica and elsewhere, "the Lord, in vision," assured him of exemption from "the hurt," and of success in bringing in "much people." On the unreasonable, out-of-the way perversity of the Jews, as known to the Thessalonians, see 1Th 2:15-16.

JFB: 2Th 3:2

Or as Greek, "the faith" of the Christian: the only antidote to what is "unreasonable and wicked." The Thessalonians, from their ready acceptance of the Gospel (1Th 1:5-6), might think "all" would similarly receive it; but the Jews were far from having such a readiness to believe the truth.

Clarke: 2Th 3:2

Unreasonable and wicked men - The word ατοπων, which we translate unreasonable, signifies rather disorderly, unmanageable; persons out of their place - under no discipline, regardless of law and restraint, and ever acting agreeably to the disorderly and unreasonable impulse of their own minds

Clarke: 2Th 3:2

For all men have not faith - The word πιστις is without doubt, to be taken here for fidelity or trustworthiness, and not for faith; and this is agreeable to the meaning given to it in the very next verse: But the Lord is faithful, πιστος δε εστιν ὁ Κυριος

There are many, even of those who have received a measure of the Divine light, in whom we cannot confide; they are irregular, disorderly, and cannot be brought under regular discipline: to these we cannot trust either ourselves or any thing that concerns the cause of God. But the Lord is worthy of your whole confidence; doubt him not; he will establish you, and keep you from any evil to which you may be exposed by these or such like persons.

Calvin: 2Th 3:2

2.That we may be delivered. The old interpreter has rendered it, not unhappily, in my opinion — unreasonable ⁶⁹³ Now, by this term, as also by that which immediately follows, (τῶν πονηρῶν,) evil, Paul means wicked and treacherous men, who lurked in the Church, under the name of Christians, or at least Jews, who with a mad zeal for the law furiously persecuted the gospel. He knew, however, how much danger impended over them from both these classes. Chrysostom, however, thinks that those only are meant who maliciously oppose the gospel by base doctrines, ⁶⁹⁴ — not by weapons of violence, as for example, Alexander, Hymeneus, and the like; but for my part, I extend it generally to all kinds of dangers and enemies. He was at that time proceeding towards Jerusalem, and wrote in the midst of his journeyings. Now, he had already been divinely forewarned that imprisonments and persecutions awaited him there. (Act 20:23.) He means, however, deliverance, so that he may come off victorious, whether by life or by death.

All have not faith. This might be explained to mean, “Faith is not in all.” This expression, however, were both ambiguous and more obscure. Let us therefore retain Paul’s words, by which he intimates that faith is a gift of God that is too rare to be found in all. God, therefore, calls many who do not come to him by faith. Many pretend to come to him, who have their heart at the farthest distance from him. Farther, he does not speak of all indiscriminately, but merely animadverts upon those that belong to the Church: for the Thessalonians saw that very many held faith in abhorrence; ⁶⁹⁵ nay, they saw how small was the number of believers. Hence it would have been unnecessary to say this as to strangers; but Paul simply says that all that make a profession of faith are not such in reality. Should you take in all Jews, they appeared to have nearness to Christ, for they ought to have recognized him by means of the law and the prophets. Paul, there can be no question specially marks out those with whom he would have to do. Now, it is probable that they were those who, while they had the appearance and honorary title of piety, were nevertheless very far from the reality. From this came the conflict.

With the view of shewing, therefore, that it was not groundlessly, or without good reason, that he dreaded contests with wicked and perverse men, he says that faith is not common to all, because the wicked and reprobate are always mixed with the good, as tares are with the good wheat. (Mat 13:25.) And this ought to be remembered by us whenever we have annoyance given us by wicked persons, who nevertheless desire to be reckoned as belonging to the society of Christians — that all men have not faith. Nay more, when we hear in some instances that the Church is disturbed by base factions, let this be a shield to us against offenses of this nature; for we shall not merely inflict injury upon pious teachers, if we have doubts as to their fidelity, whenever domestic enemies do them harm, but our faith will from time to time waver, unless we keep in mind that among those who boast of the name of Christians there are many that are treacherous. ⁶⁹⁶

TSK: 2Th 3:2

delivered : Rom 15:31; 1Co 15:32; 2Co 1:8-10; 1Th 2:18; 2Ti 4:17

unreasonable : Gr. absurd

for : Deu 32:20; Mat 17:17, Mat 23:23; Luk 18:8; Joh 2:23-25; Act 13:45, Act 13:50, Act 14:2; Act 17:5, Act 28:24; Rom 10:16; 2Co 4:3, 2Co 4:4

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Th 3:2

And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men - That is, from opposition in their endeavors to spread the gospel. Paul encountered such men everywhere, as all do who labor to diffuse the knowledge of the truth, but it is probable that there is particular reference here to the opposition which he encountered when in Corinth. This opposition arose mainly from the Jews; see Act 18:5-6, Act 18:12-13. The word "unreasonable"is rendered in the margin as "absurd."The Greek word ( ἀτόπος atopos ) means, properly, "out of place;"then "absurd, unusual, strange; then improper, unreasonable, wicked."It is rendered in Luk 23:41 as "amiss;"in Act 28:6 as "harm."It does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament. It refers here to people who acted amiss or improperly; people who were not found in the right place, or who did not have the right views of things; and probably does not refer so much to their being positively wicked or malicious, as "to their putting things out of their proper place."

They gave an undue prominence to certain things, and less importance to others than they deserved. They had a distorted vision of the value of objects, and in tenacious adherence to their own views, and prosecuting their own objects to the exclusion of all others, they presented a constant obstruction to the true gospel. This word would apply, and probably was designed to be applied, to Jewish teachers (see Act 18:5-6), who gave an undue prominence to the laws of Moses; but it will apply well to all who entertain distorted views of the relative importance of objects, and who put things out of their place. People often have a hobby. They give more importance to some object than it deserves. They, therefore, undervalue other objects; press their own with improper zeal; denounce others who do not feel the same interest in them which they do; withdraw from those who will not go with them in their views; form separate parties, and thus throw themselves in the way of all who are endeavoring to do good in some other method. It was from people who thus put themselves out of place, that the apostle prayed to be delivered.

And wicked men - Men with bad aims and purposes. It is not always true that those who would come under the appellation of what the apostle here calls "unreasonable,"are wicked. They are sometimes well-meaning, but misguided people. But in this case, it seems, they were men of bad character, who were at heart opposed to what was good, as well as inclined to put things out of their place.

For all men have not faith - Of the truth of this, no one can doubt. The only question is, as to its bearing on the case before us. Some suppose it means, "there are few men whom we can safely trust;"others, that it means that they have not that "upright and candid disposition which would engage men to receive the testimony of the apostles"(Doddridge); others, that "all men do not embrace the Christian faith, but many oppose it"(Benson); and others, that "all men do not believe, but the worthy only"- Bloomfield. The connection seems to require us to understand it as meaning that all people are not prepared to embrace the gospel. Hence, they set themselves against it, and from such people Paul prayed that he might be delivered; compare 2Ti 3:8. The state of mind in which the apostle was when he wrote this, seems to have been this: He recollected the readiness with which the Thessalonians had embraced the gospel, and the firmness with which they held it, and seems to suppose that they would imagine the same thing must be found true everywhere. But he says all people have not the same faith; all were not prepared cordially and fully to embrace the gospel. There were unreasonable and wicked people whom he had encountered, from whom he prayed that he might be delivered.

Poole: 2Th 3:2

Their prayers are here desired by the apostle with respect to their persons, which relates to the prayer desired before with respect to the word; for the apostle and his fellow labourers met with such men that did oppose them, and by that means were hindered in their work of the ministry, and the free course of the word obstructed. What were these men? Were they the persecuting Gentiles? They met with such: or the envious, malicious Jews? They met with such also; and here at Thessalonica in particular, and which followed Paul to Berea, Act 17:1-34 . Or were they false brethren crept into the church? As he complains of his perils by them, 2Co 11:26 ; which some think most probable, by what he adds, for all men have not faith even of those that make profession. Why may not we take in all these? But whoever they were, he styles them, first,

unreasonable men men out of place, as the word imports; taken either literally, for vagrants, wanderers, not keepers at home; or such as follow the apostle from place to place, to hinder his ministry. Or logically, for men that argued absurdly, and kept to no sound topics in reasoning; either false teachers among the Jews, or the heathen philosophers, such as he met with at Athens, whom he disputed with Act 17:1-34 . Or morally, for men that had corrupt principles and practices, that kept not to the duty of their place and station, ( desordonnez, French translation), and wandered out of the path of righteousness. We render it unreasonble men; men transported with fury and passion against all reason, as we read of the Jews, Act 17:5 . Or such as acted contrary to reason, as the apostle speaks of such Jews in the former Epistle, who were contrary to all men, foridding them to preach to the Gentiles, that they might be saved, 1Th 2:15,16 . Or men of sensual lives, living more like brutes than reasonable creatures. Secondly,

wicked men so that whoever they were, whether Jews or Gentiles, teachers or the common people, learned or unlearned, they were wicked; and whatever was meant by the former word, yet this is plain; and the word imports either men that are laborious in wickedness, or that by their wickedness create labour and trouble to others. And such the apostle met with at Thessalonica, Jews who took to them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and drew Jason and others before the rulers, assaulting his house, Act 17:5,6 : and indeed wherever they came, they met with such kind of men. Through the lusts of men’ s hearts, and the enmity and malice of the devil, faithful ministers will meet with opposition, and such as will hinder what they can the free course of the word. And therefore the apostle desires prayer to be delivered from them, ina rusywmen , the word signifies a rescue by strength from some impending or incumbent evil, oft used, Luk 1:74 Col 1:13 1Th 1:10 . And he desires deliverance rather for the gospel’ s sake than his own. And though it is honourable to suffer for the gospel, yet it is desirable to be kept out of the hands of such men as these. The apostle subjoins the reason why men are thus,

for all men have not faith He needed not say this of infidels, which all men know to be without it, and therefore it is thought the apostle here means professors. There may be true faith wanting where faith is professed. Faith is sometimes taken for fidelity, a moral virtue, and some think is meant here, because it follows in the next verse by way of antithesis: But the Lord is faithful. But rather, I take it for a theological grace; for that true evangelical faith which purifies the heart, and worketh by love, and brings forth the acts of obedience to all God’ s commandments. Had they this faith they would not be unreasonable and wicked. But can we suppose such to be in the church? As well as those, 2Ti 3:5 , whom the apostle describes to have a form of godliness under all that wickedness he there mentions. But let men have civility, sobriety, external devotion, and profession, yet if they oppose the gospel, in the power, purity, and progress of it, they may be styled unreasonable and wicked men; and from such men we may pray, as the apostle desired here: Good Lord, deliver us. And it is the duty of people with respect to their faithful ministers, and the work of the gospel in their hands, to pray that they may be delivered from such men.

Haydock: 2Th 3:2

From troublesome, or importunate men. In the Greek, is signified men who act unreasonably, absurdly, &c. (Witham) ---

For all men have not faith. Faith is a gift of God, which he is not obliged to give but to whom he will. St. Paul here assures us that he finds nothing but obstacles in his great work, nothing but enemies of the truth, and nothing but men who resist the inspirations and calls of God, opposing the preaching of the gospel. He exhorts them not to be scandalized at what they see him suffer, but to return thanks to God, who has vouchsafed to call them, giving them an understanding and docile heart. (Calmet)

Gill: 2Th 3:2

And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men,.... Either from the unbelieving Jews, see Rom 15:30 who were the avowed enemies of the Gospel, and did all they could to hinder the spread of it; and who were the implacable and constant adversaries of the apostle; who often lay in wait for him, and opposed him, and gave him trouble in all places, stirring up the people against him: or from the false teachers, and those of their party, who are the false brethren by whom he often was in perils; who were enemies of the cross of Christ, and great hindrances to the spread of the Gospel; being men of absurd principles, and of wicked lives and conversations, whereby they perverted the Gospel of Christ, brought a reproach upon it, stumbled some, and overthrew the faith of others; and from these the apostle desires to be delivered:

for all men have not faith: no man has faith of himself, it is the gift of God, and the operation of his Spirit; and it is only given to the elect of God, who are ordained unto eternal life, and therefore it is called the faith of God's elect; all mankind have it not, none but Christ's sheep; and the reason why others have it not is, because they are not of his sheep. This is a truth; but rather the true sense of the words is, that all that are professors of religion, and members of churches, and even all that are preachers of the word, have not faith. They may have an historical and temporary faith and the faith of miracles, and even all faith but the true faith; they may profess to believe, and yet not believe, as Simon Magus, and his followers seem to be intended here; for this is given as a reason why the apostle desired to be delivered from the above men. The Jews say ^o, that

"he that studies not in the law, לאו ביה מהימנותא, "there is no faith in him"--and it is forbidden to come near him, or to trade with him, or to walk with him, "because there is no faith in him".''

The apostle seems to allude to this custom.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

Geneva Bible: 2Th 3:2

And that we may be delivered from ^{( a )} unreasonable and wicked men: ^{( 2 )} for all [men] have not faith.

^{( a )} Who do not do or care about their duty. ^{( 2 )} It is no wonder that the Gospel is hated by so many, seeing that faith is a rare gift of God. Nonetheless, the Church will never be destroyed by the multitude of the wicked, because it is grounded and stayed upon the faithful promise of God.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Th 3:1-18

1 Paul craves their prayers for himself;

3 testifies what confidence he has in them;

5 makes request to God in their behalf;

6 gives them divers precepts, especially to shun idleness, and ill company;

16 and then concludes with prayer and salutation.

