Beginning

Footnotes

1. 2 Thessalonians 1:1 The salutation is identical to that of First Thessalonians (1:1) except for two additions: (1) God is called “our” Father (v. 1), the Father of Christians—his Fatherhood of Jesus is expressed in other Letters (e.g., 2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3; 1 Pet 1:3). (2) The phrase “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” is added to v. 2 to identify the sources of “grace and peace.” Paul regards Jesus as the Deity in the fullest sense since he names him on a par with the Father as coauthor of the favor and the relationship promised in the blessing.
2. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 Paul thanks God for the progress made by his valiant community in their faith, love, courage, and good name. All this will be manifested and judged at the Lord’s Coming, which Paul describes once more by utilizing the dramatic scenario current among the Jews of his day. Woe to those who oppose God, for they will be immediately distanced from the Lord. But what glory there will be for those who believe!

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   The concept of revelation, or apocalypse, that emerges in this passage represents an essential idea of the Old and New Testaments: our religion is, above all else, something that precedes and transcends time. In history God is constantly manifesting himself as the Savior of humanity. To illustrate it, one can have recourse to the grand imaginative visions of the judgments set forth in Isa 24–27; Dan 7–12; Mt 24–25; Mk 13; and Lk 17:22-37; 19:11-27; see also introduction to the Book of Revelation.

3. 2 Thessalonians 1:12 The grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ: another translation possible is: “The grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
4. 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Paul uses the style and manner of apocalypses, but he speaks first and foremost as an apostle. He employs images and symbols to express where he is going and where he is leading the faithful. From the very beginning of Biblical history, God and Satan (i.e., the forces of evil) are involved in an implacable combat in which human beings are at the same time the terrain and the stakes. Christ is the conqueror of these evil forces. His victory, obtained on the cross, will be manifested on the great Day of his majestic return. We must prepare for this Coming.
5. 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Paul indicates that a problem has arisen concerning the circumstances surrounding the Day of the Lord. In times of crisis, there are always falsehood-mongers to whom the faithful give willing ear—but whom they should avoid altogether. So the Apostle intends to set forth certain features of the Day in order to correct what is being falsely claimed.
6. 2 Thessalonians 2:2 Is already here: Paul insists that the Day of the Lord has not already come, for the final days have not begun and their completion is not imminent.
7. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Making use of images borrowed from the Prophets and from the authors of apocalypses, Paul brings on stage the forces of evil and the true witnesses of God: they constitute respectively the adversary and the obstacle. The portrait of the adversary gathers together in one personage all the doers of evil who are based on the historical enemies of God’s people in the Old Testament—especially Antiochus IV Epiphanes (see Dan 11:36) who in his supreme folly wanted to make himself a god.
   The obstacle, which was doubtlessly well known to the Thessalonians, stands for a more obscure reality for us; it could refer to the ensemble of believers who work to bring about the Kingdom of God (see also note on 2:6 below). Even though their victory is to be awaited, it is no less assured. This victory is based upon the Paschal Mystery with its twofold aspect of Death and Resurrection. Throughout the centuries, the forces of death and the People of God never cease to confront one another in the life of the world, in the heart of each person.
8. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 That Day cannot come: these words have been supplied in the text in order to bring out more clearly Paul’s meaning; the original sentence is incomplete. The lawless one . . . the son of destruction . . . the adversary: the leader of the rebellion, who will also come to be called “the Antichrist” (1 Jn 2:18; 4:3; 2 Jn 7).
9. 2 Thessalonians 2:6 What is now restraining him: some suggestions about the identity of this obstacle (in addition to the one mentioned in note 2:3b-12 above) are: the Roman State and its emperor; the principle of law embodied in the state; the Holy Spirit through the Church; and the preaching of the Gospel (possibly by Paul himself), for the end could not come until the Gospel was preached to all nations (see Mk 13:10).
10. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 Paul describes what will precede the Lord’s coming. He glimpses, toward the end of human history, a spectacular offensive launched by the forces of evil under the instigation of Satan. A great apostasy will follow (see Mt 24:10-12; Lk 18:8; 21:12-19; 1 Tim 4:1). The lawless one is both anti-God and anti-Christ, but he will not have the last word. On the day, when he thinks he has conquered, he will be confronted with the dazzling manifestation of Christ and completely overcome.
11. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 Love of the truth: one of Paul’s most felicitous expressions, it refers to love of the Gospel, the acceptance of this unprecedented gift that comes from the Father, Christ, and the Spirit. To refuse it is to exclude oneself from love forever.
12. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 Paul is thankful that he and his coworkers can look forward to salvation for themselves and for their converts. The beneficiaries of God’s saving work cannot rest on their laurels, however. They must be ever active in good works and keep the teachings (traditions) of the Church. The Apostle goes on to ask the converts to pray for him and his coworkers and calls down God’s grace on them.

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    He also sets forth the proper solution for idlers. The Thessalonians must admonish idlers yet deal charitably with their mistakes. Such persons are not to be cast out of the community, but to be given frequent warnings.

13. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 Here we find the same advice as was given in the First Letter. Christian life unfolds in the love of the three divine Persons; fidelity to the authentic tradition that the apostles have transmitted in writing or by living word; prayer; and constancy of effort.
14. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 These two verses show the harmonious working of all three Persons of the Trinity in the divine plan of salvation: God the Father chooses and calls his people; God the Son shares his glory with his own; and God the Holy Spirit imparts his sanctifying grace. From the beginning: another translation possible is: “as the firstfruits.”
15. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Traditions: i.e., the teachings contained in tradition; they are both oral and written (see 2 Thes 2:5; 3:6; 1 Cor 11:2), just as was the case with rabbinic law (see note on Mt 15:2ff).
16. 2 Thessalonians 2:16 Jesus is here named before the Father; despite the double subject, the verbs in the Greek text are in the singular number. Could the unity of Father and Son be better expressed?
17. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 In putting work at the service of the community, Paul places it under the sign of love for God, for one’s brothers and sisters, and for the Church. To eat one’s own bread constitutes the primary dignity of a person (v. 10). By demanding exemplary conduct from Christians, Paul remains in line with Jesus and the primitive Church (see Mt 18:15-18; 1 Cor 5:1-13).
18. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 In order to discourage forgeries of his letters (see 2 Thes 2:2), Paul takes care to authenticate the letters that he dictates and causes to be set down—he writes out a few words with his own hand (see also 1 Cor 16:21 and Col 4:18). In the cases of Galatians and Philemon, it appears that Paul wrote more than just the concluding phrases (see Gal 6:11 and Philem 19).