2 Thessalonians 2:4

2 Thessalonians 2:4

2 ^anot to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of¹ Christ had come.

3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come ^aunless the falling away comes first, and ^bthe man of sin is revealed, ^cthe son of perdition,

4 who opposes and ^aexalts himself ^babove all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits¹ as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?

6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.

7 For ^athe mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only² He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, ^awhom the Lord will consume ^bwith the breath of His mouth and destroy ^cwith the brightness of His coming.

9 The coming of the lawless one is ^aaccording to the working of Satan, with all power, ^bsigns, and lying wonders,

10 and with all unrighteous deception among ^athose who perish, because they did not receive ^bthe love of the truth, that they might be saved.

11 And ^afor this reason God will send them strong delusion, ^bthat they should believe the lie,

12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but ^ahad pleasure in unrighteousness.

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13 But we are¹ bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God ^afrom the beginning ^bchose you for salvation ^cthrough sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,

Commentaries:

Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)

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2 Thessalonians 2:5 >>

He that opposeth and exalteth himself (o antikeimenov kai uperairomenov). Like John's Antichrist this one opposes (anti-) Christ and exalts himself (direct middle of uperairw, old verb to lift oneself up

above others, only here and II Corinthians 12:7 in N.T.), but not Satan, but an agent of Satan. This participial clause is in apposition with the two preceding phrases, the man of sin, the son of perdition. Note I Corinthians 8:5 about one called God and Acts 17:23 for sebasma (from sebazomai), object of worship, late word, in N.T. only in these two passages.

So that he sitteth in the temple of God (wste auton eiv ton naon tou qeou kaqisai). Another example of the infinitive with wste for result. Caius Caligula had made a desperate attempt to have his statue set up for worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. This incident may lie behind Paul's language here.

Setting himself forth as God (apodeiknunta eauton oti estin qeov). Present active participle (mi form) of apodeiknumi, agreeing in case with auton,

showing himself that he is God. Caligula claimed to be God. Moffatt doubts if Paul is identifying this deception with the imperial cultus at this stage. Lightfoot thinks that the deification of the Roman emperor supplied Paul's language here. Wetstein notes a coin of Julius with qeov on one side and Qessalonikewn on the other. In I John 2:18 we are told of "many antichrists" some of whom had already come. Hence it is not clear that Paul has in mind only one individual or even individuals at all rather than evil principles, for in verse II Thessalonians 2:6 he speaks of to katexon (that which restraineth) while in verse II Thessalonians 2:7 it is o katexwn (the one that restraineth). Frame argues for a combination of Belial and Antichrist as the explanation of Paul's language. But the whole subject is left by Paul in such a vague form that we can hardly hope to clear it up. It is possible that his own preaching while with them gave his readers a clue that we do not possess.

**Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing 2 Thessalonians 2:4:**

Acts 17:2
Acts 17:23
Acts 20:18
1 Corinthians 4:9
Philippians 1:28
2 Thessalonians 2:3
2 Thessalonians 3:3
Revelation 11:1

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2 Thessalonians 2:5 >>

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