Perhaps the most striking thing about the “concluding matters” in this letter is that apart from the “grace” itself, which in this case includes “you all,” is how different it is from that which concluded the first letter. Indeed, all one need do is compare the “conclusions” to his two preserved letters to the church in Corinth to recognize that such “differences” will become Paul’s stock-in-trade with regard to these matters.1016 In this case, as in 2 Corinthians, the “final greetings” are brief and to the point: a benediction is followed by an authenticating moment and the final “sign-off” grace. The letter, apparently deliberately, ends on the same note with which it began, with a wish of “peace” and a final “grace,” thus picking up in reverse order “the grace to you and peace” from the salutation.
