Page 462 - Demo

CHAPTER 2
a. [2:1] 1 Thes 4:13–17.
b. [2:2] Mt 24:6; 1 Cor 14:26, 32–33;
1 Thes 5:1–2.
c. [2:4] Dn 11:36–37; Ez 28:2.
d. [2:7] Mt 13:36–43; Acts 20:29;
Gal 5:10; 2 Pt 2:1; Rev 22:11.
e. [2:8] Is 11:4; Rev 19:15.
f. [2:9] Mt 24:24; Rev 13:13.
g. [2:13] 1 Thes 2:13; 5:9.
h. [2:14] Rom 5:1–10; 8:29–30;
1 Thes 4:7; 5:9.
CHAPTER 3
a. [3:1] Eph 6:19; Col 4:3.
b. [3:3] 1 Thes 5:24 / 1 Cor 16:13 /
Mt 6:13.
c. [3:4] 2 Cor 7:16; 1 Thes 4:1–2.
d. [3:8] 1 Thes 2:9.
e. [3:9] Mt 10:10; Phil 3:17.
f. [3:10] 1 Thes 4:11.
g. [3:11] 1 Thes 5:14.
h. [3:15] 2 Cor 2:7; Gal 6:1.
i. [3:16] Jn 14:27; Rom 15:33.
j. [3:17] 1 Cor 16:21; Gal 6:11.
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 THESSALONIANS -
his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of his coming,e 9the one whose coming springs from the power of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders that lie,f 10and in every wicked deceit for those who are perishing because they have not accepted the love of truth so that they may be saved. 11Therefore, God is sending them a deceiving power so that they may believe the lie, 12that all who have not believed the truth but have approved wrongdoing may be condemned.
13But we ought to give thanks to God for you always, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you as the rstfruits* for salvation through sancti cation by the Spirit and belief in truth.g 14To this end he has [also] called you through our gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.h 15Therefore, brothers, stand rm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.*
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, 17encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.
III. CONCLUDING EXHORTATIONS
3Request for Prayers.
* 1Finally, brothers, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may
a2
speed forward and be glori ed, as it did among you, and that we
may be delivered from perverse and wicked people, for not all have faith. 3But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.b 4We are con dent of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you [both] are doing and will continue to do.c 5May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of
Christ.
Neglect of Work. 6We instruct you, brothers, in the name of [our] Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us.*
* [2:13] As the rstfruits: there is also strong manuscript evidence for the reading, “God chose you from the beginning,” thus providing a focus on God’s activity from beginning to end; rstfruits is a Pauline term, however; cf. Rom 8:23; 11:16; 16:5 among other references.
* [2:15] Reference to an oral statement and a letter (2 Thes 2:2) and the content here, including a formula of conclusion (cf. 1 Cor 16:13; Gal 5:1), suggest that 2 Thes 2:1–15 or even 2 Thes 2:1–17 are to be taken as a literary unit, notwithstanding the incidental thanksgiving formula in 2 Thes 2:13.
* [3:1–18] The nal chapter urges the Thessalonians to pray for Paul and his colleagues (2 Thes 3:1–2) and reiterates con dence in the Thessalonians (2 Thes 3:3–5), while admonishing them about a speci c problem in their community that has grown out of the intense eschatological speculation, namely, not to work but to become instead disorderly busybodies (2 Thes 3:6–15). A benediction (2 Thes 3:16) and postscript in Paul’s own hand round out the letter. On 2 Thes 3:17–18, cf. note on 2 Thes 2:2.
* [3:6] Some members of the community, probably because they regarded the parousia as imminent or the new age of the Lord to be already here (2 Thes 2:2), had apparently ceased to work for a living. The disciplinary problem they posed could be rooted in distorted thinking about Paul’s own teaching (cf. 1 Thes 2:16; 3:3–4; 5:4–5) or, more likely, in a forged letter (2 Thes 2:2) and the type of teaching dealt with in 2 Thes 2:1–15. The apostle’s own moral teaching, re ected in his sel ess labors for others, was rooted in a deep doctrinal concern for the gospel message (cf. 1 Thes 2:3–10).