Annotations for 2 Thessalonians

1:1 Silas. See note on 1Th 1:1; for coauthors, see note on 1Co 1:1.

1:2 Grace and peace. See note on Ro 1:7. Lord Jesus Christ. That the blessing is from the Lord Jesus Christ as well as God the Father implies Jesus’ divinity.

1:3 We ought always to thank God for you. Some ancient letters thanked God or other deities for the letter’s recipients.

1:4 persecutions and trials. See Introduction to 1 Thessalonians.

1:5 the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. Most Jewish people expected a period of intense suffering and persecution before the end of the age and the coming of the kingdom.

1:6–7 He will pay back trouble . . . and give relief. Jewish people expected that the suffering of the righteous would end with the end of the age (cf. Da 12:1–2) and that God would reward them for their past sufferings.

1:7 blazing fire. Perhaps because Hebrew described wrath as burning and (as well as sometimes a means of judgment, Nu 11:1), fire became a common image of judgment (e.g., Ps 97:3; Isa 26:11), including in passages that were applied to the end (e.g., Isa 66:15–16, 24). Jewish portraits of the end often included this element, sometimes even for renovation of the cosmos (though end-time pictures varied). The present text probably especially evokes Isa 66:15, from the same context as the new creation (Isa 65:17–18; 66:22). powerful angels. God’s army (cf., e.g., 2Ki 6:17), which some Jewish visionaries also expected to participate at the end.

1:8 punish those who do not know God. Jewish people expected God to avenge them against their enemies (Dt 32:41; Isa 35:4; 66:6), especially at the end.

1:9 everlasting destruction. Sometimes in ancient Jewish literature this meant complete destruction, sometimes eternal suffering, and sometimes both. from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. This verse echoes the Greek translation of Isa 2:10, 19, 21 (lit. “from the presence of the fear of the LORD and from the glory of his might”).

1:10 glorified in his holy people. Jewish sources highlighted the Biblical promise of future glory for God’s people at their restoration (cf. Isa 46:13; 60:1–2; 62:2); in Paul’s writings, this happens fully at the resurrection (e.g., 1Co 15:43).

1:11 we constantly pray for you. Ancient letters often included the sender’s prayers, or the mention of them, for the letter’s recipients.

1:12 glorified in you. See note on v. 10.

2:1 the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. When used of a king, “coming” (here and v. 8; cf. v. 9) was a powerful, public affair (see notes on 1Th 4:15, 17). Some Jewish texts applied it to God’s past theophanies and future revelation in glory. our being gathered to him. Jesus had spoken of his coming (Mt 24:3, 27, 37, 39) and—what is grammatically connected here—his followers being gathered to him (Mt 24:31; Mk 13:27). Many Biblical and subsequent Jewish sources addressed God gathering Israel; Jesus applied the gathering to his followers.

2:2 Some believers in Thessalonica may have taken too far Paul’s teaching on the imminence of Jesus’ return (1Th 5:1–3). Paul reminds them of his teaching while with them (2Th 2:5, 15), showing that some events would in fact precede Jesus’ unexpected return (vv. 3–4; cf. 1Th 5:4–5). The Greek way of thinking did not include a climactic future judgment of the world; given their cultural framework, their misreading of Paul is not surprising. Paul corrects a misinterpretation of his teaching, possibly based on someone’s misunderstanding or even on a forgery (2Th 3:17).

2:3–4 man of lawlessness . . . sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. The figure of a general future antichrist figure seems to occur mainly in later Jewish texts, but contemporary Jewish texts do describe some past or present rulers in similar terms (cf. also the evil rulers in Da 9–11); the tradition of pagan kings who made themselves out to be gods is also quite ancient (Isa 14:13–14; Eze 28:2; Da 6:7). Nearly a decade before this letter, Gaius Caligula had tried to set up his image in the Jerusalem temple, almost sparking a Judean revolt. Two decades after this letter, when Titus destroyed the temple, his soldiers desecrated the temple by paying divine honors to the insignia of Emperor Vespasian on the site of the temple.

The imagery used here derives especially from Jesus (cf. Mt 24:15), who took it from Daniel (Da 7:25; 8:11; 9:26–27; 11:31, 36). Noting many historical parallels, many scholars conclude that Da 11 describes the abomination caused by Antiochus Epiphanes; yet if read continuously the “end” seems to come at that time (Da 12:1), about two centuries before Jesus, which was not how Jesus’ contemporaries understood the prophecy. The way that some in the first century counted the period of Da 9:24–27, the anointed prince (whom some held to be the Messiah) was to be put to death around the time that Jesus in fact died; the destruction of the city followed 40 years later, suggesting a delay of at least 40 years. Christian interpreters differ as to whether (1) a specific future tribulation remains (perhaps vv. 8–9), (2) the Jewish war in AD 66–70 fulfilled it completely (cf. Mt 24:15–21), (3) the whole course of history constitutes this period (cf. note on Rev 12:6) or (4) different passages reuse the language in different useful ways.

