2 Thessalonians 2:2-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,”[a] or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand.(A) 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed,[b] the one doomed to perdition, 4 (B)who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God,[c] claiming that he is a god—
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- 2:2 “Spirit”: a Spirit-inspired utterance or ecstatic revelation. An oral statement: literally, a “word” or pronouncement, not necessarily of ecstatic origin. A letter allegedly sent by us: possibly a forged letter, so that Paul calls attention in 2 Thes 3:17 to his practice of concluding a genuine letter with a summary note or greeting in his own hand, as at Gal 6:11–18 and elsewhere.
- 2:3b–5 This incomplete sentence (anacoluthon, 2 Thes 2:4) recalls what the Thessalonians had already been taught, an apocalyptic scenario depicting, in terms borrowed especially from Dn 11:36–37 and related verses, human self-assertiveness against God in the temple of God itself. The lawless one represents the climax of such activity in this account.
- 2:4 Seat himself in the temple of God: a reflection of the language in Dn 7:23–25; 8:9–12; 9:27; 11:36–37; 12:11 about the attempt of Antiochus IV Epiphanes to set up a statue of Zeus in the Jerusalem temple and possibly of the Roman emperor Caligula to do a similar thing (Mk 13:14). Here the imagery suggests an attempt to install someone in the place of God, claiming that he is a god (cf. Ez 28:2). Usually, it is the Jerusalem temple that is assumed to be meant; on the alternative view sketched above (see note on 2 Thes 2:1–17), the temple refers to the Christian community.
2 Thessalonians 2:2-4
New International Version
2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter(A)—asserting that the day of the Lord(B) has already come.(C) 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you(D) in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion(E) occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed,(F) the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God(G) or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.(H)
Footnotes
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Some manuscripts sin
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