Its GENUINENESS is attested by POLYCARP [Epistle to the Philippians, 11], who alludes to 2Th 3:15. JUSTIN MARTYR [Dialogue with Trypho, p. 193.32], alludes to 2Th 2:3. IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 7.2] quotes 2Th 2:8. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [Miscellanies, 1.5, p. 554; The Instructor, 1.17], quotes 2Th 3:2, as Paul's words. TERTULLIAN [On the Resurrection of the Flesh, 24] quotes 2Th 2:1, 2, as part of Paul's Epistle.
DESIGN.--The accounts from Thessalonica, after the sending of the first Epistle, represented the faith and love of the Christians there as on the increase; and their constancy amidst persecutions unshaken. One error of doctrine, however, resulting in practical evil, had sprung up among them. The apostle's description of Christ's sudden second coming ( 1Th 4:13, &c., and 1Th 5:2), and the possibility of its being at any time, led them to believe it was actually at hand. Some professed to know by "the Spirit" ( 2Th 2:2) that it was so; and others alleged that Paul had said so when with them. A letter, too, purporting to be from the apostle to that effect, seems to have been circulated among them. (That 2Th 2:2 refers to such a spurious letter, rather than to Paul's first Epistle, appears likely from the statement, 2Th 3:17, as to his autograph salutation being the mark whereby his genuine letters might be known). Hence some neglected their daily business and threw themselves on the charity of others, as if their sole duty was to wait for the coming of the Lord. This error, therefore, needed rectifying, and forms a leading topic of the second Epistle. He in it tells them ( 2Th 2:1-17), that before the Lord shall come, there must first be a great apostasy, and the Man of Sin must be revealed; and that the Lord's sudden coming is no ground for neglecting daily business; that to do so would only bring scandal on the Church, and was contrary to his own practice among them ( 2Th 3:7-9), and that the faithful must withdraw themselves from such disorderly professors ( 2Th 3:6, 10-15). Thus, there are three divisions of the Epistle: (1) 2Th 1:1-12. Commendations of the Thessalonians' faith, love, and patience, amidst persecutions. (2) 2Th 2:1-17. The error as to the immediate coming of Christ corrected, and the previous rise and downfall of the Man of Sin foretold. (3) 2Th 3:1-16. Exhortations to orderly conduct in their whole walk, with prayers for them to the God of peace, followed by his autograph salutation and benediction.
DATE OF WRITING.--AS the Epistle is written in the joint names of Timothy and Silas, as well as his own, and as these were with him while at Corinth, and not with him for a long time subsequently to his having left that city (compare Ac 18:18, with Ac 19:22; indeed, as to Silas, it is doubtful whether he was ever subsequently with Paul), it follows, the place of writing must have been Corinth, and the date, during the one "year and six months" of his stay there, Ac 18:11 (namely, beginning with the autumn of A.D. 52, and ending with the spring of A.D. 54), say about six months after his first Epistle, early in A.D. 53.
STYLE.--The style is not different from that of most of Paul's other writings, except in the prophetic portion of it ( 2Th 2:1-12), which is distinguished from them in subject matter. As is usual in his more solemn passages (for instance, in the denunciatory and prophetic portions of his Epistles, for example, compare Col 2:8, 16, with 2Th 2:3; 1Co 15:24-28, with 2Th 2:8, 9; Ro 1:18, with 2Th 2:8, 10), his diction here is more lofty, abrupt, and elliptical. As the former Epistle dwells mostly on the second Advent in its aspect of glory to the sleeping and the living saints ( 1Th 4:1-5:28), so this Epistle dwells mostly on it in its aspect of everlasting destruction to the wicked and him who shall be the final consummation of wickedness, the Man of Sin. So far was Paul from laboring under an erroneous impression as to Christ's speedy coming, when he wrote his first Epistle (which rationalists impute to him), that he had distinctly told them, when he was with them, the same truths as to the apostasy being about first to arise, which he now insists upon in this second Epistle ( 2Th 2:5). Several points of coincidence occur between the two Epistles, confirming the genuineness of the latter. Thus, compare 2Th 3:2, with 1Th 2:15, 16; again, 2Th 2:9, the Man of Sin "coming after the working of Satan," with 1Th 2:18; 3:5, where Satan's incipient work as the hinderer of the Gospel, and the tempter, appears; again, mild warning is enjoined, 1Th 5:14; but, in this second Epistle, when the evil had grown worse, stricter discipline ( 2Th 3:6, 14): "withdraw from" the "company" of such.
Paul probably visited Thessalonica on his way to Asia subsequently ( Ac 20:4), and took with him thence Aristarchus and Secundus: the former became his "companion in travel" and shared with him his perils at Ephesus, also those of his shipwreck, and was his "fellow prisoner" at Rome ( Ac 27:2; Col 4:10; Phm 24). According to tradition he became bishop of Apamea.
2Th 1:1-12. ADDRESS AND SALUTATION: INTRODUCTION: THANKSGIVING FOR THEIR GROWTH IN FAITH AND LOVE, AND FOR THEIR PATIENCE IN PERSECUTIONS, WHICH ARE A TOKEN FOR GOOD EVERLASTING TO THEM, AND FOR PERDITION TO THEIR ADVERSARIES AT CHRIST'S COMING: PRAYER FOR THEIR PERFECTION.
1. in God our Father--still more endearing than the address, 1Th 1:1 "in God THE Father."
2. from God our Father--So some oldest manuscripts read. Others omit "our."
3. We are bound--Greek, "We owe it as a
debt" (
2Th 2:13). They had prayed for the Thessalonians (
1Th 3:12) that they might "increase and abound in
love"; their prayer having been heard, it is a small
but a bounden return for them to make, to thank God for it.
Thus, Paul and his fellow missionaries practice what they
preach (
1Th 5:18). In
1Th 1:3, their thanksgiving was for the
Thessalonians' faith, love, and patience"; here,
for their exceeding growth in faith, and for
their charity abounding. "We are bound"
expresses the duty of thanksgiving from its subjective side
as an inward conviction. "As it is meet," from
the objective: side as something answering to the
state of circumstances [ALFORD]. Observe the exact
correspondence of the prayer (
1Th 3:12, "The Lord make you to abound in
love") and the answer, "The love of every one of
you all toward each other aboundeth" (compare
1Th 4:10).
meet--right.
4. glory in you--make our boast of you, literally, "in
your case." "Ourselves" implies that not
merely did they hear others speaking of the
Thessalonians' faith, but they, the missionaries
themselves, boasted of it. Compare
1Th 1:8, wherein the apostle said, their faith was so
well known in various places, that he and his fellow
missionaries had no need to speak of it; but here he says,
so abounding is their love, combined with faith and
patience, that he and his fellow missionaries
themselves, make it a matter of glorying in the various
churches elsewhere (he was now at Corinth in Achaia, and
boasted there of the faith of the Macedonian churches,
2Co 10:15-17; 8:1, at the same time giving the glory to
the Lord), not only looking forward to glorying thereat at
Christ's coming (
1Th 2:19), but doing so even now.
patience--in
1Th 1:3, "patience of hope." Here
hope is tacitly implied as the ground of their
patience;
2Th 1:5, 7 state the object of their hope, namely, the
kingdom for which they suffer.
tribulations--literally,
"pressures." The Jews were the instigators of the
populace and of the magistrates against Christians (
Ac 17:6, 8).
which ye endure--Greek,
"are (now) enduring."