2:3 rebellion. The Greek term can also mean “apostasy”; both sins appear in Jewish lists of end-time evils, so the sense may depend on whether unbelievers or believers are meant. In context it could signify rebellion against God’s law leading to lawlessness.

2:6–7 what is holding him back . . . the one who now holds it back. Views of the meaning of the restrainer include: the finished proclamation of the gospel (Mt 24:14); the presence of Christians in Jerusalem (Mt 24:16–21); the ruler preceding the self-deifying emperor or succession of emperors; the Roman Empire (the view of many church fathers); or perhaps likelier, God’s restraining hand or presence (Eze 9:3; 11:23), or the archangel Michael, angelic protector of Israel in Jewish tradition (also Da 12:1). Some suggest the church in the world, but this would contradict the context (vv. 1–4). The Thessalonians presumably knew Paul’s point (v. 5).

2:8 breath of his mouth. Evokes a Messianic passage: Isa 11:4 (cf. Hos 6:5).

2:9 how Satan works . . . displays of power through signs and wonders. Healing shrines and magic were widely used in Paul’s day. A generation later people believed that an emperor (whose image was in fact worshiped on the site of the temple in AD 70) worked two miracles, although such claims were rarely made for emperors. False or demonic miracles attempting to replicate divine acts appear earlier (e.g., Ex 7:11), and Paul probably draws especially on Jesus’ teaching (cf. Mk 13:22). Jewish tradition associated Satan with deception (sometimes drawing on Ge 3:4–5).

2:10 wickedness deceives those who are perishing. God had sometimes brought judgment by handing people over to their own choice to refuse his truth (Isa 29:9–12; cf. Ex 8:15, 32; 9:12). because they refused to love the truth. Philosophers claimed to love the truth, a behavior viewed as virtuous; Paul sees the truth as the gospel (v. 13).

2:13 chose. Cf., e.g., Dt 7:6; see note on Col 3:12. firstfruits. See note on 1Co 16:15.

2:14 glory. Cf. note on 1:10.

2:15 Many ancient intellectual schools emphasized carefully passing on traditions going back to the school’s founders or other earlier teachers; Paul has passed on Jesus’ teachings (see “Jesus’ Teachings as Background in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12,” and “Jesus’ Teachings as Background in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11”).

2:16–17 May our Lord Jesus Christ . . . encourage your hearts. As here, people sometimes invoked, thus implicitly prayed to, God while directly addressing the person or people for whom they wanted God’s blessing.

3:1 that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly. Probably evokes the Greek version of Ps 147:15, which speaks of God’s word running swiftly.

3:2–3 not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful. Skilled speakers sometimes used antithesis and plays on words; note here the contrast between not having faith (v. 2) and faithfulness (v. 3).

3:2 pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people. Prayers for deliverance from enemies were common (e.g., Ps 64:1).

3:3 protect you from the evil one. Cf. Mt 6:13; Jn 17:15.

3:5 For blessings implicitly addressed to God, see note on 2:16–17.

3:6 idle and disruptive. Despite the prosperity of Thessalonica as a whole, many people were unemployed. There, as in many other cities, idle people often sat in the marketplace with nothing better to do (Ac 17:5). Less common were those who refused to work, such as Cynic philosophers or some dependents of the wealthy. Paul was a traveling sage, but unlike Cynics, he worked rather than begged; he distinguishes himself from greedy sages in 1Th 2:1–12.

3:7 follow our example. Ancient exhortation frequently appealed to role models; disciples also imitated their teachers.

3:8 we worked night and day. For Paul’s laboring in Thessalonica, see note on 1Th 2:9. For Paul’s work in general, see note on Ac 18:3.

3:10 shall not eat. As synagogue communities provided for Jews in need, churches presumably did the same. Sometimes people of wealth also sponsored those of somewhat lower station in return for praise. Ancient associations, including churches and (in Judea) probably groups of Pharisees, also had some communal meals. Jewish tradition emphasized generosity, but also hard work (e.g., Pr 12:11; 14:23; 18:9; 21:25).

3:14 Do not associate with them. Churches probably borrowed from Jewish communities the model of exercising different levels of discipline. Jewish communities sometimes excluded a person from common meals or fellowship for a period of time, beat them (not attested in early Christianity), or expelled them from the community completely (cf. Mt 18:15–20; 1Co 5:5; 1Ti 1:20). The form of discipline here is the lightest.

3:16, 18 On blessing-prayers, see note on 2:16–17.

3:17 I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Sometimes people did forge letters (cf. 2:2). But most letter writers used scribes and signed their names at the end (or sometimes added brief comments), and Paul often follows this practice elsewhere in his letters (e.g., Col 4:18).