2Th 1:1-2. Address and salutation. See on 1Th 1:1.
ἀπὸ Θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ κυρίου Ι. Χρ.] from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ; not: from God who is the Father and Lord of Jesus Christ. For, according to the Pauline custom, the fulness of Christian blessings is derived in common from God and Christ. The absolute πατρός (comp. Gal 1:3; 1Ti 1:2; 2Ti 1:2; Tit 1:4) is equivalent to πατρὸς ἡμῶν, more frequently used elsewhere in similar places; comp. Rom 1:7; 1Co 1:3; 2Co 1:2; Eph 1:2; Php 1:2; Col 1:2; Phm 1:3.
2Th 1:3. Ὀφείλομεν] namely, I Paul, together with Silvanus and Timotheus.
καθὼς ἄξιόν ἐστιν] as it is meet, as it is right and proper, is usually considered as a mere parenthesis, resuming ὀφείλομεν, so that ὅτι is considered in the sense of that dependent on εὐχαριστεῖν. However, as the discourse afterwards follows quickly on ὅτι, so καθὼς ἄξιόν ἐστιν would sink into a mere entirely meaningless interjection and parenthesis; but as such, on account of the preceding ὀφείλομεν, it would be aimless and superfluous. In direct contrast to this view, Schott places the chief emphasis on καθὼς ἄξιόν ἐστιν, which he rightly refers back to εὐχαριστεῖν instead of to ὀφείλομεν. According to Schott, καθώς is designed to denote “modum eximium, quo animus gratus declarari debeat,” and the thought to be expressed is “oportet nos deo gratias agere, quales conveniant praestantiae beneficii, i. e. eximias.”[32] But neither can this interpretation be the correct one. For (1) καθώς is never used as a statement of gradation; (2) it is hardly conceivable that Paul should have concentrated the emphasis of the sentence on καθὼς ἄξιόν ἐστιν. If he had wished to do so, he would at least have written Εὐχαριστεῖν ὀφείλομεν τῷ Θεῷ περὶ ὑμῶν, καθὼς ἄξιόν ἐστιν, but would not have inserted πάντοτε and ἀδελφοί. Taking this insertion into consideration, we are obliged to decide that after ἀδελφοί a certain pause in the discourse commences, so that Εὐχαριστεῖν … ἀδελφοί is placed first as an independent general expression, to which καθὼς ἄξιόν ἐστιν is added as a connecting clause, for the explanation and development of the preceding by what follows. But from this it follows that ὅτι belongs not to εὐχαριστεῖν, but to καθὼς ἄξιόν ἐστιν, and denotes not that, but because. The meaning is: We ought to thank God always on your behalf, as it (sc. the εὐχαριστεῖν) is right and proper, because, etc. As by this interpretation καθὼς ἄξιόν ἐστιν is neither unduly brought forward nor unduly placed in the shade, so also every appearance of pleonasm vanishes. For ὀφείλομεν expresses the duty of thanksgiving from its subjective side, as an internal conviction; καθὼς ἄξιόν ἐστιν, on the other hand, from the objective side, as something answering to the state of circumstances, since it is meet, since it is fit and proper, to give thanks to God for the divine proof of His grace.
ὑπεραυξάνει] grows above measure, exceedingly. The compound verb is an ἅπαξ λεγόμενον in the N. T. But Paul loves such intensifying compounds with ὑπέρ. They are an involuntary expression of his overflowing feelings. Comp. Fritzsche, ad Rom. I. p. 351. Olshausen certainly represents it otherwise. He finds in the compound verb a forbearing allusion to the fact that the Thessalonians were guilty of extravagance in their religious zeal,-an allusion which, as at all events it would contain a certain degree of irony, it is impossible to assume here, where Paul speaks of the reasons of his thanksgiving to God. Such an interpretation is not ingenious, as Baumgarten-Crusius judges, but meaningless.
ἑνὸς ἑκάστου πάντων ὑμῶν] instead of the simple ὑμῶν, emphatically strengthens the praise bestowed. Fromond.: non tam totius ecclesiastici corporis, sed uniuscujusque membri, quod mirum est et rarissimae laudis. But Hofmann, in a strangely erroneous manner, thinks that πάντων ὑμῶν does not depend on ἑνὸς ἑκάστου, but is in apposition to it.
εἰς ἀλλήλους] does not belong to πλεονάζει. It is the further objective specification of ἀγάπη, as ἑνὸς ἑκ. πάντ. ὑμ. is the subjective. ἀλλήλους denotes the fellow-Christians in Thessalonica. Therefore erroneously, Pelt: Nec vero sine causa Paulus tam multus est in commendanda eorum caritate in omnes effusa; quum enim sciret, quam facile turn temporis accideret, ut Christiani se invicem diligerent, exteros vero aspernarentur, hac potissimum laude ad omnium hominum amorem eos excitare studuit.[33]
[32] Comp. already Ambrosiaster: ut non qualecumque esse debitum ostenderet, sicut dignum est, ait, ut pro tam infinito dono magnas gratias referendas deo testarentur.-Oecumenius: ἤ, ὅτι φησὶ δίκαιόν ἐστι, νοήσεις· ἢ τὸ μεγάλως ἐξακουστεόν, ἵνα ᾖ μεγάλως καθὼς ἄξιον τῷ μεγάλα παρέχοντι.-Theophylact: ἢ ὅτι καὶ διὰ λόγων καὶ διʼ ἔργων· αὕτη γὰρ ἡ ἀξία εὐχαριστία. Comp. also Erasmus’ paraphrase, and Fromond.
[33] So also arbitrarily Schrader: from the limitation of love to Christians is to be inferred an abhorrence of Gentiles.
2Th 1:4. The progress of the Thessalonians in Christianity so rejoiced the heart of the apostle, that he expresses this joy not only in thanksgiving before God, but also in praises before men.
ὥστε] refers back to ὑπεραυξάνει … ἀλλήλους.
ἡμᾶς αὐτούς] This emphatic designation of the subject might be thus explained, that otherwise such praise was not the usual custom of the speakers, but that the glorious success of the gospel in Thessalonica caused them to forget the usual limits of moderation and reserve. This opinion is, however, to be rejected, because it would then without any reason be supposed that Paul had inaccurately written ἡμᾶς αὐτούς (we ourselves) instead of αὐτοὺς ἡμᾶς (even we).[34] It is therefore more correct to see in ἡμᾶς αὐτούς, that although it was true that the praise of the Thessalonians was already sufficiently spread abroad by others, yet that they themselves, the writers of the Epistle, in the fulness of their joy could not forbear to glory in their spiritual offspring. A reference to 1Th 1:8 (de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius) is not to be assumed. Schott erroneously attempts to justify the emphasis on ἩΜᾶς ΑὐΤΟΎς, by understanding the same of Paul only in contrast to Silvanus and Timotheus, the subjects along with Paul of the verb ὀφείλομεν, 2Th 1:3; for to maintain such a change of subject between 2Th 1:3 and 2Th 1:4 is impossible. Equally incorrect is also the notion of Hofmann, that αὐτούς added to ἡμᾶς denotes “of ourselves” “unprompted.” For it is absurd to attempt to deny that ἡμᾶς αὐτούς must at all events contain a contrast to others.
ἐν ὑμῖν ἐγκαυχᾶσθαι] boast of you. ἘΝ ὙΜῖΝ is a preliminary object to ἘΓΚΑΥΧᾶΣΘΑΙ, which is then more completely unfolded in ὙΠῈΡ Τῆς ὙΠΟΜΟΝῆς Κ.Τ.Λ.