5. Which--Your enduring these tribulations is a
"token of the righteous judgment of God,"
manifested in your being enabled to endure them, and in
your adversaries thereby filling up the measure of their
guilt. The judgment is even now begun, but its consummation
will be at the Lord's coming. David (
Ps 73:1-14) and Jeremiah (
Jer 12:1-4) were perplexed at the wicked prospering and
the godly suffering. But Paul, by the light of the New
Testament, makes this fact a matter of consolation. It is a
proof (so the Greek) of the future judgment,
which will set to rights the anomalies of the present
state, by rewarding the now suffering saint, and by
punishing the persecutor. And even now "the Judge of
all the earth does right" (
Ge 18:25); for the godly are in themselves sinful and
need chastisement to amend them. What they suffer unjustly
at the hands of cruel men they suffer justly at the hands
of God; and they have their evil things here that they may
escape condemnation with the world and have their good
things hereafter (
Lu 16:25; 1Co 11:32) [EDMUNDS].
that ye may be counted
worthy--expressing the purpose of God's "righteous
judgment" as regards you.
for which--Greek, "in
behalf of which ye are also suffering" (compare
Ac 5:41; 9:16; Php 1:29). "Worthy" implies
that, though men are justified by faith, they shall be
judged "according to their works" (
Re 20:12; compare
1Th 2:12; 1Pe 1:6, 7; Re 20:4). The "also"
implies the connection between the suffering for the
kingdom and being counted worthy of it. Compare
Ro 8:17, 18.
6. seeing it is a righteous thing--This justifies the
assertion above of there being a "righteous
judgment" (
2Th 1:5), namely, "seeing that it is (literally,
'if at least,' 'if at all events it
is') a righteous thing with (that is, in the
estimation of) God" (which, as we all feel, it
certainly is). Our own innate feeling of what is just, in
this confirms what is revealed.
recompense--requite in kind,
namely, tribulation to them that trouble you
(affliction to those that afflict you); and
to you who are troubled, rest from trouble.
7. rest--governed by "to recompense" (
2Th 1:6). The Greek is literally,
"relaxation"; loosening of the tension
which had preceded; relaxing of the strings of
endurance now so tightly drawn. The Greek word for
"rest,"
Mt 11:28, is distinct, namely, cessation from
labor. Also,
Heb 4:9, "A keeping of sabbath."
with us--namely, Paul, Silas, and
Timothy, the writers, who are troubled like
yourselves.
when--at the time when . . .
; not sooner, not later.
with his mighty angels--rather as the
Greek, "with the angels of His might," or
"power," that is, the angels who are the
ministers by whom He makes His might to be recognized (
Mt 13:41, 52). It is not their might, but His
might, which is the prominent thought.
8. In flaming fire--Greek, "In flame of
fire"; or, as other oldest manuscripts read,
"in fire of flame." This flame of
fire accompanied His manifestation in the bush (
Ex 3:2); also His giving of the law at Sinai (
Ex 19:18). Also it shall accompany His revelation at
His advent (
Da 7:9, 10), symbolizing His own bright glory and His
consuming vengeance against His foes (
Heb 10:27; 12:29; 2Pe 3:7, 10).
taking--literally,
"giving" them, as their portion,
"vengeance."
know not God--the Gentiles primarily
(
Ps 79:6; Ga 4:8; 1Th 4:5); not of course those
involuntarily not knowing God, but those
wilfully not knowing Him, as Pharaoh, who might have
known God if he would, but who boasted "I know not the
Lord" (
Ex 5:2); and as the heathen persecutors who might have
known God by the preaching of those whom they persecuted.
Secondarily, all who "profess to know God but in works
deny Him" (
Tit 1:16).
obey not the gospel--primarily the
unbelieving Jews (
Ro 10:3, 16); secondarily, all who obey not the truth
(
Ro 2:8).
Christ--omitted by some of the oldest
manuscripts, and retained by others.
9. Who--Greek, "persons who,"
&c.
destruction from the presence of the
Lord--driven far from His presence [ALFORD]. The
sentence emanating from Him in person, sitting as
Judge [BENGEL], and driving them far from Him (
Mt 25:41; Re 6:16; 12:14; compare
1Pe 3:12; Isa 2:10, 19). "The presence of the
Lord" is the source whence the sentence goes forth;
"the glory of His power" is the instrument
whereby the sentence is carried into execution [EDMUNDS].
But A LFORD better interprets the latter clause (see
2Th 1:10), driven "from the manifestation of His
power in the glorification of His saints."
Cast out from the presence of the Lord is the idea at
the root of eternal death, the law of evil left to its
unrestricted working, without one counteracting influence
of the presence of God, who is the source of all light and
holiness (
Isa 66:24; Mr 9:44).
10. "When He shall have come."
glorified in his saints--as the
element and mirror IN which His glory shall shine brightly
(
Joh 17:10).
admired in all them that
believe--Greek, "them that
believed." Once they believed, now they
see: they had taken His word on trust. Now His word is
made good and they need faith no longer. With wonder
all celestial intelligences (
Eph 3:10) shall see and admire the Redeemer on
account of the excellencies which He has wrought in
them.
because, &c.--Supply for the
sense, among whom (namely, those who shall be found to have
believed) you, too, shall be; "because our
testimony unto (so the Greek for 'among')
you was believed" (and was not rejected as by those
"who obey not the Gospel,"
2Th 1:8). The early preaching of the Gospel was not
abstract discussions, but a testimony to facts and
truths experimentally known (
Lu 24:48; Ac 1:8). Faith is defined by BISHOP
PEARSON as "an assent unto truths, credible upon the
testimony of God, delivered unto us by the apostles and
prophets" (originally delivering their testimony
orally, but now in their writings). "Glorified in His
saints" reminds us that holiness is
glory in the bud; glory is holiness
manifested.
11. Wherefore--Greek, "With a view to
which," namely, His glorification in you as His
saints.
also--We not only anticipate the
coming glorification of our Lord in His saints, but we
also pray concerning (so the Greek) YOU.
our God--whom we serve.
count you worthy--The prominent
position of the "You" in the Greek makes
it the emphatic word of the sentence. May you be
found among the saints whom God shall count worthy of their
calling (
Eph 4:1)! There is no dignity in us independent of
God's calling of us (
2Ti 1:9). The calling here is not merely the
first actual call, but the whole of God's electing act,
originating in His "purpose of grace given us in
Christ before the world began," and having its
consummation in glory.
the good pleasure of, &c.--on the
part of God [BENGEL].
faith--on your part. ALFORD refers the
former clause, "good pleasure of his goodness,"
also to man, arguing that the Greek for
"goodness" is never applied to God, and
translates, "All [that is, every possible] right
purpose of goodness." WAHL, "All
sweetness of goodness," that is, impart in full to
you all the refreshing delights of goodness. I think that,
as in the previous and parallel clause, "calling"
refers to GOD'S purpose; and as the Greek for
"good pleasure" mostly is used of God, we
ought to translate, "fulfil (His) every gracious
purpose of goodness (on your part)," that
is, fully perfect in you all goodness according to His
gracious purpose. Thus, "the grace of our
God,"
2Th 1:12, corresponds to God's "good
pleasure" here, which confirms the English
Version, just as "the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ" is parallel to "work of
faith," as Christ especially is the object of
faith. "The work of faith"; Greek, (no
article; supply from the previous clause all)
work of faith"; faith manifested by work,
which is its perfected development (
Jas 1:4; compare Note, see on 1Th 1:3). Working reality of
faith.
with power--Greek, "in
power," that is, "powerfully fulfil in
you" (
Col 1:11).
