Part 117
v. ioa, Paul praises them for showing agape to all the brothers in the whole of Macedonia, which brings out the fundamental importance of group solidarity, a typical theme in this culture, w. lofc-n, he urges them to do even better and to make it their ambition to live quietly, to mind their own affairs, and to work with their hands as he had previously warned them. The most likely explanation for this advice is that Paul wanted his audience, probably urban craftsmen and labourers of low status, to keep a low profile and therefore avoid attracting antipathy from out-groups for reasons discussed in i THESS 8.4. Within their social level, Paul was suggesting that they live the quiet, hardworking life of honourable men (see i THESS 4:12). Hock (1980: 46-7) believes that this is a recommendation to keep out of politics (by paying special levies, going on embassies to Rome, entertaining the governor, undertaking public services). Such a withdrawal from public life was especially identified with the Epicureans and many more in the first century, sometimes being coupled with advocacy of philosophers of retirement and working with one's own hands. Yet Hock's proposal seems socially unrealistic in relation to a more likely audience of the urban poor who would never have been in a financial position to engage in such activities in the first place, let alone to withdraw from them. v. 12, Paul ends this section with a
(4:9—12) Brotherly Love v. 9, now Paul turns to another subject, brotherly love (philadelphia), although still within the broad subject of the shortcomings announced at 3:10 and the need to abound even more in their apape mentioned at 3:12. Brotherly love is something that Paul says he has no need to write about because they have been 'God-taught' (theodidaktoi) to love (agapan) one another.
Although there is a treatise by Plutarch on the subject, the word philadelphia is rare in early texts of the Christmovement. Paul uses philadelphia only once elsewhere (Rom 12:10), and there are only a few instances in the rest of the NT (Heb 13:1; i Pet 1:22; 2 Pet 1:7 (twice)). The adjective philadelphos occurs at i Pet 3:8. There are only three instances in the
Septuagint, at 4 Mace 13:23, 26; 14:1 (which Klauck (1990) sees as a source for Paul), while philadelphos also appears, at 2 Mace 15:14; 4 Mace 13:21; 15:10. Perhaps the connection of 'Philadelphos' with the Ptolemies has discouraged its wider use in biblical texts. Betz (1978: 232) notes that there is no
1209 I THESSALONIANS
hope'. Apparently some of the people in Thessalonica whom Paul converted have died since and worries have arisen among the Thessalonians concerning their status at the parousia of Christ. Clearly, as already noted, belief in the parousia, even though it is a vision of the future heavily indebted to Israelite tradition, is embedded in this ex-Gentile group, so that the problem is whether those who die in faith beforehand will participate in Christ's glorious return. The sharp distinction between in-group and out-groups Paul maintains throughout the letter is evident here in the reference to 'the rest who have no hope'. Hope (dpis) was included at i Thess 1:3 as one of the three primary elements of the identity of Christfollowers and the fact that Paul is worried they might be deficient in hope also surfaces in Timothy's notable failure to include it in his report to Paul of the current condition of the Thessalonians (at i THESS 3:6). It is beside the point to suggest that it was not correct that the rest of men had no hope whatsoever (as does Best 1972: 185); Paul is using the notion of hope to differentiate Christ-followers from other groups; the (probably inaccurate) stereotypification of the others is essential to this strategy, v. 14, Paul sets out what should be the basis for their hope: if they believe that Jesus died and rose, so also will God bring with him those who have died (lit. fallen asleep) through Jesus. In millennial movements elsewhere the return of the ancestors is a common feature of the futurist myth. Here Paul links the inclusion in the parousia of those who have already died to the belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus which was central to their faith in him.
purpose clause: so that they may adopt a respectable identity (peripatein euschemonos; NRSVhas 'behave properly towards') towards outsiders (hoi exo) and be dependent on no one. Thus Paul concludes with peripatein, the word used twice when he opened this discussion (4:1).
The Lord's Coming (4:13-5:11)
These verses deal in some detail with the future destiny of those who believe in Christ and, to a lesser extent, with those who do not. The letter has previously referred to the future in store (1:10), especially the parousia of Christ (2:19; 3:13), but now we have the events and their significance set out in some detail. Although the word 'eschatology' has been applied by NT scholars to this subject for over a century now (as an example, see Best 1972: 180), the various (and differing) theological agendas that have become attached to that word have left its meaning rather obscure, except in the vanishingly rare case of critics who indicate precisely what they mean by it. Accordingly, in what follows the data in 4:13-5:11 will be considered within two other frameworks which, although derived from social-scientific research, have the potential to throw light on this absorbing picture of the future dating to the very early stages of the Christ-movement.
