2 Thessalonianschapter 1
12 verses · Paul · about AD 51 · Paul's letters
in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Introduction
Paul, Paul's letters, 2 Thessalonians Overview.
Paul wrote this second letter to Thessalonica a few months after the first, from Corinth, with Silvanus and Timothy beside him. The church was young and was still suffering at the hands of its neighbors. Its members had reason to wonder whether God saw what they endured. Listen for the thanks Paul gives before he says anything else. Listen also for the word worthy, and for the day he points them toward. Read the chapter as comfort for people who are being wronged and are waiting for God to act.
Context
- Who
- Believers being ground down by neighbors, guilds, and family rather than by any imperial decree
- What
- The greeting of the letter, Paul's thanks for a church growing under persecution, the promise of God's just judgment when the Lord Jesus is revealed, and a prayer for the church.
- Where
- Written from Corinth to the church in Thessalonica, the chief city of the Roman province of Macedonia.
- When
- About AD 51, a few months after 1 Thessalonians, during Paul's stay of a year and a half in Corinth.
- Why
- To assure believers suffering for the kingdom of God that God is just, and that He will give them relief and repay those who afflict them.
Historical context
Rome was not yet hunting Christians. The trouble in Thessalonica was local and social: a shopkeeper who lost trade because he would not sacrifice at the guild dinner, a son cut off by his father, a household mocked in the street, a mob assembling to drag someone before the city officials as Acts describes.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
That kind of pressure had teeth. In a Greek city, a person's living, marriage prospects, and legal help all ran through networks of patrons and associations. Being pushed out of those networks was not hurt feelings; it was losing the means to eat.
The language of fire and judgment in this chapter comes straight out of Israel's prophets, the Lord appearing in flaming fire, repaying trouble to those who trouble his people. Greek converts were being taught to read their situation through Hebrew Scripture rather than through Greek fate.
Public honor was the currency of that world. Statues, inscriptions, and front-row seats all announced who mattered. The chapter's promise that Christ will be glorified in his people, and they in him, borrows exactly that public-honor language and hands it to the despised.
Significance
The hearers wanted to know whether God noticed. The answer is that the accounts are open and the settlement is set for a day already fixed, which took vengeance out of their hands and put it in his.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
It also reframed their growth. Paul says their faith is growing and their love increasing under the pressure, so the pressure has not been proof of God's absence.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Faith Growing, Love Abounding, Under Persecution
2 Thessalonians 1:1-2
To the church of the Thessalonians: Paul writes with Silvanus and Timotheus, the same team that opened the first letter. The church of the Thessalonians is addressed in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, its identity fixed by union with both.
2 Thessalonians 1:1
“Paul, and Silvanus, etc. - See the notes on 1Th 1:1. This epistle was written a short time after the former: and as Silas and Timothy were still at Corinth, the apostle joins their names with his own, as in the former case.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Grace and peace to you: Paul joins grace, the Greek greeting, to peace, the Hebrew one. He names God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as the one source of both gifts, setting Jesus beside the Father as the giver. A church under pressure hears of peace from God before it hears of relief.
2 Thessalonians 1:2
“Grace be unto you, and peace,.... See Gill on Rom 1:7.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Thessalonians 1:2
“For while I say that similar things are written of the Son as of the Spirit, I am rather proceeding to the following point. My claim is not that because something is written of the Son, therefore it would appear to be reverently written of the Holy Spirit. Rather, I am contending against the argument that because the same is written of the Spirit, therefore the Son's honor is lessened because of the Spirit. For they say, Is it not written of God the Father?”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On the Holy Spirit 2.8.75-76patristic
2 Thessalonians 1:3-4
your faith is growing more and more: Paul says the thanks are owed, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing. This is the growth he prayed for in the first letter.
2 Thessalonians 1:3
“We are bound to thank God always for you; - See the notes on 1Th 1:2. “As it is meet.” Since it is fit or proper. “Because that your faith groweth exceedingly.” It would seem probable from this that Paul had heard from them since his First Epistle was written. He had doubtless received intelligence of the error which prevailed among them respecting his views of the coming of the Lord Jesus, and of the progress which the truth was making, at the same time. “And the charity of every one of you all toward each other.” Your mutual love.”
perseverance and faith: Acts 17:5 to 9 and 1 Thessalonians 2:14 show Jews and the city's own people stirring up trouble against the church. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the Greek says they are still enduring it. Paul holds the young church up to other churches as proof of what grace does.