12. the name of our Lord Jesus--Our Lord Jesus in His
manifested personality as the God-man.
in you, and ye in him--reciprocal
glorification; compare
Isa 28:5, "The Lord of hosts shall be
. . . a crown of glory and . . . a
diadem of beauty unto . . . His people,"
with
Isa 62:3, "Thou (Zion) shalt be a crown of
glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem,"
&c. (
Joh 21:10; Ga 1:24; 1Pe 4:14). The believer's
graces redound to Christ's glory, and His glory, as
their Head, reflects glory on them as the members.
the grace of our God and the Lord
Jesus Christ--There is but one Greek article to
both, implying the inseparable unity of God and the Lord
Jesus.
2Th 2:1-17. CORRECTION OF THEIR ERROR AS TO CHRIST'S IMMEDIATE COMING. THE APOSTASY THAT MUST PRECEDE IT. EXHORTATION TO STEADFASTNESS, INTRODUCED WITH THANKSGIVING FOR THEIR ELECTION BY GOD.
1. Now--rather, "But"; marking the transition
from his prayers for them to entreaties to
them.
we beseech you--or "entreat
you." He uses affectionate entreaty, rather than stern
reproof, to win them over to the right view.
by--rather, "with respect
to"; as the Greek for "of" (
2Co 1:8).
our gathering together unto him--the
consummating or final gathering together of the saints to
Him at His coming, as announced,
Mt 24:31; 1Th 4:17. The Greek noun is nowhere
else found except in
Heb 10:25, said of the assembling together of
believers for congregational worship. Our
instinctive fears of the judgment are dispelled by the
thought of being gathered together UNTO HIM ("even as
the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings"),
which ensures our safety.
2. soon--on trifling grounds, without due
consideration.
shaken--literally, "tossed"
as ships tossed by an agitated sea. Compare for the same
image,
Eph 4:14.
in mind--rather as the Greek,
"from your mind," that is, from your
mental steadfastness on the subject.
troubled--This verb applies to
emotional agitation; as "shaken" to
intellectual.
by spirit--by a person
professing to have the spirit of prophecy (
1Co 12:8-10; 1Jo 4:1-3). The Thessalonians had been
warned (
1Th 5:20, 21) to "prove" such professed
prophesyings, and to "hold fast (only) that which is
good."
by word--of mouth (compare
2Th 2:5, 15); some word or saying alleged to be that of
Paul, orally communicated. If oral tradition was liable to
such perversion in the apostolic age (compare a similar
instance,
Joh 21:23), how much more in our age!
by letter as from us--purporting to be
from us, whereas it is a forgery. Hence he gives a test by
which to know his genuine letters (
2Th 3:17).
day of Christ--The oldest manuscripts
read, "day of the Lord."
is at hand--rather, "is
immediately imminent," literally, "is
present"; "is instantly coming."
Christ and His apostles always taught that the day of the
Lord's coming is at hand; and it is not likely
that Paul would imply anything contrary here; what he
denies is, that it is so immediately imminent,
instant, or present, as to justify the neglect
of everyday worldly duties. CHRYSOSTOM, and after him
ALFORD, translates, "is (already) present"
(compare
2Ti 2:18), a kindred error. But in
2Ti 3:1, the same Greek verb is translated
"come." WAHL supports this view. The Greek
is usually used of actual presence; but is quite
susceptible of the translation, "is all but
present."
3. by any means--Greek, "in any manner."
Christ, in
Mt 24:4, gives the same warning in connection with the
same event. He had indicated three ways (
2Th 2:2) in which they might be deceived (compare other
ways,
2Th 2:9, and Mt 24:5, 24).
a falling away--rather as the
Greek, "the falling away," or
"apostasy," namely, the one of which
"I told you" before (
2Th 2:5), "when I was yet with you," and of
which the Lord gave some intimation (
Mt 24:10-12; Joh 5:43).
that man of sin be revealed--The
Greek order is, "And there have been revealed the
man of sin." As Christ was first in mystery,
and afterwards revealed (
1Ti 3:16), so Antichrist (the term used
1Jo 2:18; 4:3) is first in mystery, and afterwards
shall be developed and revealed (
2Th 2:7-9). As righteousness found its embodiment in
Christ, "the Lord our righteousness," so
"sin" shall have its embodiment in "the man
of sin." The hindering power meanwhile
restrains its manifestation; when that shall be removed,
then this manifestation shall take place. The articles,
"the apostasy," and "the man
of sin," may also refer to their being well known
as foretold in
Da 7:8, 25, "the little horn speaking great words
against the Most High, and thinking to change times and
laws"; and
Da 11:36, the wilful king who "shall exalt and
magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous
things against the God of gods; neither shall he regard any
god."
the son of perdition--a title applied
besides to Judas (the traitor,
Joh 17:12), and to none else. Antichrist (the second
"beast" coming up out of the earth); therefore he
shall at first be "like a lamb, while he speaks as a
dragon" (
Re 13:11); "coming in peaceably and by
flatteries," "working deceitfully," but
"his heart shall be against the holy covenant"
(
Da 11:21, 23, 28, 30). Seeds of "the falling
away" soon appear (
1Ti 4:1-3), but the full development and concentration
of these anti-Christian elements in one person are still to
appear. Contrast the King of Zion's coming as JESUS:
(1) righteous or just; (2) having salvation;
(3) lowly; whereas Antichrist is: (1) "the man
of (the embodiment of) sin; (2) the son of
perdition; (3) exalting himself above all that
is worshipped. He is the son of perdition, as
consigning many to it, and finally doomed to it himself (
Re 17:8, 11). "He whose essence and inheritance is
perdition" [ALFORD]. As "the kingdom of
heaven" is first brought before us in the abstract,
then in the concrete, the King, the Lord Jesus; so
here, first we have (
2Th 2:7) "the mystery of iniquity,"
then "the iniquitous one" (
2Th 2:8). Doubtless "the apostasy" of
Romanism (the abstract) is one of the greatest
instances of the working of the mystery of iniquity,
and its blasphemous claims for the Pope (the concrete) are
forerunners of the final concentration of blasphemy in
the man of sin, who shall not merely, as the Pope,
usurp God's honor as vicegerent of God, but
oppose God openly at last.
4.
Da 11:36, 37 is here referred to. The words used there
as to Antiochus Epiphanes, Paul implies, shall even be more
applicable to the man of sin, who is the New Testament
actual Antichrist, as Antiochus was the Old Testament
typical Antichrist. The previous world kingdoms had each
one extraordinary person as its representative head and
embodiment (thus Babylon had Nebuchadnezzar,
Da 2:38, end; Medo-Persia had Cyrus; Greece had
Alexander, and Antiochus Epiphanes, the forerunner of
Antichrist); so the fourth and last world kingdom, under
which we now live, shall have one final head, the
concentrated embodiment of all the sin and
lawless iniquity which have been in pagan and papal
Rome. Rome's final phase will probably be an unholy
alliance between idolatrous superstition and godless
infidelity.