MHCC: 2Th 3:1-5

Those who are far apart still may meet together at the throne of grace; and those not able to do or receive any other kindness, may in this way do and receive real and very great kindness. Enemies to the preaching of the gospel, and persecutors of its faithful preachers, are unreasonable and wicked men. Many do not believe the gospel; and no wonder if such are restless and show malice in their endeavours to oppose it. The evil of sin is the greatest evil, but there are other evils we need to be preserved from, and we have encouragement to depend upon the grace of God. When once the promise is made, the performance is sure and certain. The apostle had confidence in them, but that was founded upon his confidence in God; for there is otherwise no confidence in man. He prays for them for spiritual blessings. It is our sin and our misery, that we place our affections upon wrong objects. There is not true love of God, without faith in Jesus Christ. If, by the special grace of God, we have that faith which multitudes have not, we should earnestly pray that we may be enabled, without reserve, to obey his commands, and that we may be enabled, without reserve, to the love of God, and the patience of Christ.

Matthew Henry: 2Th 3:1-5

In these words observe,

I. The apostle desires the prayers of his friends: Finally, brethren, pray for us, 2Th 3:1. He always remembered them in his prayers, and would not have them forget him and his fellow-labourers, but bear them on their hearts at the throne of grace. Note, 1. This is one way by which the communion of saints is kept us, not only by their praying together, or with one another, but by their praying for one another when they are absent one from another. And thus those who are at great distance may meet together at the throne of grace; and thus those who are not capable of doing or receiving any other kindness may yet this way do and receive real and very great kindness. 2. It is the duty of people to pray for their ministers; and not only for their own pastors, but also for all good and faithful ministers. And, 3. Ministers need, and therefore should desire, the prayers of their people. How remarkable is the humility, and how engaging the example, of this great apostle, who was so mighty in prayer himself, and yet despised not the prayers of the meanest Christian, but desired an interest in them. Observe, further, what they are desired and directed to pray for; namely, (1.) For the success of the gospel ministry: That the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, 2Th 3:1. This was the great thing that Paul was most solicitous about. He was more solicitous that God's name might be sanctified, his kingdom advanced, and his will done, than he was about his own daily bread. He desired that the word of the Lord might run (so it is in the original), that it might get ground, that the interest of religion in the world might go forward and not backward, and not only go forward, but go apace. All the forces of hell were then, and still are, more or less, raised and mustered to oppose the word of the Lord, to hinder its publication and success. We should pray, therefore, that oppositions may be removed, that so the gospel, may have free course to the ears, the hearts, and the consciences of men, that it may be glorified in the conviction and conversion of sinners, the confutation, of gainsayers, and the holy conversation of the saints. God, who magnified the law, and made it honourable, will glorify the gospel, and make that honourable, and so will glorify his own name; and good ministers and good Christians may very well be contented to be little, to be any thing, to be nothing, if Christ be magnified and his gospel be glorified. Paul was now at Athens, or, as some think, at Corinth, and would have the Thessalonians pray that he might have as good success there as he had at Thessalonica, that it might be as well with others even as it was with them. Note, If ministers have been successful in one place, they should desire to be successful in every place where they may preach the gospel. (2.) For the safety of gospel ministers. He asks their prayers, nor for preferment, but for preservation: That we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, 2Th 3:2. Note, Those who are enemies to the preaching of the gospel, and persecutors of the faithful preachers of it, are unreasonable and wicked men. They act against all the rules and laws of reason and religion, and are guilty of the greatest absurdity and impiety. Not only in the principles of atheism and infidelity, but also in the practice of the vice and immorality, and especially in persecution, there is the greatest absurdity in the world, as well as impiety. There is need of the spiritual protection, as well as the assistance, of godly and faithful ministers, for these are as the standard-bearers, who are most struck at; and therefore all who wish well to the interest of Christ in the world should pray for them. For all men have not faith; that is, many do not believe the gospel; they will not embrace it themselves, and no wonder if such are restless and malicious in their endeavours to oppose the gospel, decry the ministry, and disgrace the ministers of the word; and too many have not common faith or honesty; there is no confidence that we can safely put in them, and we should pray to be delivered from those who have no conscience nor honour, who never regard what they say or do. We may sometimes be in as much or more danger from false and pretended friends as from open and avowed enemies.

II. He encourages them to trust in God. We should not only pray to God for his grace, but also place our trust and confidence in his grace, and humbly expect what we pray for. Observe,

1. What the good is which we may expect from the grace of God - establishment, and preservation from evil; and the best Christians stand in need of these benefits. (1.) That God would establish them. This the apostle had prayed for on their behalf (2Th 2:17), and now he encourages them to expect this favour. We stand no longer than God holds us up; unless he hold up our goings in his paths, our feet will slide, and we shall fall. (2.) That God will keep them from evil. We have as much need of the grace of God for our perseverance to the end as for the beginning of the good work. The evil of sin is the greatest evil, but there are other evils which God will also preserve his saints from - the evil that is in the world, yea, from all evil, to his heavenly kingdom.

2. What encouragement we have to depend upon the grace of God: The Lord is faithful. He is faithful to his promises, and is the Lord who cannot lie, who will not alter the thing that has gone out of his mouth. When once the promise therefore is made, performance is sure and certain. He is faithful to his relation, a faithful God and a faithful friend; we may depend upon his filling up all the relations he stands in to his people. Let it be our care to be true and faithful in our promises, and to the relations we stand in to this faithful God. He adds,

3. A further ground of hope that God would do this for them, seeing they did and would do the things they were commanded, 2Th 3:4. The apostle had this confidence in them, and this was founded upon his confidence in God; for there is otherwise no confidence in man. Their obedience is described by doing what he and his fellow-labourers had commanded them, which was no other thing than the commandments of the Lord; for the apostles themselves had no further commission than to teach men to observe and to do what the Lord had commanded, Mat 28:20. And as the experience the apostle had of their obedience for the time past was one ground of his confidence that they would do the things commanded them for the time to come, so this is one ground to hope that whatsoever we ask of God we shall receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight, 1Jo 3:22.

III. He makes a short prayer for them, 2Th 3:5. It is a prayer for spiritual blessings. Two things of the greatest importance the apostle prays for: - 1. That their hearts may be brought into the love of God, to be in love with God as the most excellent and amiable Being, the best of all beings; and this is not only most reasonable and necessary in order to our happiness, but is our happiness itself; it is a great part of the happiness of heaven itself, where this love shall be made perfect. We can never attain to this unless God by his grace direct our hearts aright, for our love is apt to go astray after other things. Note, We sustain a great deal of damage by misplacing our affections; it is our sin and our misery that we place our affections upon wrong objects. If God directs our love aright upon himself, the rest of the affections will thereby be rectified. 2. That a patient waiting for Christ may be joined with this love of God. There is no true love of God without faith in Jesus Christ. We must wait for Christ, which supposes our faith in him, that we believe he came once in flesh and will come again in glory: and we must expect this second coming of Christ, and be careful to get ready for it; there must be a patient waiting, enduring with courage and constancy all that we may meet with in the mean time: and we have need of patience, and need of divine grace to exercise Christian patience, the patience of Christ (as some read the word), patience for Christ's sake and after Christ's example.

Barclay: 2Th 3:1-5

Once again Paul comes to the end of a letter with the request that his people should pray for him (compare 1Th 5:25; Rom 15:30.; Phm 1:22). There is something deeply moving in the thought of this giant among men asking for the prayers of the Thessalonians who so well recognized their own weakness. Nowhere is Paul's humility more clear to see. And the fact that he, as it were, threw himself on their hearts must have done much to bind even his opponents to him, because it is very difficult to dislike a man who asks you to pray for him.

But in spite of his love for and trust in men Paul was a realist. The faith, he said, is not for everyone. We can be certain that he said it not cynically but sorrowfully. Once again we see the tremendous responsibility of free-will. We can use it to open our hearts and we can use it to shut them. Faith's appeal is not selective, it goes out to every man; but the heart of man can refuse to respond.

In the last verse of this passage we see what we might call the inward and the outward characteristics of the Christian. The inward characteristic is the awareness of the love of God, the deep awareness that we cannot drift beyond his care, the sense that the everlasting arms are underneath us. One of the basic needs of life is security and we find that need met in the consciousness of the unchanging love of God. The outward characteristic is the endurance which Christ can give. We live in a world where there are more nervous breakdowns than at any time in history. It is a sign that more and more people have the feeling that they cannot cope with life. The outward characteristic of the Christian is that when others break he stands erect and when others collapse he shoulders his burden and goes on. With the love of God in his heart and the strength of Christ in his life a man can face anything.

Constable: 2Th 3:1-5

A. Reciprocal prayer 3:1-5

Paul requested the prayers of his readers and assured them of his prayers for them to strengthen their mutual bonds in Christ and in the gospel.

Constable: 2Th 3:1-2

1. Prayer for the missionaries 3:1-2

3:1 "Finally" introduces the last major section of the epistle. As was so often his custom, Paul first exhorted his readers to pray (1 Tim. 2:1-2; cf. 1 Thess. 5:25; et al.). He realized that God will work in response to the requests of His people. To fail to pray is to fail to receive God's blessings (James 4:2). Specifically Paul asked the Thessalonians to ask God to facilitate the rapid and wide dissemination of the gospel and thus glorify His Word. Paul's readers had seen God do this in their midst when Paul and his fellow missionaries first visited their city.

3:2 Also Paul desired that God would grant him and his colleagues deliverance from unreasonable and harmful unbelievers who sought to limit the spread of the gospel. This is the negative side of the former positive request. To oppose the spread of the gospel is unreasonable behavior since the gospel brings spiritual life to those who are dead in sin. These men were probably unbelieving Jews who were opposing Paul in Corinth (cf. Acts 18:5-6, 12-13).

College: 2Th 3:1-18

2 THESSALONIANS 3

V. EXHORTATIONS (3:1-16)

As in most of his letters, Paul ends 2 Thessalonians with a series of instructions and exhortations as to how the gospel is to be lived. Here Paul focuses most of his attention on one subject, the treatment of those who refuse to work (vv. 6-13). But his concern is broader, and so are the instructions of vv. 1-5 and 14-15.

A. GENERAL EXHORTATIONS (3:1-5)

¹ Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. ² And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. ³ But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. ⁴ We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. ⁵ May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.

This section is loosely composed, focusing largely on the faithfulness of God and the readers' response to it. The theme of God's faithfulness has in fact been the focus of much of ch. 1-2, since confidence in the face of prevailing opposition and in the time of judgment depends on confidence in God's faithfulness. So here that aspect of the earlier discussion becomes a particular subject of direct exhortation. Because God is faithful, the readers should pray for Paul (vv. 1-2), and continue in their Christian lifestyle (v. 4), looking to the Lord to enable their perseverance (v. 5).

3:1 Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.

"Finally," translating toΙ loipovn ( to loipon ), marks sometimes the last section of a letter (2 Cor 13:11; Phil 4:8) and other times a section distinct from the one before (1 Cor 4:2; Phil 3:1; 1 Thess 4:1). Those two functions are largely the same here. Paul asks for prayer as he does in Rom 15:30-32; Eph 6:10-20; Col 4:3. In each case the focus of Paul's request for prayer is the work and outcome of his ministry, and so it is here. The verb "pray" is in the present tense, stressing continuing action. "May spread rapidly" is literally "run" (trevcw , trecho- ), a vivid metaphor expressing Paul's desire for the swift spread of the gospel in light of the imminent return of the Lord. The use of this verb with a nonhuman subject is unusual, so Paul may be alluding to Ps 147:15, which pictures the word of God as running swiftly.

"Be honored" is literally "be glorified" (doxavzw , doxazo- ), perhaps in part a reminder of the glory of Christ (2:14) which will be acknowledged by those who believe the gospel and which those who believe will share. Both of these verbs are also in the Greek present tense, indicating that Paul wants the gospel, the universal message of salvation, to spread continually and be honored continually. Paul's earlier stress on the model response of the Thessalonian Christians (1:3; 2:13; 1 Thess 1:3, 5-10; 2:13) probably provides the basis for the remark "just as it was with you." Paul wants this same response from others, so that all would have the results of salvation which Paul has described at length through this letter. Alternately this last phrase may be understood as a present, "just as it also is with you," in which case Paul is giving encouragement to the church to work to spread God's word in their own region, though the earlier stress on the Thessalonians' reception of the word favors the NIV's interpretation.

3:2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.

This verse actually continues the sentence begun in v. 1, expressing another specific petition which Paul asks the readers to make. The spread of the gospel in his ministry will require his personal safety. No less than the readers (2 Thess 1:5-7), Paul is subject to the opposition that characterizes this age (2:1-13). He therefore asks for prayers for his deliverance from such opposition. "May be delivered" translates rJuvomai ( rhyomai ), which in the New Testament always is used of rescue caused by God, sometimes from sin (Rom 7:24; Col 1:13) but sometimes from the perils of life in the sinful world (Rom 15:31; 2 Cor 1:8-11; 2 Tim 3:11; 4:17; cf. 2 Tim 4:18). In effect what Paul calls for is that the final deliverance of God from persecutors (1:5-10) would be realized in a preliminary way in his preaching ministry. But Paul was, of course, very much aware that though God does deliver his people from persecution, they should still expect to suffer (1 Thess 3:3-4; see v. 3 and comments below). The prayer is similar enough to Matt 6:13 to offer the possibility that Paul is alluding to Jesus' model prayer.

