Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Thessalonians 3:17

Ὁ�—ΠΑΥΛΟΥ. The salutation with my own hand—of PAUL. In the last word the Apostle Paul’s formal signature is attached, which endorses the Epistle as proceeding from him and expressing his mind, though another hand had held the pen (cf. Romans 16:22), and although his two companions were partners in the Letter and may, either or both of them, have personally contributed to it; see Introd., pp. xlviii–lii, liv. In Galatians 6:11 and Philemon 1:19 St Paul again notifies the inscribing of certain words sua manu, implying that the body of the Epistle was indited through an amanuensis. This was, presumably, the Apostle’s habit. In other Epistles we find the autograph conclusion (ὁ�) serving as signature without the name, which in ancient writing was given at the head of the letter. There was no reference to this signature at the close of the former Epistle; but since its dispatch the written authority of the Apostles has been quoted for statements they repudiate (2 Thessalonians 2:2; see note). St Paul is now guarding against such misrepresentation.

St Paul calls attention in penning the attestation to his handwriting, and gives notice that no document claiming his authority will be genuine without this seal: ὅ ἐστιν σημεῖον ἐν πάσῃ ἐπιστολῇ· οὕτως γράφω, which is a token (sign) in every letter—so I write. In St Paul’s extant Letters, while it is the exception for him to sign his name in the closing salutation, he appears regularly to have written out the ἀσπασμός with his own hand. There was something peculiar and noticeable in the Apostle’s script. Some infer from Galatians 6:11 that he wrote an unusually large, bold hand; but the γράμματα μεγάλα of that passage may have been employed there for emphasis. His handicraft of tent-cloth stitching would inevitably make his fingers stiff and inapt for the use of the pen.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Thessalonians 3:17

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