Who opposeth and exalteth
himself--There is but one Greek article to both
participles, implying that the reason why he opposeth
himself is in order that he may exalt himself
above, &c. ALFORD takes the former clause
absolutely, "He that withstands (CHRIST)," that
is, Antichrist (
1Jo 2:18). As at the conclusion of the Old Testament
period, Israel apostate allied itself with the heathen
world power against Jesus and His apostles (
Lu 23:12; and at Thessalonica,
Ac 17:5-9), and was in righteous retribution punished
by the instrumentality of the world power itself (Jerusalem
being destroyed by Rome),
Da 9:26, 27; so the degenerate Church (become an
"harlot"), allying itself with the godless world
power (the "beast" of Revelation) against vital
religion (that is, the harlot sitting on the beast), shall
be judged by that world power which shall be finally
embodied in Antichrist (
Zec 13:8, 9; 14:2; Re 17:16, 17). In this early
Epistle, the apostate Jewish Church as the harlot, and
pagan Rome as the beast, form the historical background on
which Paul draws his prophetic sketch of the apostasy. In
the Pastoral Epistles, which were later, this prophecy
appears in connection with Gnosticism, which had at that
time infected the Church. The harlot (the apostate Church)
is first to be judged by the beast (the world power) and
its kings (
Re 17:16); and afterwards the beasts and their allies
(with the personal Antichrist at their head, who seems to
rise after the judgment on the harlot, or apostate Church)
shall be judged by the coming of Jesus Himself (
Re 19:20). Anti-Christian tendencies produce different
Antichrists: these separate Antichrists shall hereafter
find their consummation in an individual exceeding them all
in the intensity of his evil character [A UBERLEN]. But
judgment soon overtakes him. He is necessarily a child
of death, immediately after his ascent as the
beast out of the bottomless pit going into perdition
(
Re 17:8, 11). Idolatry of self, spiritual pride,
and rebellion against God, are his characteristics;
as Christ-worship, humility, and dependence on
God, characterize Christianity. He not merely
assumes Christ's character (as the "false
Christs,"
Mt 24:24), but "opposes" Christ. The
Greek implies one situated on an opposite
side (compare
1Jo 2:22; 2Jo 7). One who, on the destruction of every
religion, shall seek to establish his own throne, and for
God's great truth, "God is man," to
substitute his own lie, "Man is God"
[TRENCH].
above all that is called God-- (
1Co 8:5). The Pope (for instance, Clement VI) has even
commanded the angels to admit into Paradise, without the
alleged pains of purgatory, certain souls. But still this
is only a foreshadowing of the Antichrist, who will not, as
the Pope, act in God's name, but against
God.
or that is worshipped--Rome here again
gives a presage of Antichrist. The Greek is
Sebasma; and Sebastus is the Greek for
Augustus, who was worshipped as the secular ruler and
divine vicegerent. The papacy has risen on the overthrow of
Cæsar's power. Antichrist shall exalt
himself above every object of worship, whether on
earth as the Cæsar, or in heaven as God. The various
prefigurations of Antichrist, Mohammed, Rome, Napoleon, and
modern infidel secularism, contain only some, not
all, his characteristics. It is the union of all in
some one person that shall form the full Antichrist, as the
union in one Person, Jesus, of all the types and prophecies
constituted the full Christ [OLSHAUSEN].
in the temple of God . . .
that he is God--"He will reign a time, times, and half
a time" (
Da 7:25), that is, three and a half years, and will sit
in the temple at Jerusalem: then the Lord shall come
from heaven and cast him into the take of fire and shall
bring to the saints the times of their reigning, the
seventh day of hallowed rest, and give to Abraham the
promised inheritance" [IRENÆUS, Against
Heresies, 30.4].
showing himself--with blasphemous and
arrogant DISPLAY (compare a type,
Ac 12:21-23). The earliest Fathers unanimously looked
for a personal Antichrist. Two objections exist to Romanism
being regarded the Antichrist, though probably
Romanism will leave its culmination in him: (1) So
far is Romanism from opposing all that is called
God, that adoration of gods and lords many (the Virgin
Mary and saints) is a leading feature in it; (2) the papacy
has existed for more than twelve centuries, and yet Christ
is not come, whereas the prophecy regards the final
Antichrist as short-lived, and soon going to perdition
through the coming of Christ (
Re 17:8, 11). Gregory the Great declared against the
patriarch of Constantinople, that whosoever should assume
the title of "universal bishop" would be
"the forerunner of Antichrist." The papacy
fulfilled this his undesigned prophecy. The Pope has been
called by his followers, "Our Lord God the Pope";
and at his inauguration in St. Peter's, seated in his
chair upon the high altar, which is treated as his
footstool, he has vividly foreshadowed him who
"exalteth himself above all that is called God."
An objection fatal to interpreting the temple of God
here as the Church (
1Co 3:16, 17; 6:19) is, the apostle would never
designate the apostate anti-Christian Church
"the temple of God." It is likely that, as
Messiah was revealed among the Jews at Jerusalem, so
Antimessiah shall appear among them when restored to their
own land, and after they have rebuilt their temple at
Jerusalem. Thus
Da 11:41, 45 (see on Da
11:41; Da 11:45),
corresponds, "He shall enter the glorious land
(Judea), and he shall plant the tabernacles of his palaces
between the seas in the glorious holy
mountain"; and then (
Da 12:1) "Michael, the great prince, shall stand
up" to deliver God's people. Compare Note,
see on Da 9:26, 27. Also the
king of Assyria, type of Antichrist (
Isa 14:12-14). "Lucifer" (a title of Messiah,
assumed by Antichrist,
Re 22:16); "I will exalt my throne above the stars
of God." "I will sit upon the mount of the
congregation (that is, God's place of meeting His
people of old, the temple), in the sides of the
north (
Ps 48:2); I will be like the Most High."
Re 11:1, 2, "The temple of God . . . the
holy city" (namely, Jerusalem,
Mt 4:5), compare
Ps 68:18, 29, referring to a period since Christ's
ascension, therefore not yet fulfilled (
Isa 2:1-3; Eze 40:1-44:31; Zec 14:16-20; Mal 3:1).
"In the temple of God," implies that it an
internal, not an external, enemy which shall assail the
Church. Antichrist shall, the first three and a half years
of the prophetical week, keep the covenant, then break it
and usurp divine honors in the midst of the week. Some
think Antichrist will be a Jew. At all events he will,
"by flatteries," bring many, not only of the
Gentiles, but also of "the tribes" of Israel (so
the Greek for "kindreds,"
Re 11:8, 9), to own him as their long-looked-for
Messiah, in the same "city where our Lord was
crucified." "Sitteth" here implies his
occupying the place of power and majesty in opposition to
Him who "sitteth on the right hand of the Majesty on
high" (
Heb 1:3), and who shall come to "sit" there
where the usurper had sat (
Mt 26:64). See on Da
9:27;
Re 11:2, 3, 9, 11. Compare
Eze 38:2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, as to Tyre, the type
of Antichrist, characterized by similar blasphemous
arrogance.
5. Remember, &c.--confuting those who represent Paul as
having labored under error as to Christ's immediate
coming when writing his first Epistle, and as now
correcting that error.
I told you--more than once, literally,
"I was telling," or "used to tell."