2 Thessalonians 1:4
“But how Paul, an apostle, from being a persecutor, who first of all shed the blood of the church, though afterwards he exchanged the sword for the pen, and turned the dagger into a plough, being first a ravening wolf of Benjamin, then himself supplying food as did Jacob, -how he, (I say, ) speaks in favour of martyrdoms, now to be chosen by himself also, when, rejoicing over the Thessalonians, he says, "So that we glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations, in which ye endure a…”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Scorpiacepatristic
2 more voices on this verse
2 Thessalonians 1:4
“We ourselves glory in you in the Churches of God - We hold you up as an example of what the grace of God, can produce when communicated to honest and faithful hearts. For your patience and faith - From Act 17:5, Act 17:13, and from 1Th 2:14, we learn, that the people of Thessalonica had suffered much persecution, both from the Jews and their own countrymen; but being thoroughly convinced of the truth of the Gospel, and feeling it to be the power of God unto salvation, no persecution could turn them aside from it.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Thessalonians 1:4
2Th 1:5, 7 state the object of their hope, namely, the kingdom for which they suffer. tribulations--literally, "pressures." The Jews were the instigators of the populace and of the magistrates against Christians (Ac 17:6, 8). which ye endure--Greek, "are (now) enduring."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
When He Comes in Flaming Fire
clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment: Their endurance is itself clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment, a sign that God’s verdict on them runs toward the kingdom. Acts 14:22 gives the same order, that believers must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.
2 Thessalonians 1:5
“Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God - The word “which” is supplied by our translators, and there may be some doubt to what the apostle has reference as being “a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God.” The general sense seems to be, that the fact that they were thus persecuted was an evidence that there would be a future judgment, when the righteous who were persecuted would be rewarded, and the wicked who persecuted them would be punished.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Thessalonians 1:5
“Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God,.... That is, according as some think, that God should glorify those that are persecuted, and punish their persecutors: this sense indeed may seem to agree with what follows; but the apostle is speaking not of something future, but of something present; not of what God will do hereafter, but of the present sufferings of the saints.”
2 Thessalonians 1:6-7
it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you: God’s justice runs two ways at once, affliction to those who afflict and relief to the oppressed. One moment settles both accounts, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels.
2 Thessalonians 1:6
“It is a righteous thing with God - (However men may judge) to transfer the pressure from you to them. And it is remarkable that about this time, at the passover, the Jews raising a tumult, a great number (some say thirty thousand) of them were slain.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
grant relief to you who are oppressed: The word for relief means a loosening, like strings drawn tight for a long time and at last let go. It comes when the Lord Jesus is revealed. Albert Barnes adds that the persecutors earn their penalty, while the relief given to believers remains a gift of grace.
2 Thessalonians 1:7
“And to you who are troubled - That is, “it will be a righteous thing for God to give to you who are persecuted rest in the last day.” As it will be right and proper to punish the wicked, so it will he right to reward the good. It will not, however, be in precisely the same sense. The wicked will deserve all that they will suffer, but it cannot be said that the righteous will deserve the reward which they will receive.”
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9
in blazing fire: The Lord comes in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Not knowing God and refusing the gospel stand side by side.
2 Thessalonians 1:8
“In flaming fire - Εν φλογι πυρος· In thunder and lightning, taking vengeance - inflicting just punishment on them that know not God - the heathen who do not worship the true God, and will not acknowledge him, but worship idols; and on them that obey not the Gospel - the Jews, particularly who have rejected the Gospel, and persecuted Christ and his messengers; and all nominal Christians who, though they believe the Gospel as a revelation from God, yet do not obey it as a rule of life.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
2 Thessalonians 1:8
“Taking vengeance - Does God barely permit this, or (as "the Lord" once "rained brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven," Gen. xix, 24) does a fiery stream go forth from him forever? Who know not God - (The root of all wickedness and misery) who remain in heathen ignorance. And who obey not - This refers chiefly to the Jews, who had heard the gospel.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Thessalonians 1:8
“To Him, therefore, does it appertain to punish such as know not God, for none ought to be ignorant of Him. In the (apostle's) phrase, "From the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power," he uses the words of Isaiah who for the express reason makes the self-same Lord "arise to shake terribly the earth.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book Vpatristic
2 Thessalonians 1:8
“In flaming fire--Greek, "In flame of fire"; or, as other oldest manuscripts read, "in fire of flame." This flame of fire accompanied His manifestation in the bush (Ex 3:2); also His giving of the law at Sinai (Ex 19:18).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
eternal destruction: Paul names the penalty as eternal destruction and defines it as separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might. The loss is the Lord Himself. John Gill and John Wesley read eternal here as a ruin without end, with the person still in being.
