2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

The Day of the Lord

2:1 Now regarding the arrival¹ of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him,² we ask you, brothers and sisters,³ 2:2 not to be easily⁴ shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us,⁵ to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes⁶ and the man of lawlessness⁷ is revealed, the son of destruction.⁸ 2:4 He⁹ opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat¹⁰ in God’s temple, displaying himself as God.¹¹ 2:5 Surely you recall¹² that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you. 2:6 And so¹³ you know what holds him back,¹⁴ so that he will be revealed in his own time. 2:7 For the hidden power of lawlessness¹⁵ is already at work. However, the one who holds him back¹⁶ will do so until he is taken out of the way, 2:8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord¹⁷ will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. 2:9 The arrival of the lawless one¹⁸ will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles¹⁹ and signs and false wonders, 2:10 and with every kind of evil deception directed against²⁰ those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth²¹ so as to be saved. 2:11 Consequently²² God sends on them a deluding influence²³ so that they will believe what is false. 2:12 And so²⁴ all of them who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evil will be condemned.²⁵

¹tn Or perhaps “return” (cf. CEV).

²tn Grk “our gathering with him.”

³tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.

⁴tn Or “quickly, soon.”

⁵tn Grk “as through us.”

⁶tn Grk “for unless the rebellion comes first.” The clause about “the day” is understood from v. 2.

⁷tc Most mss (A D F G Ψ Ï lat sy) read ἁμαρτίας (Jamartia", “of sin”) here, but several important mss (א B 0278 6 81 1739 1881 al co) read ἀνομίας (anomia", “of lawlessness”). Although external support for ἁμαρτίας is broader, the generally earlier and better witnesses are on the side of ἀνομίας. Internally, since ἁμαρτία (Jamartia, “sin”) occurs nearly ten times as often as ἀνομία (anomia, “lawlessness”) in the corpus Paulinum, scribes would be expected to change the text to the more familiar term. At the same time, the mention of ἀνομία in v. 7 and ὁ ἄνομος (Jo anomo", “the lawless one”) in v. 8, both of which look back to v. 3, may have prompted scribes to change the text toward ἀνομίας. The internal evidence is thus fairly evenly balanced. Although a decision is difficult, ἀνομίας has slightly greater probability of authenticity than ἁμαρτίας.

⁸tn Or “the one destined for destruction.”

⁹tn Grk “the one who opposes,” describing the figure in v. 3. A new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the personal pronoun (“he”) and translating the participle ἀντικείμενος (antikeimeno") as a finite verb.

¹⁰sn Allusions to Isa 14:13-14; Dan 11:36; Ezek 28:2-9 respectively.

¹¹tn Grk “that he is God.”

¹²tn Grk “You do remember, don’t you?”

¹³tn Grk “and now,” but this shows the logical result of his previous teaching.

¹⁴tn Grk “the thing that restrains.”

¹⁵tn Grk “the mystery of lawlessness.” In Paul “mystery” often means “revealed truth, something formerly hidden but now made widely known,” but that does not make sense with the verb of this clause (“to be at work, to be active”).

¹⁶tn Grk “the one who restrains.” This gives a puzzling contrast to the impersonal phrase in v. 6 (“the thing that restrains”). The restraint can be spoken of as a force or as a person. Some have taken this to mean the Roman Empire in particular or human government in general, since these are forces that can also be seen embodied in a person, the emperor or governing head. But apocalyptic texts like Revelation and Daniel portray human government of the end times as under Satanic control, not holding back his influence. Also the power to hold back Satanic forces can only come from God. So others understand this restraint to be some force from God: the preaching of the gospel or the working of the Holy Spirit through God’s people.

¹⁷tc ‡ Several important witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western traditions, as well as many other witnesses, read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Ihsous, “Jesus”) after κύριος (kurios, “Lord”; so א A D* F G L^c P Ψ 0278 33 81 104 365 1241 2464 pc latt sy co). But there is sufficient evidence in the Alexandrian tradition for the shorter reading (B 1739 1881), supported by the Byzantine text as well as Irenaeus. Although it is possible that scribes overlooked ᾿Ιησοῦς if the two nomina sacra occurred together (kMsiMs), since “the Lord Jesus” is a frequent enough appellation, it looks to be a motivated reading. NA²⁷ places ᾿Ιησοῦς in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

¹⁸tn Grk “whose coming,” referring to the lawless one. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek construction, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

¹⁹tn Grk “every miracle.”

²⁰tn Grk “deception for/toward.”

²¹tn Grk “they did not accept the love of the truth.”

²²tn Grk “and for this reason.”

²³tn Grk “a working of error.”

²⁴tn Grk “that.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²⁵tn Grk “be judged,” but in this context the term clearly refers to a judgment of condemnation (BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α; cf. KJV “that they all might be damned”). CEV views the condemnation as punishment (“will be punished”).