First, within social-identity theory (a sub-area of social psychology—cf i THESS 0.5—8), a group's distinctive orientation towards the future can help foster among the members a cognitive sense of belonging to the group, and also nourish the evaluative and emotional dimensions of membership. In other words, the members tell themselves who they are—and in a very positive way—in relation to where they are going. A striking modern example of this is the Hausa, a group of Sudanese Muslims, who spend their whole life as if they are undertaking a pilgrimage, a haj, to Mecca, even though most of them never get there (Esler 1998: 42). Secondly, social anthropologists have investigated many groups, generally (although not always) suffering from some form of colonial oppression or disturbance of traditional ways of life, who develop or revive narratives of a coming transformation of the world which will leave them radically restored to their proper place and, often, destroy those who oppress them (Duling 1996; Esler 1993; 1994: 93~IO9)- These phenomena are generally referred to as instances of 'millennialism' or 'millenarianism'. Examples of millenarian mythopoiesis, discussed elsewhere (Esler 1993: 187—8; 1994: 101—4), include the ghost dance among North American Indians in the late nineteenth century and the cargo cults of twentieth-century Melanesia (in the South Pacific). Jewett (1986: 161-78) has usefully applied millenarian ideas to i and 2 Thessalonians
v. 15, first emphasizing the authority of what he is about to say (it is a 'word of the Lord'; v. I5»), Paul now expands upon the precise nature of the vindication he is holding out for those who have died. Those who are living, who survive to the parousia of the Lord, will not have any advantage over those who have died (v. i$b). It is difficult to know what Paul means by a 'word of the Lord' here. Possible meanings include a saying of Jesus (not otherwise extant), a statement by a prophet among the Christ-followers, a fragment of some unknown text, or (perhaps most likely) his own view but spoken as the Lord's agent and therefore the Lord's. It is also unclear whether the 'word of the Lord' relates only to the statement in v. 15 or whether it extends to the end of v. 17. The former is more likely, because Paul had presumably already told them the broad outline of what we have in w. 16—17; vJ5 contains the new element that required to be supported by the appeal to authority.
w. 16—17, me Lord himself—accompanied by a cry of command, the call of an angel, and the trumpet of God—will come down from heaven and those who have died in Christ will rise first, then those who are living, who survive, will be snatched up together with them in the clouds to a meeting with the Lord in the air, so to be with the Lord for ever. Here we have a futurist myth derived partly from Israelite tradition but given a new slant in the context of the belief in Christ's death and resurrection which saw him exalted to the right hand of God (Acts 2:33; Rom 8:34). The myth deals with Christ's descent (based on his preceding ascent to God) which presupposes a first-century cosmology in which heaven is located above the earth. The cry of command is probably to be taken as uttered by Jesus and as addressed to the dead that they should rise. A trumpet also appears in connection with resurrection and the
(the latter letter he regards as authentic). Millennialism provides a second useful etic framework for contextualizing this part of i Thessalonians. It is worth noting that although deprivation of some sort cannot simply be said to explain the origin of millennial movements, it is often one aspect of the experience of the membership and provides an important part of the context that needs to be taken into account in understanding its futurist myth. (4:13-18) The Circumstances of this Coming v. 13, Paul wants them to know that they should not grieve about those who 'are sleeping' (NRSV 'who have died'), 'as others do who have no
I THESSALONIANS I2IO
starkly the nature of the opposed identities of in-group and out-group, the first highly positive and the second very negative indeed. Here we have a good example of the stereotypical group-categorization characteristic of the way one group generates a favourable social identity for itself, w. 6—7, Paul persists with his continuing process of group differentiation in a related area of imagery by exhorting them not to sleep like the others (by implication, people of the night) but to keep awake and be sober—for those who sleep and those who get drunk do so at night, v. 8, since he and they belong to the day, he says, they should be sober, thus reinforcing still further the reality of group differentiation using imagery of day and night which he began way back at v. 4. Yet now he adds a new element—they should do so having put on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of hope of salvation. In this latter clause he summons before his readers the triad of faith, love, and hope (and in that order) which he introduced in the third verse of the letter. This is really to pile identity-descriptors on identity-descriptors!
