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Address for the Consolation of the readers under the fresh outbreak of persecutions
2Th_1:1-12
1Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus [Timothy], unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2Grace unto you, and peace, from God our1 Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3We are bound to thank [give thanks to] God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity [love, ἀãÜðç ] of every one of you all2 toward each other aboundeth; 4so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all 5your persecutions and tribulations [the afflictions]3 that ye endure: which is a manifest token [a token, ἕíäåéãìá ] of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 6seeing [if indeed] it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you [to those who afflict you affliction], 7and to you, who are troubled [afflicted], rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed [at the revelation of the Lord Jesus, ἐí ôῇ ἀðïêáëýøåé ôïῦ Ê . Ἰ .] from heaven with His mighty angels [with the angels of His power, ìåô ’ ἀããÝëùí äõíÜìåùò áὐôïῦ ], 8in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that [rendering vengeance to those who, äéäüíôïò ἐêäßêçóéí ôïῖò ] know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9who shall be punished with [shall suffer punishment, äßêçí ôßóïõóéí ,] everlasting destruction from the presence [face] of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; 10when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe [those who believed] (because our testimony 11among you [to you, ἐö ’ ὑìᾶò ] was believed), in that day. Wherefore [To which end, Åἰò ὅ ] also we pray always for you, that our God would count [may count, ἀîéþóῃ ] you worthy of this [the, ôῆò ] calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness [every desire of goodness], and the work of faith with power; 12that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. (2Th_1:3-4.) We are bound, &c.—As in 1Th_1:2, only that he there says simply åὐ÷áñéóôïῦìåí , and here declares the obligation (2Th_2:13), in the earnestness of his spirit, drawn from the greatness of the grace; urgente animi exultatione (Bengel): We are bound to do this, and it is a debt which we shall never be able fully to discharge. It is by no means obvious, why this should be unpauline! is it only because we do not so read in any other Epistle?! The words, as it is meet, are referred by some only to ὀöåßëïìåí , as confirmatory of the obligation, and, taken thus, they seem to be somewhat dull and pointless; better therefore: “so to give thanks, as the greatness of the unmerited favor deserves;” Bengel: ob rei magnitudinem; Hofmann: as the state of the case requires. Theophylact (along with another explanation): in a worthy manner, by word and deed; for this is true thanksgiving. Too subtle is Lünemann’s interpretation; who, because êáèþò does not mark the degree (though it does the way and manner), and because the insertion of ἀäåëöïß forbids the close backward reference to åὐ÷áñéóôåῖí (but why?), would connect ἄîéïí closely with what follows: “as it is meet, because.” But it is more natural to understand ὅôé thus: “We are bound to give thanks (for this), that.” ὙðåñáõîÜíåéí is such an emphatic expression of entire commendation as the Apostle is fond of; áὐîÜíåéí is used elsewhere transitively, but once also as intransitive, Act_6:7; and so the compound here: “your faith groweth even beyond expectation; and love increaseth continually.” Paul thankfully acknowledges the fulfilment of his wishes and exhortations (1Th_3:12; 1Th_4:10); Rieger: the fruit of his exhortations and intercessions. Faith and love, of which Timothy (1Th_3:6) had reported the existence among the Thessalonians, had only become stronger in the tempests; at 1Th_1:3 he had added ὑðïìïíὴ ôῆò ἐëðßäïò , and that follows here in another form.—Of every one of you all, he thus quite explicitly applies it to every individual; toward each other; he speaks therefore of brotherly love. How can Paul thus praise, when in chh. 2 and 3 he has yet to add reproof? Olshausen well: Even those excrescences (we add: which were found rather in individuals merely) were at least excrescences simply from a good stock. There is something of cordial encouragement in the fact, that Paul first recognizes the good that he finds in them, even though with some their faith and love are still lacking in wisdom.—So that we ourselves, not others merely, glory in you. Hofmann thinks this would require a êáß , and prefers to understand it thus: we of our own accord, without being prompted; too artificial. De Wette (and Chrysostom before him) recalls 1Th_1:8 : “We have no need to speak of it, since everywhere people are telling of it;” whereas here: “Not merely do others talk to us and speak of it everywhere, but we also (overcoming a modest reserve) must in our exceeding joy proclaim it.” To be sure, attention is not drawn to this contrast by any particle of time; it at once results, however, from a mere comparison of the two places. Paul not merely thanks God; he glories also before men. Instead of the Recepta êáõ÷ᾶóèáé , A. B. Sin. 17 [Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, Ellicott] give the