Two terms describe the persecutors. They are "wicked," a[topo" ( atopos ), which suggests something which is not fitting or appropriate. Some have seen this as a substitute for a[nomo" ( anomos ), or "lawless," which is commonly linked with "evil" in the LXX, assuming Paul to refer to Jewish opponents for whom "lawless" would be inappropriate. But the idea that Paul is preoccupied with Jewish opponents stems in part from a misreading of 1 Thess 2:13-16 (see comments above) and so this conjecture must be rejected. But there may be a certain irony in the use of a[topo" . Christians would commonly be accused of advocating or practicing things not in keeping with the established social order (Acts 25:5; cf. Acts 16:20-21; 18:13; 19:26; 21:28; 24:5-6). But for Paul, who understands that the true order is established by God, those who oppose the gospel are truly out of line with what is fitting. The second term, "evil," ponhrov" ( pone-ros ) is a more common term for anything wicked or evil. Its use in v. 3 to refer to the "evil one" links the gospel's human opponents to the supreme opponent of God. Instead of merely letting the adjectives alone identify the opponents, Paul includes the noun a[nqrwpo" ( anthro-pos , "men"), here referring to human beings of either gender and perhaps distinguishing Paul's opponents as mere humans as compared to the sovereign God whom they oppose.

At the core of this evil is the rejection of the gospel. "Not everyone has faith" is a simple reminder of what Paul has assumed throughout the letter, that many reject the gospel and so oppose the purpose of God in history. This rejection of faith establishes the essential difference between Christians (1:3-4, 10-11; 2:13) and their opponents (2:11-12). This understanding of the force of this phrase is more likely than the idea that Paul here gives the reason for his ongoing mission of evangelistic preaching: not all have faith, and so Paul must continue to preach to bring them to faith. In either case, the NIV translators here have rightly understood pivsti" ( pistis , "faith") to mean the response of belief and trust rather than "the faith" as a system of belief.

3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

Paul shifts his focus here from a request for prayer on his behalf to a reminder of the character of the Lord to whom the prayers are addressed. This in turn leads to a shift from concern for his own protection to that of the readers. In contrast to the opponents' lack of faith (pivsti" , pistis , v. 2), the Lord is always faithful (pistov" , pistos ). He can therefore be depended upon under all circumstances, including the antagonism of mere humans to his people and will. The readers can therefore depend on his deliverance, for which they pray on Paul's behalf (v. 2), as they face that antagonism. Such deliverance, however, may not take the precise form which we might expect. The word will indeed spread rapidly and Christ be glorified, but not necessarily as his opponents are prevented from persecuting his people. The deliverance which Paul seeks is first of all strengthening (cf. 2:17; 1 Thess 3:2, 13) to resist the pressure. Secondly it is protection from the Evil One who stands behind all such opposition to God and his people (2:9). To succumb to the Evil One is ultimately to turn back from the faith which has brought the Christians into harmony with God and his purpose; it is to fall prey to his deceptive activity as described in 2:3-12. Against this ultimate threat God is faithful to provide the needed protection (cf. Rom 8:31-39). By this provision he is glorified, for the message of the cross is demonstrated through his people's faithful endurance of suffering (cf. Col 1:24).

It has been widely noted that Paul here refers to the faithfulness of the Lord, probably referring to Christ, instead of God, as is his habit elsewhere (1 Cor 1:9; 10:13; 2 Cor 1:18; 1 Thess 5:24). The shift may stem from the focus on Christ's return, the final act of divine faithfulness, which underlies the entire letter.

The NIV translators have opted to translate tou' ponhrou' ( tou pone-rou ), which could be either masculine or neuter (cf. Matt 5:37; 6:13), as a masculine. If it is masculine, it refers to the Evil One, Satan. If it is neuter, then it refers to evil as an abstraction. While it is true, as Wanamaker observes, that only in Eph 6:16 among the letters attributed to Paul do we find another reference to Satan as "the Evil One," it is also true that only in Rom 12:9 does he use this term to refer to evil in the abstract. The verb "protect" probably favors a personal object, so some probability favors the NIV's rendering. Again Paul may allude to the model prayer of Matt 6:13.

3:4 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command.

The faithfulness of God to protect his people cannot be excluded from his people's faithful response, though even here Paul expresses a confidence "in the Lord," based on union that exists between the Lord and his people through which they receive the strength to remain faithful. Paul has confidence (cf. Rom 8:38; 2 Cor 2:3; Phil 1:6) in the Thessalonians because of what he has already observed of their growth and steadfastness in their faith as they have been enabled by the Lord (1 Thess 1:6-10; 2:13-14; 3:6-8; 2 Thess 1:3-5). The knowledge of their past faithfulness gives Paul confidence in their continued practice of the gospel both for the present as he is away from the church and for the future with all of its contingencies. Such practice consists of doing "the things we command," which includes not only the behavioral instruction, as contained in the next section of this chapter and in 1 Thess 4:1-12; 5:12-22, but also the eschatological teaching, which directly affects their hope and perseverance. Faithfulness to the "traditions," which Paul has enjoined elsewhere (1 Thess 2:13; 4:1; 2 Thess 2:15; 3:6), is the concept still expressed here.

3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.

The request for prayer and statements of God's faithfulness and of confidence the readers' faithful response leads Paul again to express his own wish-prayer (2:16-17; 1 Thess 3:11-13), reflecting his reliance on the faithful God to supply the resources for the Thessalonians faithful practice of the gospel. The prayer is indirectly addressed to "the Lord," probably meaning Christ, though for Paul such a prayer can as easily be addressed to God the Father. In 1 Thess 3:11 Paul prayed that God would "direct" (kateuquvnw , kateuthuno- ) him to be reunited with the Thessalonian church; here he looks for their hearts (cf. 1 Chr 29:18; Prov 21:2), signifying their entire inner being, to be directed to an increasing experience of what they have already received. Again the prayer is that deliverance should take the form not of an absence of difficulty but of the resources to endure the difficulty for the Lord's glory.

Though "God's love" could conceivably refer to the person's love for God, Paul normally uses this phrase for God's love for humanity. That love is a fitting subject here, since it provides the basis for confidence in the coming judgment as well as in the persecutions of the present. "Perseverance" here translates uJpomonhv ( hypomone- , cf. 1:4; 1 Thess 1:3), which indicates particularly endurance in difficulty. As with God's love, Christ's perseverance may mean either the perseverance which he had or that which he gives. But these two may be so closely identified for Paul as to be indistinguishable in this context. This perseverance is especially Christ's because his obedience in accepting the cross (Phil 2:8) provides the archetype by which the Christian's endurance of suffering is defined (2 Cor 4:11). It is therefore both the endurance which he had and which he gives to his people. We might paraphrase this as "Christ's kind of perseverance."

B. EXHORTATIONS REGARDING

CHURCH DISCIPLINE (3:6-15)

In the section that follows Paul concentrates on certain members of the church whose behavior urgently requires correction. Most of the attention is given to those who had given up working and were living by the charity of their brothers and sisters (vv. 6-13), but Paul also discusses those who are willfully disobedient of his instructions in broader terms (vv. 14-15). For both Paul requires specific discipline. These are to be treated as outsiders, no longer a part of the community of God's people, cut off from fellowship with the church and the benefits which such fellowship entailed. This pattern of exclusion as a means of discipline had its roots in the synagogues, where unrepentant offenders were cut off from all connections to the Jewish community and, by that token, from the people of Israel as a whole. As the church believed itself to be the people of God of fulfillment, its method of discipline was much the same. So in 1 Cor 5:1-13 Paul orders that the Corinthian church expel an immoral member and others like him who refuse to repent of their sin when confronted with it (cf. Rom 16:17; 1 Tim 1:20; James 5:19-20; 1 John 5:16-17; 2 John 10-11; 3 John 10; Jude 22-23). But the purpose of such discipline was not to inflict punishment but to induce the sinner's repentance (see v. 15 below). So Jesus instructs his disciples in Matt 18:15-17, the foundation for all disciplinary practice in the New Testament, and so apparently Paul recommends that the one excluded in 1 Cor 5:1-13 be restored because of his repentance in 2 Cor 2:5-11 (cf. 1 Cor 5:5).

The difficulties of following similar disciplinary practices in the modern church are well known. Persons cut off from a church's fellowship for some repeated and notorious sin may go to another church, deflecting the impact of the discipline, or may sue the church and its leaders for defamation of character. And when many churches lack the face-to-face accountability of the house churches of the first century, the discipline may be difficult to enforce for some and may go unnoticed by others. But the alternative is even less acceptable: a fellowship in which sin is ignored and repentance is optional, essentially indistinguishable from the surrounding society. Without the thoughtful and deliberate application of such disciplinary practice as a part of the renewal of the genuine, intimate fellowship that existed among the earliest Christians, modern Christians can make little claim to have restored the life of the New Testament church.

1. Exclusion of the Willfully Idle (3:6-13)

⁶ In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching ^a you received from us. ⁷ For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, ⁸ nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. ⁹ We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. ¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

¹¹ We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. ¹² Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. ¹³ And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

^a 6 Or tradition

Most of Paul's concern for discipline in the Thessalonian church is taken up with a single problem, those in the church who have abandoned work and are depending on the generosity of other Christians for their support. This problem was addressed more briefly in 1 Thess 4:11-12 and 5:14, while Paul had laid the foundation for those exhortations by emphasizing his own self-support in 2:9. Apparently, though, Paul's first reminder on this subject did not correct the problem, so here he addresses it at length, using some of the harshest language in the Thessalonian letters.

It has been widely assumed that some in the Thessalonian church abandoned work because of their vivid expectation of the Lord's return in the very near future. Several considerations argue against that conclusion, however. Most obvious is the fact that in neither epistle does Paul connect the instructions about work to any specific eschatological theme. That is especially obvious here, where the subject is treated at length without any reference to the discussion of 2:1-12. Secondly, as noted above the Thessalonians' problem regarding eschatology seems to have been not too vivid an expectation of the Lord's return in the near future but the belief that the return was somehow already accomplished (see discussion of 2:1-12 above). Thirdly, even if 2 Thess 2:1-12 indicates such an overly-imminent expectation, 1 Thessalonians shows no evidence of such a belief and yet reflects the same problem with idleness. More likely, then, is the hypothesis that some in the church stopped working simply because they found it possible to do so because of the generous sharing practiced among early Christians. R. Russell has noted that in a port city like Thessalonica, unemployment and underemployment among the working classes would have been common. In the context of the church, Christians of means would have shared with those in need. Some who began with genuine needs apparently took advantage of such sharing and deliberately avoided supporting themselves even when they had the opportunity.

The idlers were able to give up working because of the radical generosity practiced among early Christians. Acts asserts that Christians from the earliest days of the church were abundantly generous with each other (Acts 2:44-46; 4:34-37), though such generosity was not without its problems (5:1-11), and that Christian sharing even transcended the bounds of ethnicity as Gentile Christians shared with their Jewish Christian brothers and sisters (11:27-30). Paul's collection on behalf of the Jerusalem church reflects this practice of generosity as well (Rom 15:25-27; 1 Cor 16:1-3; 2 Cor 8-9). Though the motivation for such sharing was multifaceted, at its core was the conviction that the church constituted the people of God in the age of fulfillment, defined by Christ's own self-sacrificial love. Believers therefore had a stronger commitment to the welfare of fellow Christians than they had even to themselves (Phil 2:1-11). Furthermore, if a part of God's intention for his people was the ideal, "There shall be no poor among you" (Deut 15:4), the church had an obligation to share generously to bring that ideal closer to reality. But not all motives in the early church were pure, and so abuses, like the one Paul addresses here, did indeed arise (cf. 1 Tim 5:3-16).

Paul's response shows that he views this issue not merely as an economic problem but as a problem of Christian fellowship. Those who fail to work, he says, are placing undue burdens on others, violating the bonds of fellowship of which they take advantage. They also use their free time to interject themselves into others' affairs, causing further disruption of the fellowship. But he also reminds those who are in a position to share that the irresponsibility of some does not remove from them the obligation to help those with genuine needs. Throughout the text Paul assumes economic ideas such as the right to personal property and the need for productive work, but he instructs the church on the basis of their obligations in Christ, not economic rights or requirements (cf. Eph 4:28).

Because Paul addressed this issue in the context of Christian fellowship, modern Christians must be careful in trying to derive from this passage direct guidance for social policy in government. The Roman government had in place an elaborate program of "bread and circuses" to support laborers who were displaced by the widespread use of slaves, and a larger social system of patronage functioned in the Greco-Roman world, through which the wealthy often supported some who were idle among the laboring classes. Neither Paul nor any other New Testament writer addresses this larger political and social reality of their time. Paul's concern here is entirely for the church and its fellowship, where he sees a level of mutual commitment which demands that those with means support those without but that those who can support themselves should cause no unnecessary burdens to others.

3:6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.

The seriousness with which Paul addresses this problem is evident from the very beginning. "Command" translates paraggevllw (parangellô ), indicating the strong obligation which comes with these instructions. The same word was used in 1 Thess 4:11 (rendered "told" in the NIV), where Paul indicated that he had this command previously, apparently during his stay in Thessalonica. Underlining the obligation even more is the phrase "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ," pointing to the final source of authority for the command. As in 1 Cor 1:10 and 5:4, it is used as a part of an instruction regarding life in the church, in the latter case also dealing specifically with a matter of church discipline (cf. Col 3:17; 2 Thess 1:12).

"Is idle" here represents the verb peripatevw ( peripateo- , literally "walk") and indicating a general manner of life, modified by the adverb a[taktw" (ataktôs ), a cognate of the word found in 1 Thess 5:14 (see comments above). As in that case, the broadest sense of this adverb is "disorderly," though it is often used, as this context indicates, to refer to willful and rebellious irresponsibility. The NIV's translation is clearly correct in rendering the term as it does, but the English-speaking reader should understand that Paul speaks not generally of all idleness but specifically of the idleness which a person chooses in deliberate rebellion against the obligations of the Christian fellowship. Paul clearly does not criticize those who have no ability or opportunity to support themselves; in such cases he urges the Christians to continue to share (v. 13). Rather, he has in mind those who take advantage of others' generosity when they could do otherwise (cf. 1 Tim 5:2-8).