6. now ye know--by my having told you. The power must have
been one "known" to the Thessalonians.
what withholdeth--that which
holds him back; "keeps him in check":
the power that has restrained the man of sin from his full
and final development, is the moral and conservative
influence of political states [OLSHAUSEN]: the
fabric of human polity as a coercive power; as
"he who now letteth" refers to those who rule
that polity by which the great upbursting of
godlessness is kept down [ALFORD]. The "what
withholdeth" refers to the general hindrance;
"he who now letteth," to the person in whom
that hindrance is summed up. Romanism, as a forerunner
of Antichrist, was thus kept in check by the
Romanemperor (the then representative of the coercive
power) until Constantine, having removed the seat of empire
to Constantinople, the Roman bishop by degrees first raised
himself to precedency, then to primacy, and then to sole
empire above the secular power. The historical fact from
which Paul starts in his prediction was probably the
emperor Claudius' expulsion of the Jews, the
representative of the anti-Christian adversary in
Paul's day, from Rome, thus "withholding"
them in some degree in their attacks on Christianity; this
suggested the principle holding good to the end of time,
and about to find its final fulfilment in the removal of
the withholding person or authority,
whereupon Antichrist in his worst shape shall start
up.
that he might be--Greek,
"in order that": ye know that which keeps him
back, in God's purposes, from being sooner manifested,
"in order that he may be revealed in
his own time" (that is, the time appointed by God
to him as his proper time for being manifested), not sooner
(compare
Da 11:35). The removal of the withholding power will be
when the civil polity, derived from the Roman empire, which
is to be, in its last form, divided into ten kingdoms (
Re 17:3, 11-13), shall, with its leading representative
head for the time being ("he who now letteth,"
Greek, "withholdeth," as in
2Th 2:6), yield to the prevalent godless
"lawlessness" with "the lawless one" as
its embodiment. The elect Church and the
Spirit cannot well be, as DE BURGH suggests, the
withholding power meant; for both shall never be
wholly "taken out of the way" (
Mt 28:20). However, the testimony of the elect
Church, and the Spirit in her, are the great
hindrance to the rise of the apostasy; and it is possible
that, though the Lord shall have a faithful few even then,
yet the full energy of the Spirit in the visible
Church, counteracting the energy or "working" of
"the mystery of lawlessness" by the testimony of
the elect, shall have been so far "taken out of the
way," or set aside, as to admit the
manifestation of "the lawless one"; and so DE B
URGH'S'S view may be right (
Lu 18:8; Re 11:3-12). This was a power of which the
Thessalonians might easily "know" through
Paul's instruction.
7. the mystery of iniquity--the counterwork to "the
mystery of godliness" (
1Ti 3:16). Anti-Christianity latently working,
as distinguished from its final open manifestation.
"Mystery" in Scripture means, not what remains
always a secret, but that which is for a while hidden, but
in due time manifested (compare
Eph 3:4, 5). Satan will resort to a mode of opposition
more conformed to the then imminent "appearing"
and "presence" of the Saviour, and will
anticipate Him with a last effort to maintain the dominion
of the world [DE BURGH], just as at His first advent he
rushed into open opposition, by taking possession of the
bodies of men. "Iniquity," Greek,
"lawlessness"; defiant rejection of
God's law (compare Note, see on Zec 5:9,
Zec 5:10). "Wickedness" (translated by
the Septuagint by the same Greek, meaning
"lawlessness," which Paul employs here), embodied
there as a woman, answers to "the mystery of
iniquity," here embodied finally in "the man of
sin": as the former was ultimately banished for ever
from the Holy Land to her own congenial soil, Babylon, so
iniquity and the man of sin shall fall before Michael and
the Lord Himself, who shall appear as the Deliverer of His
people (
Da 12:1-3; Zec 14:3-9). Compare
Mt 12:43. The Jewish nation dispossessed of the evil
spirit, the demon of idolatry being cast out through the
Babylonian captivity, receives ultimately a worse form of
the evil spirit, Christ-opposing self-righteousness. Also,
the Christian Church in course of time taken possession of
by the demon of Romish idolatry, then dispossessed of it by
the Reformation, then its house "garnished" by
hypocrisy, secularity, and rationalism, but "swept
empty" of living faith, then finally apostatizing and
repossessed by "the man of sin," and
outwardly destroyed for a brief time (though even then
Christ shall have witnesses for Him among both the Jews,
Zec 13:9, and Gentiles,
Mt 28:20), when Christ shall suddenly come (
Da 11:32-45; Lu 18:7, 8).
already-- (
2Jo 9, 10; Col 2:18-23; 1Ti 4:1); compare "even
now already" (
1Jo 2:18; 4:3) as distinguished from "in his own
time" of being revealed hereafter. Antiquity,
it appears from hence, is not a justification for
unscriptural usages or dogmas, since these were
"already," even in Paul's time, beginning to
spring up: the written word is the only sure test.
"Judaism infecting Christianity is the fuel; the
mystery of iniquity is the spark." "It is one and
the same impurity diffusing itself over many ages"
[BENGEL].
only he who now letteth will
let--The italicized words are not in the Greek.
Therefore, translate rather, "only (that is, the
continuance of the MYSTERY of
iniquity-working will be only) until he who now
withholdeth (the same Greek as in
2Th 2:6) be taken out of the way." "Only
(waiting,
Heb 10:13) until he," &c. Then it will work no
longer in mystery, but in open manifestation.
8. Translate, "the lawless one"; the embodiment
of all the godless "lawlessness" which has been
working in "mystery" for ages (
2Th 2:7): "the man of sin" (
2Th 2:3).
whom the Lord--Some of the oldest
manuscripts read, "the Lord Jesus." How
awful that He whose very name means God-Saviour,
should appear as the Destroyer; but the salvation of
the Church requires the destruction of her foe. As the
reign of Israel in Canaan was ushered in by judgments on
the nations for apostasy (for the Canaanites were
originally worshippers of the true God: thus Melchisedek,
king of Salem, was the "priest of the most high
God,"
Ge 14:18: Ammon and Moab came from righteous Lot), so
the Son of David's reign in Zion and over the whole
earth, is to be ushered in by judgments on the apostate
Christian world.
consume . . . and
. . . destroy--So
Da 7:26, "consume and destroy";
Da 11:45. He shall "consume" him by His mere
breath (
Isa 11:4; 30:33): the sentence of judgment being the
sharp sword that goeth out of His mouth (
Re 19:15, 21). Antichrist's manifestation and
destruction are declared in the same breath; at his
greatest height he is nearest his fall, like Herod his type
(
Isa 1:24-27; Ac 12:20-23). As the advancing fire, while
still at a distance consumes little insects [CHRYSOSTOM] by
its mere heat, so Christ's mere approach is enough to
consume Antichrist. The mere "appearance of the
coming" of the Lord of glory is sufficient to show to
Antichrist his perfect nothingness. He is seized and
"cast alive into the take of fire" (
Re 19:20). So the world kingdoms, and the kingdom of
the beast, give place to that of the Son of man and His
saints. The Greek for "destroy" means
"abolish" (the same Greek is so
translated,
2Ti 1:10); that is, cause every vestige of him to
disappear. Compare as to Gog attacking Israel and destroyed
by Jehovah (
Eze 38:1-39:29), so as not to leave a vestige of
him.
with the brightness of his
coming--Greek, "the manifestation, (or
appearance) of His presence": the first
outburst of His advent--the first gleam of His presence--is
enough to abolish utterly all traces of Antichrist,
as darkness disappears before the dawning day. Next, his
adherents are "slain with the sword out of His
mouth" (
Re 19:21). BENGEL'S distinction between "the
appearance of His coming" and the "coming"
itself is not justified by
1Ti 6:14; 2Ti 1:10; 4:1, 8; Tit 2:13, where the same
Greek for "appearing" (English
Version, here "the brightness") plainly
refers to the coming itself. The expression,
"manifestation (appearing) of His
presence," is used in awful contrast to the
revelation of the wicked one in the beginning of the
verse.