rarer and on that account, perhaps, the preferable ἐãêáõ÷ᾶóèáé (A. B., not Sin., write ἐíê .), which at the most slightly strengthens the sense; êáí÷ . ἐí means to place one’s honor in something, to boast of a thing (1Co_1:31; 1Co_3:21); there Paul forbids to glory in any men whatever; does he not here do so himself? By no means; he means to boast, not of the Thessalonians as men, but only of the work of God in them (1Th_2:19). The relation is the same as between the ἀíèñþðïéò ἀñÝóêåéí that is forbidden (Gal_1:10, flattery of the old man) and that which is enjoined (1Co_10:33, the cherishing of the new man with tender fidelity). He boasts of them in the churches of God, those of Achaia, where he is sojourning; Lünemann: Corinth and its branch churches (the plural points to the surrounding region, comp. Rom_16:1); an advance on 1Th_1:8. Without any reason Hilgenfeld (p. 243) would detect a disagreement with 2Co_1:1, alleging that the genuine Paul does not at all describe the churches of Achaia as properly churches along with that of Corinth. The simple fact is, that in that place of the Corinthian Epistle he does not do so, it being surely equally possible for him to address a large number of saints, or to take them together as churches; but if one were disposed to extort from 2Co_1:1 the idea that the scattered Christians of Achaia had not yet been gathered into churches, we should then have to infer also from Rom_1:7; Php_1:1; Col_1:2, that no churches had yet been organized in Rome, Philippi, Colosse, when Paul wrote to the Christians of those places!—Bengel’s reference of the ὑðὲñ , &c. to the remote åὐ÷áñéóôåῖí is unnatural; it is rather a closer definition of ἐãêáõ÷ . ἐí ὑìῖí : for your patience and (your) faith; their endurance stands first; the thing gloried in is, that they stood their ground not merely against a single attack; the root of genuine patience is faith, which is then again in its turn purified by patience. In faith everything is concentrated (1Th_3:7); it is not of itself the same thing as hope [De Wette] (1Th_1:3); nor, because ðßóôåùò is connected with ὑðïìïíῆò by one article, are we required (as Olshausen and Lünemann suppose) to assume for ðßóôéò the meaning of fidelity. No doubt, by omitting the second article Paul comprehends patience and faith, so to speak, under one conception; faith, however, retains the sense which it commonly bears elsewhere (and for the Greeks that is certainly less remote from the idea of fidelity than for us). There may be an endurance that does not proceed from faith, that is, from holding fast by the invisible God; and this would have no value; but just as little would a faith, that did not approve itself by its own steadfastness in affliction. In Rev_13:10 also the two are joined together. The manifestation of both takes place in all your persecutions and the afflictions that ye endure, patiently bear, Hofmann; the áἷò ἀíÝ÷åóèå in the second member answers to the ὑìῶí of the first. The persecutions proceed from hostile men; èëßøåóéí is more general, and presents the idea, how painful and distressing the suffering is in the experience of it; áἷò it is generally said, is an attraction for ἅò ; Lünemann, for ὧí ; both constructions occur; in the New Testament elsewhere always the genitive (Col_3:13, and often). The present ἀíÝ÷åóèå (over against the aorist of 1Th_2:14) shows that there had been a fresh outbreak of persecutions.
3. (2Th_1:5.) A token, &c.— ἔíäåéãìá is not equivalent to åἰò ἐíä . (cod. 73) [slightly favored also by the Syriac, and the Vulgate in exemplum.—J. L.], nor does it belong appositionally to the ὑìåῖò concealed in ἀíÝ÷åóèå (that would have required ὕíôåò ἕíäåéãìá , besides yielding no good sense); but it is (similarly as in Rom_8:3) an apposition to the clause áἷò ἀíÝ÷åóèå , see Winer, § 59. 9; it is to be regarded as a nominative (De Wette, Lünemann [Alford, Ellicott, Webster and Wilkinson, &c.]), not an accusative; hence: which is a proof; ἕíäåéãìá does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament, though ἕíäåéîéò does (Rom_3:25-26; Php_1:28). It is not the mere suffering of tribulation that is of itself an evidence of the judgment, as being perhaps an atonement for sins (Estius), or as an indication that the judgment must come; such is not the effect of mere suffering in itself, but of suffering in patience and faith, and accordingly áἷò ἀíÝ÷åóèå is said to those whose patience and faith can be boasted of; and ἀíÝ÷åóèå itself implies the patient acceptance. This patient endurance, then, is a proof of the righteous judgment of God. But to what extent is it so? The great majority of interpreters (Calvin, Pelt, De Wette, Lünemann, Hofmann, &c.) understand ἔíäåéãìá (without warrant) as a presage of the future judgment, which has not yet appeared but is certainly impending; a token from which it may be inferred that it will come; so also Luther: which shows that God will judge rightly. They say that ἔíäåéîéò so stands in Php_1:28; but the perdition and salvation, whose evidence is there spoken of, are by no means impending merely in the future, but are already in progress at present, comp. 1Co_1:18; and the ἕíὃåéîéò of the righteousness of God, of which Rom_3:25 sq. speaks, is altogether meant as present. In behalf, however, of