This idleness would be self-condemning in light of what Paul is about to discuss. However, because regular instruction on Christian conduct apparently included injunctions on the obligation to work, Paul appeals to that instruction. The "teaching" here is the Greek paravdosi" ( paradosis ), literally "tradition" (so the NIV footnote) which had been delivered both orally (v. 10; 2:15; cf. 1 Thess 2:13; 4:1) and by means of Paul's example (vv. 7-9) when he was present with them. "Received" (paralambavnw , paralambanô ) is also a technical term of oral teaching. These traditions have authority not simply because they are traditional but because they come from an authoritative source, Paul the apostle, and are grounded in the message of Christ, the final authority.

Having already received this teaching, and having been reminded of it again in 1 Thess 4:11-12; 5:14, the willfully idle will now stand under a stricter form of discipline. Paul orders, as he does for others whose sin is blatant and unrepented, that the church withdraw from such people. While a part of the reason for such a withdrawal is to avoid the disrepute which would come on the church (1 Thess 4:12), to relieve Christians of means from any obligation to share with those who refuse to work, and to protect the church from further corruption, the primary motivation is to correct the sinful behavior that has not yielded to less severe measures. Exclusion from the fellowship signifies not just lost contact with Christian friends or even the loss of financial support; it indicates an exclusion, which will become eternal if no repentance is forthcoming, from the very people of God and a consequent return to the domain of the Evil One (cf. 1 Tim 1:20; Matt 18:18-20).

3:7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example.

The idea that "tradition" in the world of Paul could include personal example is well attested. Later rabbinic teaching, probably reflecting the practices under which Paul was instructed, often involved the students' observation of the example of the teacher ( m. Sukk. 3.9; b. Ber. 241, 27b). Paul has previously indicated that the Thessalonian Christians eagerly imitated his lifestyle in submission to Jesus (1 Thess 1:6; 2:14; see comments above; cf. 1 Cor 4:16; 11:1; Eph 5:1). Here he indicates that they should do so consistently.

We were not idle when we were with you, 3:8 nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.

Paul had carefully reminded the Thessalonians of his self-support when he was with them (1 Thess 2:6b-9; see comments above). His motive for supporting himself, as he expressed it in 1 Thess 2:9, was "not to be a burden to anyone" so that nothing would stand in the way of the gospel. Here Paul's example serves to illustrate that same motive. For Paul self-support was not a matter of rugged individualism or personal pride but a means of ensuring that the gospel was heard and that genuine Christian fellowship was not hindered. As he indicated in the earlier letter, Paul had worked "night and day," probably spending days in the workshop and preaching and teaching at night. Also as in 1 Thess 2:9 (cf. 2 Cor 11:27), Paul describes this work as "laboring" (kovpo" , kopos ), implying work to the point of weariness, and "toiling" (movcqo" , mochthos ), indicating an exceptional exertion of energy. This Paul did instead of being "idle" as are the offenders addressed here, or even accepting food (a[rto" , artos , literally "bread," the staple food of Paul's time) from anyone literally "as a gift." The expression "eat bread" probably reflects a Semitic idiom for receiving sustenance (cf. Gen 3:19) and so refers to all of Paul's necessities.

3:9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow.

The "right" which Paul asserts here is ejxousiva ( exousia ), probably referring to the authority which he could exercise as an apostle to receive support for his work (cf. 1 Cor 9:4-18; Matt 10:9-10; Luke 10:7-8), or more broadly, the authority regularly granted in Paul's time to religious teachers by their disciples which obligated the disciples to support their teacher. Paul reminds the Thessalonians of his unexercised authority in this area not because some in the church were challenging Paul's authority but because the fact of his authority is necessary to bring to bear the force of his example. Paul's argument is from the greater to the lesser.

The Thessalonian Christians had an obligation to support Paul because of his labor in preaching and teaching on their behalf. Yet Paul willingly yielded that benefit for the sake of the gospel. In effect he "moonlighted" to ensure that he created no financial burden for his converts and no impression that he was motivated by greed (1 Thess 2:4-5, 9-10). This is the greater case. The lesser case is that of the idle in the Thessalonian church. The obligation of the church to support the idle is in fact nonexistent, as Paul will argue. The church has an obligation to subsidize only those who cannot support themselves, as Paul will remind them (vv. 10, 13), so these idlers have no claim on others' generosity. Moreover, they are called on merely to fulfill their ordinary social responsibility of labor and self-support, not to double their labors as did Paul. Even if the idle are hardened to other appeals, this example of Paul should serve to bring shame on any continued, unwarranted dependance on others' generosity. If they are to respond properly, the Pauline "model" must be followed continually: the infinitive "to follow" is in the Greek present tense, indicating continuing action.

3:10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

This command should have been familiar to the idlers from the beginning, as it constituted a memorable part of Paul's oral instruction. "Rule" paraphrases the Greek verb paraggevllw ( parangello- ), repeated from v. 6 and indicating again the giving of a command. The content of the command is deliberately terse and parallel, probably to make it easier for the Christian converts to remember. "Will" here does not indicate the future tense but translates qevlw ( thelo- ), indicating a willingness to do the action mentioned. So Paul's original oral instruction specifically censured the refusal to work, not the inability to work. The sanction placed on such people is that they "shall not eat," a phrase translating an imperative verb which might be translated "must not eat." Clearly the church could not stop the idle from obtaining bread from other sources, so the point is that the church should not subsidize those in their fellowship who refuse to support themselves when they have the means and opportunity. All the verbs in this command are in the present tense and emphasize continuing action, so the instruction might be translated, "If anyone continually does not want to keep working, he must not keep eating."

3:11 We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.

Presumably Paul has received the report about the Thessalonians' continuing idleness from the associate who delivered the first letter to the church, perhaps Timothy. The idleness is again expressed as it was in v. 6, with the Greek verb meaning "to walk" and signifying a manner of life combined with an adverb indicating willful idleness. The second sentence of this verse renders well Paul's play on words (cf. Rom 12:3; 1 Cor 7:31; 2 Cor 1:13; 3:2; 6:10; Phil 3:2-3). Literally these people do not work (ejrgavzomai , ergazomai ) but meddle in others' affairs (periergavzomai , periergazomai ). Elsewhere Paul connects the idleness of those supported by the church with the temptation to intrude into others' business (1 Tim 5:13). Such activity compounds the offense to the Christian fellowship.

3:12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.

The command here is given solemnly, similar to v. 6: "in the Lord Jesus" suggests either by his authority or, if Paul is using his "in Christ" formula, to refer to the basis of this command in the common fellowship that Christians share through their relationship with Christ (cf. 1 Thess 4:1 and comments above; Rom 9:1; Eph 4:17). In either case "Lord" underlines Christ's divine authority. "Command" is used again as in vv. 6 and 10, coupled with "urge," parakalevw ( parakaleo- , cf. 1 Thess 2:3, 12; 3:2, 7; 4:1, 10, 18; 5:11, 14; 2 Thess 2:16-17), lending additional force to the instruction. The NIV's rendering of the command itself is a dynamic equivalent of Paul's words. He uses hJsuciva ( he-suchia ), roughly corresponding to "settle down" but literally meaning "quietness" (cf. 1 Thess 4:11 and comments above; 1 Tim 2:2), to indicate the manner in which these idlers should support themselves. Here this quietness clearly contrasts with the activity of busybodies just described, not, as some have argued, with too much excitement about Christ's imminent return. With such quiet labor these people will be able to pay for what they eat as did Paul (cf. vv. 8, 10), removing undue burdens from their brothers and sisters.

3:13 And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

This command could be a general reminder to continue doing good. But in this context it appears to deal in some way with the problem of the indolent (the parallel in Gal 6:9 presents a similar ambiguity). Paul may be urging the responsible members of the church to continue their present self-support. But he may also be underlining the ongoing need for Christians to share of their substance with genuinely needy brothers and sisters. The temptation would be to stop sharing altogether because some had abused their generosity. Paul warns against taking such an attitude. So here, with an emphatic pronoun, uJmei'" ( humeis , "as for you"), he shifts the focus from those who have been willfully idle to the rest of the church. Though Paul habitually addresses the Thessalonian Christians as "brothers," the term here may serve to remind them again of the relationship out of which their obligation to share arises. "Tire" here translates ejgkakevw (enkakeô ), indicating discouragement, despair or lost motivation, the very attitudes that could arise from others' taking advantage of one's generosity, as had been the case. "Doing what is right" translates a Greek present participle; the good which the responsible Christian does for his brothers and sisters is a continuing duty.

2. Exclusion of the Disobedient (3:14-15)

¹⁴ If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. ¹⁵ Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

This section closes with a repetition of the command to discipline by exclusion from the Christian fellowship those who disobey (cf. v. 6). Undoubtedly this has particular reference to the idle of vv. 6-12. However, it appears that Paul has deliberately stated this instruction as a general command so that the church will understand that others who might deliberately disobey the apostle's instruction should be similarly excluded. If the church has been troubled by ideas such as the ones which Paul addresses in 2:1-12, those responsible may ultimately require similar exclusion (cf. 2 Tim 2:17-18).

3:14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.

The disobedience which Paul refers to here is clearly not the occasional episode of sin into which Christians fall but the repeated, blatant, unrepented sin of the kind described above. This point is made clear by Paul's use of the present tense for the verb "obey"; the statement could be translated, "If anyone continually does not obey . . . ." Such people are to be noted by the church. The verb used here, shmeiovw (sçmeioô ) is normally used for the marking down of records; Paul could use it here to refer to written records or charges to be kept by the church in cases of discipline. However, the word is also used figuratively to mean giving attention to something for the purpose of remembering it in the future, and that is sufficient to explain its use here.

Such people are to be excluded from fellowship, as in v. 6, again visibly demonstrating the threat of exclusion from the commonwealth of God's people. Paul's verb here is the same one found in the similar context of 1 Cor 5:9, 11: sunanameivgnumi ( sunanameignumi ), literally meaning "to mix up together," but often used of the association of persons. The implication is a complete cutting off of any social contact with such a person.

The object of this discipline is indicated at the end of the verse: to produce shame in the offender. Those who refuse to heed lesser warnings may be impressed with their guilt through the cutting off of contact and even see the potential eternal consequences.

3:15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

The implication that the purpose of discipline is redemptive is made explicit here. The shame of v. 14 is intended less as a punishment against the sinner and more as a stimulus to repentance. Exclusion from fellowship does not imply hostility between the church and the offender. It should not lead to insults, gossip, or violence of any kind. The offender is to be regarded as a brother or sister; final judgment ultimately belongs to God alone. So the purpose of the exclusion is correction: "warn" translates nouqetevw ( noutheteo- ), which indicates correction of behavior or belief, as in 1 Thess 5:12, 14 (see comments above). Paul probably refers to the corrective power of the exclusion itself, preceded as it would have been by repeated verbal exhortations. Scrupulously maintaining this outlook will protect the church from vindictiveness and judgmentalism.

VI. CONCLUSION (3:16-18)

¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

¹⁷ I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

¹⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Paul's concluding remarks are brief but pointed. Here he includes a wish-prayer for the readers (v. 16; cf. 1 Thess 5:23-24), an authentication of the epistle as genuinely Paul's (v. 17; cf. 2:2), and a final prayer for blessing (v. 18; cf. 1 Thess 5:28).

3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

This prayer is similar to the one in 1 Thess 5:23-24, though here "Lord" probably refers to Christ rather than God the Father as in the earlier passage, perhaps because of the central focus on Christ's work in destroying evil in 2:8 (cf. Eph 2:14; Col 1:20). The association of God with peace is also found in concluding statements or prayers in Rom 15:33; 16:20; 2 Cor 13:11; Phil 4:9; peace is more broadly Paul's concluding wish in Eph 6:23. As in the salutations and earlier concluding prayer, peace signifies the whole of the Christian's harmonious relationship with God which in turn creates harmony among fellow Christians who share that relationship. Paul explicitly stresses that this peace is comprehensive, to be experienced through all times, in every way, and among all of the Christians to whom the Lord's presence is promised. It will come to the Thessalonians despite - and even in the midst of - the persecutions which they now experience (1:5-6) and will be fully realized when Christ returns as savior and judge (1:6-10; 2:8).

3:17 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

This seemingly innocuous remark is the subject of some controversy. Some who argue that 2 Thessalonians is a post-Pauline pseudepigraph insist that this remark is out of place in an authentic letter, especially since Paul's signature is lacking in the other canonical letters. It is therefore seen either as the pseudepigrapher's too-eager attempt to make the letter appear to be authentic or an attempt by a later writer to discredit 1 Thessalonians, which lacked the signature. However, it must be questioned whether someone attempting to make a post-Pauline letter appear authentic would risk such a statement, since the pseudepigrapher would presumably know Paul's authentic letters well enough to realize that Paul did not habitually sign his letters exactly in this way. This statement, therefore, is still powerful evidence in favor of the authenticity of this letter, despite the fact that we no longer have access to Paul's actual signature.

But if Paul did not sign all his letters as he did here, in what sense did he intend this statement? It should be observed, first of all, some other letters do include handwritten greetings from Paul. The nearest parallels are 1 Cor 16:21 and Col 4:18, but handwritten greetings are also explicit in Gal 6:11 and Phlm 19. Furthermore, it may well be that Paul wrote a portion of the ending of his letters, perhaps the final wish for blessing, in his own hand (cf. 1 Thess 5:27-28 and comments above). Surviving papyrus letters from this period often show a change of handwriting at the end. At any rate, Paul's statement here is clearly a generalization rather than an absolute.