ἘΝ ΤΑῖς ἘΚΚΛΗΣΊΑΙς ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ] in Corinth and its filiated churches. The cause which gave occasion to Paul’s boasting of his readers is more specially expressed, being what was formerly represented as the motive of the apostolic thanksgiving; whilst formerly faith in Christ and brotherly love were mentioned (2Th 1:4), the latter is here left entirely unmentioned, whilst the first is named in its special operation as Christian stedfastness under persecution.
ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ὑμῶν καὶ πίστεως] is not, with Grotius, Pelt, and others, to be understood as a ἓν διὰ δυοῖν, in the sense of ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ὑμῶν ἐν πίστει, or ὑπὲρ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν ὑπομενούσης. Nor is stedfastness, as Calvin, Hemming, de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius, Bouman, Chartae theol. Lib. I. p. 83 ff.,[35] Alford, and others think, particularly brought forward by the ΠΊΣΤΙς mentioned in 2Th 1:3; and then, in addition, ΠΊΣΤΙς is once more insisted on as the foundation on which ὙΠΟΜΟΝΉ rests, which would indeed be a strange proceeding, and would greatly interfere with the clearness of thought. But ΠΊΣΤΙς is here used in a different sense from that in 2Th 1:3. Whilst πίστις in 2Th 1:3 denoted faith in Christ, the expression here, as the article Τῆς only placed once proves, is of a similar nature with ὙΠΟΜΟΝΉ; whilst the reference to Christ as the object of faith steps into the background, and the idea of “faith” is transformed into the idea of “fidelity.” This rendering is the less objectionable as Paul elsewhere undoubtedly uses πίστις in the sense of fidelity (comp. Gal 5:22; Rom 3:3; Tit 2:10; comp. also the adjective πιστός, 1Th 5:24; 2Th 3:3; 1Co 1:9; 1Co 10:13; 2Co 1:18; 2Ti 2:13); and, besides, the notion of fidelity in this passage implies the more general notion of faith in Christ; πίστις here denoting nothing else than faith in Christ standing in a special and concrete relation, i.e. proving itself under persecutions and trials.
πᾶσιν] belongs only to ΔΙΩΓΜΟῖς ὙΜῶΝ. This is shown by the article repeated before ΘΛΊΨΕΣΙΝ, and by the additional clause ΑἿς ἈΝΈΧΕΣΘΕ, which is parallel with ὙΜῶΝ.
Clearer distinctions between ΔΙΩΓΜΟΊ and ΘΛΊΨΕΙς (as “pericula, quae totum coetum concernunt” and “singulorum privata infortunia,” Aretius; or “open and hidden distress,” Baumgarten-Crusius) are precarious. Only so much is certain that ΔΙΩΓΜΟΊ is speciale nomen, θλίψεις generalius (Zanchius).
αἶς ἀνέχεσθε] an attraction for ὯΝ ἈΝΈΧΕΣΘΕ (so, correctly, also Buttmann, Gramm. des neutest. Sprachgebr. p. 140 [E. T. 161]),-not, as Schott, Olshausen, de Wette, and Hofmann maintain, instead of ἃς ἀνέχεσθαι; for ἈΝΈΧΟΜΑΙ always governs the genitive in the N. T., never the accusative; comp. Mat 17:17; Mar 9:19; Luk 9:41; Act 18:14; 2Co 11:1; 2Co 11:19; Eph 4:2; Col 3:13; 2Ti 4:3; Heb 13:22. Fritzsche’s opinion (on 2 Cor. diss. II. p. 53 ff.), that there is no attraction at all, and that ἀνέχεσθαι is here (as in Eurip. Androm. 981, συμφοραῖς ἠνειχόμην) construed with the dative, and denotes “sustinendo premi calamitatibus h. e. preferre mala,” is contradicted by the above N. T. usage.
The present ἈΝΈΧΕΣΘΕ represents the persecutions and the trials as belonging to the present. Accordingly a new outbreak of persecution must be meant, as the First Epistle describes the persecutions as past.[36]
[34] The latter, however, is actually found in B א and some min.
[35] But Bouman ultimately adds (p. 85): “Cujus (sc. dicti Paulini) intacta vulgari utriusque substantivi significatione, explicandi alia etiam in promptu est, ab illa, quam memoravimus, paullo diversa via ac ratio. Etenim optimis quibusque scriptoribus non raro placuisse novimus, ut a singularibus ad generaliora nuncupanda progrederentur. Quidni igitur primum singularem ὑπομονῆς constantiae, virtutem celebrare potuit apostolus, atque hinc ad universae vitae Christianae moderatricem fidem, Domino habitam, praedicandam gressum facere? But also against this the non-repetition of the article before πίστεως; decides.
[36] That a critic such as Baur knows how to convert this deviation from the First Epistle into a dependence upon it is not strange (see Apostel Paulus, p. 488). “This present tense evidently shows how the author transfers what had been said in 1 Thess. to his own time.” Also Schrader draws from ver. 4 an objection against the authenticity of the Epistle, but for this reason: “because later in the course of the Epistle the writer appears to have forgotten that at that instant the Thessalonians were in great tribulation.” But Paul dwells on this subject throughout the whole of the first chapter. Why should he tarry longer on it, or recur to it anew, since it referred to a virtue of the Thessalonians already proved, whereas the chief object of his Epistle consisted in supplying the actual and considerable wants of the church in knowledge and conduct?
2Th 1:5. Judgment of the apostle concerning the conduct of his readers described in 2Th 1:4. Their stedfastness in the sufferings of the present is a guarantee of future glory. 2Th 1:5 is a sentence in apposition, which is united to the preceding in the nominative, not in the accusative, to which Buttmann, Gramm. des neutest. Sprachgebr. p. 134 [E. T. 153], is inclined. See Winer, p. 472 [E. T. 669]. But ἔνδειγμα refers not to the subject of ἀνέχεσθε, that is, to the Thessalonians, as if αἷς ἀνέχεσθε, ὄντες ἔνδειγμα were written (comp. Erasmus, Annot., Camerarius, Estius); for however simple and easy such a connection might be grammatically, yet logically it is objectionable. Besides, Paul would hardly have put καταξιωθῆναι ὑμᾶς instead of the simple infinitive, if he thought on no difference of subject in ἔνδειγμα and καταξιωθῆναι. But also ἔνδειγμα is not to be referred to πᾶσιν τοῖς διωγμοῖς … ἀνέχεσθε (Ambrosiaster, Zwingli, Calvin, Bullinger, Aretius, Wolf, Koppe, Pelt, Schrader, Ewald, Bisping, and others), but to the whole preceding principal and collective idea, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑπομονῆς … ἀνέχεσθε. Accordingly it is to be analyzed as follows: ὅ (that is to say, καὶ τοῦτο, ὅτι ἐν ὑπομονῇ καὶ πίστει πάντων τῶν διωγμῶν ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν θλίψεων ἀνέχεσθε) ἐστιν ἔνδειγμα τῆς δικαίας κρίσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ.
ἔνδειγμα] is found here only in the N. T. It denotes a sign, guarantee, proof (comp. the active ἔνδειξις, Php 1:28); here, according to the context, a prognostic.
τῆς δικαίας κρίσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ] cannot, with Olshausen and Riggenbach, be understood of the present judgments executed on the earth, and which befall believers in order to perfect them and to make them worthy of the kingdom of God. Not only the article τῆς, pointing to the judgment κατʼ ἐξοχήν, but also the explanation in 2Th 1:6 ff., decides against this view. The future judgment is meant which God will execute by Christ at the advent.