the view that our text speaks of a presage of the future judgment, there is alleged 1. the article, as indicating the judgment êáô ’ ἐîï÷Þí , and 2. the connection with 2Th_1:6-7, where there is very explicit mention of the future retribution. Granting the latter point, still, if ἕíäåéãìá in 2Th_1:5 by itself is to mean a presage, its relation to the following åἰò ôὸ êáôáî . is anything but clear. Estius, Bengel, Hofmann, and others, make the latter clause dependent on ἀíÝ÷åóèå , and it is true that this would not necessarily lead to the Catholic doctrine of merit (just as little as Rom_8:17), but in the present connection it would have this inconvenience of depressing ἕíäåéãìá , &c. into a subordinate parenthesis, whereas plainly in that word is to be seen the new principal thought, the beginning of the new line of thought, which is then carried forward in 2Th_1:6 sqq. This is perceived by De Wette and Lünemann, who are therefore essentially correct in assuming that åἰò ôὸ êáôáî . depends on äéê . êñßóåùò ; but how? shall it mean merely: with reference to the fact, that? or shall it be an epexegetical conclusion, like 2Co_8:6 : whose result will be, that (Lünemann)? or shall it even express simply the substance of the judgment (De Wette)? Theophylact even takes it as an equivalent to ὅðåñ ἐóôὶ êáôáî . De Wette gives this paraphrastic explanation of the connection: By their steadfastness in persecution the Thessalonians approve themselves as worthy of the kingdom of God, and from this subjective worthiness may be inferred the objective righteous judgment of God, by which it is realized. But this is a singular confounding of two different modes of viewing the causal relation, as it were thus: Which steadfast suffering, since it shows what sort of people you are, is also a presage of what we have to expect from the righteous judgment of God, in pronouncing you worthy;—evidently an artificial and forced thought, which would still be but very unintelligibly expressed. But on the whole it is always best, wherever it is possible, to hold fast in åἰò ôü the idea of aim. Add to this the arbitrariness of understanding ἕíäåéãìá as a foretoken of something future, as also Hilgenfeld remarks.
The preference, therefore, is due to the interpretation, which we find not quite distinctly in Zwingli, and then in Olshausen, needing only a somewhat more rigorous confirmation; the interpretation, namely, according to which ἕíäåéãìá denotes the evidence of God’s righteous judgment already at present in force. The article can be no obstacle to this, since the judgment of God, present and future, is one process (like eternal life, Joh_17:3); and 2Th_1:6-7 also form no counter-argument, for there we are shown that coming issue of the judgment, of which the present judicial administration (2Th_1:5) is the pioneer. But how, then, can the patient endurance of suffering be described as a manifestation of the already present judgment of God?
Here it is of importance rightly to understand the scriptural conception of righteousness and judgment. Now since the righteousness of God is certainly not synonymous with grace, we must not confound these ideas; it is the self-consistent relation of His holy love to the free creature; dispensing on both sides, to the believer according to his faith, to the unbeliever according to his unbelief. A judgment awaits also the former; Olshausen refers to 1Pe_4:17-18; likewise 1Co_11:32 points us to a judgment for discipline and purification; thus: God fulfils in you His righteous judgment, not for your destruction, but for your trial, that He may be able to declare you worthy of the kingdom; He proves your standing in faith, and there is a righteous requital also in this, that He rewards faith with patience; or as Stockmeyer beautifully and clearly carries out the idea on this one side (in an unprinted sermon; see the Homiletic hints on 1Th_4:1-8): “First of all he represents to them the judgment of God as something, whereof they are now already permitted, in the midst of their tribulation, to have an experience in the highest degree joyful and comforting. That the Thessalonians were able to abide so patient in persecution, and so firm in faith, was already an evidence of the righteousness of God. Thereby God already proved Himself in their case to be the righteous rewarder of all that is good. For their obedience, in that they had received the gospel, God rewarded them by bestowing on them new grace, and new strength to suffer for the gospel’s sake, without becoming weary and faint-hearted (Mat_13:12).” What one might find to be wanting in this statement is, at the most, that it would suit the expression, proof of the righteousness, better than it does the one before us, proof of the righteous judgment. It must therefore be supplemented by remarking, first, that for believers also the operation of the Divine righteousness comes indeed to be an effective judgment, but that it is a strong consolation to fall into the hand of God, and not into the hand of men; moreover, as Von Gerlach notes, that it is the most frightful token (not merely a presage) of bursting doom, when God so hardens the ungodly that they persecute His children. Even this, however, must redound to the advantage of the latter.
