2 Tesalonika 2:1-5

The Day of the Lord

2:1 Now regarding the arrival ¹  of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, ²  we ask you, brothers and sisters, ³  2:2 not to be easily ⁴  shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, ⁵  to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes ⁶  and the man of lawlessness ⁷  is revealed, the son of destruction. ⁸  2:4 He ⁹  opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat ¹⁰  in God’s temple, displaying himself as God. ¹¹  2:5 Surely you recall ¹²  that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you.

2 Tesalonika 2:13-17

Call to Stand Firm

2:13 But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters ¹³  loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning ¹⁴  for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 2:14 He called you to this salvation ¹⁵  through our gospel, so that you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁶  2:15 Therefore, brothers and sisters, ¹⁷  stand firm and hold on to the traditions that we taught you, whether by speech or by letter. ¹⁸  2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 2:17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you ¹⁹  in every good thing you do or say. ²⁰ 

[2:1]  ¹ tn Or perhaps “return” (cf. CEV).

[2:1]  ² tn Grk “our gathering with him.”

[2:1]  ³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Or “quickly, soon.”

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “as through us.”

[2:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “for unless the rebellion comes first.” The clause about “the day” is understood from v. 2.

[2:3]  ⁷ tc Most mss (A D F G Ψ Ï lat sy) read ἁμαρτίας (Jamartia", “of sin”) here, but several important mss (א B 0278 6 81 1739 1881 al co) read ἀνομίας (anomia", “of lawlessness”). Although external support for ἁμαρτίας is broader, the generally earlier and better witnesses are on the side of ἀνομίας. Internally, since ἁμαρτία (Jamartia, “sin”) occurs nearly ten times as often as ἀνομία (anomia, “lawlessness”) in the corpus Paulinum, scribes would be expected to change the text to the more familiar term. At the same time, the mention of ἀνομία in v. 7 and ὁ ἄνομος (Jo anomo", “the lawless one”) in v. 8, both of which look back to v. 3, may have prompted scribes to change the text toward ἀνομίας. The internal evidence is thus fairly evenly balanced. Although a decision is difficult, ἀνομίας has slightly greater probability of authenticity than ἁμαρτίας.

[2:3]  ⁸ tn Or “the one destined for destruction.”

[2:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “the one who opposes,” describing the figure in v. 3. A new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the personal pronoun (“he”) and translating the participle ἀντικείμενος (antikeimeno") as a finite verb.

[2:4]  ¹⁰ sn Allusions to Isa 14:13-14; Dan 11:36; Ezek 28:2-9 respectively.

[2:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that he is God.”

[2:5]  ¹² tn Grk “You do remember, don’t you?”

[2:13]  ¹³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.

[2:13]  ¹⁴ tc ‡ Several mss (B F G P 0278 33 81 323 1739 1881 al bo) read ἀπαρχήν (aparchn, “as a first fruit”; i.e., as the first converts) instead of ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς (ap’ arch", “from the beginning,” found in א D Ψ Ï it sa), but this seems more likely to be a change by scribes who thought of the early churches in general in this way. But Paul would not be likely to call the Thessalonians “the first fruits” among his converts. Further, ἀπαρχή (aparch, “first fruit”) is a well-worn term in Paul’s letters (Rom 8:23; 11:16; 16:5; 1 Cor 15:20, 23; 16:15), while ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς occurs nowhere else in Paul. Scribes might be expected to change the text to the more familiar term. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult (see arguments for ἀπαρχήν in TCGNT 568), and ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς must be preferred only slightly.

[2:14]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to which,” referring to the main idea of v. 13.

[2:14]  ¹⁶ sn That you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. For Paul the ultimate stage of salvation is glorification (Rom 8:30).

[2:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.

[2:15]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “that you were taught whether by word or by letter of ours.”

[2:17]  ¹⁹ tn Grk simply “strengthen,” with the object understood from the preceding.

[2:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “every good work and word.”