end-time at i Cor 15:52 (also see Isa 27:13; Zeph 1:14-16). While most myths relate to past events, helping a particular group to gain access to its formative, primordial past (Eliade 1989), a myth of the future such as this is rather different. It serves to stress the goal rather than the basis of a social order and thus has a prescriptive rather than a prescriptive function (Doty 1986: 44—9; Esler 1993:186). Paul's Thessalonian converts would have been reassured by the details of this narrative that another order of reality existed, and that the difficult events of their present and recent past were occurring within a context controlled by heavenly forces who would ultimately restore their fortunes beyond their wildest dreams. Yet although the creation of hope in a future vindication forms part of such mythopoiesis, it is not the end of the story. For a futurist myth such as this also creates an imaginary experience in the present of that which is to come, and thus reinforces the social identity of its addressees at a time when they are exposed to external threat (Esler 1994: 109).
(5:1-11) The Need for Wakefulness v. i, Paul indicates that he does not need to tell them about dates and times, presumably because he has already done so. He does not want to become involved in the discussion of an end-time calendar, v. 2, what they already know is that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, that is, quite unexpectedly. The 'day of the Lord' was well established in Israelite tradition. It was to be a time of joy for some and terror for others. Thus Isaiah had written that on 'that day' a great trumpet would sound and the scattered ones in Assyria and Egypt would come to worship the Lord on Jerusalem's holy mountain (Isa 27:13). Zephaniah, on the other hand, had presented a bleaker picture: a day that would be a day of wrath, of anguish and torment, of destruction and devastation, when the Lord would bring dire distress upon the people (Zeph 1:14—18). Paul must have imparted some of this material to his ex-idolatrous converts, no doubt painting a happy future for them and an unhappy one for sinful out-groups.
When Paul refers to putting on (endusamenoi) the breastplate of faith and love (thoraka pisteos kai agapls) and the hope of salvation for a helmet (perikephalaian elpida soterias), he is alluding either to Isa 59.17 or Wis 5:18 (which is presumably dependent on Isaiah), or both. The Isaian passage reads: 'He put on (enedusato) righteousness as a breastplate (dikaiosunln thoraka) and placed the helmet of salvation (perikephalaian soteriou) on his head', while the one from Wisdom has: 'He will put on righteousness as a breastplate (endusetai thoraka dikaiosunln), and he will don true judgement instead of a helmet.' Paul has changed the phrase 'breastplate of righteousness' to 'breastplate of faith and love', while adding the word 'hope' to the expression 'helmet of salvation', which he otherwise retains. Paul's treatment of the possible Septuagintal source(s) means, first, that faith and love represent a way of describing the condition of being a Christ-follower analogous to that expressed by 'righteousness'. Secondly, however, the alteration indicates that in writing to Gentiles he has deliberately chosen to substitute the former for the latter, presumably because he found 'righteousness' inappropriate for such an audience (Esler 1998: 156-7). The function fulfilled by the language of holiness in relation to a Gentile audience in i Thessalonians is served later in relation to mixed Israelite and Gentile groups in Galatians and Romans by the discourse of righteousness.
v. 3, Paul illustrates his previous statement with two connected examples showing how people will not escape. First, it is just when people are saying 'peace and security' (tirene kai asphalda) that suddenly disaster overtakes them just as, secondly, the pain of childbirth comes upon a pregnant woman. The latter example is a commonplace of domestic human experience (although often mentioned as a sign of the End: Mk 13:8), but the former relates to the political realities of Thessalonica. Some coins minted at Thessalonica contained slogans with the similar words 'freedom and security', probably reflecting the advantages the local elite derived from Rome and the Roman imperial cult (Jewett 1986: 124). The 'peace' to which Paul refers is presumably the Pax Romana. Paul is alluding to the fragility of the comfortable relationship between the rulers of the city and Rome (Hendrix 1984), which could at any time suffer a disastrous reverse.
