2 Thessalonians 2:3-5

2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes ¹  and the man of lawlessness ²  is revealed, the son of destruction. ³  2:4 He ⁴  opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat ⁵  in God’s temple, displaying himself as God. ⁶  2:5 Surely you recall ⁷  that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you.

[2:3]  ¹ tn Grk “for unless the rebellion comes first.” The clause about “the day” is understood from v. 2.

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

[2:4]  ⁴ 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.

[2:4]  ⁵ sn Allusions to Isa 14:13-14; Dan 11:36; Ezek 28:2-9 respectively.

[2:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “that he is God.”

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “You do remember, don’t you?”