The thought of our passage, therefore, would be this: Steadfastly and believingly ye endure your persecutions; that is a proof of God’s righteous judgment, of His inviolably self-consistent work of winnowing; which proof is to the end ( åἰò ôü ) that ye should be deemed worthy, that He should be able to pronounce you worthy, of the kingdom of God. Toward this mark the judicial and sifting operation of God is working; it will prevail with those who allow His judgment to take effect on them to their purification. It is obvious that, taken thus, åἰò ôὀò êáôáî . acquires a much better sense. Of course, as Stockmeyer goes on to say, this declaration of judgment, that already takes place at present, stands in closest connection with that last perfect demonstration of it, which is the hope of all believers. (The connection with 2Th_1:6 sqq.: If it is a righteous thing that God should some day render a perfect retribution, there is already now a proof of His righteousness, in directing His judgments toward that end.)
The kingdom of God, whereof we should be accounted worthy, is the holy dominion which, in distinction from the Church of the present time (the kingdom in the form of a servant), shall one day be revealed by the return of the King in victorious glory. Since flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom, what avails for that is the death of the old man, as the Apostle says: for which ye also suffer; he says also, to express the agreement that exists between their actual experience and God’s plan. The ὑðÝñ is understood by most to mean: in order to its attainment; and this again would not express any legal meritoriousness, any more than Rom_8:17, but would amount to this: Ye suffer for your faith in it, your confession of it, your faithfulness to it, when grace had received you. Hilgenfeld insists on the meaning, not: in order to its attainment, but: in order to its promotion; similarly Hofmann: to introduce this state of things; and even so there would be no warrant for the assertion of the former, that there is here betrayed an unapostolic estimate of martyrdom. But ὑðÝñ (as in Rom_1:5; Act_5:41) means: in reference thereto, in behalf of the kingdom, and includes the two ideas of serving it and participating in it.
4. (2Th_1:6-8) If indeed it is a righteous thing, &c.—The thought is expressed hypothetically, for the very purpose of strengthening its import, and to indicate that it is altogether incontestable, the writer appealing to his reader’s own judgment. Theophylact: The hearers cannot but say: ἀëëὰ ìὴí äßêáéïí . It is a righteous thing with God [Vulgate: apud Deum; Syriac—coram Deo.—J. L.], righteousness is therein fulfilled; to recompense, properly to render back (1Th_3:9), to those who afflict you affliction, and to you who are afflicted relaxation, release, rest, refreshment (2Co_2:12-13); in opposition to èëῖøéò , 2Co_7:5; 2Co_8:13; similarly ὰíÜøõîéò , Act_3:19; comp. also the resting in Rev_14:13. For the present, he exhibits merely that negative side of the äüîá , for which the afflicted person first longs, freedom from earth’s sorrows; the positive side comes afterward, 2Th_1:10; 2Th_1:12.—With us, says the Apostle in the assured joy of faith; without warrant is Bengel’s explanation (and Ewald’s): us, the saints in Israel; De Wette would understand it generally: with us, Christians at large; that may well be involved in the remoter deduction; but obviously the immediate suggestion of the actual phrase is: with us, the in like manner afflicted Apostles (2Th_3:2), the foremost champions of the faith [Alford and Ellicott: the writers of the Epistle; Webster and Wilkinson: Paul.—J. L.]. Looking back from the final retribution (2Th_1:6), we see that all the previous dealing also (2Th_1:5) is righteous throughout. Of course, the èëßâåóèáé is not of itself meritorious, but 2Th_1:7 likewise takes for granted èëéâïìÝíïõò of steadfast faith (2Th_1:4); so that Hilgenfeld’s censure of an unpauline thought falls to the ground.