v. 9, Paul's statement that God has destined them not for anger but for obtaining salvation through their Lord Jesus Christ makes explicit for the first time the nature of the fate, the awesome wrath of God (see Zeph 1:14-18, noted above), hanging over out-groups, who are again sharply differentiated from the believers in Christ to whom salvation will be extended. The nature of that salvation is set out in i Thess 4:16-17, while the ambit of the anger is not. v. 10, Jesus Christ is described as the one who died for us so that 'awake or asleep' (that is, dead, as in i Thess 4:13—16), we will live together with him. This the first time in Paul's correspondence that we find the important formula 'Christ died for' with a further word or words indicating the person(s) for whom he died (also see i Cor 15:3; 2 Cor 5:14; 5:15; Rom 5:615:8; 14:15). De Jonge (1990: 233—4) has argued that this expression, which preceded Paul's use of it since he cites it in i Cor 15:3 as a tradition he had
w. 4—5, Paul introduces the imagery of light and darkness to distinguish between Christ-followers, whom the day (of anger) will not 'surprise... like a thief, and others in Thessalonica. The Christ-followers are all sons of light and sons of day who do not belong to night or darkness; by implication, then, the others are sons of night and sons of darkness who do not belong to light or day. Such a powerful dualism presents very
I THESSALONIANS
v. 26, the source of the holy kiss of the movement is unknown; possible sources include the historical Jesus, Judaism, or pagan religion, v. 27, suddenly Paul changes to first person singular, presumably because he has taken the stylus in his own hand to write the last few words (as at i Cor 16:21; Gal 6:11), and solemnly commands them to read the letter to all the brothers. It is hard to determine how all the brothers (and a textual variant adds 'holy' to brothers) relate to the Thessalonians mentioned in the first verse. Perhaps he means to ensure that those who first received the letter should read it aloud to everyone in a meeting of the congregation (Best 1972: 246-7). v. 28, Paul ends with a form of benediction which must have become conventional among Christ-followers.
received, always serves as a foundation for the claim that God's salvation has become reality or at least has been inaugurated, to highlight the new state of life into which Christfollowers have been transferred. Within a social identity framework, one might add that the notion of Jesus' death for his followers is what enables the creation of their identity and also fills it with positive evaluative and emotional dimensions, v. n, the sentiment is similar to, while going a little further than, that of 4:18.
Final Exhortations and Greetings (5:12-28)
This section contain a series of largely unrelated pieces of advice, ending with prayers.
(5:12-13) Honouring Leaders w. 12-13, Paul asks me Thessalonians to respect those who labour amongst them, who 'care for' (or, possibly, with the NRSV, 'have charge of) 'you... and admonish you'. He wants his addressees to esteem them very highly in love because of their work and to be at peace with one another. Best (1972: 226) reasonably suggests that we should not interpret these verses as indicating there was a ministry among the congregation in the city. The fact that the 'leaders' are described by their activities and not by titles suggests that they have none. Clearly Paul is at pains that the Thessalonians should not engage in the antagonistic conduct common among unrelated males in this culture. (5:14-22) Christian Identity-Indicators Paul here strings together various aspects of desirable identity-indicators. Some of them are norms (that is, 'ethical' duties), but others, such as to rejoice and pray, are not. w. 14-15, the statements here constitute what are essential norms for maintaining the identity of Christ-followers. It is noteworthy, however, that in spite of the group-differentiation that Paul has pursued throughout the letter, he specifically extends the scope of their doing good from the members of the congregation to everyone. There are limits to how far he will go with the process of group-categorization and certainly the all-too-common advocacy of violence against out-group members plays no part whatever in his perspective, w. 16-18, rejoicing and continual prayer are essential aspects of their identity as Christ-followers, v. 19, they must not quench the Spirit, by which Paul means that they must permit the charismatic gifts associated with the coming of the Spirit—which was a major distinguishing feature of the movement and no doubt made it attractive to members, because of the euphoria Spirit-possession can produce, v. 20, prophecy is one of the gifts of the Spirit (see i Cor 12:10) and Paul calls on them not to despise it. w. 21-2, Paul mentions further attitudes which should characterize the identity of the Thessalonians.
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72. 2 Thessalonians P H I L I P F. E S L E R
preferable solution, in spite of very respectable views to the contrary. Possible explanations for 2 Thessalonians on either hypothesis will now be addressed. Particular issues relating to this debate will come up in the comments below.
