Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

2 Thessalonians 3:1

In addition to offering prayers on their behalf, Paul asks them to pray for the continued success of the gospel (“may others be as blest as we are”!) and (2 Thessalonians 3:2), for its agents' safety (Isaiah 25:4, LXX, a reminiscence of). The opponents here are evidently (2 Thessalonians 2:10 f.) beyond hope of conversion; preservation from their wiles is all that can be expected. For a speedy answer to this prayer, see Acts 18:9 f. The repeated use of ὁ Κύριος in 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5, brings out the control of God amid the plots and passions of mankind. ἀτόπων. The general sense of the term is given by Philo in his queer allegorising of Genesis 3:9 (Leg. Alleg., iii. 17, ἄτοπος λέγεται εἶναι ὁ φαῦλος); commonly it is used, as elsewhere in the N.T., of things, but here of persons, either as = “ill-disposed,” or, in a less general and derivative sense = “perverse” (cf. Nägeli, der Wortschatz des Paulus, p. 37), or “froward”. The general aim of the passage is to widen the horizon of the Thessalonians, by enlisting their sympathy and interest on behalf of the apostles. They are not the only sufferers, or the only people who need prayer and help. οὐ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς εἰς Κόρινθόν ἐσθʼ ὁ πλοῦς, so ran the ancient proverb. Paul writes from Corinth that while everyone has the chance, not all have the desire, to arrive at the faith. ἡ πίστις is the faith of the gospel, or Christianity. By a characteristic play upon the word, Paul (2 Thessalonians 3:3), hurries on to add, “but the Lord is faithful”. ὑμᾶς (for which Bentley and Baljon plausibly conjecture ἡμᾶς) shows how lightly his mind rests on thoughts of his own peril as compared with the need of others. It is impossible to decide, either from the grammar or from the context, whether τοῦ πονηροῦ is neuter or masculine. Either sense would suit, though, if there is a reminiscence here of the Lord's prayer (so Feine, Jesus Christus u. Paulus, 252 f., and Chase, Texts and Studies, i. 3. 112 f.), the masculine would be inevitable, as is indeed more probable for general reasons (so e.g., Hofmann, Everling, Ellicott, etc.)

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

2 Thessalonians 3:1

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