—Rest and refreshment will God give at the revelation of the Lord Jesus; it is a far more forced construction, when Grotius would refer this specification of time to the remote êáôáîéùèῆíáé . Of the Lord Jesus is a genitive of. the object, though He is also the subject of it. Revelation is the same thing as ðáñïõóßá ; only there is still more conveyed by ἀðïêÜëõøéò ; not merely that He will be present, but also that He will unveil Himself in His glory (1Co_1:7; Luk_17:30), whereas He is now hid in heaven (Col_3:3-4), and is only invisibly nigh to us (Matthew 28). The way and manner of His coming is shown by what is added: from heaven, comp. 1Th_4:16; with the angels of His power, comp. 1Th_3:13; the expression means that they belong to His power, therefore also form His power, are its servants and executors. Comp. the óôñáôåýìáôá of heaven, Rev_19:14. Not: with His strong angels, mighty angels (Theophylact expressly, äõíáôῶí ), as if äõíÜìåùò were an adjectival definition of ἀãã ., and áὐôïῦ were to be connected with ἀãã . Hofmann (because it is not said: ìåôὰ ôῶí ἀããÝëùí ôῆò äõí . áὐôïῦ ) would understand it as meaning with a host of angels, ἀãã . being put first emphatically, to distinguish the heavenly forces from all of an earthly kind (but for this there was no occasion), and äýíáìéò signifying an army-force likewise in Luk_10:19; Luk_21:26 (?), and in the Septuagint for öָáָä ; áὐôïῦ , finally, he refers to what follows. This whole view is too artificial; and when he takes the words áὐôïῦ ἐí ðõñὶ öëïãὸò äéäüíôïò together, and refers them to God, and at the same time regards ἐí ôῇ ἀðïê . &c. as the beginning of this participial construction, this is, to say the least, as cumbrous as the ordinary view, according to which ἐí ôῇ ἀð . &c. more closely defines what goes before.—There might certainly be a doubt as to where ἐí ðõñὶ öëïãüò belongs (the variation which we have noted meets us in like manner at Act_7:30; the Recepta means flaming fire, glowing fire, not faintly burning). Too subtile is Theophylact’s remark, that the expression denotes fire that burns merely, and gives no light, it being merely consuming for sinners, and for the righteous merely luminous. It is possible to refer it to what follows as a specification of detail (Theodoret: ôῆò ôéìùñßáò ôὸ åἶäïò ; Hilgenfeld: In point of fact the fiery flame belongs immediately to the punishment); but it may also be regarded as the last feature in the description of the revelation, and this is still simpler [and so Alford and Ellicott]. Theophylact recognizes both explanations, and refers for the second to Psa_97:3. The Lord is revealed in flaming fire, as in the burning bush, or as on Sinai; His throne is [not, as in E. V., is like.—J. L.] glowing flame (Dan_7:9); as in the Old Testament God, so here Christ comes in fire; thus shall His day also be revealed (1Co_3:13); this agrees with the äüîá at His coming (Mat_25:31); somewhat more remote is the glowing flame of His eyes (Rev_19:12); He Himself is a consuming fire (Heb_10:27; Heb_12:29); comp., moreover, in the Old Testament, Isa_29:6; Isa_30:30.
The terrible splendor of His majesty, which consumes all opposition, is concisely, but powerfully, delineated. We are not to inquire curiously into what is physical in this manifestation; not till the last end will the fire that melts the elements come in power (2Pe_3:7; 2Pe_3:10); but at every epoch of judgment fire is also the figure of the purifying ardor of the Holy Ghost, consuming all impurity; comp. Mat_3:11-12.—The reference of what follows, (Jesus) rendering vengeance, dispensing punishment, is by Hofmann without reason felt to be a difficulty. The Greek expression answers in the Septuagint to the Hebrew ðָúַï ðְ÷ָîָä , Eze_25:14, and elsewhere; comp. ἕêäéêïò , 1Th_4:6; ðïéåῖí ἐêäßêçóéí , Luk_18:7; see also Luk_21:22-23. The Apostle now traces back to the general Divine administration what he had previously promised to the Thessalonians in particular. Jesus will execute the Divine judgment on those who know not God; that it is not simply a want of knowledge, but a criminal blindness, that is here intended, is evident; comp. 1Th_4:5; instead of seeking God (Act_17:27), many hold the truth down [ êáôå÷üíôùí , depress, repress] in unrighteousness (Rom_1:18); in angry defiance, like Pharaoh (Exo_5:2). In the First Epistle the Gentiles were expressly so described (comp. Psa_79:6); here is described more generally the fundamental delinquency, ungodliness. It is further said: and to those, who obey not the gospel, &c.; the Lord Jesus has a right to claim obedience; faith is, after all, an affair of the will, the obedience of faith (Rom_1:5; Act_6:7). The repetition of the article ôïῖò in the second member appears to place the disobedient as a second class alongside the first; and so indeed many (Grotius, Bengel, Ewald, Lünemann, Hofmann [Jowett, Alford, Ellicott, Webster and Wilkinson, &c]) distinguish, finding here the two classes of persecutors who vexed the Thessalonians; those who know not God would be the heathen, those who obey not the gospel the Jews (comp. Romans 10). But this same excessive strictness of historical reference is not at all advisable; Paul speaks generally of the judgment of the world. Moreover, Bengel himself says merely Judæis maxime, and Hofmann also [Estius, Cocceius, Whitby, Peile, Revision, &c.