A. The problem of authenticity. 1. The dominant preliminary issue in the interpretation of 2 Thessalonians is the controversy as to whether Paul wrote this letter or not. The answer greatly affects how the letter is to be understood. It should be noted at once that there is virtually no support for reversing the traditional order of i and 2 Thessalonians (for reasons well explained by Jewett (1986: 24-30); contra Trudinger (1995), revisiting the views of J. Weiss and T W. Manson). Doubts as to the authenticity of 2 Thessalonians are stimulated primarily by its close literary relationship to i Thessalonians. Many critics, but especially William Wrede (1903), have noted that the topics in the two letters are covered in the same sequence and the themes of the first letter are reflected with minor variations in the second, even if there are few examples with exactly the same wording. Thus, the renewed thanksgiving of i Thess 2:12 is repeated at 2 Thess 2:12, prayers in the optative mood introduced by 'the Lord (God) himself appear at similar points (cf i Thess 3:11-13 and 5:23 with 2 Thess 2:16-17 and 3:16), and there are many verbal parallels (see Menken 1994: 36—9 for the comparative data and Best 1972: 50—1). Only 2 Thess 2:1—12 has no parallel in i Thessalonians. On the other hand, both letters are very different in these respects from the other Pauline letters. These literary similarities occur in spite of some major differences in the contents of the two letters, especially in relation to views on the parousia (with i Thessalonians saying that Christ is expected to come soon and suddenly while 2 Thessalonians argues that his coming will be preceded by other events) and the lack of personal details about Paul and the Thessalonians of the type found in i Thess 2:1-12; 13-16; and 3:1-13. The tone of 2 Thessalonians is also generally agreed to be rather cold in comparison with that of i Thessalonians.
B. Some Possible Explanations for 2 Thessalonians if Authentic.
1. Best (1972: 59) suggests that 2 Thessalonians was written by Paul from Corinth shortly after i Thessalonians 'to meet a new situation in respect of eschatology and a deteriorating situation in respect of idleness', although he notes that 'we do not know from where Paul received his information'. He proposes that Paul probably wrote with much of i Thessalonians in his memory rather than that he worked from a copy of i Thessalonians.
2. Jewett (1986: 176—8, 191—2) has a much more particular explanation. It is that 'for some reason' Paul's first letter, impacting on a community alive with millenarian excitement, actually provoked the radical members at Thessalonica, who misunderstood Paul to such an extent as to conclude that the day of the Lord had arrived and to behave in accordance with this belief (e.g. by curtailing certain everyday activities such as work). Paul responds by writing 2 Thessalonians, a refutation of this false doctrine written in a very different tone.
3. Barclay (1993) has proposed an interesting new answer to the relationship between the eschatologies in i and 2 Thessalonians which offers a more specific explanation for how the Thessalonians misunderstood Paul's first letter. After noting Wrede's (1903: 526) difficulty in suggesting a convincing setting for the letter, Barclay argues that the references to fierce persecution (1:4—9),me problem of people networking (3:6—13), and the claim by some thatthe day of the Lord is here (2:2) suggest a specific situation. Having examined and rejected existing answers as to what 'the day of the Lord' means at 2 Thess 2:2 (see commentary), he proposes a new alternative, namely, that in i Thessalonians it is possible to draw a distinction which Paul did not himself draw between parousia (4:13-18) and the day of the Lord (5:1-11) and the latter is associated with the sudden destruction of unbelievers. So, maybe some Christians in Thessalonica reacted to a local (or perhaps widespread) disaster by claiming that it manifested the wrath of God, thereby creating turmoil and encouraging some to give up their jobs and and continue urgent, full-time evangelism. Thus Paul is compelled to write another letter perhaps only a matter of weeks after the first wherein the friendly encouragement gives way to a more frigid and authoritarian tone.
2. Many critics consider that the best explanation for such features is that 2 Thessalonians is an imitation of the other letter written later to Thessalonica or to some other community of Christ-followers which draws upon the earlier letter to enhance its authority. While those who consider 2 Thessalonians inauthentic usually seek to reconstruct a situation which would render its creation plausible, given our incomplete knowledge of the Christ-movement in the first century their failure to come up with a convincing particular audience and setting does not, as sometimes suggested (Jewett 1986:318; Barclay 1993: 526), itself invalidate their arguments, although it will mean they are less than compelling. Supporters of authenticity, on the other hand, need to explain what had happened that induced Paul to write a second letter to Thessalonica using language and structure so similar to that in i Thessalonians; and to the present writer the difficulties with this hypothesis are greater than those raised by the view that the letter is not by Paul (see Bailey 1978-9). As Menken
4. A major question hanging over proposals like those of Jewett and Barclay is that if Paul's first letter had been misunderstood why would he not try to persuade them with a completely new approach, rather than risking a letter which stylistically aped the earlier one, and also strongly protest about their egregious misinterpretation of the earlier letter. 2 Thess 2:2 certainly does not fulfil the latter function, in contrast with i Cor 5:9—13, which clearly indicates how Paul
(1994: 27-43) argues, while no one argument is capable of sustaining a case for inauthenticity, overall this seems the
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millennialism occurred was radically different from modern, individualistic cultures of Europe and North America. The ancient Mediterranean world was one where, at an appropriate level of abstraction and without in any way denying local variations, people found meaning by belonging to groups
went about correcting a misimpression drawn from an earlier letter.
