2 Thessalonians 2:4

2:4 He ¹  opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat ²  in God’s temple, displaying himself as God. ³ 

2 Thessalonians 1:2

1:2 Grace and peace to you ⁴  from God the ⁵  Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

2 Thessalonians 1:5

Encouragement in Persecution

1:5 This is evidence of God’s righteous judgment, to make you worthy ⁶  of the kingdom of God, for which in fact you are suffering.

2 Thessalonians 2:13

Call to Stand Firm

2:13 But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters ⁷  loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning ⁸  for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

2 Thessalonians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul ⁹  and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians ¹⁰  in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:11

2:11 Consequently ¹¹  God sends on them a deluding influence ¹²  so that they will believe what is false.

2 Thessalonians 3:5

3:5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God ¹³  and the endurance of Christ. ¹⁴ 

2 Thessalonians 1:6

1:6 For it is right ¹⁵  for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,

2 Thessalonians 1:8

1:8 With flaming fire he will mete out ¹⁶  punishment on those who do not know God ¹⁷  and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 2:16

2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope,

2 Thessalonians 1:11

1:11 And in this regard we pray for you always, that our God will make you worthy of his calling ¹⁸  and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness and every work of faith,

2 Thessalonians 1:4

1:4 As a result we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you are enduring.

2 Thessalonians 1:3

Thanksgiving

1:3 We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, ¹⁹  and rightly so, ²⁰  because your faith flourishes more and more and the love of each one of you all for one another is ever greater.

2 Thessalonians 1:12

1:12 that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to ²¹  the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:7

1:7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed ²²  from heaven with his mighty angels. ²³ 

2 Thessalonians 2:3

2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes ²⁴  and the man of lawlessness ²⁵  is revealed, the son of destruction. ²⁶ 

¹ tn Grk “the one who opposes,” describing the figure in v. 3. A new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the personal pronoun (“he”) and translating the participle ἀντικείμενος (antikeimeno") as a finite verb.

² sn Allusions to Isa 14:13-14; Dan 11:36; Ezek 28:2-9 respectively.

³ tn Grk “that he is God.”

⁴ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

⁵ 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 0111^vid 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.

⁷ tn Grk “so that you may be made worthy.” The passive infinitive καταξιωθῆναι (kataxiwqhnai) has been translated as an active construction in English for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.

¹¹ tc ‡ Several mss (B F G P 0278 33 81 323 1739 1881 al bo) read ἀπαρχήν (aparchn, “as a first fruit”; i.e., as the first converts) instead of ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς (ap’ arch", “from the beginning,” found in א D Ψ Ï it sa), but this seems more likely to be a change by scribes who thought of the early churches in general in this way. But Paul would not be likely to call the Thessalonians “the first fruits” among his converts. Further, ἀπαρχή (aparch, “first fruit”) is a well-worn term in Paul’s letters (Rom 8:23; 11:16; 16:5; 1 Cor 15:20, 23; 16:15), while ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς occurs nowhere else in Paul. Scribes might be expected to change the text to the more familiar term. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult (see arguments for ἀπαρχήν in TCGNT 568), and ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς must be preferred only slightly.

¹³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

¹⁴ map For the location of Thessalonica see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.

¹⁶ tn Grk “and for this reason.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “a working of error.”

¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ 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.

²² tn Grk “if in fact/since,” as a continuation of the preceding.

²⁵ 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.

²⁶ sn An allusion to Jer 10:25, possibly also to Ps 79:6 and Isa 66:15.

²⁸ tn Or “your calling.”

³¹ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

³² tn Grk “as is worthy.”

³⁴ tn Or “by means of.”

³⁷ tn Grk “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.”

³⁸ tn Grk “angels of power,” translated as an attributive genitive.

⁴⁰ tn Grk “for unless the rebellion comes first.” The clause about “the day” is understood from v. 2.

⁴¹ tc Most mss (A D F G Ψ Ï lat sy) read ἁμαρτίας (Jamartia", “of sin”) here, but several important mss (א B 0278 6 81 1739 1881 al co) read ἀνομίας (anomia", “of lawlessness”). Although external support for ἁμαρτίας is broader, the generally earlier and better witnesses are on the side of ἀνομίας. Internally, since ἁμαρτία (Jamartia, “sin”) occurs nearly ten times as often as ἀνομία (anomia, “lawlessness”) in the corpus Paulinum, scribes would be expected to change the text to the more familiar term. At the same time, the mention of ἀνομία in v. 7 and ὁ ἄνομος (Jo anomo", “the lawless one”) in v. 8, both of which look back to v. 3, may have prompted scribes to change the text toward ἀνομίας. The internal evidence is thus fairly evenly balanced. Although a decision is difficult, ἀνομίας has slightly greater probability of authenticity than ἁμαρτίας.

⁴² tn Or “the one destined for destruction.”