2 Thessalonians 1:2

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

2 Thessalonians 2:6

2:6 And so ³  you know what holds him back, ⁴  so that he will be revealed in his own time.

2 Thessalonians 2:17

2:17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you ⁵  in every good thing you do or say. ⁶ 

2 Thessalonians 3:11

3:11 For we hear that some among you are living an undisciplined life, ⁷  not doing their own work but meddling in the work of others. ⁸ 

2 Thessalonians 3:18

3:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. ⁹ 

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

[1:2]  ² 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.

[2:6]  ³ tn Grk “and now,” but this shows the logical result of his previous teaching.

[2:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “the thing that restrains.”

[2:17]  ⁵ tn Grk simply “strengthen,” with the object understood from the preceding.

[2:17]  ⁶ tn Grk “every good work and word.”

[3:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “walking in an undisciplined way” (“walking” is a common NT idiom for one’s way of life or conduct).

[3:11]  ⁸ tn There is a play on words in the Greek: “working at nothing, but working around,” “not keeping busy but being busybodies.”

[3:18]  ⁹ 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.