Apparently in light of the false messages which the Thessalonian church had received in Paul's name (2:2), Paul found it necessarily to explicitly authenticate this letter. His handwriting would have been easily distinguishable from the hand of the amanuensis who wrote out the rest of the letter, since professional scribes could be expected to have neater (and smaller, cf. Gal 6:11) handwriting than others. Though some have insisted that this statement is less a matter of authenticating the letter than of asserting Paul's authority, it is difficult to see no authenticating purpose in light of 2:2.

3:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

With the exception of "all," which Paul may have inserted here to include even the idle Christians of 3:6-12, this greeting is identical to the one in 1 Thess 5:28 (cf. 2 Cor 13:13; Gal 6:18; Eph 6:24; Phil 4:23; Col 4:18; 1 Tim 6:21b; 2 Tim 4:22; Titus 3:15; Phlm 25). Paul again takes the usual formal element of a closing greeting and uses it for his distinct purposes. For the apostle of grace, a wish for God's grace was always a fitting note on which to end an epistle.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

McGarvey: 2Th 3:2

and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men; for all have not faith . [i. e., all professed Christians are not really such. A phrase answering to that at Rom 9:6]

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: 2 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

Second Thessalonians

From Corinth a.d. 50 Or 51

By Way of Introduction

It is plain that First Thessalonians did not settle all the difficulties in Thessalonica. With some there was precisely the opposite result. There was some opposition to Paul’s authority and even defiance. So Paul repeats his " command" for discipline (2Th_3:6) as he had done when with them (2Th_3:10). He makes this Epistle a test of obedience (2Th_3:14) and finds it necessary to warn the Thessalonians against the zeal of some deceivers who even invent epistles in Paul’s name to carry their point in the church (2Th_2:1.), an early instance of pseudepigraphic " Pauline" epistles, but not for a " pious" purpose. Paul’s keen resentment against the practise should make us slow to accept the pseudepigraphic theory about other Pauline Epistles. He calls attention to his own signature at the close of each genuine letter. As a rule he dictated the epistle, but signed it with his own hand (2Th_3:17). Paul writes to calm excitement (Ellicott) and to make it plain that he had not said that the Second Coming was to be right away.

This Epistle is a bit sharper in tone than the First and also briefer. It has been suggested that there were two churches in Thessalonica, a Gentile Church to which First Thessalonians was sent, and a Jewish Church to which Second Thessalonians was addressed. There is no real evidence for such a gratuitous hypothesis. It assumes a difficulty about his sending a second letter to the same church that does not exist. The bearer of the first letter brought back news that made a second necessary. It was probably sent within the same year as the first.

JFB: 2 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

Its GENUINENESS is attested by POLYCARP [Epistle to the Philippians, 11], who alludes to 2Th 3:15. JUSTIN MARTYR [Dialogue with Trypho, p. 193.32], alludes to 2Th 2:3. IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 7.2] quotes 2Th 2:8. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [Miscellanies, 1.5, p. 554; The Instructor, 1.17], quotes 2Th 3:2, as Paul's words. TERTULLIAN [On the Resurrection of the Flesh, 24] quotes 2Th 2:1-2, as part of Paul's Epistle.

DESIGN.--The accounts from Thessalonica, after the sending of the first Epistle, represented the faith and love of the Christians there as on the increase; and their constancy amidst persecutions unshaken. One error of doctrine, however, resulting in practical evil, had sprung up among them. The apostle's description of Christ's sudden second coming (1Th 4:13, &c., and 1Th 5:2), and the possibility of its being at any time, led them to believe it was actually at hand. Some professed to know by "the Spirit" (2Th 2:2) that it was so; and others alleged that Paul had said so when with them. A letter, too, purporting to be from the apostle to that effect, seems to have been circulated among them. (That 2Th 2:2 refers to such a spurious letter, rather than to Paul's first Epistle, appears likely from the statement, 2Th 3:17, as to his autograph salutation being the mark whereby his genuine letters might be known). Hence some neglected their daily business and threw themselves on the charity of others, as if their sole duty was to wait for the coming of the Lord. This error, therefore, needed rectifying, and forms a leading topic of the second Epistle. He in it tells them (2Th. 2:1-17), that before the Lord shall come, there must first be a great apostasy, and the Man of Sin must be revealed; and that the Lord's sudden coming is no ground for neglecting daily business; that to do so would only bring scandal on the Church, and was contrary to his own practice among them (2Th 3:7-9), and that the faithful must withdraw themselves from such disorderly professors (2Th 3:6, 2Th 3:10-15). Thus, there are three divisions of the Epistle: (1) 2Th 1:1-12. Commendations of the Thessalonians' faith, love, and patience, amidst persecutions. (2) 2Th. 2:1-17. The error as to the immediate coming of Christ corrected, and the previous rise and downfall of the Man of Sin foretold. (3) 2Th. 3:1-16. Exhortations to orderly conduct in their whole walk, with prayers for them to the God of peace, followed by his autograph salutation and benediction.

DATE OF WRITING.--AS the Epistle is written in the joint names of Timothy and Silas, as well as his own, and as these were with him while at Corinth, and not with him for a long time subsequently to his having left that city (compare Act 18:18, with Act 19:22; indeed, as to Silas, it is doubtful whether he was ever subsequently with Paul), it follows, the place of writing must have been Corinth, and the date, during the one "year and six months" of his stay there, Act 18:11 (namely, beginning with the autumn of A.D. 52, and ending with the spring of A.D. 54), say about six months after his first Epistle, early in A.D. 53.

STYLE.--The style is not different from that of most of Paul's other writings, except in the prophetic portion of it (2Th 2:1-12), which is distinguished from them in subject matter. As is usual in his more solemn passages (for instance, in the denunciatory and prophetic portions of his Epistles, for example, compare Col 2:8, Col 2:16, with 2Th 2:3; 1Co 15:24-28, with 2Th 2:8-9; Rom 1:18, with 2Th 2:8, 2Th 2:10), his diction here is more lofty, abrupt, and elliptical. As the former Epistle dwells mostly on the second Advent in its aspect of glory to the sleeping and the living saints (1Th. 4:1-5:28), so this Epistle dwells mostly on it in its aspect of everlasting destruction to the wicked and him who shall be the final consummation of wickedness, the Man of Sin. So far was Paul from laboring under an erroneous impression as to Christ's speedy coming, when he wrote his first Epistle (which rationalists impute to him), that he had distinctly told them, when he was with them, the same truths as to the apostasy being about first to arise, which he now insists upon in this second Epistle (2Th 2:5). Several points of coincidence occur between the two Epistles, confirming the genuineness of the latter. Thus, compare 2Th 3:2, with 1Th 2:15-16; again, 2Th 2:9, the Man of Sin "coming after the working of Satan," with 1Th 2:18; 1Th 3:5, where Satan's incipient work as the hinderer of the Gospel, and the tempter, appears; again, mild warning is enjoined, 1Th 5:14; but, in this second Epistle, when the evil had grown worse, stricter discipline (2Th 3:6, 2Th 3:14): "withdraw from" the "company" of such.

Paul probably visited Thessalonica on his way to Asia subsequently (Act 20:4), and took with him thence Aristarchus and Secundus: the former became his "companion in travel" and shared with him his perils at Ephesus, also those of his shipwreck, and was his "fellow prisoner" at Rome (Act 27:2; Col 4:10; Phm 1:24). According to tradition he became bishop of Apamea.

JFB: 2 Thessalonians (Outline)

• ADDRESS AND SALUTATION: INTRODUCTION: THANKSGIVING FOR THEIR GROWTH IN FAITH AND LOVE, AND FOR THEIR PATIENCE IN PERSECUTIONS, WHICH ARE A TOKEN FOR GOOD EVERLASTING TO THEM, AND FOR PERDITION TO THEIR ADVERSARIES AT CHRIST'S COMING: PRAYER FOR THEIR PERFECTION. (2Th 1:1-12)
• CORRECTION OF THEIR ERROR AS TO CHRIST'S IMMEDIATE COMING. THE APOSTASY THAT MUST PRECEDE IT. EXHORTATION TO STEADFASTNESS, INTRODUCED WITH THANKSGIVING FOR THEIR ELECTION BY GOD. (2Th. 2:1-17)
• HE ASKS THEIR PRAYERS: HIS CONFIDENCE IN THEM: PRAYER FOR THEM: CHARGES AGAINST DISORDERLY IDLE CONDUCT; HIS OWN EXAMPLE: CONCLUDING PRAYER AND SALUTATION. (2Th. 3:1-18)

TSK: 2 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

The First Epistle to the Thessalonians, it is generally agreed, was the earliest written of all St. Paul’s epistles, whence we see the reason and propriety of his anxiety that it should be read in all the Christian churches of Macedonia. - " I charge you by the Lord, that this Epistle be read unto all the holy brethren" (1Th 5:27). " The existence of this clause," observes Dr. Paley, " is an evidence of its authenticity; because, to produce a letter, purporting to have been publicly read in the church at Thessalonica, when no such letter had been read or heard of in that church, would be to produce an imposture destructive of itself. Either the Epistle was publicly read in the church of Thessalonica, during St. Paul’s lifetime, or it was not. If it was, no publication could be more authentic, no species of notoriety more unquestionable, no method of preserving the integrity of the copy more secure. If it was not, the clause would remain a standing condemnation of the forgery, and one would suppose, an invincible impediment to its success." Its genuineness, however, has never been disputed; and it has been universally received in the Christian church, as the inspired production of St. Paul, from the earliest period to the present day. The circumstance of this injunction being given, in the first epistle which the Apostle wrote, also implies a strong and avowed claim to the character of an inspired writer; as in fact it placed his writings on the same ground with those of Moses and the ancient prophets. The second Epistle, besides those marks of genuineness and authority which it possesses in common with the others, bears the highest evidence of its divine inspiration, in the representation which it contains of the papal power, under the characters of " the Man of sin," and the " Mystery of iniquity." The true Christian worship is the worship of the one only God, through the one only Mediator, the man Christ Jesus; and from this worship the church of Rome has most notoriously departed, by substituting other mediators, invocating and adoring saints and angels, worshipping images, adoring the host, etc. It follows, therefore, that " the Man of sin" is the Pope; not only on account of the disgraceful lives of many of them, but by means of their scandalous doctrines and principles; dispensing with the most necessary duties, selling pardons and indulgences for the most abominable crimes, and perverting the worship of God to the grossest superstition and idolatry. It was evidently the chief design of the Apostle, in writing to the Thessalonians, to confirm them in the faith, to animate them to a courageous profession of the Gospel, and to the practice of all the duties of Christianity; but to suppose, with Dr. Macknight, that he intended to prove the divine authority of Christianity by a chain of regular arguments, in which he answered the several objections which the heathen philosophers are supposed to have advanced, seems quite foreign to the nature of the epistles, and to be grounded on a mistaken notion, that the philosophers designed at so early a period to enter on a regular disputation with the Christians, when in fact they derided them as enthusiasts, and branded their doctrines as " foolishness." In pursuance of his grand object, " it is remarkable," says Dr. Doddridge, " with how much address he improves all the influence which his zeal and fidelity in their service must naturally give him, to inculcate upon them the precepts of the gospel, and persuade them to act agreeably to their sacred character. This was the grand point he always kept in view, and to which every thing else was made subservient. Nothing appears, in any part of his writings, like a design to establish his own reputation, or to make use of his ascendancy over his Christian friends to answer any secular purposes of his own. On the contrary, in this and in his other epistles, he discovers a most generous, disinterested regard for their welfare, expressly disclaiming any authority over their consciences, and appealing to them, that he had chose to maintain himself by the labour of this own hands, rather than prove burdensome to the churches, or give the least colour of suspicion, that, under zeal for the gospel, and concern for their improvement, he was carrying on any private sinister view. The discovery of so excellent a temper must be allowed to carry with it a strong presumptive argument in favour of the doctrines he taught....And, indeed, whoever reads St. Paul’s epistles with attention, and enters into the spirit with which they were written, will discern such intrinsic characters of their genuineness, and the divine authority of the doctrines they contain, as will, perhaps, produce in him a stronger conviction than all the external evidence with which they are attended." These remarks are exceedingly well grounded and highly important; and to no other Epistles can they apply with greater force than the present most excellent productions of the inspired Apostle. The last two chapters of the first epistle, in particular, as Dr. A. Clarke justly observes, " are certainly among the most important, and the most sublime in the New Testament. The general judgment, the resurrection of the body, and the states of the quick and the dead, the unrighteous and the just, are described, concisely indeed, but they are exhibited in the most striking and affecting points of view."

TSK: 2 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Th 3:1, Paul craves their prayers for himself; 2Th 3:3, testifies what confidence he has in them; 2Th 3:5, makes request to God in their behalf; 2Th 3:6, gives them divers precepts, especially to shun idleness, and ill company; 2Th 3:16, and then concludes with prayer and salutation.

Poole: 2 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 3

MHCC: 2 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

The second epistle to the Thessalonians was written soon after the first. The apostle was told that, from some expressions in his first letter, many expected the second coming of Christ was at hand, and that the day of judgment would arrive in their time. Some of these neglected their worldly duties. St. Paul wrote again to correct their error, which hindered the spread of the gospel. He had written agreeably to the words of the prophets of the Old Testament; and he tells them there were many counsels of the Most High yet to be fulfilled, before that day of the Lord should come, though, because it is sure, he had spoken of it as near. The subject led to a remarkable foretelling, of some of the future events which were to take place in the after-ages of the Christian church, and which show the prophetic spirit the apostle possessed.

