Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Thessalonians 2:15

Ἆρα οὖν, ἀδελφοί, στήκετε. So then, brothers, stand firm: the practical conclusion of all that has been said, from 2 Thessalonians 2:2 onwards. “Since the Lord’s return is delayed and its date uncertain, and in prospect of the coming of Antichrist whose deceptive influence is already at work,—inasmuch as God by our means has made you heirs of His kingdom and sharers in the promised glory of Christ, we bid you STAND FAST!” For ἆρα οὖν, see note on 1 Thessalonians 5:6. Στήκω, formed from ἕστηκα (cf. γρηγορέω, 1 Thessalonians 5:6), is a derivative of the κοινή. The verb occurs seven times in Paul, thrice in John (including Rev.), twice in Mk; cf. note on 1 Thessalonians 3:8, also its hortatory use in 1 Corinthians 16:13; Galatians 5:1; Philippians 4:1 : the opposite of σαλευθῆναι, 2 Thessalonians 2:2. Similarly in 1 Corinthians 15:58; Colossians 1:23, hope is the incentive to steadfastness.

καὶ κρατεῖτε τὰς παραδόσεις ἃς ἐδιδάχθητε, and hold fast the traditions which you were taught. Παραδόσεις (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:6, for one particular here included; 1 Corinthians 11:2; also Romans 6:17; 1 Corinthians 11:2; 1 Corinthians 11:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3, for St Paul’s use of παραδίδωμι in referring to his teaching) embraces all that the readers “had been taught” of the Gospel received through St Paul and his companions, whether on points of faith or conduct (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:1 f., 1 Thessalonians 2:9-14; 1 Thessalonians 3:3 f., 1 Thessalonians 4:1 f.; 1 Thessalonians 2:5 above). The παράδοσις (-σεις) of earlier Epp. becomes the παραθήκη, deposit, of the Pastorals; it is, on its practical side, a παραγγελία (-αι): see 1 Thessalonians 4:2, and note. On παράδοσις, see Lightfoot’s note ad loc. He observes that this term in the N.T. connotes “an authority external to the teacher himself.” What these Apostles “hand on” to the Thessalonians is not their own doctrine as such, but the facts and teachings about Christ coming from Himself and belonging to all Christians. For the accusative of thing retained with passive of a verb governing two accusatives, see Winer-Moulton, p. 286, and the ordinary Greek Grammars.

For κρατέω (κράτος)—to have or apply strength, to grip, master, hold firmly—with like object, cf. Mark 7:3; Revelation 2:14 f. Elsewhere in St Paul the synonymous κατέχω, as in 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 11:2; 1 Corinthians 15:2.

εἴτε διὰ λόγου εἴτε διʼ ἐπιστολῆς ἡμῶν, whether through word or through letter of ours—ἡμῶν qualifies both nouns; in 2 Thessalonians 2:2 the pronoun has, less certainly, the same twofold reference. The writers put their “epistle” on the same level with their spoken “word”; they bid the readers hold by what they had learned from their fathers in Christ, whether through this channel or that, thus guarding themselves against every attempt to “deceive” them (2 Thessalonians 2:3): cf. 1 Corinthians 11:2, for the emphasis thrown on adherence to Apostolic teaching; similarly in Romans 6:17; Ephesians 4:20 f.; Philippians 4:9; Colossians 2:6 f.; 2 Timothy 2:2; 1 John 2:24; Matthew 28:20, &c. For the importance now beginning to be attached to St Paul’s Letters, see notes on 2 Thessalonians 2:2 and 2 Thessalonians 3:17; and for the possibility that an epistle might be undervalued at Thessalonica, see note on 1 Thessalonians 5:27.

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2 Thessalonians 2:15

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