Section III. The Revelation of the Lawless One Ch. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 In this Epistle, as in the former, the specfic object of the letter comes into view at the beginning of the second chapter, so soon as the introductory prayer and thanksgiving have been offered. The Thessalonians were too eag... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ_ Lit., BUT WE BESEECH YOU, BRETHREN, ON BEHALF OF THE COMING. The prospect of this Coming has been held out in language of ardent hope (ch. 2 Thessalonians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:10, &c.); "but" the readers must not entertain wild... [ Continue Reading ]
_that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled_ Lit., TO THE END THAT YE BE NOT QUICKLY SHAKEN FROM YOUR MIND (R. V.): more freely rendered: WE BESEECH YOU … NOT TO LOSE YOUR BALANCE OF MIND UNDER ANY SUDDEN SHOCK; or keeping nearer to the Greek, NOT TO BE SHAKEN OUT OF YOUR WITS. "Quickly" po... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let no_man _deceive you by any means_ BEGUILE YOU, as the Revisers commonly render this Greek verb, and the A. V. in 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14, and Romans 7:11 (comp. Genesis 3:13, "the serpent _beguiled_Eve"). It implies a thorough, commonly a wicked deception; comp. also Romans 16:18. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
_who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped_ Better, as in R. V. HE THAT OPPOSETH, &c.; for this is a third and distinct designation of the personality in question. Also AGAINST, in place of _above_. And the comma after "God" in A.V. should be cancelled; th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these_things?] More precisely, I USED TO TELL YOU; comp. 1 Thessalonians 3:4, for the _tense_. This reminder serves two purposes: (1) It is a gentle reproof to the readers, who ought not to have been so easily unsettled by the alarmists, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_And now ye know_ After this allusion: "now that yon call to mind what I used to say about the final struggle with the powers of evil, that will precede Christ's coming." (ye know) _what withholdeth_ Better, THAT WHICH RESTRAINETH rendered "letteth" in 2 Thessalonians 2:7; only it is masculine ther... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the mystery of iniquity doth already work_ Better, OF LAWLESSNESS (R. V.) same word as that we adopted from the marginal Revised reading of 2 Thessalonians 2:3; comp. "the lawless one," 2 Thessalonians 2:8. "Doth work," i.e. _is operative_, or _in operation_. See note on "working," 2 Thessalon... [ Continue Reading ]
_And then shall_that _Wicked be revealed Then_, "in his own season" (2 Thessalonians 2:6), in contrast with the _now_of the last clause, the time of his restraint: THEN SHALL BE REVEALED THE LAWLESS ONE (R. V.). It is essential that we keep in mind the identity of the figure depicted from 2 Thessal... [ Continue Reading ]
even him, _whose coming is after the working of Satan_ Rather, EVEN HE, WHOSE COMING IS ACCORDING TO THE WORKING OF SATAN (R. V.); for this sentence does not qualify the last clause of 2 Thessalonians 2:8 by itself, it looks back to the principal subject of the paragraph, "then shall be revealed the... [ Continue Reading ]
_and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish_ Both reading and rendering need to be amended; it is rather, AND IN ALL DECEIT OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS FOR THE PERISHING the opposite of "them that are being saved," or "the subjects of salvation" (1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 2:15... [ Continue Reading ]
_And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion_ Rather SENTS TO THEM, the present standing for the future by anticipation of the predicted certainty; or better explained as the statement of _a principle already at work_. What will take place in those deceived by Antichrist, is seen on a sma... [ Continue Reading ]
_that they all might be damned who believed not the truth_ THAT THEY MAY BE JUDGED is what the Apostle says. Here is the further, judicial purpose of the great imposture. God intends that men who are so disposed should "believe the lie," so that their false belief may be a touchstone and demonstrat... [ Continue Reading ]
_But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you_ Comp. ch. 2 Thessalonians 1:3, and notes. The strain of the opening thanksgiving of the two Epistles is here blended. For while this clause repeats the first words of 2Th, the sentence that follows echoes 1 Thessalonians 1:4. Here the subject,... [ Continue Reading ]
Section IV. Words of Comfort and Prayer Ch. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 to 2 Thessalonians 3:5 Passing from the last Section, we breathe a sigh of relief, and gladly join in thanksgiving for those who will "prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (L... [ Continue Reading ]
_whereunto_( TO WHICH END, including the whole salvation described in 2 Thessalonians 2:13) _he called you by our gospel_ i.e., "through the good news we brought." On _our gospel_see note to 1 Thessalonians 1:5; and on the _call_of God, 1 Thessalonians 2:12-13 (where mark its connection with the Div... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore, brethren, stand fast_) SO THEN (R.V.), as in 1 Thessalonians 5:6 (see note): the practical conclusion in which the Apostle gathers up all he has been saying in this letter. "Since the Lord's return is delayed and its time uncertain, and in prospect of the coming of Antichrist, whose dece... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father_ This remarkable invocation corresponds both in form and place in the Epistle to that of 1 Thessalonians 3:11 (see note). But here _Christ's_name comes first, a circumstance indicating the Divinity with which the writer invests it: "Where... [ Continue Reading ]
_comfort your hearts_ Comp. ch. 2 Thessalonians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; and the similar expression in Colossians 2:2. The "heart" is the inward man, the seat of our thoughts and emotions (see note, 1 Thessalonians 2:4); there doubt and fear arise, which can be allayed only by Divine comforting. F... [ Continue Reading ]