2 Thessalonians 1:9
“Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction,.... With destruction both of soul and body, though not with the annihilation of either; their gnawing worm of conscience will never die, and the fire of divine wrath will never be quenched; the smoke of their torment will ascend for ever. Sin being committed against an infinite and eternal Being, will be infinite in its duration; nor will it cease to be in the persons punished, who will not be in the least reformed or purged from sin by punishment; which will make the continuance of it just and necessary.”
2 more voices on this verse
2 Thessalonians 1:9
“Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction; - see the notes on Mat 25:41, Mat 25:46. The word which is here rendered “destruction” (ὄλεθρον olethron), is different from that which occurs in Mat 25:46, and which is there rendered “punishment” - κόλασις kolasis. The word ὄλεθρον olethron - “olethron” - occurs only here and in 1Co 5:5; 1Th 5:3; 1Ti 6:9; in each of which places it is rendered destruction. It does not denote annihilation, but is used in the same sense in which we use the word when we say that a thing is destroyed.”
2 Thessalonians 1:9
“From the glory of his power - Tremble, ye stout-hearted. Everlasting destruction - As there can be no end of their sins, (the same enmity against God continuing,) so neither of their punishment; sin and its punishment running parallel throughout eternity itself.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
to be glorified in His saints: The coming that punishes also crowns: He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed. Paul counts the Thessalonians in that number, including you who have believed our testimony.
2 Thessalonians 1:10
“Faith is defined by BISHOP PEARSON as "an assent unto truths, credible upon the testimony of God, delivered unto us by the apostles and prophets" (originally delivering their testimony orally, but now in their writings). "Glorified in His saints" reminds us that holiness is glory in the bud; glory is holiness manifested.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
2 Thessalonians 1:10
“Now, they are a wonder to many; but how will they be wondered at in this great and glorious day; or, rather, how will Christ, whose name is Wonderful, be admired, when the mystery of God shall be finished! Christ will not be so much admired in the glorious esteem of angels that he will bring from heaven with him as in the many saints, the many sons, that he will bring to glory.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Thessalonians 1:10
“WHAT a difference between the first and second comings of our Lord! When He shall come a second time it will be to be glorified and admired, but when He came the first time it was to be despised and rejected of men. He comes a second time to reign with unexampled splendor, but the first time He came to die in circumstances of shame and sorrow.”
That His Name May Be Glorified in You
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
we always pray for you: Paul turns the teaching into prayer, that our God will count you worthy of His calling. The goal is that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, a glory given both ways.
2 Thessalonians 1:11
“Wherefore also we pray always for you - See the notes, 1Th 1:2. That our God would count you worthy of this calling. - Margin, “or, vouchsafe.” The meaning is, “that he would regard you as worthy of this calling;” see the notes on ver. 5. Of this calling; see the notes, Eph 4:1. The “calling” here, is that which had brought them into the kingdom, and led them to become Christians. And fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness. - That is, make the work of salvation complete and effectual.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Thessalonians 1:11
“Wherefore also we pray always for you,.... Not only observe the above things to your comfort, to support you under sufferings, but we add our prayers, and not only now, but always, that you may be among them in whom Christ will be glorified and admired; in order to which we most sincerely pray, that our God would count you worthy of this calling. The Syriac version reads, "your calling", as in 1Co 1:26. The Vulgate Latin reads, "his own calling", meaning their effectual calling.”
the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you: The glory runs both ways, since Christ is honored in His people and they are honored in Him as members under their Head. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the closing phrase joins God and the Lord Jesus Christ under a single Greek article, one source of grace.