εἰς τὸ καταξιωθῆναι ὑμᾶς κ.τ.λ.] whose result will be that ye will be esteemed worthy of the kingdom of God, depends not on αἷς ἀνέχεσθε, so that ἔνδειγμα τῆς δικαίας κρίσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ would become a parenthetic exclamation (Bengel, Zachariae, Bisping, Hofmann, and others), nor does it also belong to the whole sentence ἔνδειγμα … Θεοῦ: in reference to which ye, etc., but only to τῆς δικαίας κρίσεως. Accordingly εἰς τὸ καταξιωθ. κ.τ.λ. is not a statement of purpose (thus Alford and Ewald), but an epexegetical statement of result. εἰς τό, with the infinitive, also stands for the result in 2Co 8:6, etc. Comp. Winer, p. 294 [E. T. 414].
The infinitive aorist καταξιωθῆναι expresses the verbal idea simply, without any regard to time. See Kühner, II. p. 80.
ὑπὲρ ἧς καὶ πάσχετε] for striving to obtain which ye suffer, an additional statement of the cause whose corresponding result will be καταξιωθῆναι. The Thessalonians, by their enduring stedfastness, the motive of which was striving after the kingdom of God, made themselves worthy of participation in this kingdom, for they thereby showed how precious and dear Christ is to them; it is thus certain that the judgment of God to be expected at the return of Christ will recognise this worthiness, and will exalt the Thessalonians to be fellow-citizens of His kingdom. Comp. Php 1:28; Rom 8:17; 2Ti 2:12.
2Th 1:6. The suitableness and naturalness of this result to be expected from the righteousness of God, the mention of which was to comfort the Thessalonians and encourage them to continued endurance, is further carried out by an intimation of the retribution to be expected at the return of Christ. To assume a parenthesis from 2Th 1:6 to μεθʼ ἡμῶν, 2Th 1:7 (Grotius), or to 2Th 1:10 inclusive (Moldenhauer), is unnecessary arbitrariness.
εἴπερ] provided, does not express any doubt, but introduces by means of an elegant expression, under the form of suspense, a saying whose truth is fully acknowledged. Comp. 8:9, 17. See Hermann, ad Viger. p. 834; Hartung, Partikellehre, I. p. 343; Klotz, ad Devar. p. 528.
δίκαιον] righteous, joined to δικαίας κρίσεως, 2Th 1:5. The apostle here places himself upon the standpoint of the strict righteousness of God, which is conceived according to the analogy of human jus talionis, and is also so asserted in Rom 2:5 ff.; 2Co 5:10; Eph 6:8-9; Col 3:24-25. It is accordingly inadmissible to interpret δίκαιον, with Pelt and others, of the manifestation of divine grace. The idea that one may obtain eternal salvation by his own merits, which recently Bisping finds here expressed, is removed from the Pauline mode of thought generally, and also from this passage. Certainly, as all men are subject to sin as a ruling power, the possibility of obtaining salvation can only be contained in Christ; and that God revealed this possibility of salvation, and by the mission of Christ invited us into His kingdom, is a pure contrivance of His free grace; but with this grace His holiness and righteousness are not abolished. There remains room for the exercise of the strict righteousness of God, as only he can enter into His eternal kingdom who, with the desire of salvation, accepts the call; whereas whoever closes himself against it, or rises up in enmity against it, must incur righteous punishment at the last day.
2Th 1:7. Θλιβομένοις is passive. Bengel erroneously considers it as middle.
ἄνεσις] from ἀνίημι, denotes the relaxing which follows exertion, the ἐπίτασις (Plat. Rep. i. p. 349 E: ἐν τῇ ἐπιτάσει καὶ ἀνέσει τῶν χορδῶν. Plutarch, Lyc. 29: οὐκ ἄνεσις ἦν ἀλλʼ ἐπίτασις τῆς πολιτείας) passing over to the idea comfort, refreshment, rest. Comp. 2Co 2:13; 2Co 7:5; 2Co 8:13, and the analogous expression ἀνάψυξις, Act 3:19. Here ἄνεσις characterizes the glory of the kingdom of God according to its negative side as freedom from earthly affliction and trouble.
μεθʼ ἡμῶν] along with us. From this it follows that the apostle and his companions belonged to the θλιβόμενοι. μεθʼ ἡμῶν accordingly contains a confirmation of the notice contained in 2Th 3:2. Others (as Turretin, comp. also de Wette) understand μεθʼ ἡμῶν entirely generally: with us Christians in general. But the ἄνεσις which will likewise be imparted to the ἡμεῖς presupposes a preceding θλίψις, that is, according to the context, persecution by those who are not Christians. But such persecutions do not befall Christians everywhere. Strangely, Bengel (and also Macknight), μεθʼ ἡμῶν denotes: “nobiscum i. e. cum sanctis Israelitis.” Ewald: “with us, i.e. with the apostles and other converted genuine Jews of the Holy Land, so that they shall have no preference.”
ἐν τῇ ἀποκαλύψει τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ] a statement of the time when ἀνταποδοῦναι will take place, equivalent to ὅταν ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς. ἀποκάλυψις (1Co 1:7) is a more definite expression for παρουσία. The return of Christ is the period at which He, so long hitherto concealed, will as Ruler and Judge be manifested, will publicly appear.[37]
ἈΠʼ ΟὐΡΑΝΟῦ ΜΕΤʼ ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΩς ΑὐΤΟῦ] a specification of the mode of the ἈΠΟΚΑΛΎΨΕΙ.
ἈΠʼ ΟὐΡΑΝΟῦ] see on 1Th 4:16.
ΜΕΤʼ ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΩς ΑὐΤΟῦ] with the angels of His power, i.e. through whom His power manifests itself, inasmuch as the angels are the executors of His commands, by their instrumentality e.g. the resurrection-call to the dead is issued (1Th 4:16). Calvin: Angelos potentiae vocat, in quibus suam potentiam exseret. Angelos enim secum adducet ad illustrandam regni sui gloriam. Oecumenius, Theophylact, Piscator, Benson, Flatt, and others erroneously explain it: “with His mighty angels;” still more erroneously Drusius, Michaelis, Krause, Hofmann, and others: “with His angelic host.” For this the Hebrew צָבָם is appealed to. But ΔΎΝΑΜΙς never occurs in this sense in the N. T.; the proofs to the contrary, which Hofmann finds in Luk 10:19, Mat 24:29, Mar 13:35, Luk 21:26, are entirely inappropriate. It would then require to have been written ΜΕΤᾺ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΩς ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΑὐΤΟῦ. It is a wanton error, proceeding from a want of philological tact, when Hofmann separates ΑὐΤΟῦ from the words ΜΕΤʼ ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΩς, refers this pronoun to God, and joins it with ΔΙΔΌΝΤΟς ἘΚΔΊΚΗΣΙΝ into a participial clause, of which ἘΝ Τῇ ἈΠΟΚΑΛΎΨΕΙ Κ.Τ.Λ. forms the commencement. Granted that ΜΕΤʼ ἈΓΓΈΛΩΝ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΩς, without the additional ΑὐΤΟῦ, might denote with an angelic host, yet Paul, in order to express the thought assigned to him by Hofmann, if he would be at all understood, would at least have entirely omitted αὐτοῦ, and would have put the dative διδόντι instead of the genitive διδόντος.
[37] That also we are not here to think, with Hammond, on the destruction of Jerusalem is evident.
