Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
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Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters,
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you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another;
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and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters
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throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved,
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to do so more and more,
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to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you,
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so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and be dependent on no one.
13
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,
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about those who have died,
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so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
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For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.
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For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.
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For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
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Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.
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Therefore encourage one another with these words.
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Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters,
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you do not need to have anything written to you.
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For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
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When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!
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But you, beloved,
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are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief;
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for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
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So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober;
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for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.
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But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
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For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
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who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.
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Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
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But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters,
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to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you;
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esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
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And we urge you, beloved,
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to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.
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See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
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Rejoice always,
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pray without ceasing,
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give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
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Do not quench the Spirit.
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Do not despise the words of prophets,
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but test everything; hold fast to what is good;
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abstain from every form of evil.
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May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound
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and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
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Beloved,
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pray for us.
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Greet all the brothers and sisters
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with a holy kiss.
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I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them.
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
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THE SECOND LETTER OF PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS
NAME AND CANONICAL STATUS
The book of 2 Thessalonians appears to be a letter by Paul (1.1; 3.7) to an all-Gentile church in the Greek city of Thessalonica.
AUTHORSHIP, DATE
As early as the second century CE, Christians accepted Paul’s authorship of the letter. Some modern scholars agree. Accepting 1 Thessalonians as authentic, they claim that 2 Thessalonians was written to correct misunderstandings in the first letter (2.2). They note references to an earlier work (2.15; 3.17), and parallels between the letters in language, structure, and subjects addressed, especially eschatology. However, many modern scholars, perhaps most, doubt Pauline authorship; accepting 1 Thessalonians as authentic, they note differences in eschatological scenarios. They contrast the imminence and unpredictability of the end in 1 Thessalonians with the futuristic, drawn-out scenario of 2 Thessalonians. Other indications of non-Pauline authorship include the harsher tone of the second letter (3.4–12; cf. 1 Thess 1–3) and self-conscious insistence on Pauline authorship (3.17). The appeal to Paul’s authority (3.4–12) and demand for faithfulness to earlier tradition (2.15; 3.6) may also fit a post-Pauline period.
With no certainty about authorship and little specific information on setting (e.g., the description of persecution in 1.4 is vague), date and context are unknown. If Pauline, the letter was probably written shortly after 1 Thessalonians, in the early 50s. If inauthentic, a late first-century date seems likely. A later author may have crafted a letter appealing to Paul’s authority to squelch fervor about the end of days.
Even though the context is murky, the problems raised in the letter are clear: persecution, disagreements about the end-times, and refusal to work. The author alternately consoles and reproves. He exhorts his congregation to accept his interpretations and avoid false teachings (2.3,10; 3.6). Facing internal divisions, he insists that they adhere to his traditions. Against those preaching that the end is imminent, he offers an alternative scenario. A series of steps must occur, including a painful period of increasing wickedness (2.3–12). Against those “living in idleness,” perhaps believing the end has arrived, he insists that they work (3.11).
The language is dualistic, dividing insiders from outsiders (including dissenting followers of Jesus). The author criticizes those without faith or understanding (3.2,14) and welcomes God’s destruction of opponents (1.8–9). The counterpart to denunciation is insistence that God protects believers. In a parallel to Jewish ideas of God’s election of Israel (e.g., Deut 7.6), he insists on believers’ chosenness (1.11; 2.13–14). Though they suffer now, God will soon send them relief (1.7).
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, LITERARY HISTORY
Although the letter generally received less attention from later Christians, the section on eschatology did interest some commentators. Its vagueness led to speculation, for example, about who or what held back the “lawless one”; some even said the Roman Empire, by maintaining social order, prevented his arrival (Tertullian,
Apol
. 32; J. Chrys.,
Hom. 2 Thess
. 4). Others reapplied the letter to contemporary contexts: Gnostics found evidence of a second god in 2.4 (Irenaeus,
Adv. Haer
. 3.6.5), and Reformation-era polemicists denounced both Luther and the pope as the “lawless one.” It was a resource for church leaders, because its portrait of a confident, even authoritarian Paul offered a model of a strong bishop (Caesarius of Arles, Sermon 232). Also, the demand for faithfulness to tradition buttressed later opponents of views deemed novel or heretical.
The author addresses Gentiles. He says nothing about Jews or Judaism and quotes no biblical verses. However, he is deeply indebted to Jewish thought, and allusions to biblical and postbiblical texts abound. The author draws ideas from scenarios about divine deliverance for oppressed and suffering Jews (e.g., Dan 7–12;
1,2 En
.;
4 Ezra
;
2 Bar
.). These scenarios include often-enigmatic human and supernatural antagonists, and furnish the author with relevant imagery; e.g., “the lawless one” (2.3), “Satan” (2.9), and one who “exalts himself” (2.4). The tension between the view that the end has arrived, and yet the final consummation is still to come, is present in Jewish texts (cf. DSS, esp. 1QH).
The author also appropriates Jewish theological concepts and images. He affirms God’s election of the community (1.11; 2.13–14) and promises divine vengeance on opponents of God’s people (1.5–10). For these claims, he employs biblical images of sacrifice (2.13) and angels (1.7). Notably, he avoids supersessionism (i.e., he does not reject the Jews); rather, the Jews are simply ignored. If the author is
not
Paul, his background is unknown, though like Paul he has a thorough grounding in Jewish thought.
Adam Gregerman
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Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
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Grace to you and peace from God our
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Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters,
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as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
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Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.
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This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering.
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For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
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and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
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in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
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These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
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when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
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To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith,
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so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.