9. whose coming--The same Greek as was used for
the Lord's coming (
2Th 2:8) or personal "presence."
is--in its essential character.
after--according to the working
("energy") of Satan, as opposed to the
energy or working of the Holy Spirit in the
Church (see on Eph 1:19).
As Christ is related to God, so is Antichrist to Satan, his
visible embodiment and manifestation: Satan works through
him.
Re 13:2, "The dragon gave him (the beast) his
power . . . seat . . . great
authority."
lying wonders--literally,
"wonders" or "prodigies of falsehood."
His "power, signs, and wonders," all have
falsehood for their base, essence, and aim (
Joh 8:44), [ALFORD]. In
Mt 24:24 Jesus implies that the miracles shall be real,
though demoniac, such mysterious effects of the powers of
darkness as we read of in the case of the Egyptian
sorcerers, not such as Jesus performed in their character,
power, or aim; for they are against the revealed Word, and
therefore not to be accepted as evidences of truth; nay, on
the authority of that sure Word of prophecy (here, and
Mt 24:24), to be known and rejected as wrought in
support of falsehood (
De 13:1-3, 5; Ga 1:8, 9; Re 13:11-15; 19:20). The same
three Greek words occur for miracles of Jesus
(
Ac 2:22; Heb 2:4); showing that as the Egyptian
magicians imitated Moses (
2Ti 3:1-8), so Antichrist will try to imitate
Christ's works as a "sign," or proof
of divinity.
10. deceivableness--rather as Greek, "deceit of
(to promote) unrighteousness" (
2Th 2:12).
in--The oldest manuscripts and
versions omit "in." Translate, "unto
them that are perishing" (
2Co 2:15, 16; 4:3): the victims of him whose very name
describes his perishing nature, "the son of
perdition"; in contrast to you whom (
2Th 2:13) "God hath from the beginning chosen to
salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth."
because--literally, "in requital
for"; in just retribution for their having no
love for the truth which was within their reach (on
account of its putting a check on their bad passions), and
for their having "pleasure in unrighteousness"
(
2Th 2:12; Ro 1:18); they are lost because they
loved not, but rejected, the truth which would have
saved them.
received not--Greek,
"welcomed not"; admitted it not cordially.
love of the truth--not merely love of
truth, but love of THE truth (and of, Jesus
who is the Truth, in opposition to Satan's
"lie,"
2Th 2:9, 11; Joh 8:42-44), can save (
Eph 4:21). We are required not merely to assent to, but
to love the truth (
Ps 119:97). The Jews rejected Him who came in His
divine Father's name; they will receive Antichrist
coming in his own name (
Joh 5:43). Their pleasant sin shall prove their
terrible scourge.
11. for this cause--because "they received not the
love of the truth." The best safeguard against error
is "the love of the truth."
shall send--Greek,
"sends," or "is sending"; the
"delusion" is already beginning. God judicially
sends hardness of heart on those who have rejected the
truth, and gives them up in righteous judgment to
Satan's delusions (
Isa 6:9, 10; Ro 1:24-26, 28). They first cast off the
love of the truth, then God gives them up to Satan's
delusions, then they settle down into "believing the
lie": an awful climax (
1Ki 22:22, 23; Eze 14:9; Job 12:16; Mt 24:5, 11; 1Ti
4:1).
strong delusion--Greek,
"the powerful working of error," answering to the
energizing "working of Satan" (
2Th 2:9); the same expression as is applied to the Holy
Ghost's operation in believers: "powerful" or
"effectual (energizing) working" (
Eph 1:19).
believe a lie--rather,
"the lie" which Antichrist tells them,
appealing to his miracles as proofs of it . . .
(
2Th 2:9).
12. they all . . . damned--rather as Greek, "that all," &c. He here states the general proposition which applies specially to Antichrist's adherents. Not all in the Church of Rome, or other anti-Christian systems, shall be damned, but only "all who believed not the truth," when offered to them, "but had pleasure in unrighteousness" ( Ro 1:32; 2:8). Love of unrighteousness being the great obstacle to believing the truth.
13. But--In delightful contrast to the damnation of the
lost (
2Th 2:12) stands the "salvation" of
Paul's converts.
are bound--in duty (
2Th 1:3).
thanks . . . to God--not to
ourselves, your ministers, nor to you, our converts.
beloved of the Lord--Jesus (
Ro 8:37; Ga 2:20; Eph 5:2, 25). Elsewhere God the
Father is said to love us (
2Th 2:16; Joh 3:16; Eph 2:4; Col 3:12). Therefore Jesus
and the Father are one.
from the beginning--"before the
foundation of the world" (
Eph 1:4; compare
1Co 2:7; 2Ti 1:9); in contrast to those that shall
"worship the beast, whose names are not written in the
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world" (
Re 13:8). Some of the oldest manuscripts read as
English Version, but other oldest manuscripts and
Vulgate read, "as first-fruits." The
Thessalonians were among the first converts in Europe
(compare
Ro 16:5; 1Co 16:15). In a more general sense, it occurs
in
Jas 1:18; Re 14:4; so I understand it here including
the more restricted sense.
chosen you--The Greek, is not
the ordinary word for "elected," implying His
eternal selection; but taken for Himself,
implying His having adopted them in His eternal
purpose. It is found in the Septuagint (
De 7:7; 10:15).
through--rather as Greek,
"in sanctification" as the element in
which the choice to salvation had place (compare
1Pe 1:2), standing in contrast to the
"unrighteousness," the element in which
Antichrist's followers are given over by God to
damnation (
2Th 2:12).
of the Spirit--wrought by the Spirit
who sanctifies all the elect people of God, first by
eternally consecrating them to perfect holiness in Christ,
once for all, next by progressively imparting it.
belief of the truth--contrasted with
"believed not the truth" (
2Th 2:12).
14. you--The oldest manuscripts read, "us."
by our
gospel--"through" the Gospel which we
preach.
to . . . glory--In
2Th 2:13 it was "salvation," that is,
deliverance from all evil, of body and soul (
1Th 5:9); here it is positive good, even
"glory," and that "the glory of our Lord
Jesus" Himself, which believers are privileged to
share with Him (
Joh 17:22, 24; Ro 8:17, 29; 2Ti 2:10).
15. Therefore--God's sovereign choice of believers, so
far from being a ground for inaction on their part, is the
strongest incentive to action and perseverance in it.
