Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Thessalonians 1:2

This whole verse is omitted by 177 and Damasus, probably through homœoteleuton with 2 Thessalonians 1:1.

אAGKL &c., vg cop syrr, Or (expressly), add ημων to πατρος; BDP 17, Thphyl Pelag, dispense with the pronoun. The latter group outweigh the former; the addition is suggested by 2 Thessalonians 1:1 and by Pauline usage in such formulæ: 2 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4; Ephesians 6:23 afford exceptions parallel to the shorter reading here.

2. The GREETING is more considerably enlarged. The reference of χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη (see notes to 1 Thessalonians 1:1) to their double source—ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ—unauthentic in the T.R. of Epistle I., is amply attested here, and prevails in subsequent Epistles. “God the Father” is the ultimate spring, “the Lord Jesus Christ” the mediating channel of “grace and peace”; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:30, ἐξ αὐτοῦ (i.e. τοῦ θεοῦ) ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 f. The THANKSGIVING, resembling that of Epistle I., has at the same time a stamp of its own. The Apostles dwell (a) on the extraordinary growth of the Thessalonian Church in faith and love, 2 Thessalonians 1:3; (b) on their own boasting over their stedfastness in other Churches; (c) on the token given by this fidelity of God’s righteous judgement as between the persecuted Church and its oppressors, which will take effect, with glorious results for the former, at the approaching παρουσία, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12. On this third, ulterior motive for thankfulness the writers dilate in such a way that it detaches itself from the εὐχαριστία and becomes an integral and prominent topic of the Epistle. We therefore treat it separately in the following section.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Thessalonians 1:2

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