2Th 1:8. Ἐν φλογί πυρός] is not, as Estius, Cornelius a Lapide, Seb. Schmid, Harduin, Moldenhauer, Macknight, Hilgenfeld (Zeitsch. f. wissensch. Theol. 1862, Part 3, p. 245), Hofmann, and others[38] assume, a statement declaring the instrument of ΔΙΔΌΝΤΟς ἘΚΔΊΚΗΣΙΝ, but is a further specification of the mode of ἈΠΟΚΑΛΎΨΕΙ, 2Th 1:7 : in flaming fire (בְּלַהַב אֵשׁ Isa 29:6; Isa 30:30, etc.). In the O. T. God is described as appearing in flames of fire, and especially His coming to judgment is described as a coming in fire; comp. Exo 3:2 ff; Exo 19:18; Dan 7:9-10, etc. What is there asserted of God is here transferred to Christ. (Comp. also 1Co 3:13, where of the day of Christ, i.e. of His advent, it is said: ἘΝ ΠΥΡῚ ἈΠΟΚΑΛΎΠΤΕΤΑΙ.) The additional clause accordingly serves for a further exaltation of the majesty and glory in which Christ will return. More special statements, that Paul thought on thunder and lightning (Zachariae, Koppe, Bolten), on a fire consuming the ungodly, or the world, or both together (Zwingli, Hemming, Aretius, Cornelius a Lapide, Fromond., Sebastian Schmid, and others), are to be discarded, from want of data to decide on.
διδόντος] is joined, not to πυρός, but to τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, 2Th 1:7. The formula διδόναι ἐκδίκησίν τινι, to impart vengeance, that is, punishment, to any one, is only found here in the N. T. But comp. the LXX. Eze 25:14; Num 31:3 (נָתַן נְקָמָה). Paul does not mention only one class of persons who are to be punished (Calvin, Hemming, Turretin, Pelt, Schott, de Wette, Riggenbach), but two classes of persons. This is required by the article repeated before μὴ ὑπακούουσιν. These were the two classes of persons from whom the church of Thessalonica had to suffer persecution
Gentiles and Jews. By ΤΟῖς ΜῊ ΕἸΔΌΣΙΝ ΘΕΌΝ Paul means the former, and by ΤΟῖς ΜῊ ὙΠΑΚΟΎΟΥΣΙΝ Τῷ ΕὐΑΓΓ. Κ.Τ.Λ. the latter, so that the general ΤΟῖς ΘΛΊΒΟΥΣΙΝ ὙΜᾶς, 2Th 1:6, is now specialized. The correctness of this interpretation is further evident from the fact that elsewhere ΜῊ ΕἸΔΌΤΕς ΘΕΌΝ is with Paul a characteristic designation of the Gentiles (1Th 4:5; Gal 4:8; comp. Rom 1:28; Eph 2:12); whereas the characteristic of the theocratic nation of the Jews, as shown by experience, was disobedience to God and His plan of salvation; comp. Rom 10:3; Rom 10:16; Rom 10:21, etc. This reference to Gentiles and Jews is already found in Ambrosiaster, Grotius, Quistorp, Benson, Bengel, Koppe, Baumgarten-Crusius; and also recently, in Alford, Ewald, and Bisping. On the other hand, Harduin and Hofmann interpret the first clause of Gentiles, and the second of Jews and Gentiles; Schrader, the first of Gentiles, and the second of Christians; Aretius, the first of “manifesti Christi hostes, sive Judaei sint sive ethnici,” and the second of “pestes in sinu ecclesiae latitantes.” But with the first view the division, which the article repeated requires, becomes illusory; and the context decides against the last two views. For when, as here, Christians are comforted on account of the afflictions which they suffer from those who are not Christians by an intimation of a future retribution, the discourse cannot possibly have reference to a punishment which is impending on Christians.
τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ] a repetition of the subject already contained in διδόντος in a fuller form, on account of the preceding Θεόν.
[38] Thus also Theodoret must have united the words. For although he does not clearly express himself concerning this union, yet he finds in φλογὶ πυρός expressed: τῆς τιμωρίας τὸ εἶδος, and adds: φλογὶ γὰρ πυρὸς παραδίδονται.
2Th 1:9. Paul names eternal destruction as the punishment which those ungodly ones will have to endure.
οἵτινες] nimirum qui, refers back to the characteristics of the two classes named in 2Th 1:8, and accordingly recapitulates the reason for δίκην τίσουσιν. See Hermann, ad Soph. Oed. R. 688.
ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ κυρίου κ.τ.λ.] has received a threefold interpretation. Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Erasmus, Vatablus, Estius, Fromond., and others interpret ἀπό of time: immediately after the appearance of the πρόσωπον τοῦ κυρίου and of the δόξα τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ. The swiftness and facility of the punishment are thereby described, inasmuch as it required Christ merely to become visible. The artificialness of this interpretation is evident. For however often ἀπό denotes the point of commencement of a period, yet the bare ἀπὸ προσώπου cannot possibly be considered as parallel with such constructions as ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου, Rom 1:20; ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἡμέρας, Php 1:5, and the like. At least ἀπʼ ἀποκαλύψεως τοῦ προσώπου or something similar would require to have been written. Add to this that ἀπὸ προσώπου κ.τ.λ., on account of its position at the end of the sentence, cannot have such an emphasis, that the idea of the swiftness and facility of the punishment can be derived from it. ἀπό is understood as a statement of the operating cause by Grotius, Harduin, Benson, Bengel, Moldenhauer, Flatt, Pelt, de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius, Ewald, and Hofmann: “from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (comp. Act 3:19). Pelt (and so also Castalio, Koppe, Bolten, and others) arbitrarily considers ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ κυρίου as equivalent to the simple ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου; and equally arbitrarily Harduin, Benson, and Moldenhauer (comp. also Hofmann) understand πρόσωπον of a wrathful or gloomy countenance. But there is an essential inconvenience to this second mode of interpretation, inasmuch as by its assumption without the introduction of a new idea there is only a repetition in other words of what has already been said in 2Th 1:7-8 from ἐν τῇ ἀποκαλύψει to διδόντος ἐκδίκησιν; the whole of the 9th verse would only contain αἰώνιον as a new point. Accordingly the third mode of explanation, adopted by Piscator, Ernest Schmid, Beza, Calixt, Koppe, Krause, Schott, Bloomfield, Alford, Bisping, and Riggenbach, is decidedly to be preferred, according to which ἀπό expresses the idea of separation, of severance from something. Comp. 2Th 2:2; Rom 9:3; 2Co 11:3; Gal 5:4. According to Flatt and de Wette, the expression ἰσχύος is opposed to this explanation, which directly points to an operating cause. But τῆς ἰσχύος is to be rendered the genitive of origin, and the δόξα is to be understood, not of the glory of Christ, but of the glory which is to be imparted to believers. The meaning is: apart or separated from the face of the Lord, and apart from the glory which is a creation of His power. By this explanation πρόσωπον receives its full import; “to see the face of the Lord” is a well-known biblical expression to denote blessedness (comp. Psa 11:7; Psa 17:5; Mat 5:8; Mat 18:10; Heb 12:14; Rev 22:4), whereas distance from it is an expression of misery.
2Th 1:10. Further, with this explanation 2Th 1:10 agrees best, since in it, as the counterpart to 2Th 1:9, the discourse is not so much of a glorification of Christ as of a glorification of Christians-a glorification certainly which necessarily reflects on Christ Himself as its producer.
ὅταν ἔλθῃ] when He shall have come, a statement of the time of δίκην τίσουσιν, 2Th 1:9. Schott less simply unites it with διδόντος ἐκδίκησιν, 2Th 1:8.
ἐνδοξασθῆναι] the infinitive of design. See Winer, p. 284 [E. T. 399]. The ἅγιοι are not the attending angels (Macknight, Schrader), but Christians. ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ does not, however, import through His saints (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Kypke, II. p. 341, Vater, Pelt, Schott, and others), nor among them, but in them, so that the glorification of Christians becomes a glorification of Christ Himself. So also Christ is admired in all believers, because the admiration of the blessedness to which believers have been exalted has as its consequence an admiration of Christ as the Creator of that blessedness.
