2 Thessalonians 2

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The noun episynagōgēs ('gathering together, assembling') is related to the synagōgē ('synagogue, assembly') and refers to the believers' reunion with Christ at the parousia, described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The preposition epi ('to, upon') indicates movement toward Christ as the gathering point.

Translator Notes

1. Three possible sources of the false teaching are identified: dia pneumatos ('through a spirit' — a prophetic utterance), dia logou ('through a word' — oral teaching), or di' epistolēs ('through a letter' — a written communication). The phrase hōs di' hēmōn ('as if from us') suggests someone may have forged or misrepresented a Pauline letter. The verb enestēken ('has come, is present, has arrived') is perfect tense, indicating a claim that the day of the Lord had already arrived — not merely that it was near.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The noun apostasia ('rebellion, revolt, apostasy') denotes a decisive falling away — from what is debated (from God, from faith, from political order). In the Septuagint it describes political rebellion and religious unfaithfulness. The SBLGNT reads 'man of lawlessness' (anomias) rather than 'man of sin' (hamartias) found in some manuscripts. The title 'son of destruction' (ho huios tēs apōleias) is the same title applied to Judas in John 17:12 — a person defined by and destined for ruin.

Translator Notes

1. The language closely parallels Daniel 11:36 ('the king shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god'). The phrase eis ton naon tou theou ('in the temple of God') could refer to the Jerusalem temple (either the historical one or a rebuilt future temple), to the church as God's temple (1 Corinthians 3:16), or to a metaphorical enthronement in the sphere of divine authority. The verb apodeiknynta ('declaring, proclaiming, showing') implies an official claim — a public self-deification.
2. [TCR Cross-Reference] Echoes Daniel 11:36. See the TCR's OT rendering for the Hebrew behind this passage and the translation rationale.

Translator Notes

1. This verse is both informative and frustrating for modern interpreters — Paul had taught them orally about these matters, and the Thessalonians knew what he meant. We do not have that oral teaching. The imperfect elegon ('I kept telling') indicates repeated instruction, not a single conversation. Paul's rhetorical question implies mild rebuke: they should not have been shaken by false claims about the day of the Lord.

Translator Notes

1. The neuter participle to katechon ('the thing that restrains') is one of the great mysteries of Pauline interpretation. Proposed identifications include the Roman Empire, the rule of law, the Holy Spirit, the preaching of the gospel, an angelic power, or God's providential timing. Paul's 'you know' (oidate) assumes shared knowledge we no longer possess. The phrase en tō heautou kairō ('at his own time') indicates the lawless one has an appointed moment of revelation, which is currently being held back.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Paul shifts from the neuter 'what restrains' (v. 6) to the masculine 'the one who restrains' (ho katechōn) — possibly indicating both a force and a person behind it. The 'mystery of lawlessness' (to mystērion tēs anomias) means lawlessness is already operative but in hidden form — it has not yet been publicly revealed. The KJV's 'letteth' meant 'restrains' in 1611 English but now means the opposite, making the KJV misleading here. The phrase ek mesou genētai ('removed from the midst') does not specify who removes the restrainer.

Translator Notes

1. The verb anelei ('will destroy, will slay') combined with tō pneumati tou stomatos autou ('with the breath of his mouth') echoes Isaiah 11:4: 'He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.' The lawless one's destruction is effortless — a mere breath from Jesus suffices. The phrase tē epiphaneia tēs parousias ('the appearance of his coming') combines two technical terms for Christ's return: epiphaneia ('manifestation, appearing') and parousia ('coming, presence'). The combination emphasizes visible, overwhelming presence.
2. [TCR Cross-Reference] References Isaiah 11:4: — the TCR OT rendering of that text provides the Hebrew source and explains the translation decisions involved.

Translator Notes

1. The lawless one has his own parousia — a satanic parody of Christ's coming. The triad dynamei kai sēmeiois kai terasin ('power and signs and wonders') mirrors the language used for apostolic authentication (Romans 15:19, 2 Corinthians 12:12), but qualified by pseudous ('of falsehood, false'). The deception is not in the supernatural character of the events but in the source and purpose — they serve to deceive, not to reveal truth.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase tēn agapēn tēs alētheias ('the love of the truth') is distinctive — Paul does not say they rejected the truth but that they rejected the love of truth. The disposition toward truth matters as much as intellectual assent. The present participle apollymenois ('those who are perishing') describes a current state and trajectory, not a fixed category. The deception succeeds only against those who have already refused truth.

Translator Notes

1. The statement that God sends (pempei) the delusion is theologically difficult. The logic follows the Old Testament pattern of judicial hardening: when people persistently refuse truth, God confirms their choice by giving them over to it (cf. Romans 1:24-28, 'God gave them over'). The 'lie' (tō pseudei) has the definite article — 'the lie,' a specific falsehood, perhaps the claim of the lawless one to be God (v. 4). This is not arbitrary divine cruelty but the consequence of refusing truth: one is left with what one chose.

Translator Notes

1. The verb eudokēsantes ('took pleasure in, delighted in') is the same word used for God's good pleasure (eudokia) — but here directed toward unrighteousness. The contrast is stark: they found delight in adikia ('unrighteousness') rather than in alētheia ('truth'). Condemnation follows not just intellectual rejection but moral complicity — they enjoyed what was wrong.

Translator Notes

1. The SBLGNT reads aparchēn ('firstfruits') rather than ap' archēs ('from the beginning') found in some manuscripts. 'Firstfruits' portrays the Thessalonians as the initial harvest of a greater ingathering. Two means of salvation are named: hagiasmos pneumatos ('sanctification by/of the Spirit') — the Spirit's transforming work — and pistei alētheias ('faith in the truth') — the human response. Together they describe God's initiative and human reception.

Translator Notes

1. The noun peripoiēsis ('obtaining, possession') appeared in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 for 'obtaining salvation.' Here the object is even grander: the glory of Christ himself. The chain is: God chose (v. 13), God called (v. 14), and the instrument of the call was 'our gospel' (dia tou euangeliou hēmōn). The human proclamation is the means of the divine call.

Translator Notes

1. The noun paradoseis ('traditions, things handed down') is a technical term for authoritative teaching transmitted from teacher to student. Paul uses the same word that Jesus criticizes when applied to human traditions that override God's word (Mark 7:8), but here the traditions are apostolic and Spirit-guided. The two channels — dia logou ('through spoken word') and di' epistolēs ('through letter') — validate both oral and written apostolic teaching as authoritative.

Translator Notes

1. Unusually, Paul names Christ before the Father in the prayer, perhaps because the eschatological teaching has focused on Christ's parousia. The singular participles ('who loved... and gave') with a compound subject again suggests a unity of action between Christ and the Father (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:11). 'Eternal comfort' (paraklēsin aiōnian) and 'good hope' (elpida agathēn) are the gifts that sustain believers through present affliction and eschatological uncertainty.

Translator Notes

1. The two optative verbs — parakalesai ('comfort, encourage') and stērixai ('establish, strengthen') — complete the prayer begun in verse 16. Paul reverses the expected order to 'work and word' (ergō kai logō) rather than 'word and work,' possibly emphasizing that action accompanies and sometimes precedes verbal expression. The prayer is for inner strengthening ('hearts') manifested in outward conduct ('every good work and word').