MHCC: 2 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Th 3:1-5) The apostle expresses confidence in the Thessalonians, and prays for them.

(2Th 3:6-15) He charges them to withdraw from disorderly walkers, particularly from the lazy and busybodies.

(2Th 3:16-18) And concludes with a prayer for them, and a greeting.

Matthew Henry: 2 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians

This Second Epistle was written soon after the former, and seems to have been designed to prevent a mistake, which might arise from some passages in the former epistle, concerning the second coming of Christ, as if it were near at hand. The apostle in this epistle is careful to prevent any wrong use which some among them might make of those expressions of his that were agreeable to the dialect of the prophets of the Old Testament, and informs them that there were many intermediate counsels yet to be fulfilled before that day of the Lord should come, though, because it is sure, he had spoken of it as near. There are other things that he writes about for their consolation under sufferings, and exhortation and direction in duty.

Matthew Henry: 2 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

In the close of the foregoing chapter, the apostle had prayed earnestly for the Thessalonians, and now he desires their prayers, encouraging them to trust in God, to which he subjoins another petition for them (2Th 3:1-5). He then proceeds to give them commands and directions for correcting some things he was informed were amiss among them (2Th 3:6-15) and concludes with benedictions and prayers (2Th 3:16-18).

Barclay: 2 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS OF PAUL

The Letters Of Paul

There is no more interesting body of documents in the New Testament than the letters of Paul. That is because of all forms of literature a letter is most personal. Demetrius, one of the old Greek literary critics, once wrote, "Every one reveals his own soul in his letters. In every other form of composition it is possible to discern the writercharacter, but in none so clearly as the epistolary." (Demetrius, On Style, 227). It is just because he left us so many letters that we feel we know Paul so well. In them he opened his mind and heart to the folk he loved so much; and in them, to this day, we can see that great mind grappling with the problems of the early church, and feel that great heart throbbing with love for men, even when they were misguided and mistaken.

The Difficulty Of Letters

At the same time, there is often nothing so difficult to understand as a letter. Demetrius (On Style, 223) quotes a saying of Artemon, who edited the letters of Aristotle. Artemon said that a letter ought to be written in the same manner as a dialogue, because it was one of the two sides of a dialogue. In other words, to read a letter is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. So when we read the letters of Paul we are often in a difficulty. We do not possess the letter which he was answering; we do not fully know the circumstances with which he was dealing; it is only from the letter itself that we can deduce the situation which prompted it. Before we can hope to understand fully any letter Paul wrote, we must try to reconstruct the situation which produced it.

The Ancient Letters

It is a great pity that Paulletters were ever called epistles. They are in the most literal sense letters. One of the great lights shed on the interpretation of the New Testament has been the discovery and the publication of the papyri. In the ancient world, papyrus was the substance on which most documents were written. It was composed of strips of the pith of a certain bulrush that grew on the banks of the Nile. These strips were laid one on top of the other to form a substance very like brown paper. The sands of the Egyptian desert were ideal for preservation, for papyrus, although very brittle, will last forever so long as moisture does not get at it. As a result, from the Egyptian rubbish heaps, archaeologists have rescued hundreds of documents, marriage contracts, legal agreements, government forms, and, most interesting of all, private letters. When we read these private letters we find that there was a pattern to which nearly all conformed; and we find that Paulletters reproduce exactly that pattern. Here is one of these ancient letters. It is from a soldier, called Apion, to his father Epimachus. He is writing from Misenum to tell his father that he has arrived safely after a stormy passage.

"Apion sends heartiest greetings to his father and lord Epimachus.

I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are

going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.

I thank my Lord Serapis [his god] that he kept me safe when I was

in peril on the sea. As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey

money from Caesar--three gold pieces. And things are going fine

with me. So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to let

me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly, that

I may kiss your hand, because you brought me up well, and because

of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted. Give Capito my

heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and my friends.

I sent you a little picture of myself painted by Euctemon. My

military name is Antonius Maximus. I pray for your good health.

Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimonboy, and Turbo,

Galloniuson." (G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri,

36.)

Little did Apion think that we would be reading his letter to his father 1800 years after he had written it. It shows how little human nature changes. The lad is hoping for promotion quickly. Who would Serenilla be but the girl he left behind him? He sends the ancient equivalent of a photograph to the folk at home. Now that letter falls into certain sections. (i) There is a greeting. (ii) There is a prayer for the health of the recipients. (iii) There is a thanksgiving to the gods. (iv) There are the special contents. (v) Finally, there are the special salutations and the personal greetings. Practically every one of Paulletters shows exactly the same sections, as we now demonstrate.

(i) The Greeting: Rom_1:1 ; 1Co_1:1 ; 2Co_1:1 ; Gal_1:1 ; Eph_1:1 ; Phi_1:1 ; Col_1:1-2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:1 .

(ii) The Prayer: in every case Paul prays for the grace of God on the people to whom he writes: Rom_1:7 ; 1Co_1:3 ; 2Co_1:2 ; Gal_1:3 ; Eph_1:2 ; Phi_1:3 ; Col_1:2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:2 .

(iii) The Thanksgiving: Rom_1:8 ; 1Co_1:4 ; 2Co_1:3 ; Eph_1:3 ; Phi_1:3 ; 1Th_1:3 ; 2Th_1:3 .

(iv) The Special Contents: the main body of the letters.

(v) Special Salutations and Personal Greetings: Rom 16 ; 1Co_16:19 ; 2Co_13:13 ; Phi_4:21-22 ; Col_4:12-15 ; 1Th_5:26 .

When Paul wrote letters, he wrote them on the pattern which everyone used. Deissmann says of them, "They differ from the messages of the homely papyrus leaves of Egypt, not as letters but only as the letters of Paul." When we read Paulletters we are not reading things which were meant to be academic exercises and theological treatises, but human documents written by a friend to his friends.

The Immediate Situation

With a very few exceptions, all Paulletters were written to meet an immediate situation and not treatises which he sat down to write in the peace and silence of his study. There was some threatening situation in Corinth, or Galatia, or Philippi, or Thessalonica, and he wrote a letter to meet it. He was not in the least thinking of us when he wrote, but solely of the people to whom he was writing. Deissmann writes, "Paul had no thought of adding a few fresh compositions to the already extant Jewish epistles; still less of enriching the sacred literature of his nation.... He had no presentiment of the place his words would occupy in universal history; not so much that they would be in existence in the next generation, far less that one day people would look at them as Holy Scripture." We must always remember that a thing need not be transient because it was written to meet an immediate situation. All the great love songs of the world were written for one person, but they live on for the whole of mankind. It is just because Paulletters were written to meet a threatening danger or a clamant need that they still throb with life. And it is because human need and the human situation do not change that God speaks to us through them today.

The Spoken Word

One other thing we must note about these letters. Paul did what most people did in his day. He did not normally pen his own letters but dictated them to a secretary, and then added Ws own authenticating signature. (We actually know the name of one of the people who did the writing for him. In Rom_16:22 Tertius, the secretary, slips in his own greeting before the letter draws to an end). In 1Co_16:21 Paul says, "This is my own signature, my autograph, so that you can be sure this letter comes from me." (compare Col_4:18 ; 2Th_3:17 .)

This explains a great deal. Sometimes Paul is hard to understand, because his sentences begin and never finish; his grammar breaks down and the construction becomes involved. We must not think of him sitting quietly at a desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he writes. We must think of him striding up and down some little room, pouring out a torrent of words, while his secretary races to get them down. When Paul composed his letters, he had in his mindeye a vision of the folk to whom he was writing, and he was pouring out his heart to them in words that fell over each other in his eagerness to help.

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS

Paul Comes To Macedonia

For anyone who can read between the lines the story of Paulcoming to Macedonia is one of the most dramatic in the book of Acts. Luke, with supreme economy of words, tells it in Act_16:6-10 . Short as that narrative is, it gives the impression of a chain of circumstances inescapably culminating in one supreme event. Paul had passed through Phrygia and Galatia and ahead of him lay the Hellespont. To the left lay the teeming province of Asia, to the right stretched the great province of Bithynia; but the Spirit would allow him to enter neither. There was something driving him relentlessly on to the Aegean Sea. So he came to Alexandrian Troas, still uncertain where he ought to go; and then there came to him a vision in the night of a man who cried, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." Paul set sail, and for the first time the gospel came to Europe.

One World

At that moment Paul must have seen much more than a continent for Christ. It was in Macedonia that he landed; and Macedonia was the kingdom of Alexander the Great, who had conquered the world and wept because there were no more worlds left to conquer. But Alexander was much more than a military conqueror. He was almost the first universalist. He was more a missionary than a soldier; and he dreamed of one world dominated and enlightened by the culture of Greece. Even so great a thinker as Aristotle had said that it was a plain duty to treat Greeks as free men and orientals as slaves; but Alexander declared that he had been sent by God "to unite, to pacify and to reconcile the whole world." Deliberately he had said that it was his aim "to marry the East to the West." He had dreamed of an Empire in which there was neither Greek nor Jew, barbarian or Scythian, bond or free (Col_3:11 ). It is hard to see how Alexander could have failed to be in Paulthoughts. Paul left from Alexandrian Troas which was called after Alexander; he came to Macedonia which was Alexanderoriginal kingdom; he worked at Philippi which was called after Philip, Alexanderfather; he went on to Thessalonica which was called after Alexanderhalf-sister. The whole territory was saturated with memories of Alexander; and Paul must surely have thought, not of a country nor of a continent, but of a world for Christ.

Paul Comes To Thessalonica

This sense of the wide-stretching arms of Christianity must have been accentuated when Paul came to Thessalonica. It was a great city. Its original name was Thermal, which means The Hot Springs, and it gave its name to the Thermaic Gulf on which it stood. Six hundred years ago Herodotus had described it as a great city. It has always been a famous harbour. It was there that Xerxes the Persian had his naval base when he invaded Europe; and even in Roman times it was one of the worldgreat dockyards. In 315 B.C. Cassander had rebuilt the city and renamed it Thessalonica, the name of his wife, who was a daughter of Philip of Macedon and a half-sister of Alexander the Great. It was a free city; that is to say it had never suffered the indignity of having Roman troops quartered within it. It had its own popular assembly and its own magistrates. Its population rose to 200,000 and for a time it was a question whether it or Constantinople would be recognized as the capital of the world. Even today, under the name Salonika, it has 70,000 inhabitants.

But the supreme importance of Thessalonica lay in this--it straddled the Via Egnatia, the Egnatian Road, which stretched from Dyrrachium on the Adriatic to Constantinople on the Bosphorus and thence away to Asia Minor and the East. Its main street was part of the very road which linked Rome with the East. East and West converged on Thessalonica; it was said to be "in the lap of the Roman Empire." Trade poured into her from East and West, so that it was said, "So long as nature does not change, Thessalonica will remain wealthy and prosperous."

It is impossible to overstress the importance of the arrival of Christianity in Thessalonica. If Christianity was settled there, it was bound to spread East along the Egnatian Road until all Asia was conquered and West until it stormed even the city of Rome. The coming of Christianity to Thessalonica was crucial in the making of it into a world religion.

PaulStay At Thessalonica

The story of Paulstay at Thessalonica is in Act_17:1-10 . Now, for Paul, what happened at Thessalonica was of supreme importance. He preached in the synagogue for three Sabbaths (Act_17:2 ) which means that his stay there could not have been much more than three weeks in length. He had such tremendous success that the Jews were enraged and raised so much trouble that Paul had to be smuggled out, in peril of his life, to Beroea. The same thing happened in Beroea (Act_17:10-12 ) and Paul had to leave Timothy and Silas behind and make his escape to Athens. What exercised his mind was this. He had been in Thessalonica only three weeks. Was it possible to make such an impression on a place in three weeksime that Christianity was planted so deeply that it could never again be uprooted? If so, it was by no means an idle dream that the Roman Empire might yet be won for Christ. Or was it necessary to settle down and work for months, even years, before an impression could be made? In that event, no man could even dimly foresee when Christianity would penetrate all over the world. Thessalonica was a test case; and Paul was torn with anxiety to know how it would turn out.

News From Thessalonica

So anxious was Paul that, when Timothy joined him at Athens, he sent him back to Thessalonica to get the information without which he could not rest (1Th_3:1-2 , 1Th_3:5 ; 1Th_2:17 ). What news did Timothy bring back? There was good news. The affection of the Thessalonians for Paul was as strong as ever; and they were standing fast in the faith (1Th_2:14 ; 1Th_3:4-6 ; 1Th_4:9-10 ). They were indeed "his glory and Ws joy" (1Th_2:20 ). But there was worrying news.

(i) The preaching of the Second Coming had produced an unhealthy situation in which people had stopped working and had abandoned all ordinary pursuits to await the Second Coming with a kind of hysterical expectancy. So Paul tells them to be quiet and to get on with their work (1Th_4:11 ).

(ii) They were worried about what was to happen to those who died before the Second Coming arrived. Paul explains that those who fall asleep in Jesus will miss none of the glory (1Th_4:13-18 ).

(iii) There was a tendency to despise all lawful authority; the argumentative Greek was always in danger of producing a democracy run mad (1Th_5:12-14 ).

(iv) There was the ever-present danger that they would relapse into immorality. It was hard to unlearn the point of view of generations and to escape the contagion of the heathen world (1Th_4:3-8 ).

(v) There was at least a section who slandered Paul. They hinted that he preached the gospel for what he could get out of it (1Th_2:5 , 1Th_2:9 ); and that he was something of a dictator (1Th_2:6-7 , 1Th_2:11 ).