ὅτι ἐπιστεύθη … ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς] is a parenthesis:[39] for our testimony brought to you has been believed. This is occasioned by πιστεύσασιν. It is designed to bring forward the certainty that also the Thessalonians belong to the ΠΙΣΤΕΎΣΑΝΤΕς. In a peculiar-intermixing much that is strange-and unnatural manner Ewald: “As the subject particularly treats of the truth of the apostolic testimony concerning divine things (!), or whether the gospel, as the apostles and first witnesses proclaimed it, will or will not one day be confirmed in its entire contents and promises by God Himself at the last judgment (?), so Paul summarizes the chief contents (?) of that glory and admiration in a lively reference to his immediate readers directly in words which one might almost then exclaim: ‘Our testimony among you was verified (?).’ And it is as if the apostle had put here this somewhat strange short expression, the rather because he has said directly before that God (?) will be admired in those who believed, as if a verification or complete confirmation (?) of the contents of faith must at last justly correspond to the human faith regarding them.”
τὸ μαρτύριον ἡμῶν] our testimony, i.e. the testimony proclaimed by us. Really different, neither from μαρτύριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ, 1Co 1:6 : the testimony whose subject is Christ; nor from ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ, 1Co 2:1 : the testimony which God published through the apostles concerning Christ. To limit, with Bretschneider, ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ to the instructions of the apostle concerning the advent of Christ contained in the First Epistle, instead of taking it entirely generally in the sense of ΚΉΡΥΓΜΑ or ΕὐΑΓΓΈΛΙΟΝ, is rendered impossible by the relation of ὍΤΙ ἘΠΙΣΤΕΎΘΗ to ΠΙΣΤΕΎΣΑΣΙΝ.
ἘΦʼ ὙΜᾶς] is connected with ΤῸ ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ ἩΜῶΝ into one idea; and hence the article ΤΌ, whose repetition before ἘΦʼ ὙΜᾶς might have been expected, is omitted. See Winer, p. 123 [E. T. 169]. Comp. on ἘΠΊ with ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ, Luk 9:5. Ingenuous, but erroneous, Bengel: ἘΦʼ ὙΜᾶς denotes: ad vos usque, in occidente.
ἘΝ Τῇ ἩΜΈΡᾼ ἘΚΕΊΝῌ] belongs not to ἜΛΘῌ (Zeger, Pelt, Olshausen), but to ΘΑΥΜΑΣΘῆΝΑΙ, whilst by it the indication of time, ὍΤΑΝ ἜΛΘῌ, is resumed. The Peshito, likewise Pelagius, John Damascenus, Estius, Lucius Osiander, Menochius, Cornelius a Lapide, Grotius, Harduin, Storr, Koppe, Krause, Rosenmüller, Nösselt, Flatt, Baumgarten-Crusius, and others, not assuming a parenthesis, unite ἘΝ Τῇ ἩΜΈΡᾼ ἘΚΕΊΝῌ with the directly preceding, either with ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ or with ἘΠΙΣΤΕΎΘΗ. The interpretations resulting from this mode of connection vary much from each other; but are all arbitrary, inasmuch as, on the one hand, in order to preserve the statement of time in ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, one feels himself constrained to consider the aorist ἐπιστεύθη as placed for the future, and thus to alter the import of the verb (will be authenticated); or, on the other hand, in order to preserve ἐπιστεύθη in the sense of the aorist, one has recourse to the expedient of construing ἘΝ Τῇ ἩΜΈΡᾼ ἘΚΕΊΝῌ as the objective statement belonging to ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ, in the sense of ΠΕΡῚ Τῆς ἩΜΈΡΑς ἘΚΕΊΝΗς.
But wherefore did Paul add ἘΝ Τῇ ἩΜΈΡᾼ ἘΚΕΊΝῌ after the sentence beginning with ὍΤΙ? Perhaps only for the sake of parallelism. But possibly also Calvin is correct when he says: “repetit in die illa … Ideo autem repetit, ut fidelium vota cohibeat, ne ultra modum festinent.”
[39] Certainly otherwise Hofmann. According to him, ὅτι ἐπιστεύθη τὸ μαρτύριον ἡμῶν ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς is to be added as a reason to ἀνταποδοῦναι ὑμῖν ἄνεσιν μεθʼ ἡμῶν, ver. 6 f. (!). But this is not yet enough. Besides the statement of design, ἵνα ὑμᾶς ἀξιώσῃ κ.τ.λ., ver. 11, is made also to depend on ἐπιστεύθη τὸ μαρτύριον ἡμῶν ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς; to this statement of design also ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ belongs; this is placed before ἵνα for the sake of emphasis, and εἰς ὃ καὶ προσευχόμεθα πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν forms a mere parenthesis-suppositions which are certainly worthy of an exegesis like that of Hofmann, but are only possible to it.
2Th 1:11. Εἰς ὅ in reference to which, namely, that such a glorification of Christ in His people is to be expected. Comp. Bernhardy, Syntax, p. 220; Kühner, II. p. 279. Philologically incorrect, Grotius, Flatt, Pelt, Baumgarten-Crusius take εἰς ὅ as equivalent with quapropter, and Koppe as “mera particula transeundi,” equivalent with itaque. Logically incorrect, de Wette, Bloomfield, Hofmann, and Riggenbach: “to which end.” For, since εἰς ὅ must refer to the chief thought in 2Th 1:10, this could only be analysed by: “in order that the ἐνδοξασθῆναι and the θαυμασθῆναι of Christ may be realized in believers.” But this fact in itself is clear to the apostle as a settled truth; he cannot think on it as dependent on his prayer; he can only have it in view in his prayers, that the Thessalonians also may find themselves in the number of those among whom Christ will be glorified.
καί] belongs not to εἰς ὅ, so that the suitableness of this (supposed) design was denoted (de Wette), but to προσευχόμεθα. It imports that the prayer of the apostle was added on behalf of the Thessalonians to the fact of the ἐνδοξασθῆναι.
ἵνα] The contents of the prayer in the form of a purpose. ἀξιοῦν τῆς κλήσεως is that to which Paul would attain through his prayer. Comp. Meyer on Php 1:9.
ἀξιοῦν] means to judge worthy; comp. 1Ti 5:17; Heb 3:3; Heb 10:29. It never has the meaning to make worthy, which Luther, Grotius, Flatt, Olshausen, Ewald attribute to it. From this it follows that κλῆσις cannot express the act[40] of the divine calling, already belonging to the past, but must denote something future. ΚΛῆΣΙς is accordingly to be understood, as in Php 3:14, in a passive sense, as the good thing to which we are called, i.e. the future heavenly blessedness of the children of God.[41] Col 1:5 (see Meyer on that passage) is entirely analogous, where ἐλπίς, elsewhere active, is used in a passive or objective sense.
With καὶ πληρώσῃ κ.τ.λ., which is grammatically subordinate to ἀξιώσῃ, Paul adds, logically considered, the means which is to lead to the result of being judged worthy.
πληροῦν] to bring to completion or perfection.