—J. L.] sees in the second class all who reject the gospel, whether heathens or Jews; in this we recognize the correct feeling, that to limit the second designation to the Jews is unjustifiable; but in that case the contrast is no longer clear, and there comes in the recollection of Christ’s reproach to the Jews, that they know not God (Joh_8:55; Joh_15:21; Joh_16:3; they are wanting in the knowledge described in Joh_17:3); with which the Apostle’s expressions are to be compared (Rom_3:11; Rom_10:2; Rom_11:8 sqq.). On the whole, since the antithesis here is different from that in Rom_2:12, one looks for a condemnation at last only on account of the rejection of Christ, in which alienation from God culminates. The ïἵôéíåò also of 2Th_1:9 comprehends in one the two seemingly different classes; so that we shall do better to find already in the eighth verse a description, not of two classes of men, but merely of the two poles of enmity against God: the fundamental aversion of men generally, and the consummation of their contumacy, when the opportunity of faith has been afforded them; so Calvin [Bishop Hall], Pelt, De Wette, Olshausen; the repetition of the ôïῖò cannot force us to the opposite view, if we compare Rom_4:12 [see also my Revision of Rev_16:2, Note j. These two are much better examples than those which Ellicott cites, and objects to as questionable, viz. Mat_27:3; Luk_22:4.—J. L.]. Moreover, the ἅãéïé and the ðéóôåýóáíôåò , 2Th_1:10, are not two different classes (as Bengel consistently would have it), but two parallel designations of the same persons. At any rate, we see here that the èëßâïíôåò of 2Th_1:6 come under the judgment, not as being merely human oppressors of men, but as enemies of God. [Wordsworth: ìÞ implies that their ignorance and disobedience is the cause of their punishment.—J. L.]
5. (2Th_1:9-10.) Who [ ïἵôéíåò , who, as such.—J. L.] shall suffer punishment, &c.: properly pay, discharge; but the etymology disappears, as the opposition would otherwise be incongruous: (namely) everlasting destruction; ὅëåèñïò we had at 1Th_5:3; ὀëÝèñéïí [Lachmann] is given only by A.; this were an adjective to äßêçí ; but it is too feebly supported (the Sin. is also against it), and is unsuitable to ἀðü , &c., and to äßêçí which already has an adjective [?]; the mistake was occasioned probably by áἰþíéïí . The latter word might perhaps denote a long but still limited period; against this, however, is the parallel æùὴ áἰþíéïò , Mat_25:41; Mat_25:46; therefore without limits. Olshausen thinks that Paul has not another text of equally decided import; but, though he does not use this expression, he yet does say unconditionally: âáóéëåßáí èåïῦ ïὐ êëçñïíïìÞóïõóé (1Co_6:9-10). The ἀðü , &c. is variously understood; Chrysostom, Bengel, Pelt, De Wette, Ewald, Hofmann explain from the face as of the efficient cause (Act_3:19, where, however, it is connected with ἐëäåῖí ); ðñïóþðïõ would be not simply equivalent to person, but more expressive: from His face, which will be turned toward them in a threatening, penal, terrible manner; that mere look destroys them; Chrysostom: He needs but to appear, and they are punished; Hofmann compares Jer_4:26; Sept. De Wette supposes that the second member especially: from the glory of His power, compels us to think of the efficient cause; but of that too an explanation may be found, that agrees still better with äßêçí ôßóïõóéí , ὅëåèñïí áἰþíéïí , namely, as Beza, Lünemann [Jowett, Alford, Ellicott], and others understand it, away from. Olshausen compares Isa_2:10; Isa_2:19; Isa_2:21, Sept.: They will hide themselves, fleeing ἀðὸ ðñïóþðïõ ôïῦ öüâïõ êõñßïõ êáὶ ἀðὸ ôῆò äüîçò ôῆò ἰó÷ýïò áὐôïῦ , and finds in our text a breviloquence (as it were, hiding themselves from). But that is not at all necessary. We get the finest sense, and, as Lünemann properly remarks, a real advance, and not still the same thing merely that was already implied ἐí ôῇ ἀðïê ., when we understand it as destruction (away) from the face of the Lord (Jesus Christ); like ἀíáèåìá ἀðὸ ôïῦ ×ñéóôïῦ (Rom_9:3); comp. ἀðü also in Rom_7:2; 2Co_11:3; Gal_5:4. This is destruction, to be separated from the blessed vision of His face, from the Source of light and life, from the influence of His gracious aspect; comp. Mat_7:23; and from the glory (the effulgence) of His strength; there is the less need of understanding this in De Wette’s sense, that it is not said simply, from His strength, but from the äüîá of His strength. Lünemann’s explanation indeed: from the glory which is the creation [Alford: visible localized result] of His power, is somewhat far-fetched; the parallelism leads us rather to understand by that something belonging to the Lord Himself; comp. also the Hebrew äֲãַø ðְּàֹðã , Isa_2:10; Hofmann: from His strength appearing in its glory; Diedrich: the glory of His omnipotence, in its creation of a new heaven and a new earth, and in its entire communication of itself to the saved. And is not this a calamitous deprivation, to be separated from that glory of Christ’s power, which will glorify man into the likeness of the Lord? (Php_3:21); and so to remain without any share in that which follows in 2Th_1:10 : When He shall come, more exactly, shall have come [Alford, Ellicott, Wordsworth]. And now the parallel members pour forth in the splendor of the prophetic strain, and bring the positive supplement to the ἅíåóéò of 2Th_1:7. To be glorified in His saints does not mean simply to be praised by or amongst them in words, but to be actually shown to be glorious in the glory that He effects in them, by letting His glory appear in the glorification of His saints, by dwelling in them, and imparting Himself to them; see 2Th_1:12; Joh_17:10; Joh_17:22 sqq.; Rom_9:23. And so it is taken also by most expositors. The saints here are certainly Christians, not angels; the latter, indeed, were particularly named in 2Th_1:7. Nor does Bengel succeed in proving, convincingly, that the believers are a different class from the saints; we rather recognize in this place merely the solemn parallelism of the members. But this does not exclude the climax implied in the ðᾶóéí : in all, therefore also in you (2Th_1:4; 2Th_1:7). The being admired might be understood thus: In the hearts of His believers He will create for Himself an admiring adoration,; but the parallel member leads rather to this explanation: By that which He works in them He will show Himself wonderful; He will become the wonder and admiration of creation (especially perhaps of the angels, comp. Eph_3:10), when it is revealed, what He has known to make of His believers. Thus it is taken already by Chrysostom: äé ’ ἐêåßíùí èáõìáóôὸò ἀðïäåßêíõôáé ; Theophylact [Webster and Wilkinson] thinks, in the presence of those who are now stiff-necked; Lünemann: The blessedness of believers being admired, Christ also is therein admired as the Author of that blessedness; comp. èáõìáóèῆíáé , Isa_61:6, Sept. It is worthy of note, how delicately one member of the statement answers to the other; the glory reveals what despised holiness is, and when it becomes manifest to what faith attains, that is a matter of wonder (Hofmann).—Because our testimony to you was believed; ìáñôýñéïí , equivalent to êÞñõãìá , åὐáããÝëéïí ; ἐö ’ ὑìᾶò belongs even without an article to ìáñô . (according to Winer, §20. 2), that directed toward you (similarly Luk_9:5); were it to be referred to ἐðéóôåýèç , ðñüò must have been used. Bengel seems to take ὅôé as that, for he says: motivum admirationis, as if the clause supplied the subject of èáõìáóèῆíáé ; whereas its subject is still the Lord. The words ὅôé to ὑìᾶò are already rightly regarded as a parenthesis by Theodoret and Theophylact, and then by Zwingli and Calvin; ἐí ôῇ ἡì . ἐê . goes back beyond that, but not, as Bengel would have it, to the too remote ἕëèῃ ; [still less, as Webster and Wilkinson would have it, to äßêçí ôßóïõóéí .—J. L.], but to ἐíäïî . and èáõìáóèῆíáé . Altogether untenable is Luther’s translation: Our testimony to you of that day ye believed; as little does it answer to take ἐðéóôåõèç for a future or (Grot.) a future perfect; to say nothing of other misinterpretations. The sense of the parenthesis with the verb put emphatically forward is this: Since our testimony to you was believed, therefore I can speak of ðéóôåýóáóéí in application also to you ( ὑìῖí , 2Th_1:1); yes, you too belong to the believers; he would fill them with the comfortable assurance: Ye are of the number. The addition of in that day, on the other hand, says: It will not happen till then; till then, patience! Calvin: fidelium vota cohibet, ne ultra modum festinent. [Perhaps also the phrase, in that day, was intended strongly to suggest the thought, that the very same day, which brings terror and ruin to the ungodly and unbelievers, brings rest and glory to their former victims.—J. L.]—Hofmann understands the passage otherwise; to avoid the parenthesis, he supposes that with ὅôé ἐðéóô . there is a new beginning; and that ἐí ôῇ ἡì . ἐê , belongs to what follows, namely, to ἵíá ὑìᾶò ἀîéþóῃ , thus getting now in his turn åἰò ὅ to ὑìῶí for a parenthesis;—intolerably harsh! For though the position of ἐí ôῇ ἡì . ἑê . before ἵíá might perhaps be justified by Act_19:4 and similar texts, yet to add to the inversion the parenthesis also is too Much.
