2 Thessalonians 1:9
in 2 Thessalonians 1They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
KJV
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
⋯
This verse in 2 Thessalonians 1
Commentary
15 notes on this verse...And as the wrath of God did then descend upon the unrighteous, here also does the apostle likewise say: "For the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those men who hold back the truth in unrighteousness." And as, in those times, vengeance came from God upon the Egyptians who were subjecting Israel to unjust punishment, so is it now, the Lord truly declaring, "And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him? I tell you, that He will avenge them speedily."
This site's exposition
In flaming fire taking vengeance
on 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9
The revelation arrives in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel, ignorance of God and disobedience to the gospel named as one offense, since the gospel is now the means by which God is known. The sentence, everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, is read by the church's main line as conscious, unending separation from God, and by a minority of readers, including some who hold conditional immortality, as destruction meaning the end of being; the exposition keeps the main line at full strength and names the minority reading with its holders.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"Who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His might, when He shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed." There are many men, who form good hopes not by abstaining from their sins, but by thinking that hell is not so terrible as it is said to be, but milder than what is threatened, and temporary, not eternal; and about this they philosophize much. But I could show from many reasons, and conclude from the very expressions concerning hell, that it is not only not milder, but much more terrible than is threatened. But I do not now intend to discourse concerning these things. For the fear even from bare words is sufficient, though we do not fully unfold their meaning. But that it is not temporary, hear Paul now saying, concerning those who know not God, and who do not believe in the Gospel, that "they shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction." How then is that temporary which is everlasting? "From the face of the Lord," he says. What is this? He here wishes to say how easily it might be. For since they were then much puffed up, there is no need, he says, of much trouble; it is enough that God comes and is seen, and all are involved in punishment and others in vengeance. "And from the glory of His might," he says "when He shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed." Is God glorified? Yea, he says, in all the Saints. How? For when they that puff so greatly see those who were scourged by them, who were despised, who were derided, even those now near to Him, it is His glory, or rather it is their glory, both theirs and His; His indeed, because He did not forsake them; theirs, because they were thought worthy of so great honor. […]
But in what place, pray, will it be? Somewhere as I think at least quite out of the pale of this world. For as the prisons and mines are at a great distance from royal residences, so will hell be somewhere out of this world. Seek we not then to know where it is, but how we may escape it. Neither yet because God doth not punish all here, therefore disbelieve things to come. For merciful and long-suffering He is: that is why he threatens, and does not cast us into it forthwith. For "I desire not," He says, "the death of a sinner." But if there is no death of a sinner, the words are but idle. And I know indeed that there is nothing less pleasant to you than these words. But to me nothing is pleasanter.… Let us then continually employ ourselves with talking about these things. For to remember hell prevents our falling into hell. Dost thou not hear St. Paul saying, "Who shall suffer everlasting punishment from the face of the Lord?"
At the revelation of the Lord Jesus, from heaven, with the angels of his power, in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall suffer punishment, even eternal …
Paul shows here just how seriousness this punishment is by his use of "eternal." Indeed the punishment of those wicked who have died is completed in a reality that transcends time itself and is forever.
The Medieval Church1 voice
So then, where are the Origenists, who fabulously teach about the finality of punishments? This, that is punishment, Paul called eternal. In what way then can the eternal be temporal according to you? Here the apostle shows the ease with which this will be accomplished. …
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Thietland of EinsiedelnCommentary (church-history corpus) · Written in the 10th century.
proposed
He says of destruction because there death will be without death, destruction without weakening, and fire without light. apart from the face of the Lord and apart from the glory of his virtue The sentence goes out condemning the impious, when the same Lord says, …
The punishment is likewise long lasting, for they "shall suffer eternal punishment in destruction." And this can be read in two ways, because there are two kinds of punishment, namely, that of the sense and that of the condemned. This is how it can be …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
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.
It must needs be so, since the punishment is inflicted by an eternal God, fastening upon an immortal soul, set out of the reach of divine mercy and grace. (4.) This destruction shall come from the presence of the Lord, that is, immediately from God himself. Here God punishes sinners by creatures, by instruments; but then he will take the work into his own hands.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The sentence emanating from Him in person, sitting as Judge [BENGEL], and driving them far from Him (Mt 25:41; 12:14; compare 1Pe 3:12; "The presence of the Lord" is the source whence the sentence goes forth; "the glory of His power" is the instrument whereby the sentence is carried into execution [EDMUNDS].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Who shall be punished - What this everlasting destruction consists in we cannot tell. It is not annihilation, for their being continues; and as the destruction is everlasting, it is an eternal continuance and presence of substantial evil, and absence of all good; for a part of this punishment consists in being banished from the presence of the Lord - excluded from his approbation, for ever; so that the light of his countenance can be no more enjoyed, as there will be an eternal impossibility of ever being reconciled to him. The glory of his power - Never to see the face of God throughout eternity is a heart-rending, soul-appalling thought; and to be banished from the glory of his power, that power the glory of which is peculiarly manifested in saving the lost and glorifying the faithful, is what cannot be reflected on without confusion and dismay. But this must be the lot of all who acknowledge not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The words behind it
16 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οἵτινες | oitines | who | G3748 → | |
| δίκην | diken | [the] penalty | G1349 → | |
| τίσουσιν, | tisousin | will suffer | G5099 → | |
| ὄλεθρον | olethron | of destruction | G3639 → | |
| αἰώνιον | aionion | eternal | G166 → | |
| ἀπὸ | apo | away from | G575 → | 640 times |
| προσώπου | prosopou | [the] presence | G4383 → | |
| τοῦ | tou | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κυρίου | kuriou | Lord | G2962 → | 711 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀπὸ | apo | from | G575 → | 640 times |
| τῆς | tes | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δόξης | doxes | glory | G1391 → | |
| τῆς | tes | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἰσχύος | ischuos | power | G2479 → | |
| αὐτοῦ, | autou | of Him, | G846 → | 5565 times |
οἵτινεςwho
oitinesG3748 →
δίκην[the] penalty
dikenG1349 →
τίσουσιν,will suffer
tisousinG5099 →
ὄλεθρονof destruction
olethronG3639 →
αἰώνιονeternal
aionionG166 →
ἀπὸaway from
apoG575 →640 times
προσώπου[the] presence
prosopouG4383 →
τοῦof the
touG3588 →19766 times
κυρίουLord
kuriouG2962 →711 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀπὸfrom
apoG575 →640 times
τῆςthe
tesG3588 →19766 times
δόξηςglory
doxesG1391 →
τῆςof the
tesG3588 →19766 times
ἰσχύοςpower
ischuosG2479 →
αὐτοῦ,of Him,
autouG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 21:8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual…
- Revelation 2:11
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.
- Ephesians 5:5–6
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
- Revelation 22:15
But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Revelation 20:14–15
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
Through
Matthew 25:46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
it leads to
- Daniel 12:2
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- John 5:29
and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
- John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
- Daniel 12:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About 2 Thessalonians
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5; Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book 4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Thessalonians 3; John Chrysostom, Homily on Romans 31; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON 2 THESSALONIANS; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Thessalonians; Thietland of Einsiedeln, Commentary (church-history corpus) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 2 Thessalonians.