(vi) There was a certain amount of division in the Church (1Th_4:9 ; 1Th_5:13 ).

These were the problems with which Paul had to deal; and they show that human nature has not changed so very much.

Why Two Letters?

We must ask why there are two letters. They art, very much alike and they must have been written within weeks, perhaps days of each other. The second letter was written mainly to clear up a misconception about the Second Coming. The first letter insists that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, and urges watchfulness (1Th_5:2 ; 1Th_5:6 ). But this produced the unhealthy situation where men did nothing but watch and wait; and in the second letter Paul explains what signs must come first before the Second Coming should come (2Th_2:3-12 ). The Thessalonians had got their ideas about the Second Coming out of proportion. As so often happens to a preacher, Paulpreaching had been misunderstood, and certain phrases had been taken out of context and over-emphasized; and the second letter seeks to put things back in their proper balance and to correct the thoughts of the excited Thessalonians regarding the Second Coming. Of course, Paul takes occasion in the second letter to repeat and to stress much of the good advice and rebuke he had given in the first, but its main aim is to tell them certain things which will calm their hysteria and make them wait, not in excited idleness, but in patient and diligent attendance to the daywork. In these two letters we see Paul solving the day to day problems which arose in the expanding Church.

FURTHER READINGS

Thessalonians

J. E. Frame, Thessalonians (ICC; G)

G. Milligan, St. PaulEpistles to the Thessalonians (MmC; G)

W. Neil, The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians (MC; E)

Abbreviations

CGT: Cambridge Greek Testament

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

MmC: Macmillan Commentary

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: 2 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

A Final Word (2Th_3:1-5)

Discipline In Brotherly Love (2Th_3:6-18)

Constable: 2 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical background

This epistle contains evidence that Paul had recently heard news about current conditions in the Thessalonian church. Probably most of this information came to him from the person who had carried 1 Thessalonians to its recipients and had returned to Paul at Corinth. Perhaps other people who had news of the church had informed Paul, Silas, and Timothy also. Some of the news was good. The majority of the Thessalonians were continuing to grow and to remain faithful to Christ in spite of persecution. Unfortunately some of the news was bad. False teaching concerning the day of the Lord had entered the church and was causing confusion and leading some of the Christians to quit their jobs in expectation of the Lord's return.

In view of these reports Paul evidently felt constrained to write this epistle. He commended his children in the faith for their growth and faithfulness, corrected the doctrinal error about the day of the Lord, and warned the idle to get back to work.

Almost all conservative scholars believe that Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians from Corinth. The basis for this conclusion is that Paul, Silas, and Timothy were present together in Corinth (Acts 18:5). The New Testament does not refer to them being together from then on, though they may have been. Paul evidently wrote 1 Thessalonians from Corinth. The topics he treated in the second epistle seem to grow out of situations he alluded to in the first epistle. They reflect a very similar situation in the Thessalonian church. Corinth, therefore, seems the logical site of composition of 2 Thessalonians.

For these reasons it appears that Paul composed 2 Thessalonians quite soon after 1 Thessalonians, perhaps within 12 months.¹ This would place the date of composition in the early 50's A.D., perhaps 51 A.D., and would make this the third of Paul's canonical writings assuming Galatians was his first.

"The external evidence for the Pauline authorship of 2 Thessalonians is stronger than for 1 Thessalonians."²

Purpose

Three purposes are evident from the contents of the epistle. Paul wrote to encourage the Thessalonian believers to continue to persevere in the face of continuing persecution (1:3-10). He also wanted to clarify events preceding the day of the Lord to dispel false teaching (2:1-12). Finally, he instructed the church how to deal with lazy Christians in their midst (3:6-15).

Message³

We could contrast 1 and 2 Thessalonians by saying that Paul wrote the first epistle primarily to comfort the Thessalonians whereas he wrote the second epistle primarily to correct them.

Paul had said some things in his first epistle from which his readers drew a false conclusion. He had said that Christ would return and His return could be very soon (1 Thess. 4:15-18). He also said the day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night, unexpectedly (1 Thess. 5:2).

In view of what Paul had taught the Thessalonians about the day of the Lord when he was with them (2 Thess. 2:5), they wondered if that day had already begun. They wondered if they were in the Tribulation and if the second coming of Christ was imminent. Teaching from several other sources that confirmed their suspicions (2 Thess. 2:2) intensified their questions about Paul's statements regarding future events that he had written in 1 Thessalonians.

The apostle wrote 2 Thessalonians to correct these erroneous ideas. The return of Christ of which Paul had written was not His second coming but the Rapture. While the day of the Lord would arrive unexpectedly it would be unexpected only by unbelievers. Several predicted events would precede its commencement.

The central message of this epistle is the truth about the day of the Lord.

Paul made an important distinction in this epistle about future events.

In 1 Thessalonians he taught that the Lord's return could take place very soon and that the day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night. Consequently he urged his readers to wait expectantly for the Lord (1 Thess. 4:16-17; 5:2).

In 2 Thessalonians he wrote that the day of the Lord cannot begin immediately. Therefore his readers should continue their work (2 Thess. 2). These statements may seem contradictory, but they are not.

Paul distinguished these two truths in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2. The distinction is between "our gathering together to Him" (v. 1) and "the day of the Lord" (v. 2). He wrote verses 1-12 to show the difference between the first event and the second period.

Paul also gave definite new revelation about the day of the Lord.

He said that presently the mystery of lawlessness is at work (2:7). Paul did not say the mystery of "sin" or "evil" but "lawlessness." He did so because lawlessness (rebellion against divine law) is the root trouble with human life individually, socially, nationally, and in every other sphere. The "mystery" of lawlessness is the new revelation he expounded here concerning the course of lawlessness in the world and history, in space and time.

Second, he revealed that in the future God will remove what is presently restraining lawlessness (2:7). The restrainer probably refers to the Holy Spirit who indwells the church. Lawlessness produces corruption, but the church is the salt of the earth, and salt prevents the spread of corruption. Lawlessness also produces darkness, but the church is the light of the world, and light dispels darkness. Lawlessness is presently working, but what keeps it from running wild is the Holy Spirit's ministry through Christian men and women.

Third, Paul announced that in the future there will also be a crisis: the man of lawlessness will be revealed (2:8). When will God withdraw the Spirit from the world? He will do so when He withdraws the church from the world. When will He withdraw the church from the world? He will do so at "our gathering together to Him" (v. 1, i.e., the Rapture). After that, the human leader of lawlessness will appear. He will be entirely godless, but he will be such a remarkable character that he will convince most people that he is divine. This is the Antichrist.

Finally, Paul taught that after this crisis Jesus Christ will return to the earth to set up His kingdom (2:8). He will come when the man of lawlessness is the prominent character on the stage of history. However when Christ comes, He will destroy this Antichrist and curtail lawlessness (cf. Ps. 2).

In view of this revelation Paul called on his readers to do two things.

First, he called on them to be courageous. He did not want them to be mentally upset (2:2) but comforted and established (2:17). A clear understanding of the course of future events and the time of the Lord's return is essential for the mental and spiritual encouragement and stability of Christians. We need this to be courageous in the face of all the lawlessness we encounter in the world. Give this to the people you serve in ministry.

Second, Paul called his readers to responsible conduct. He instructed them to go on with life, to wait but also to work. Christians must behave responsibly by providing for our own needs. The hope of Christ's imminent return at the Rapture is no excuse for irresponsibility. Paul was not just urging activity (witnessing, praying, etc.) but specifically earning a living.

The gravest danger we face in our world today is not socialism or communism or fascism but lawlessness specifically refusal to submit to God's laws. The person who lives this way is anti-Christ.

We need to recognize this danger for what it is and to combat it by being salt and light in the world. However, we should also remember that Christ will eventually be victorious. This will keep us from becoming frantic and losing our stability.

Each of us also needs to make sure lawlessness does not characterize our personal lives. We must be submissive to divine rule if we would be consistent and confident Christians.

Outline⁴

I. Salutation 1:1-2

II. Commendation for past progress 1:3-12

A. Thanksgiving for growth 1:3-4

B. Encouragement to persevere 1:5-10

C. Prayer for success 1:11-12

III. Correction of present error 2:1-12

A. The beginning of the day of the Lord 2:1-5

B. The mystery of lawlessness 2:6-12

IV. Thanksgiving and prayer 2:13-17

A. Thanksgiving for calling 2:13-15

B. Prayer for strength 2:16-17

V. Exhortations for future growth 3:1-15

A. Reciprocal prayer 3:1-5

1. Prayer for the missionaries 3:1-2

2. Prayer for the Thessalonians 3:3-5

B. Church discipline 3:6-15

1. General principles respecting disorderly conduct 3:6-10

2. Specific instructions concerning the idle 3:11-13

3. Further discipline for the unrepentant 3:14-15

VI. Conclusion 3:16-18

Constable: 2 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 2 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

THE SECOND

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO THE THESSALONIANS.

INTRODUCTION.

In this epistle St. Paul admonishes the Thessalonians to be constant in the faith of Christ, and not to be terrified by the insinuations of false teachers, telling them that the day of judgment was near at hand, as there must come many signs and wonders before it. He bids them to hold firm the traditions received from him, whether by word or by epistle; and shews them how they may be certain of his letters by the manner he writes. This epistle was written soon after the former, and also from Corinth, about A.D. 52. (Challoner; Witham) --- From the context we learn that the present is a continuation of the former epistle. He not only rectifies wrong impressions caused by his former letter, but finding that those indolent characters whom he had reprimanded were no ways corrected, he determines to reprimand them still more severely in this letter, which he tells us he writes because he has it not in his power to visit, as he could wish, the Thessalonians.

====================

Gill: 2 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 THESSALONIANS

This second epistle was written, not from Athens, as the subscription testifies, nor from Rome, as Athanasius ^a supposes; but from Corinth, from whence was sent the former, and where the apostle and Timothy, and Silvanus met; and which was sent about half a year after the other. The design of which is to comfort and support the Thessalonians under the afflictions and persecutions they endured for the sake of the Gospel; and to rectify a mistake they had gone into, and which might be occasioned by what the apostle had said in his former epistle, concerning the second coming of Christ, as though it was just at hand; which might lead them to neglect their worldly business, and duties of civil life, and give the enemies of the Gospel an advantage against the whole of it as false, should not this prove true; as also to exhort this church to take notice of disorderly persons such as were idle, and busy bodies, and withdraw from them, and remove them from their communion, as being not only burdensome to them, but a reproach to their profession.

Gill: 2 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 THESSALONIANS 3

In this chapter the apostle requests of the Thessalonians, that they would pray for him, and other Gospel ministers; and he puts up prayers for them, gives them rules about dealing with disorderly persons, and concludes the epistle with his usual salutation. The request to pray for ministers is in 2Th 3:1 the petitions to be made for them are, that their ministry might be succeeded, and their persons preserved and delivered from evil minded men, destitute of faith in Christ, 2Th 3:1 and, for the consolation of the saints, observes the faithfulness of God engaged in their behalf to establish them in the faith they had, and to preserve them from everything and person that is evil, 2Th 3:3 and expresses his confidence in them with respect to their walk and conversation, 2Th 3:4 and then prays for them that their hearts might be directed into the love of God, and patience of Christ, 2Th 3:5. And next follows an order to withdraw from every disorderly walker, particularly idle and slothful persons, 2Th 3:6 and from such a lazy idle life the apostle dissuades by his own example, who behaved not disorderly, nor ate the bread of others, but wrought with his own hands, though he had a right to a maintenance without it, but did this to set an example to them, 2Th 3:7. He puts them in mind of a precept of his when among them, that such who would not work should not eat, 2Th 3:10 and the order he now gave, and the precept he reminds them of, were not without reason; seeing there were disorderly idle persons, and busy bodies, among them, whom the apostle exhorts and beseeches, in the name of Christ, to be industrious, and eat their own bread, as the fruit of their labours, 2Th 3:11 and as for the other members of the church, he exhorts them to diligence and constancy in well doing, and to mark those that were incorrigible, and have no conversation with them, yet dealing with them not as enemies, but admonishing them as brethren, 2Th 3:13. And closes all with prayers, that the Lord would give them peace, and grant his presence to them, and with his usual salutation, written with his own hand, as a token of this being a genuine epistle of his, and by which every epistle of his might be known, 2Th 3:16.

College: 2 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

The pressures of persecution, apparent in 1 Thessalonians, have intensified in this letter. In its three brief chapters the reader perceives the vital importance for suffering believers of confident hope in the Lord's return. Likewise intensified is the problem of idleness. In the face of abuses of Christian generosity, 2 Thessalonians gives a sharp reminder of the individual Christian's duty to live as a responsible member of the community, hard-working and self-supporting.

Much of what was said about the circumstances and organization of 1 Thessalonians can also be affirmed of the second letter (see introduction to 1 Thessalonians above). But unlike 1 Thessalonians, this letter presents two major critical problems. Brief attention will be given to these below.

AUTHORSHIP

Unlike 1 Thessalonians, the second letter has widely been taken as a pseudepigraph, composed after Paul's death by one of his followers who used 1 Thessalonians as a model. Several lines of evidence have been cited to support the hypothesis that 2 Thessalonians is not an authentic letter of Paul.

One of these concerns the letter's eschatology. While 1 Thessalonians emphasized that the Lord's return was imminent, that is, that it could occur at any time (5:1-11), 2 Thessalonians appears to propose a series of preliminary signs which must occur before the Lord can return (2:1-12). If this is indeed the case, then, it is argued, that the tension between the two letters is such that Paul could not have written both. More particularly, it is often argued that the less imminent expectation of 2 Thessalonians reflects a later period in the life of the church, when the vivid expectation that the Lord would return within the lifetime of the first generation of Christians had been disappointed. If so, then it is clearly a production of the generation after the apostle Paul.