Compare the argument,
Php 2:12, 13, "Work out your own salvation,
FOR it is God which worketh in you," &c. We cannot
fully explain this in theory; but to the sincere and
humble, the practical acting on the principle is
plain. "Privilege first, duty afterwards"
[EDMUNDS].
stand fast--so as not to be
"shaken or troubled" (
2Th 2:2).
hold--so as not to let go. Adding
nothing, subtracting nothing [BENGEL]. The Thessalonians
had not held fast his oral instructions but had suffered
themselves to be imposed upon by pretended
spirit-revelations, and words and letters pretending to be
from Paul (
2Th 2:2), to the effect that "the day of the Lord
was instantly imminent."
traditions--truths delivered
and transmitted orally, or in writing (
2Th 3:6; 1Co 11:2; Greek,
"traditions"). The Greek verb from which
the noun comes, is used by Paul in
1Co 11:23; 15:3. From the three passages in
which "tradition" is used in a good sense, Rome
has argued for her accumulation of uninspired
traditions, virtually overriding God's Word, while put
forward as of co-ordinate authority with it. She forgets
the ten passages (
Mt 15:2, 3, 6; Mr 7:3, 5, 8, 9, 13; Ga 1:14; Col 2:8)
stigmatizing man's uninspired traditions. Not
even the apostles' sayings were all inspired (for
example, Peter's dissimulation,
Ga 2:11-14), but only when they claimed to be so, as in
their words afterwards embodied in their canonical
writings. Oral inspiration was necessary in their case,
until the canon of the written Word should be complete;
they proved their possession of inspiration by miracles
wrought in support of the new revelation, which revelation,
moreover, accorded with the existing Old Testament
revelation; an additional test needed besides miracles
(compare
De 13:1-6; Ac 17:11). When the canon was complete, the
infallibility of the living men was transferred to the
written Word, now the sole unerring guide, interpreted by
the Holy Spirit. Little else has come down to us by the
most ancient and universal tradition save
this, the all-sufficiency of Scripture for salvation.
Therefore, by tradition, we are constrained to cast off all
tradition not contained in, or not provable by, Scripture.
The Fathers are valuable witnesses to historical
facts, which give force to the intimations of
Scripture: such as the Christian Lord's day, the
baptism of infants, and the genuineness of the canon of
Scripture. Tradition (in the sense of human
testimony) cannot establish a doctrine, but can
authenticate a fact, such as the facts just
mentioned. Inspired tradition, in Paul's sense, is not
a supplementary oral tradition completing our
written Word, but it is identical with the written Word
now complete; then the latter not being complete, the
tradition was necessarily in part oral, in part written,
and continued so until, the latter being complete before
the death of St. John, the last apostle, the former was no
longer needed. Scripture is, according to Paul, the
complete and sufficient rule in all that appertains to
making "the man of God perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works" (
2Ti 3:16, 17). It is by leaving Paul's God-inspired
tradition for human traditions that Rome has become the
forerunner and parent of the Antichrist. It is striking
that, from this very chapter denouncing Antichrist, she
should draw an argument for her "traditions" by
which she fosters anti-Christianity. Because the
apostles' oral word was as trustworthy as their written
word, it by no means follows that the oral word of those
not apostles is as trustworthy as the written
word of those who were apostles or inspired evangelists. No
tradition of the apostles except their written word can be
proved genuine on satisfactory evidence. We are no
more bound to accept implicitly the Fathers'
interpretations of Scripture, because we accept the
Scripture canon on their testimony, than we are bound to
accept the Jews' interpretation of the Old Testament,
because we accept the Old Testament canon on their
testimony.
our epistle--as distinguished from a
"letter AS from us,"
2Th 2:2, namely, that purports to be from us, but is
not. He refers to his first Epistle to the Thessalonians.
16, 17. himself--by His own might, as contrasted with our
feebleness; ensuring the efficacy of our prayer. Here
our Lord Jesus stands first; in
1Th 3:11, "God our Father."
which . . . loved us--in the
work of our redemption. Referring both to our Lord
Jesus (
Ro 8:37; Ga 2:20) and God our Father (
Joh 3:16).
everlasting consolation--not
transitory, as worldly consolations in trials (
Ro 8:38, 39). This for all time present, and then
"good hope" for the future [ALFORD].
through grace--rather as Greek
"IN grace"; to be joined to "hath
given." Grace is the element in which the gift was
made.
17. Comfort your hearts--unsettled as you have been through
those who announced the immediate coming of the Lord.
good word and work--The oldest
manuscripts invert the order, "work and word."
Establishment in these were what the young converts
at Thessalonica needed, not fanatical teaching (compare
1Co 15:58).
2Th 3:1-18. HE ASKS THEIR PRAYERS: HIS CONFIDENCE IN THEM: PRAYER FOR THEM: CHARGES AGAINST DISORDERLY IDLE CONDUCT; HIS OWN EXAMPLE: CONCLUDING PRAYER AND SALUTATION.
1. Finally--literally, "As to what
remains."
may have free course--literally,
"may run"; spread rapidly without a drag on the
wheels of its course. That the new-creating word may
"run," as "swiftly" as the creative
word at the first (
Ps 147:15). The opposite is the word of God being
"bound" (
2Ti 2:9).
glorified--by sinners accepting it (
Ac 13:48; Ga 1:23, 24). Contrast "evil spoken
of" (
1Pe 4:14).
as it is with you-- (
1Th 1:6; 4:10; 5:11).
2. that we . . . be delivered from unreasonable
. . . men--literally, men out of place,
inept, unseemly: out of the way bad: more than
ordinarily bad. An undesigned coincidence with
Ac 18:5-9. Paul was now at Corinth, where the JEWS
"opposed themselves" to his preaching: in answer
to his prayers and those of his converts at Thessalonica
and elsewhere, "the Lord, in vision," assured him
of exemption from "the hurt," and of success in
bringing in "much people." On the unreasonable,
out-of-the way perversity of the Jews, as known to the
Thessalonians, see
1Th 2:15, 16.
have not faith--or as Greek,
"the faith" of the Christian: the only antidote
to what is "unreasonable and wicked." The
Thessalonians, from their ready acceptance of the Gospel
(
1Th 1:5, 6), might think "all" would
similarly receive it; but the Jews were far from having
such a readiness to believe the truth.
3. faithful--alluding to "faith" (
2Th 3:2): though many will not believe, the Lord (other
very old manuscripts read "God") is still to be
believed in as faithful to His promises (
1Th 5:24; 2Ti 2:13). Faith on the part of man
answers to faithfulness on the part of God.
stablish you--as he had prayed (
2Th 2:17). Though it was on himself that wicked men
were making their onset, he turns away from asking the
Thessalonians' prayers for HIS deliverance (
2Th 3:2: so unselfish was he, even in religion), to
express his assurance of THEIR establishment in the faith,
and preservation from evil. This assurance thus exactly
answers to his prayer for them (
2Th 2:17), "Our Lord . . .
stablish you in every good word and work." He has
before his mind the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil"; where, as
here, the translation may be, "from the evil
one"; the great hinderer of "every good word and
work." Compare
Mt 13:19, "the wicked one."
4. we have confidence in the Lord--as "faithful"
(
2Th 3:3). Have confidence in no man when left to
himself [BENGEL].
that ye both do--Some of the oldest
manuscripts insert a clause, "that ye both have
done" before, "and are doing, and will do."
He means the majority by "ye," not
all of them (compare
2Th 3:11; 2Th 1:3; 1Th 3:6).
5. If "the Lord" be here the Holy Ghost (
2Co 3:17), the three Persons of the Trinity will occur
in this verse.
love of God--love to God.
patient waiting for Christ--rather as
Greek, "the patience (endurance) of
Christ," namely, which Christ showed [ALFORD] (
2Th 2:4; 1Th 1:3). ESTIUS, however, supports English
Version (compare
Re 1:9; 3:10). At all events, this grace,
"patience," or persevering endurance, is
connected with the "hope" (
1Th 1:3, 10) of Christ's coming. In
ALFORD'S translation we may compare
Heb 12:1, 2, "Run with patience
(endurance) . . . looking to JESUS
. . . who, for the joy that was before Him,
endured the cross"; so WE are to endure, as
looking for the hope to be realized at His coming (
Heb 10:36, 37).