πᾶσαν εὐδοκίαν ἀγαθωσύνης] cannot be referred to God, as if it meant all His good pleasure, and denoted the divine decree of election (Oecumenius, Zwingli, Calvin, Estius, Justinian, Beza, Calixt, Wolf, Benson, Bengel, Macknight, Koppe, Flatt, Pelt, Bisping, and others). It is against this that ἔργον πίστεως, which forms an additional accusative to πληρώσῃ, is undoubtedly to be referred to the Thessalonians; that ἁγαθωσύνη is never used by Paul of God; and lastly, that πᾶσαν τὴν εὐδοκίαν would require to have been written instead of πᾶσαν εὐδοκίαν. Others refer πᾶσαν εὐδοκίαν partly to God and partly to the Thessalonians. Thus Theophylact: ἵνα πᾶσα εὐδοκία τοῦ Θεοῦ, τουτέστι πᾶσα ἀρέσκεια, πληρωθῇ ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ πᾶν ἀγαθὸν διαπράττησθε, καὶ οὕτως ἦτε ὡς βούλεται ὁ Θεός, μηδενὸς ὑμῖν λείποντος. Grotius: Omnem bonitatem sibi gratam … ἀγαθωσύνην, ἥ ἐστιν αὐτοῦ εὐδοκία. Olshausen,[42] with whom Bloomfield agrees: May God fill you with all the good which is pleasing to Him. This second explanation is even more inadmissible than the first. It is not even supported by the appearance of justification, as at least πᾶσαν ἀγαθωσύνην εὐδοκίας must be put, in order to afford a point of connection for it. The exclusively correct meaning is to understand both εὐδοκίαν and ἈΓΑΘΩΣΎΝΗς of the Thessalonians. But ἀγαθωσύνη does not denote benevolence (Chandler, Moldenhauer, Nösselt, Schott), but moral goodness generally. Comp. Rom 15:14; Gal 5:22; Eph 5:9. Accordingly, with πᾶσα εὐδοκία ἀγαθωσύνης is expressed every satisfaction in moral goodness.
ἔργον πίστεως] here, as in 1Th 1:3, represents faith as an ἜΡΓΟΝ, i.e. as something begun with energy, and persevered in amid persecution.
ἐν δυνάμει] belongs to ΠΛΗΡΏΣῌ, and takes the place of an adverb. See Bernhardy, Syntax, p. 209. Comp. Rom 1:4; Col 1:29. Thus powerfully.
[40] So also Meyer on Php 3:14; likewise Grimm in the Theol. Stud. u. Krit. 1850, Part 4, p. 806 f.: “The Christians are declared worthy of the call already promulgated to them, or the κλῆσις τοῦ Θεοῦ may be in reference to them ἀμεταμέλητος (Rom 11:29), because the Christian can again make himself unworthy of the divine grace which he has received (Rom 11:20 ff.; 2Co 6:1; Gal 5:4).”
[41] Alford incorrectly objects to the passive interpretation adopted by me, that the position of the words would require to be τῆς κλήσεως ἀξιώσῃ. For the emphasis rests on ἀξιώσῃ placed first, whilst with τῆς κλήσεως the idea, already supposed as well known by καταξιωθῆναι ὑμᾶς τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ, ver. 5, as well as by the contents of ver. 10, is only resumed, although under a different form. Alford, appealing to 1Co 7:20, understands κλῆσις “not merely as the first act of God, but as the enduring state produced by that act, the normal termination of which is glory.”
[42] In an excess of arbitrariness, Olshausen besides takes εὐδοκίαν and ἔργον as absolute accusatives, whilst he unites ὑμᾶς not only with ἀξιώσῃ, but likewise with πληρώσῃ.
2Th 1:12. Τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμ. Ἰησοῦ] The name of our Lord Jesus, i.e. so far as He is the κύριος, the Lord; comp. Php 2:9 ff. Arbitrarily, de Wette: Christ, so far as He is recognised and known. Still more arbitrarily Turretin, Moldenhauer, Koppe, and others: ὄνομα κυρίου is a mere circumlocution for κύριος.
ἐν αὐτῷ] refers not to Ἰησοῦ (so Alford), but to τὸ ὄνομα; and the giving prominence to the mutual reciprocity, ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐν αὐτῷ, is an exhaustive representation. Comp. Gal 6:14; 1Co 6:13.
κατὰ τὴν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ] according to the grace of our God and of the (see Winer, p. 113 [E. T. 154]) Lord Jesus. According to Hofmann and Riggenbach, Christ is here named both our God and our Lord,-an interpretation which, indeed, grammatically is no less allowable than the interpretation of the doxology, ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων Θεὸς εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, Rom 9:5, as an apposition to ὁ Χριστός, but is equally inadmissible, as it would contain an un-Pauline thought; on account of which also Hilgenfeld, Ztschr. f. d. wiss. Theol., Halle 1862, p. 264, in the interest of the supposed spuriousness of the Epistle, has forthwith appropriated to himself this discovery of Hofmann.
1. To the Church of the Thessalonians which is in God. As to the form of salutation, it were superfluous to speak. This only it is necessary to notice — that by a Church in God and Christ is meant one that has not merely been gathered together under the banner of faith, for the purpose of worshipping one God the Father, and confiding in Christ, but is the work and building as well of the Father as of Christ, because while God adopts us to himself, and regenerates us, we from him begin to be in Christ. (1Co 1:30)
3. To give thanks. He begins with commendation, that he may have occasion to pass on to exhortation, for in this way we have more success among those who have already entered upon the course, when without passing over in silence their former progress, we remind them how far distant they are as yet from the goal, and stir them up to make progress. As, however, he had in the former Epistle commended their faith and love, he now declares the increase of both. And, unquestionably, this course ought to be pursued by all the pious — to examine themselves daily, and see how far they have advanced. This, therefore, is the true commendation of believers — their growing daily in faith and love. When he says always, he means that he is constantly supplied with new occasion. He had previously given thanks to God on their account. He says that he has now occasion to do so again, on the ground of daily progress. When, however, he gives thanks to God on this account, he declares that the enlargements, no less than the beginnings, of faith and love are from him, for if they proceeded from the power of men, thanksgiving would be pretended, or at least worthless. Farther, he shews that their proficiency was not trivial, or even ordinary, but most abundant. So much the more disgraceful is our slowness, inasmuch as we scarcely advance one foot during a long space of time.
As is meet. In these words Paul shews that we are bound to give thanks to God, not only when he does us good, but also when we take into view the favors bestowed by him upon our brethren. For wherever the goodness of God shines forth, it becomes us to extol it. Farther, the welfare of our brethren ought to be so dear to us, that we ought to reckon among our own benefits everything that has been conferred upon them. Nay more, if we consider the nature and sacredness of the unity of Christ’s body, such a mutual fellowship will have place among us, that we shall reckon the benefits conferred upon an individual member as gain to the whole Church. Hence, in extolling God’s benefits, we must always have an eye to the whole body of the Church.
4. So that we ourselves glory in you. He could not have bestowed higher commendation upon them, than by saying that he sets them forward before other Churches as a pattern, for such is the meaning of those words: — We glory in you in the presence of other Churches. For Paul did not boast of the faith of the Thessalonians from a spirit of ambition, but inasmuch as his commendation of them might be an incitement to make it their endeavor to imitate them. He does not say, however, that he glories in their faith and love, but in their patience and faith. Hence it follows, that patience is the fruit and evidence of faith. These words ought, therefore, to be explained in this manner: — “We glory in the patience which springs from faith, and we bear witness that it eminently shines forth in you;” otherwise the context would not correspond. And, undoubtedly, there is nothing that sustains us in tribulations as faith does; which is sufficiently manifest from this, that we altogether sink down so soon as the promises of God leave us. Hence, the more proficiency any one makes in faith, he will be so much the more endued with patience for enduring all things with fortitude, as on the other hand, softness and impatience under adversity betoken unbelief on our part; but more especially when persecutions are to be endured for the gospel, the influence of faith in that case discovers itself.
