2 Thessalonians 1
Salutation and Apostolic Greeting 1–2
Thanksgiving and God's Righteous Judgment 3–10
Prayer for Worthiness and Glorification 11–12
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Study Notes for 2 Thessalonians 1
Verse 1
Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus — The same three names stand at the head of 1 Thess 1:1. Silvanus is the Silas who was with Paul in Thessalonica (Acts 17:4, 10), and ‘Silvanus and Timotheus’ are named with him as preachers of Christ among the Corinthians (2 Cor 1:19). The church is ‘in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’.
Verse 3
groweth exceedingly — Huperauxano, an intensified ‘grow’, found nowhere else in the New Testament. ‘Aboundeth’ is pleonazo, to be in excess, the verb of Paul’s prayer in 1 Thess 3:12, ‘make you to increase and abound in love’. ‘Bound’ is opheilo, to owe, as in 2 Thess 2:13, ‘we are bound to give thanks alway’.
Verse 4
patience and faith — ‘Patience’ is hypomone, steadfast endurance, the word of ‘patience of hope’ in 1 Thess 1:3. The ‘persecutions’ (diogmos) and ‘tribulations’ (thlipsis) are what they bear up under, and Paul ‘glories’ (kauchaomai, boasts) of it ‘in the churches of God’.
Verse 5
a manifest token — Endeigma, a thing pointed to as proof, occurs only here; Phil 1:28 uses a related noun, ‘an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation’. To be ‘counted worthy’ (kataxioo) is the word of Acts 5:41, where the apostles rejoiced that they were ‘counted worthy to suffer shame for his name’.
Verse 6
recompense tribulation — Antapodidomi, to pay back in kind, is the Lord’s own verb: ‘Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense’ (Heb 10:30; Rom 12:19). The payment fits the offence: ‘tribulation’ (thlipsis) to ‘them that trouble’ (thlibo, the same root) the believers.
Verse 7
rest with us — Anesis, relief from pressure, is the ‘rest’ Paul lacked in Macedonia, where he was ‘troubled on every side’ (2 Cor 7:5), the same verb as ‘troubled’ here. It comes ‘when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed’ (apokalupsis) ‘with his mighty angels’, literally ‘the angels of his power’ (cf. Matt 16:27).
Verse 8
flaming fire — Phlox, flame. Isa 66:15 gives the pattern: ‘the LORD will come with fire… to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire’. ‘Vengeance’ is ekdikesis, the word of Rom 12:19. Two descriptions are given: ‘them that know not God’ (cf. Jer 10:25) and those who ‘obey not the gospel’ (cf. Rom 10:16).
Verse 9
everlasting destruction — Olethros, ruin, occurs four times in the New Testament (1 Cor 5:5; 1 Thess 5:3; 1 Tim 6:9; here). ‘Everlasting’ is aionios, the word of the ‘everlasting fire’ of Matt 25:41. It falls ‘from the presence’ (prosopon, face) ‘of the Lord, and from the glory of his power’.
Verse 10
glorified in his saints — ‘Glorified’ (endoxazo) occurs only here and in v.12, and ‘admired’ is thaumazo, to wonder at. Both are said of Christ himself on ‘that day’ (cf. 2 Tim 1:12; 4:8), as in his word, ‘I am glorified in them’ (John 17:10). The parenthesis places the Thessalonians among those who ‘believed’.
Verse 11
count you worthy of this calling — Axioo, to deem fit, is the prayer that answers v.5, where they are ‘counted worthy’ of the kingdom. ‘Calling’ is klesis. ‘Good pleasure’ (eudokia) is the word of Phil 2:13, ‘it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure’, and ‘work of faith’ echoes 1 Thess 1:3.
Verse 12
glorified in you, and ye in him — Endoxazo again, the verb of v.10: what the day will show of Christ in believers is already the aim of the prayer. To bear ‘the name of Christ’ brings reproach, but ‘on your part he is glorified’ (1 Pet 4:14). The ‘grace’ has one source, ‘our God and the Lord Jesus Christ’, as in the greeting of v.2.