2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

The Day of the Lord

2:1 Now regarding the arrival ¹  of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, ²  we ask you, brothers and sisters, ³  2:2 not to be easily ⁴  shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, ⁵  to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes ⁶  and the man of lawlessness ⁷  is revealed, the son of destruction. ⁸ 

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

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

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

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Or “quickly, soon.”

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “as through us.”

[2:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “for unless the rebellion comes first.” The clause about “the day” is understood from v. 2.

[2:3]  ⁷ 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.

[2:3]  ⁸ tn Or “the one destined for destruction.”