5. A demonstration of the righteous judgment of God. Without mentioning the exposition given by others, I am of opinion that the true meaning is this — that the injuries and persecutions which innocent and pious persons endure from the wicked and abandoned, shew clearly, as in a mirror, that God will one day be the judge of the world. And this statement is quite at antipodes with that profane notion, which we are accustomed to entertain, whenever it goes well with the good and ill with the wicked. For we think that the world is under the regulation of mere chance, and we leave God no control. Hence it is that impiety and contempt take possession of men’s hearts, as Solomon speaks, (Ecc 9:3) for those that suffer anything undeservedly either throw the blame upon God, or do not think that he concerns himself as to the affairs of men. We hear what Ovid says, — “I am tempted to think that there are no gods.” (626) Nay more, David confesses (Psa 73:1) that, because he saw things in so confused a state in the world, he had well-nigh lost his footing, as in a slippery place. On the other hand, the wicked become more insolent through occasion of prosperity, as if no punishment of their crimes awaited them; just as Dionysius, when making a prosperous voyage, (627) boasted that the gods favored the sacrilegious. (628) In fine, when we see that the cruelty of the wicked against the innocent walks abroad with impunity, carnal sense concludes that there is no judgment of God, that there are no punishments of the wicked, that there is no reward of righteousness.
Paul, however, declares on the other hand, that as God thus spares the wicked for a time, and winks at the injuries inflicted upon his people, His judgment to come is shewn us as in a mirror. For he takes for granted that it cannot but be that God, inasmuch as he is a just Judge, will one day restore peace to the miserable, who are now unjustly harassed, and will pay to the oppressors of the pious the reward that they have merited. Hence, if we hold this principle of faith, that God is the just Judge of the world, and that it is his office to render to every one a recompense according to his works, this second principle will follow incontrovertibly — that the present disorderly state of matters (ἀταξίαν) is a demonstration of the judgment, which does not yet appear. For if God is the righteous Judge of the world, those things that are now confused must, of necessity, be restored to order. Now, nothing is more disorderly than that the wicked, with impunity, give molestation to the good, and walk abroad with unbridled violence, while the good are cruelly harassed without any fault on their part. From this it may be readily inferred, that God will one day ascend the judgment-seat, that he may remedy the state of matters in the world, so as to bring them into a better condition.
Hence the statement which he subjoins — that it is righteous with God to appoint affliction, etc. , is the groundwork of this doctrine — that God furnishes tokens of a judgment to come when he refrains, for the present, from exercising the office of judge. And unquestionably, if matters were now arranged in a tolerable way, so that the judgment of God might be recognized as having been fully exercised, an adjustment of this nature would detain us upon earth. Hence God, in order that he may stir us up to the hope of a judgment to come, does, for the present, only to some extent judge the world. He furnishes, it is true, many tokens of his judgment, but it is in such a manner as to constrain us to extend our hope farther. A remarkable passage truly, as teaching us in what manner our minds ought to be raised up above all the impediments of the world, whenever we suffer any adversity — that the righteous judgment of God may present itself to our mind, which will raise us above this world. Thus death will be an image of life.
May be accounted worthy. There are no persecutions that are to be reckoned of such value as to make us worthy of the kingdom of God, nor does Paul dispute here as to the ground of worthiness, but simply takes the common doctrine of Scripture — that God destroys in us those things that are of the world, that he may restore in us a better life; and farther, that by means of afflictions he shews us the value of eternal life. In short, he simply points out the manner in which believers are prepared and, as it were, polished under God’s anvil, inasmuch as, by afflictions, they are taught to renounce the world and to aim at God’s heavenly kingdom. Farther, they are confirmed in the hope of eternal life while they fight for it. For this is the entrance of which Christ discoursed to his disciples. (Mat 7:13; Luk 13:24)
(626) “Solicitor nullos esse putare deos.” — Ovid in. Amo 9:36. In order to see the appropriateness of the quotation, it is necessary to notice the connection of the words “Cum rapiant mala fata bonos.... Solicitor,” etc.; — “When misfortunes overtake the good, I am tempted,” etc. — Ed.
(627) “Comme Denys le tyran, apres auoir pillé vn temple, s’estant mis sur le mer, et voyant qu’il auoit bon vent;” — “As Dionysius the tyrant, after he had plundered a temple, having embarked upon the sea, and observing that he had a favorable wind.”
(628) Our author alludes to a saying of Dionysius the younger, tyrant of Sicily, on occasion of his plundering the temple of Proserpine. See Calvin on the Psalms, vol. 1, p. 141, vol. 3, p. 126, and vol. 5, p. 114.—Ed.
6. To appoint affliction. We have already stated why it is that he makes mention of the vengeance of God against the wicked — that we may learn to rest in the expectation of a judgment to come, because God does not as yet avenge the wicked, while it is, nevertheless, necessary that they should suffer the punishment of their crimes. Believers, however, at the same time, understand by this that there is no reason why they should envy the momentary and evanescent felicity of the wicked, which will ere long be exchanged for a dreadful destruction. What he adds as to the rest of the pious, accords with the statement of Paul, (Act 3:20,) where he calls the day of the last judgment the day of refreshing
In this declaration, however, as to the good and the bad, he designed to shew more clearly how unjust and confused the government of the world would be, if God did not defer punishments and rewards till another judgment, for in this way the name of God were a thing that was dead. (629) Hence he is deprived of his office and power by all that are not intent on that righteousness of which Paul speaks.
He adds with us, that he may gain credit to his doctrine from his experience of belief in his own mind; for he shews that he does not philosophize as to things unknown, by putting himself into the same condition, and into the same rank with them. We know, however, how much more authority is due to those who have, by long practice, been exercised in those things which they teach, and do not require from others anything but what they are themselves prepared to do. Paul, therefore, does not, while himself in the shade, give instructions to the Thessalonians as to how they should fight in the heat of the sun, but, fighting vigorously, exhorts them to the same warfare. (630)
(629) “Morte et sans vertu;” — “Dead and powerless.”
(630) “S. Paul, donc, enseignant les Thessaloniciens comment ils doyuent combattre au milieu des afflictions, ne parle point comme vn gendarme qui estant en l’ombre et a son aise, accourageroit les autres a faire leur deuoir a la campagne au milieu de la poussiere et a la chaleur du soleil: mais combattant luy—mesme vaillamment, il les exhorte a combattre de mesme;” — “St Paul, therefore, instructing the Thessalonians how they ought to fight in the midst of afflictions, does not speak like a soldier who, while in the shade and at his ease, would encourage others to do their duty in the campaign in the midst of dust, and in the heat of the sun; but, while fighting himself valiantly, he exhorts them to contend in like manner.”
7. When the Lord shall be manifested. Here we have a confirmation of the foregoing statement. For as it is one of the articles of our faith, that Christ will come from heaven, and will not come in vain, faith ought to seek the end of his coming. Now this is — that he may come as a Redeemer to his own people; nay more, that he may judge the whole world. The description which follows has a view to this — that the pious may understand that God is so much the more concerned as to their afflictions in proportion to the dreadfulness of the judgment that awaits his enemies. For the chief occasion of grief and distress is this — that we think that God is but lightly affected with our calamities. We see into what complaints David from time to time breaks forth, while he is consumed by the pride and insolence of his enemies. Hence he has brought forward all this for the consolation of believers, while he represents the tribunal of Christ as full of horror, (631) that they may not be disheartened by their present oppressed condition, while they see themselves proudly and disdainfully trampled upon by the wicked.
What is to be the nature of that fire, and of what materials, I leave to the disputations of persons of foolish curiosity. I am contented with holding what Paul had it in view to teach — that Christ will be a most strict avenger of the injuries which the wicked inflict upon us. The metaphor, however, of flame and fire, is abundantly common in Scripture, when the anger of God is treated of.
By the angels of his power, he means those in whom he will exercise his power; for he will bring the angels with him for the purpose of displaying the glory of his kingdom. Hence, too, they are elsewhere called the angels of his majesty
(631) “Plein d’horreur et d’espouvantement;” —”Full of horror and terror.”