6. (2Th_1:11-12) Darauf geht auch allezeit unser Beten fur euch (Thereunto tend also at all times our prayers for you); such was our German paraphrase; åἰò ὅ is not the same thing as äé ’ ὅ , quapropter (Grot.); it might mean, in reference to which (Rom_4:20; Lünemann); but the final signification is to be preferred: aiming at which, to which end (Col_1:29; De Wette [Jowett, Revision, Webster and Wilkinson, Am. Bible Union, &c.]), and the objection to this, that the certain truth of the purpose of grace (2Th_1:10) would thus be made dependent on the Apostle’s prayers, loses its force, so soon as we closely connect therewith ðåñὶ ὑìῶí (with this view do we pray for you), and further perceive that ἵíá , &c. merely carries out what åἰò ὅ at the forefront of the sentence indicates; at 1Th_3:10 likewise the import of the prayer is expressed in the form of a design. Bengel: hoc orando nitimur; that what was promised in 2Th_1:10 may fall also to your share. We also pray, he says; we too for our part, in harmony with the purpose of God. This we do besides giving thanks (2Th_1:3).—That our God (says he, with devout appropriation) may count you worthy of the calling; § Grotius, Bengel, Olshausen, Ewald, and many understand it of making worthy; Von Gerlach: that He may bestow on you the necessary qualities, of which what follows would thus furnish the explanation. But ἀîéïῦí is always to deem worthy, pronounce [?] worthy; therefore: that He may count you worthy of being adjudged the êëῆóéò . But were they not called long since? what should this still impending êëῆóéò mean? One might think, as in the parable of the supper, of repeated calls: that He may count you worthy of the last, decisive, energetic call, which brings you to the object; or as Hofmann says (and this might be separated from his distorted construction of our passage): that He may count you worthy of a calling, which brings to completion what began with our testimony and your faith therein; of the call äåῦôå (Mat_25:34), to which already Zwingli refers. But we may also with Lünemann (without regarding Php_3:14, âñáâåῖïí ôῆò êëÞóåùò , as quite parallel) understand êëῆóéò as meaning that to which you are called: May He at last pronounce you worthy of that, the opposite of which might also, indeed, follow a want of fidelity comp. ἐëðßò , of the thing hoped for, Col_1:5. The difference, after all, is really unimportant; for he, who is finally thought worthy of the glory to which Christians are called, is thought worthy also of the last invitation: Come, then! The Apostle’s prayer is directed, moreover, to this point (in order that the ἀîéïῦí may be realized): that He may fulfil every desire of goodness, &c.; ὑìᾶò does not belong to this clause, ðëçñïῦí not governing two accusatives, but the meaning is, in you. If we disregard obviously false interpretations (Grotius: your goodness, that is well-pleasing to Him; similarly Olshausen and others), the only question is, whether with Calvin, Bengel, Pelt, and others, we are to understand it thus: that He may fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness, ex parte Dei, adds Bengel, and, at the second member, ex parte vestri. But that is not well here; De Wette, Lünemann, Ewald, Hofmann properly hold that the second member, which denotes something wrought in the Thessalonians, compels us to understand the first also of ἀãáèùóýíç in the Thessalonians. Besides, Paul never uses this word of the Divine, but always of human goodness (Rom_15:14; Gal_5:22; Eph_5:9). And again, if God’s goodness was to be spoken of, we must necessarily have had ðᾶóáí ôὴí åὐä ., and áὑôïῦ after it. The correct view, therefore, is: that He may bring (in you) to fulfilment every good pleasure in, every inclination to, goodness [so Alford, Ellicott, Webster and Wilkinson: “better, grace in them than towards them,” &c. Alford errs, however, in making ἀãáèùóýíçò a gen. of apposition.—J. L.]. God must fulfil this; otherwise we are prone to evil; åὐäïêßá of the human disposition we find also at Rom_10:1. Delight in what is good is partly the first preparation for faith (Joh_7:17), and partly its fruit. But here the Apostle speaks, not merely of the furtherance of this disposition, but of its fulfilment. Thus we are not to think simply of a growing sanctification, nor, as regards the work of faith, simply, with Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, of the endurance of persecutions; but Paul has his eye on the final mark. On ἕñãïí ðßóôåùò , comp. the exegetical explanation of 1Th_1:3; for the completion and slight modification of that let it merely be added, that for the right understanding of that text it seems to us indispensable, 1. to take the three genitives in the same way, and 2. to avoid every interpretation, by which one member of the statement would be confounded with another. It is very clear that the êüðïò ôῆò ἀãÜðçò is there the toil and labor springing from love, befitting love. This must guide us also in the first member; ἔñãïí ôῆò ðßóôåùò is the work springing from faith, befitting faith; not, however, the moral authentication of faith outwardly, which would encroach on the second or third member, but the fundamental inward work of faith in the soul; not the sum of the works which spring from faith, but that which is presupposed as the foundation of all moral activity, to wit, the p