2 Thessalonians 1:12
“The believer's graces redound to Christ's glory, and His glory, as their Head, reflects glory on them as the members. the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ--There is but one Greek article to both, implying the inseparable unity of God and the Lord Jesus.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
How this psalm is built
The form: The opening of a letter: a greeting, then a thanksgiving widened into teaching on God's just judgment, then a prayer, as Aquinas classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Counted worthy, at the start and the close of the teaching | The word worthy stands twice in the chapter, at verse 5 and at verse 11. At verse 5 the suffering church will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, and at verse 11 Paul prays that God will count them worthy of His calling. The teaching on the day of judgment stands between the two.The text of 2 Thessalonians, counted from the Berean Standard Bible in the store, 2 Thessalonians 1:5 and 1:11. | 2 Thessalonians 1:5, 2 Thessalonians 1:11 |
| Affliction repaid and relief given | Verses 6 and 7 set two sides of one justice against each other. God repays with affliction those who afflict, and He grants relief to those who are oppressed. Albert Barnes notes that the two are given in different senses, since the wicked deserve their penalty and the relief of believers is a gift of grace.Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, on 2 Thessalonians 1:7. | 2 Thessalonians 1:6, 2 Thessalonians 1:7 |
| The language of Isaiah | Verse 8 describes the Lord coming in blazing fire, as Isaiah 66:15 describes the LORD coming with fire and flames of fire. Verse 9 speaks of the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might, close to the words the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty at Isaiah 2:10 and 2:19. Paul teaches a Greek church to read its trouble through Israel's prophets.The text of 2 Thessalonians 1 and Isaiah 2 and 66, read side by side from the Berean Standard Bible in the store, 2 Thessalonians 1:8 to 9, Isaiah 2:10 and 2:19, Isaiah 66:15. | 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 |
How the chapter is built
7 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verses 1 and 2 are the greeting, from the same three men who wrote the first letter. Verses 3 and 4 give thanks for faith that is growing and love that is increasing under persecution. Verses 5 to 10 widen the thanks into teaching on God's just judgment at the revealing of the Lord Jesus. Verses 11 and 12 turn that teaching into a prayer. Thomas Aquinas divides the whole letter into the greeting and the narration that begins at verse 3, and he reads the narration as teaching on the last days followed by friendly warnings in chapter 3 (Commentary on 2 Thessalonians, on 1:1 and 1:3).
What changed since the first letter
Albert Barnes reads the growing faith of verse 3 as evidence that Paul had heard from the church since he sent the first letter (Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on 2 Thessalonians 1:3). Adam Clarke notes that the letter was written a short time after the first, while Silas and Timothy were still at Corinth (Commentary on the Bible, on 2 Thessalonians 1:1). The persecution of 1 Thessalonians 2:14 had gone on.
The debated reading: eternal destruction
Verse 9 names the penalty as eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord. John Gill reads it as a ruin of body and soul that never ends, with no annihilation of either (Exposition of the New Testament, on 2 Thessalonians 1:9). John Wesley reads the punishment as running as long as the sin that earns it (Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on 1:9). Readers who hold conditional immortality, such as Edward Fudge in The Fire That Consumes (1982), read destruction as the end of the person's existence. Conditional immortality is the minority view, and the reading Gill and Wesley give has been the majority view in the church's history. The objection pressed against that reading is that verse 9 describes the loss as separation from the Lord's presence, which assumes a person who is separated. Each position is stated by its holder and the page settles neither.
Where the chapter reaches
The fire of verse 8 comes from Isaiah 66:15, and the splendor of verse 9 from Isaiah 2:10 and 2:19. The revealing with His mighty angels of verse 7 stands with Matthew 25:31, where the Son of Man comes with all His angels. The day of verse 10 is the day chapter 2 goes on to explain.
Keep studying
Studies6
People and groups1
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Thietland of Einsiedeln, Commentary (church-history corpus), on 2 Thessalonians 1:3 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 2 Thessalonians, on 2 Thessalonians 1:1 and 1:3.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; J. B. Lightfoot, Notes on the Epistles of St Paul; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on 2 Thessalonians; John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Thessalonians 3; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Thessalonians.