2 Thessalonians 1:12

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

2 Thessalonians 1:2

1:2 Grace and peace to you ²  from God the ³  Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

2 Thessalonians 3:18

3:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. ⁴ 

2 Thessalonians 1:9

1:9 They ⁵  will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, ⁶ 

2 Thessalonians 2:1

The Day of the Lord

2:1 Now regarding the arrival ⁷  of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, ⁸  we ask you, brothers and sisters, ⁹ 

2 Thessalonians 2:14

2:14 He called you to this salvation ¹⁰  through our gospel, so that you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹¹ 

2 Thessalonians 1:7-8

1:7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed ¹²  from heaven with his mighty angels. ¹³  1:8 With flaming fire he will mete out ¹⁴  punishment on those who do not know God ¹⁵  and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 3:1

Request for Prayer

3:1 Finally, pray for us, brothers and sisters, ¹⁶  that the Lord’s message ¹⁷  may spread quickly and be honored ¹⁸  as in fact it was among you,

2 Thessalonians 2:2

2:2 not to be easily ¹⁹  shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, ²⁰  to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.

2 Thessalonians 2:13

Call to Stand Firm

2:13 But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters ²¹  loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning ²²  for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

2 Thessalonians 3:6

Response to the Undisciplined

3:6 But we command you, brothers and sisters, ²³  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives an undisciplined ²⁴  life ²⁵  and not according to the tradition they ²⁶  received from us.

[1:12]  ¹ tn Or “by means of.”

[1:2]  ² tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  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 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.

[3:18]  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 mss (א* B 0278 6 33 1739 1881* 2464 sa), giving sufficient base to prefer the shorter reading.

[1:9]  ⁴ 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.

[1:9]  ⁵ 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”).

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps “return” (cf. CEV).

[2:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “our gathering with him.”

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.

[2:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “to which,” referring to the main idea of v. 13.

[2:14]  ⁷ sn That you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. For Paul the ultimate stage of salvation is glorification (Rom 8:30).

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Grk “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.”

[1:7]  ⁸ tn Grk “angels of power,” translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:8]  ⁸ 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.

[1:8]  ⁹ sn An allusion to Jer 10:25, possibly also to Ps 79:6 and Isa 66:15.

[3:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the word of the Lord.”

[3:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “may run and be glorified.”

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “quickly, soon.”

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “as through us.”

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.

[2:13]  ¹² 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.

[3:6]  ¹² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.

[3:6]  ¹³ 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.

[3:6]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “walking in an undisciplined way” (“walking” is a common NT idiom for one’s way of life or conduct).

[3:6]  ¹⁵ 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.