Secondly, it is argued that the tone of 2 Thessalonians is considerably colder and more formal than 1 Thessalonians. As an example, "we ought to thank" in 2 Thess 1:3; 2:13 is regarded as less warm than "we thank" in 1 Thess 1:2. Likewise, the repeated use of "command" in 2 Thess 3:6, 12 is said to reflect a less intimate relationship between the writer and the readers. Such a shift in tone is thought to be unlikely if Paul had written both letters, especially if 1 Thessalonians was written first, but is entirely to be expected if the second letter was a pseudepigraph.

Thirdly, the background of the readers appears to be different. 1 Thess 1:9 appears to indicate a predominantly Gentile audience, but in 2 Thessalonians references to the final judgment (1:6-10) and the man of lawlessness (2:1-12) appear to assume knowledge that could be expected only of Jews. It is consequently argued that the second letter was not written for the same church, indicating that the addressee and so also the author named in the salutation are fictions.

Combined with these concerns is the literary style of 2 Thessalonians. In some respects it closely resembles 1 Thessalonians, following a similar outline (including a double thanksgiving: 1 Thess 1:2-10; 2:13-16; 2Thess 2 Thess 1:3-12; 2:13-17) and discussing similar themes (eschatology, idleness). However, it has been argued that the sentence structure of 2 Thessalonians is significantly different from the undisputed letters of Paul. In particular, 2 Thess 2:3-12 is a more complex sentence than is found elsewhere in Paul's letters, constructions with the genitive are more frequent, and subordinating conjunctions are more numerous. Likewise it is argued that a number of terms and concepts from Paul's authentic letters are used in a different sense in 2 Thessalonians. The combination of similarity and dissimilarity is said to point to a post-Pauline imitator, who at some points incorporated elements of Paul's style and substance from 1 Thessalonians and at others reflected followed his own course.

The force of these arguments is considerable, and a large number of contemporary scholars have been persuaded by them to reject Pauline authorship of this letter. However, the idea that 2 Thessalonians is pseudepigraphical is itself problematic. It is first of all difficult to understand why someone would write 2 Thessalonians and ascribe it to Paul, since presumably it contained nothing so controversial as to demand the apostle's authority for its acceptance. Furthermore, if written by a later imitator, that person knew only 1 Thessalonians, since the major parallels are only with that letter. Such a situation would be surprising for a second-generation disciple of Paul. The reference to the temple in 2:4 gives no indication that the Jerusalem temple has been destroyed by the Romans, again surprising if the letter were written near the end of the first century when the fall of Jerusalem was well known. Furthermore, 3:6-15 give every appearance of having been written to a specific congregation in response to a particular problem. It would be most unusual for a letter to be written to specific church in the name of Paul after his death and not be detected as a pseudepigraph. And if all in the church recognized the fiction and accepted it as such, we must explain how the later church forgot the origins of the letter, since all external evidence affirms that Paul is the author (Marcion, c. A.D. 150, and the Muratorian Canon, c. A.D. 180, both ascribe it to Paul). These considerations make the hypothesis of pseudepigraphy less than likely.

In fact, each argument for pseudepigraphy can be explained on the hypothesis that Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians himself. The eschatological tension in fact has less to do with a lessening of expectancy than is often allowed. Exegesis of 2:1-12 in the comments below will indicate that what Paul discusses here is probably not a series of preliminary signs but the present reality that evil and the Evil One appear to dominate and that such dominance is itself proof that the Lord has not yet returned. In this case, there is absolutely no tension between the eschatology of the first and second letters. However, even if this interpretation should be wrong, it is not impossible that Paul would express a different perspective on the Lord's coming in 2 Thessalonians and not view it as contradictory, just as he does in 1 Cor 15:1-58, which stresses the general resurrection, and 2 Cor 5:1-10, which stresses individual immortality.

Likewise, the change in tone between the two letters can be explained by the change in circumstances. In 1 Thessalonians part of Paul's concern was to reassure the readers of his affection for them despite his absence. That need having been met, the second letter - preoccupied with the persecution of the church, the problem about the Lord's return and the idleness of some members - reflects less of the personal warmth emphasized in the first. Furthermore, if Paul used a different amanuensis for each letter, or if Silas and Timothy had different roles in the composition of each letter, the tone and style could easily have changed.

The change from a Gentile to a Jewish background is more apparent than real. As noted in the introduction to 1 Thessalonians, that letter includes a number of phrases which assume knowledge of the Old Testament and Judaism. The Jewish orientation of the second letter is more explicit but hardly necessitates a different audience. This observation also obviates the need for other hypotheses, such as that Paul sent the two letters to two different factions of the church, one Gentile and the other Jewish, or that he sent the first letter to the church at large and the second to the leaders of the church.

The stylistic differences between 2 Thessalonians and the other letters of Paul are real, but they can be exaggerated. The complexity of sentences and concentration of subordinating conjunctions are in fact not two matters but one, since complex sentences require subordinating conjunctions. The sentence of 1:3-12 is exceptional, but it is approximated in Ephesians and Colossians. The authorship of those letters is also disputed, but to base an argument for one letter's inauthenticity on its similarity with another questioned letter is to build a supposition on another supposition. It would be fairer to admit that in a short letter like 2 Thessalonians, a few unusual expressions may create a false impression of stylistic variance. Furthermore, it is admitted by all that Paul's style changed with each letter. Only in Romans, for example, do we find the rhetorical question, "What shall we say then?" (3:5; 4:1; 6:1; 7:7; 8:31; 9:14, 30), and no one disputes the authenticity of Romans on that basis. Alleged differences in the use of key terms and presentation of concepts have likewise been exaggerated. Paul's usage elsewhere is often more flexible than some critics will allow. And 2 Thessalonians contains some Paulinisms which would have been difficult for an imitator to compose. The combination of similarities and differences between the two Thessalonians letters and between the second and the rest of the Pauline corpus is at least as consistent with the hypothesis that Paul wrote both under changing circumstances as it is with the hypothesis of a pseudepigrapher.

Thus, though the controversy over the authorship of this letter is likely to continue among scholars, the arguments against Paul's authorship are not sufficient to overturn the testimony of the letter itself and of the early church. By nature of the case, evidence to prove the authenticity of an ancient document always falls short of absolute proof. But those who have accepted 2 Thessalonians as a genuine letter of Paul can do so with integrity, knowing that the balance of evidence favors their conclusion.

ORDER AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF WRITING

The traditional assumption has always been that 2 Thessalonians was written not long after 1 Thessalonians, while Paul was still in Corinth. Paul had apparently received a report, perhaps from Timothy after the delivery of the first letter, of ongoing problems in the Thessalonian church. The persecution had not abated, misunderstandings about the Lord's return continued, and the willfully idle had not repented. Therefore, Paul composed a second letter to address the developing situation, probably only months after writing the first.

There have been several scholars who have questioned the traditional order, however, postulating that 2 Thessalonians was in fact written first. The traditional order of Paul's letters, these have argued, is based not on chronology but length, longer letters of Paul being placed before shorter ones in the canon. Therefore, internal considerations alone, the evidence of the letters themselves, must determine the order of writing.

The most recent and important advocate of the priority of 2 Thessalonians is Charles Wanamaker. His argument, which in the main follows a line marked out by others, may be summarized as follows. First, the persecution of 2 Thess 1:4-7 appears to be a matter of the past in 1 Thess 2:14. Secondly, the idlers of 2 Thess 3:6-15 appear to be a new problem, while 1 Thess 4:10-12 and 5:14 address it as something well known and already under control. Thirdly, the signature of 2 Thess 3:17 appears to be more fitting in Paul's first letter to the church. Fourth, the eschatological teaching of 1 Thess 4:13-5:11, especially in light of the remark in 5:1 that the readers had no need of such instruction because they had received it before, is more coherently explained if it is an elaboration on 2 Thess 2:1-12, especially if some implications of that passage had been misunderstood. On the other hand, if the church had already received 1 Thess 4:13-5:11, it is difficult to see how they would have concluded that the day of the Lord had already come (2 Thess 2:2), since the dead had not yet been raised and united with the living in the Lord's presence (1 Thess 4:17). Therefore, Wanamaker argues with earlier advocates of the hypothesis that 2 Thessalonians was written by Paul after he received a vague report about problems in the Thessalonian church and was delivered by Timothy in the visit described in 1 Thess 3:1-10.

While Wanamaker has succeeded in showing how little evidence there actually is for the priority of 1 Thessalonians, the case for the priority of 2 Thessalonians is far from proved. External evidence must be weighed also: Marcion apparently referred to 1 Thessalonians as the first letter despite the fact that he did not arrange his canon by length. As far as internal matters are concerned, if 2 Thessalonians was the first letter, it is surprising that Paul makes no reference to it in 1 Thessalonians as a part of his passionate discussion of his prior work with the Thessalonian church (2:1-12) and his attempts to return to them since his departure (2:17-20). Wanamaker suggests that the mention of Timothy's visit may be a tacit reference to it, since Timothy can be assumed to have carried some letter from Paul on this visit. Still, one might expect a more specific mention of so substantial a letter as 2 Thessalonians had it been written first. On the other hand, the references to letters in 2 Thess 2:2, 15; 3:17 are at least consistent with the idea that 1 Thessalonians had already been received, though they do not demand it.

If 1 Thessalonians is prior, as the slight balance of probability suggests, we can assume that the persecution of the church, which may have abated after Paul's departure, has heated up again, or at least that the church is in greater turmoil because of it. Likewise, we must assume that the church's misunderstanding of the Lord's return in 2:2 occurred despite the logical force of 1 Thess 4:13-18. Also, the idle who were warned briefly in 1 Thess 4:11-12 and 5:14 did not heed that warning. Such developments will surprise those who assume that human behavior is always reasonable and orderly, but those who have experienced the give and take of pastoral leadership will recognize that churches and Christians, like stocks, seldom move in a straight line. Against such a background Paul dictated his second letter, seeking to correct the church's course and reinforce its growth.

THEOLOGICAL VALUE

2 Thessalonians focuses primarily on three issues: persecution, the Lord's return, and the problem of idleness. Each has remarkable relevance for today's church.

Persecution is perhaps less a part of the experience of Christians in North America than in other parts of the world. Nevertheless, for many Christians it remains a real threat. More broadly, all believers experience the hostility of unbelievers at various points, and all can be subject to the hurt of their ridicule, even if they are relatively safe from physical violence. 2 Thessalonians provides the important reminder that God notices such suffering and promises to bring vindication for his people. The suffering of the church will one day end.

Likewise, the pervasive dominance of evil, obvious to every modern observer, will one day end as well. Whatever the precise nature of the "man of lawlessness" (2:3), Paul certainly focuses attention on his present activity (2:9-12). Christians who wonder whether their faith is true when they see the opponents of Christianity with the upper hand have their answer in this letter. Evil will continue to run rampant in this age, but when Christ returns, he will utterly destroy every manifestation of it and the One who stands behind it. The goodness and faithfulness of God can be trusted to answer every aspect of injustice in this age.

Unemployment, underemployment and wide gaps in income are no less a social reality now than they were for Paul's readers. And so the need for Christian charity continues as it did in the first century. But the dangers inherent in such sharing are still real as well. Paul's reminders about the need for personal responsibility and self-support (3:6-12), coupled with the reminder to continue in good works of generosity (3:13) are messages to be heeded as today's church considers its role in addressing the pressing issues of poverty and the failures of the secular welfare state.

The observation that problems had intensified since Paul wrote his first letter contains a pertinent message in itself. Even in Paul's ministry, the life of the church was characterized by trouble as much as progress. Yet through such trouble the work and will of God are accomplished. Christians frustrated by the one-step-forward-two-steps-back trajectory of the church can take heart that in similar circumstances the great apostle still found much for which to give thanks and boast (1:3-4; 2:13-14). God's will, which will be fully realized only when Christ returns, is even now being worked out in the life of the church, even when outwardly it appears defeated.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: 2 Thessalonians (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. GREETING - 1:1-2

II. OPENING THANKSGIVING, ENCOURAGEMENT AND PRAYER - 1:3-12

A. Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' Growth and Endurance in Persecution- 1:3-4

B. Encouragement in Light of God's Judgment - 1:5-10

C. The Content of Paul's Prayer - 1:11-12

III. INSTRUCTION ON THE LORD'S RETURN - 2:1-12

A. The Day of the Lord Not Yet Present - 2:1-2

B. The Apostasy and the Man of Lawlessness - 2:3-12

1. The Apostasy and the Revelation of the Man of Lawlessness - 2:3

2. A Description of the Man of Lawlessness - 2:4

3. Reminder of Oral Instruction on the Subject - 2:5

4. The One Who Restrains/Prevails - 2:6-10

5. God's Consequent Actions - 2:11-12

IV. RENEWED THANKSGIVING, ENCOURAGEMENT AND PRAYER - 2:13-17

A. Thanksgiving for the Salvation of the Thessalonians- 2:13-14

B. Encouragement to Remain Faithful to the Traditions Delivered by Paul - 2:15

C. Prayer for the Lord's Encouragement and Strength - 2:16-17

V. EXHORTATIONS - 3:1-16

A. General Exhortations - 3:1-5

B. Exhortations Regarding Church Discipline - 3:6-15

1. Exclusion of the Willfully Idle - 3:6-13

2. Exclusion of the Disobedient - 3:14-15

VI. CONCLUSION - 3:16-18

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV