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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 2 Thessalonians 3:15 - 3:15
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15. καὶ μὴ ὡς ἐχθρὸν ἡγεῖσθε, ἀλλὰ νουθετεῖτε ὡς ἀδελφόν. And do not regard (him) as an enemy, but admonish (him) as a brother. The R.V. retains the intruded “yet” (after “and,” καί) of the A.V.; but the contrast thus implied was not in the writers’ thoughts any more than in their language. The action dictated in 2Th 3:14 is kindly and saving in intent; the man who could be “put to shame” by censure was not lost to the Church. This added sentence deprecates any hostile manifestation, such as would provoke sullenness instead of compunction, thus defeating the Apostles’ purpose. Νουθεσία is a friendly act, associated with brotherhood and tenderness: see e.g. Act 10:31; 1Co 4:14; Eph 6:4. For the verb νουθετέω, see note on 1Th 5:12; and for ἡγέομαι, on 1Th 5:13 : cf. ἡγεῖσθαι ὤσπερ in Job 19:11; Job 33:10. For ἀδελφόν in this connexion, cf. 1Co 8:11; Gal 6:1; 1Ti 5:1; Jam 4:11; 1Jn 3:15; Mat 7:3 ff; Mat 18:21-35.
The general instruction of 2Th 3:6, στέλλεσθαι ὑμᾶς κ.τ.λ., which applied to any kind of ἀταξία, is thus combined with the direction of 1Th 5:14, νουθετεῖτε τοὺς ἀτάκτους; and the combined injunctions are enforced in the instance of those Thessalonian idlers who shall after the reproof now given persist in their misconduct. In such a case the disorder takes the form of open disobedience to Apostolic command, and must be dealt with publicly and put an end to. But even so expulsion is not so much as named.