6. we command you--Hereby he puts to a particular test
their obedience in general to his commands, which
obedience he had recognized in
2Th 3:4.
withdraw--literally, "to furl the
sails"; as we say, to steer clear of (compare
2Th 3:14). Some had given up labor as though the
Lord's day was immediately coming. He had enjoined mild
censure of such in
1Th 5:14, "Warn . . . the
unruly"; but now that the mischief had become more
confirmed, he enjoins stricter discipline, namely,
withdrawal from their company (compare
1Co 5:11; 2Jo 10, 11): not a formal sentence of
excommunication, such as was subsequently passed on more
heinous offenders (as in
1Co 5:5; 1Ti 1:20). He says "brother," that
is, professing Christian; for in the case of unprofessing
heathen, believers needed not be so strict (
1Co 5:10-13).
disorderly--Paul plainly would not
have sanctioned the order of Mendicant Friars, who
reduce such a "disorderly" and lazy life to a
system. Call it not an order, but a burden to
the community (BENGEL, alluding to the Greek,
2Th 3:8, for "be chargeable," literally,
"be a burden").
the tradition--the oral instruction
which he had given to them when present (
2Th 3:10), and subsequently committed to writing (
1Th 4:11, 12).
which he received of us--Some oldest
manuscripts read, "ye received"; others,
"they received." The English
Version reading has no very old authority.
7. how ye ought to follow us--how ye ought to live so as to "imitate (so the Greek for 'follow') us" (compare Notes, see on 1Co 11:1; 1Th 1:6).
8. eat any man's bread--Greek, "eat bread
from any man," that is, live at anyone's
expense. Contrast
2Th 3:12, "eat THEIR OWN bread."
wrought-- (
Ac 20:34). In both Epistles they state they maintained
themselves by labor; but in this second Epistle they do so
in order to offer themselves herein as an example to the
idle; whereas, in the first, their object in doing so is to
vindicate themselves from all imputation of mercenary
motives in preaching the Gospel (
1Th 2:5, 9) [EDMUNDS]. They preached gratuitously
though they might have claimed maintenance from their
converts.
labour and travail--"toil and
hardship" (see on 1Th
2:9).
night and day--scarcely allowing time
for repose.
chargeable--Greek, "a
burden," or "burdensome." The Philippians
did not regard it as a burden to contribute to his
support (
Php 4:15, 16), sending to him while he was in this very
Thessalonica (
Ac 16:15, 34, 40). Many Thessalonians, doubtless, would
have felt it a privilege to contribute, but as he saw some
idlers among them who would have made a pretext of his
example to justify themselves, he waived his right. His
reason for the same course at Corinth was to mark how
different were his aims from those of the false teachers
who sought their own lucre (
2Co 11:9, 12, 13). It is at the very time and place of
writing these Epistles that Paul is expressly said to have
wrought at tent-making with Aquila (
Ac 18:3); an undesigned coincidence.
9. ( 1Co 9:4-6, &c.; Ga 6:6.)
10. For even--Translate, "For also." We
not only set you the example, but gave a positive
"command."
commanded--Greek imperfect,
"We were commanding"; we kept charge of
you.
would not work--Greek,
"is unwilling to work." BENGEL makes this
to be the argument: not that such a one is to have his food
withdrawn from him by others; but he proves from the
necessity of eating the necessity of working;
using this pleasantry, Let him who will not work show
himself an angel, that is, do without food as the
angels do (but since he cannot do without food, then he
ought to be not unwilling to work). It seems to me simpler
to take it as a punishment of the idle. Paul often quotes
good adages current among the people, stamping them with
inspired approval. In the Hebrew, "Bereshith
Rabba," the same saying is found; and in the book
Zeror, "He who will not work before the
sabbath, must not eat on the sabbath."
11. busy bodies--In the Greek the similarity of sound marks the antithesis, "Doing none of their own business, yet overdoing in the business of others." Busy about everyone's business but their own. "Nature abhors a vacuum"; so if not doing one's own business, one is apt to meddle with his neighbor's business. Idleness is the parent of busybodies ( 1Ti 5:13). Contrast 1Th 4:11.
12. by--The oldest manuscripts read, "IN the Lord
Jesus." So the Greek,
1Th 4:1, implying the sphere wherein such conduct is
appropriate and consistent. "We exhort you thus, as
ministers IN Christ, exhorting our people IN
Christ."
with quietness--quiet industry; laying
aside restless, bustling, intermeddling officiousness (
2Th 3:11).
their own--bread earned by themselves,
not another's bread (
2Th 3:8).
13. be not weary--The oldest manuscripts read, "Be not cowardly in"; do not be wanting in strenuousness in doing well. EDMUNDS explains it: Do not culpably neglect to do well, namely, with patient industry do your duty in your several callings. In contrast to the "disorderly, not-working busybodies" ( 2Th 3:11; compare Ga 6:9).
14. note that man--mark him in your own mind as one to be
avoided (
2Th 3:6).
that he may be ashamed--Greek,
"made to turn and look into himself, and so be put to
shame." Feeling himself shunned by godly brethren, he
may become ashamed of his course.
15. admonish him as a brother--not yet excommunicated (compare Le 19:17). Do not shun him in contemptuous silence, but tell him why he is so avoided ( Mt 18:15; 1Th 5:14).
16. Lord of peace--Jesus Christ. The same title is given to
Him as to the Father, "the GOD of peace" (
Ro 15:33; 16:20; 2Co 13:11). An appropriate title in
the prayer here, where the harmony of the Christian
community was liable to interruption from the
"disorderly." The Greek article requires
the translation, "Give you the peace"
which it is "His to give." "Peace"
outward and inward, here and hereafter (
Ro 14:17).
always--unbroken, not changing with
outward circumstances.
by all means--Greek, "in
every way." Most of the oldest manuscripts read,
"in every place"; thus he prays for their
peace in all times ("always") and
places.
Lord be with you all--May He bless you
not only with peace, but also with His
presence (
Mt 28:20). Even the disorderly brethren (compare
2Th 3:15, "a brother") are included in this
prayer.
17. The Epistle was written by an amanuensis (perhaps Silas
or Timothy), and only the closing salutation written by
Paul's "own hand" (compare
Ro 16:22; 1Co 16:21; Col 4:18). Wherever Paul does not
subjoin this autograph salutation, we may presume he wrote
the whole Epistle himself (
Ga 6:11).
which--which autograph
salutation.
the token--to distinguish genuine
Epistles from spurious ones put forth in my name (
2Th 2:2).
in every epistle--Some think he signed
his name to every Epistle with his own hand; but as there
is no trace of this in any manuscripts of all the
Epistles, it is more likely that he alludes to his
writing with his own hand in closing every Epistle,
even in those Epistles (Romans, Second Corinthians,
Ephesians, Philippians, First Thessalonians) wherein he
does not specify his having done so.
so I write--so I sign my name: this is
a specimen of my handwriting, by which to
distinguish my geniune letters from forgeries.
18. He closes every Epistle by praying for GRACE to those
whom he addresses.
Amen--omitted in the oldest
manuscripts It was doubtless the response of the
congregation after hearing the Epistle read publicly; hence
it crept into copies.
The Subscription is spurious, as the Epistle was written not "from Athens," but from Corinth.