3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all.
1:1 From Paul 5 and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians 6 in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2:1 Now regarding the arrival 9 of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, 10 we ask you, brothers and sisters, 11
3:1 Finally, pray for us, brothers and sisters, 20 that the Lord’s message 21 may spread quickly and be honored 22 as in fact it was among you,
2:13 But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters 28 loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning 29 for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
3:6 But we command you, brothers and sisters, 30 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives an undisciplined 31 life 32 and not according to the tradition they 33 received from us.
1 tn Or “by means of.”
2 tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”
3 tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A F G I 0278 Ï lat sy sa) have ἡμῶν (Jhmwn) after πατρός (patros), reading “God our Father,” in apparent emulation of Paul’s almost universal style. The omission of the pronoun (the reading of B D P 0111vid 33 1739 1881 pc) seems to be the original wording of this salutation. As well, the intrinsic evidence also supports the shorter reading: If 2 Thessalonians is authentic, it was one of Paul’s earliest letters, and, if so, his stereotyped salutation was still in embryonic form (see discussion at 1 Thess 1:1). NA27 places the word in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
3 tc Most witnesses, including some early and important ones (א2 A D F G Ψ Ï lat sy), conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, the witnesses for the omission are among the best
4 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
5 map For the location of Thessalonica see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.
5 tn Grk “who,” describing the people mentioned in v. 8. A new sentence was started here in the translation by replacing the relative pronoun with a personal pronoun.
6 tn Or “power,” or “might.” The construction can also be translated as an attributed genitive: “from his glorious strength” (cf. TEV “glorious might”; CEV “glorious strength”; NLT “glorious power”).
6 tn Or perhaps “return” (cf. CEV).
7 tn Grk “our gathering with him.”
8 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.
7 tn Grk “to which,” referring to the main idea of v. 13.
8 sn That you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. For Paul the ultimate stage of salvation is glorification (Rom 8:30).
8 tn Grk “who.”
9 tn Grk “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.”
10 tn Grk “angels of power,” translated as an attributive genitive.
10 tn Grk “meting out,” as a description of Jesus Christ in v. 7. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 8 in the translation.
11 sn An allusion to Jer 10:25, possibly also to Ps 79:6 and Isa 66:15.
11 tc ‡ Several important witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western traditions, as well as many other witnesses, read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) after κύριος (kurios, “Lord”; so א A D* F G Lc P Ψ 0278 33 81 104 365 1241 2464 pc latt sy co). But there is sufficient evidence in the Alexandrian tradition for the shorter reading (B 1739 1881), supported by the Byzantine text as well as Irenaeus. Although it is possible that scribes overlooked ᾿Ιησοῦς if the two nomina sacra occurred together (kMsiMs), since “the Lord Jesus” is a frequent enough appellation, it looks to be a motivated reading. NA27 places ᾿Ιησοῦς in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
12 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.
13 tn Or “the word of the Lord.”
14 tn Grk “may run and be glorified.”
13 tn The genitive in the phrase τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ θεοῦ (thn agaphn tou qeou, “the love of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“God’s love”) or an objective genitive (“your love for God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, the emphasis would be on believers being directed toward the love God gives which in turn produces increased love in them for him.
14 tn The genitive in the phrase τὴν ὑπομονὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ (thn Jupomonhn tou Cristou, “the endurance of Christ”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“Christ’s endurance”) or an objective genitive (“endurance for Christ”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, the emphasis would be on believers being directed toward the endurance Christ showed which in turn produces endurance in them for him.
14 tn Grk “that by working quietly they may eat their own bread.”
15 tn Or “quickly, soon.”
16 tn Grk “as through us.”
16 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.
17 tc ‡ Several
17 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.
18 tn Or “unruly, out of line.” The particular violation Paul has in mind is idleness (as described in vv. 8-11), so this could be translated to reflect that.
19 tn Grk “walking in an undisciplined way” (“walking” is a common NT idiom for one’s way of life or conduct).
20 tc The reading “you received” (παρελάβετε, parelabete) is found predominately in Western witnesses (F G 1505 2464 pc), although the support of B and the Sahidic version strengthens the reading considerably. The reading “they received” is found in two different forms: παρελάβοσαν (parelabosan; in א* A [D*] 0278 33 pc) and παρέλαβον (parelabon; in א2 D2 Ψ 1739 1881 Ï). (παρέλαβον is evidently a correction of παρελάβοσαν to the more common spelling for the third person aorist form). The external evidence is divided fairly evenly, with παρελάβετε and παρελάβοσαν each having adequate support. Internal evidence leans toward “they received”: Given the second person reading, there is little reason why scribes would intentionally change it to a third person plural, and especially an archaic form at that. There is ample reason, however, for scribes to change the third person form to the second person form given that in the prior context παράδοσις (paradosis, “tradition”) is used with a relative clause (as here) with a second person verb (see 2:15). The third person form should be regarded as original.