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.) be... [ Continue Reading ]
πεποίθαμεν (= we have faith), still playing on the notion of πίστις. Paul rallies the Thessalonians by reminding them, not only of God's faithfulness, but of their friends' belief in them.... [ Continue Reading ]
κατευθύναι, κ. τ. λ. Paul no longer (I., 1 Thessalonians 3:11) entertains the hope of revisiting them soon. “God's love and Christ's patient endurance” (_i.e._, the ὑπομονή which Christ inspires and requires, _cf._ Ignat. _ad. Rom._, last words) correspond to the double experience of love and hope i... [ Continue Reading ]
How necessary it was to promote ὑπομονή with its attendant virtues of diligence and order at Thessalonica, is evident from the authoritative (ἐν ὀν. τ. Κυρίου) tone and the crisp detail of the following paragraph. Παραγγ., like ἀτάκτως, has a military tinge (_cf._ on I. 1 Thessalonians 4:2, and Dant... [ Continue Reading ]
Injunctions upon church-life and order.... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul's practice of a trade and emphasis upon the moral discipline of work are quite in keeping with the best Jewish traditions of the period. Compare _e.g._, the saying of Gamaliel II. (_Kiddusch_. i. 11): “He who possesses a trade is like a fenced vineyard, into which no cattle can enter, etc.” δωρ... [ Continue Reading ]
The apostles had the right to be maintained by the church, but in this case they had refused to avail themselves of it. The Thessalonians are not to misconstrue their action.... [ Continue Reading ]
Precept as well as example (_DC_ [36], ii. 2). As is perhaps implied in ὅτι, εἰ … ἐσθιέτω is a maxim quoted by the apostle, not from some unwritten saying of Jesus (Resch) but from the Jewish counterparts, based on Genesis 3:19, which are cited by Wetstein, especially _Beresch. rabba_, xiv. 12: “ut,... [ Continue Reading ]
The γάρ goes back to 2 Thessalonians 3:6. “Whereas I am told that some of your number are behaving in a disorderly fashion, not busy but busybodies,” fussy and officious, doing anything but attending to their daily trade. “Ab otio ualde procliue est hominum ingenium ad curiositatem” (Bengel). The fi... [ Continue Reading ]
They are not directly addressed (contrast 6, 13). μετὰ ἡσυχίας, in the homely sphere of work. The three causes of disquiet at Thessalonica are (_a_) the disturbing effect of persecution, (_b_) the tension produced by the thought of the advent of Christ, and (_c_), as an outcome of the latter, irregu... [ Continue Reading ]
ὑμεῖς δέ, whoever else drops out of the ranks of industrious, steady Christians. μὴ ἐγκ., implying that they had not begun to grow slack (Moulton, 122 f.). Perhaps with a special allusion to the presence of people who abused charity; generous Christians must not forego liberality and help, arguing t... [ Continue Reading ]
διὰ τ. ἐπ., implying that the matter ends with this letter (Weiss); Paul has spoken his last word on the subject. With this and the following verse, _cf._ Did. xv. 3 (ἐλέγχετε δὲ ἀλλήλους μὴ ἐν ὀργῇ ἀλλʼ ἐν εἰρήνῃ, ὡς ἔχετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ · καὶ παντὶ ἀστοχοῦντι κατὰ τοῦ ἑτέρου μηδεὶς λαλείτω μηδὲ π... [ Continue Reading ]
Disapproval, as a means of moral discipline, loses all its effect if the offender does not realise its object and reason (νουθετεῖτε), or if it is tainted with personal hostility. ὡς ἀδελφόν. Compare the fine saying of Rabbi Chanina ben Gamaliel on Deuteronomy 25:3, that after the punishment the off... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰρήνην, as opposed to these fears and troubles of the church. Κύριος is probably, in accordance with Paul's usual practice, to be taken as = Jesus Christ, but the language of 2 Thessalonians 3:5 and of I., 1 Thessalonians 5:23, makes the reference to God quite possible.... [ Continue Reading ]
Conclusion. Paul now takes the pen from his amanuensis, to add the salutation in his own handwriting for the purpose of authenticating the epistle (otherwise in 1 Corinthians 16:21). This, he observes, is the sign-manual of his letters (_cf._ 2 Thessalonians 2:2), _i.e._, the fact of a personal writ... [ Continue Reading ]