8. Who will inflict vengeance. That he may the better persuade believers that the persecutions which they endure will not go unpunished, he teaches that this also involves the interests of God himself, inasmuch as the same persons that persecute the pious are guilty of rebellion against God. Hence it is necessary that God should inflict vengeance upon them not merely with a view to our salvation, but also for the sake of his own glory. Farther, this expression, who will inflict vengeance, relates to Christ, for Paul intimates that this office is assigned to him by God the Father. It may be asked, however, whether it is lawful for us to desire vengeance, for Paul promises it, as though it could be lawfully desired. I answer, that it is not lawful to desire vengeance upon any one, inasmuch as we are commanded to wish well to all. Besides, although we may in a general way desire vengeance upon the wicked, yet, as we do not as yet discriminate them, we ought to desire the welfare of all. In the mean time, the ruin of the wicked may be lawfully looked forward to with desire, provided there reigns in our hearts a pure and duly regulated zeal for God, and there is no feeling of inordinate desire.
Who know not. He distinguishes unbelievers by these two marks — that they know not God, and obey not the gospel of Christ. For if obedience is not rendered to the gospel through faith, as he teaches in the first and in the last chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, [Rom 1:18,] unbelief is the occasion of resistance to it. He charges them at the same time with ignorance of God, for a lively acquaintance with God produces of itself reverence towards him. Hence unbelief is always blind, not as though unbelievers were altogether devoid of light and intelligence, but because they have the understanding darkened in such a manner, that seeing they do not see. (Mat 13:13.) It is not without good grounds that Christ declares that this is life eternal, to know the true God, etc. (Joh 17:3.) Accordingly, from the want of this salutary knowledge, there follows contempt of God, and in fine, death. On this point I have treated more fully in commenting on the first chapter of First Corinthians. (632)
(632) See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 1, pp. 84-86.
9. Everlasting destruction from the face. He shews, by apposition, what is the nature of the punishment of which he had made mention — destruction without end, and an undying death. The perpetuity of the death is proved from the circumstance, that it has the glory of Christ as its opposite. Now, this is eternal, and has no end. Accordingly, the influence of that death will never cease. From this also the dreadful severity of the punishment may be inferred, inasmuch as it will be great in proportion to the glory and majesty of Christ.
10When he shall come to be sanctified. As he has hitherto discoursed as to the punishment of the wicked, he now returns to the pious, and says that Christ will come, that he may be glorified in them; that is, that he may irradiate them with his glory, and that they may be partakers of it. “Christ will not have this glory for himself individually; but it will be common to all the saints.” This is the crowning and choice consolation of the pious, that when the Son of God will be manifested in the glory of his kingdom, he will gather them into the same fellowship with himself. (633) There is, however, an implied contrast between the present condition in which believers labor and groan, and that final restoration. For they are now exposed to the reproaches of the world, and are looked upon as vile and worthless; but then they will be precious, and full of dignity, when Christ will pour forth his glory upon them. The end of this is, that the pious may as it were, with closed eyes, pursue the brief journey of this earthly life, having their minds always intent upon the future manifestation of Christ’s kingdom. For to what purpose does he make mention of His coming in power, but in order that they may in hope leap forward to that blessed resurrection which is as yet hid?
It is also to be observed, that after having made use of the term saints, he adds, by way of explanation — those that believe, by which he intimates that there is no holiness in men without faith, but that all are profane. In the close he again repeats the terms — in that day, for that expression is connected with this sentence. Now, he repeats it with this view, that he may repress the desires of believers, lest they should hasten forward beyond due bounds.
Because credit was given What he had said in a general way as to saints, he now applies to the Thessalonians, that they may not doubt that they are of that number.
“Because,” says he, “my preaching has obtained credit among you, Christ has already enrolled you in the number of his own people, whom he will make partakers of his glory.”
He calls his doctrine a testimony, because the Apostles are Christ’s witnesses. (Act 1:8.) Let us learn, therefore, that the promises of God are ratified in us, when they gain credit with us.
(633) “Il les recueillera en plene conionction, et les fera ses consors;” — “He will gather them in full union, and will make them his partners.”
11On which account we pray always. That they may know that they need continual help from God, he declares that he prays in their behalf. When he says on this account, he means, in order that they may reach that final goal of their course, as appears from the succeeding context, that he would fulfill all the good pleasure, etc. It may seem, however, as if what he has mentioned first were unnecessary, for God had already accounted them worthy of his calling. He speaks, however, as to the end or completion, which depends on perseverance. For as we are liable to give way, our calling would not fail, so far as we are concerned, to prove sooner or later vain, if God did not confirm it. Hence he is said to account us worthy, when he conducts us to the point at which we aimed.
And fulfill. Paul goes to an amazing height in extolling the grace of God, for not contenting himself with the term good pleasure, he says that it flows from his goodness, unless perhaps any one should prefer to consider the beneficence (635) as arising from this good pleasure, which amounts to the same thing. When, however, we are instructed that the gracious purpose of God is the cause of our salvation, and that that has its foundation in the goodness of the same God, are we not worse than mad, if we venture to ascribe anything, however small, to our own merits? For the words are in no small degree emphatic. He might have said in one word, that your faith may be fulfilled, but he terms it good pleasure. Farther, he expresses the idea still more distinctly by saying, that God was prompted by nothing else than his own goodness, for he finds nothing in us but misery.
Nor does Paul ascribe to the grace of God merely the beginning of our salvation, but all departments of it. Thus that contrivance of the Sophists is set aside, that we are, indeed, anticipated by the grace of God, but that it is helped by subsequent merits. Paul, on the other hand, recognizes in the whole progress of our salvation nothing but the pure grace of God. As, however, the good pleasure of God has been already accomplished in him, referring in the term subsequently employed by him to the effect which appears in us, he explains his meaning when he says — and work of faith. And he calls it a work, with regard to God, who works or produces faith in us, as though he had said — “that he may complete the building of faith which he has begun.”
It is, also, not without good reason, that he says with power, for he intimates that the perfecting of faith is an arduous matter, and one of the greatest difficulty. This, also, we know but too well from experience; and the reason, too, is not far to seek, if we consider how great our weakness is, how various are the hindrances that obstruct us on every side, and how severe are the assaults of Satan. Hence, unless the power of God afford us help in no ordinary degree, faith will never rise to its full height. For it is no easier task to bring faith to perfection in an individual, than to rear upon water a tower that may by its firmness withstand all storms and fury of tempests, and may surmount the clouds in height, for we are not less fluid than water, and it is necessary that the height of faith reach as high as heaven.
(635) “Ceste bonté et beneficence;” — “This goodness and beneficence.”
12That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified. He calls us back to the chief end of our whole life — that we may promote the Lord’s glory. What he adds, however, is more especially worthy of notice, that those who have advanced the glory of Christ will also in their turn be glorified in him. For in this, first of all, the wonderful goodness of God shines forth — that he will have his glory be conspicuous in us who are covered over with ignominy. This, however, is a twofold miracle, that he afterwards irradiates us with his glory, as though he would do the same to us in return. On this account he adds, according to the grace of God and Christ. For there is nothing here that is ours either in the action itself, or in the effect or fruit, for it is solely by the guidance of the Holy Spirit that our life is made to contribute to the glory of God. And the circumstance that so much fruit arises from this ought to be ascribed to the great mercy of God. In the mean time, if we are not worse than stupid, we must aim with all our might at the advancement of the glory of Christ, which is connected with ours. I deem it unnecessary to explain at present in what sense he represents the glory as belonging to God and Christ in common, as I have explained this elsewhere.