C. Possible Explanations for 2 Thessalonians if Inauthentic. 1. Proponents of the inauthenticity of 2 Thessalonians have come up with a variety of dates and situations for the letter. Wrede himself dated it to about 100 CE and suggested it was written not for Thessalonica (for Thessalonians would ask where it had lain all these years) but for another church which knew of the existence of other Thessalonian correspondence. Masson (1957) proposed that it was written about 100 CE to counter the belief that the day of the Lord had come. On the other hand, Marxsen (1968: 37—44; 1982) favoured an earlier date, around 70 CE, arguing that the letter was intended to counter Gnostics, especially their (false) claim that the day of the Lord had come. If Paul's letters had been collected, as generally supposed, by about 100 CE, an earlier date for the composition of 2 Thessalonians would be preferable (see 2 THESS 3:17).
(especially the family), honour was the principal social value, all goods (material and immaterial) were regarded as existing in finite quantities, and relationships between patrons and clients (sometimes mediated by other individuals referred to as 'brokers'; see Moxnes 1991) were common as a way of dealing with access to limited material and social goods. These are the most important of an ensemble of cultural features originally identified and applied to the NT by Bruce Malina in 1981 (now see Malina 1993).
4. The fact that Paul probably did not write 2 Thessalonians does not entail taking a condemnatory attitude to whoever— pseudonymously—claimed he had. Pseudonymity is a common feature in the Bible (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isa 40—55 and 55-66), let alone in the profuse writings of the Pseudepigrapha themselves (see Bailey 1978-9: 143-5). Meade (1986) has plausibly argued that the phenomenon occurred when it was felt necessary to make traditions capable of application to new situations, so that it becomes an assertion of authoritative tradition, not literary origin. The closeness of the style of this pseudepigraphic document to i Thessalonians is perhaps explicable out of the high respect in which its author held Paul. It is reasonable, therefore, that some time in the first century, probably after Paul's death in Rome in the later 6os, someone faced with a situation having the three broad features mentioned above sought faithfully to reinterpret Pauline tradition in a way which would benefit those addressed. The (non-Pauline) authors of Ephesians, Titus, and i and 2 Timothy adopted the same strategy, although faced with very different situations.
2. 2 Thessalonians has been understood as a response to millennialism in a Mediterranean context. The three substantive issues of local context recognized in the letter are the existence of some form of oppression being suffered by the addressees (1:4-6), the disturbance caused by the message that 'the day of the Lord has come' (2:1—12), and the disorderly conduct of certain Christ-followers who are refusing to work for a living. On the (preferable) assumption that these issues derive from an actual situation somewhere in the ancient Mediterranean world, and do not just comprise a notional setting aimed at allowing someone to draft a letter in Pauline style, we are faced with what modern social scientists refer to as an outbreak of millennialism. Across the world, we know of many instances of groups, generally (although not always) suffering from some form of oppression or disturbance of traditional social patterns, who generate or revive narratives of a coming transformation of the world which will radically restore them to their proper place and, often, destroy those who oppress them (Duling 1996; Esler 1993; 1994: 93~IO9)- Examples, discussed elsewhere (Esler 1993:187-8; 1994:1014), include the ghost dance among North American Indians in the late nineteenth century and the cargo cults of twentiethcentury Melanesia. Jewett (1986:161—78) has usefully applied millenarian ideas to 2 Thessalonians, although his treatment is affected by his view that the letter is authentic. The view adopted here is that millennialism provides the best framework for contextualizing the letter in a general way, even though we cannot be sure for which troubled community of first-century Christ-followers it was written. Although biblical critics generally use the now rather tired and overworked word 'eschatological', which derives from a theological agenda, to refer to end-time speculation in such texts as Dan 7—12 and i Enoch, the framework of 'millennialism' allows a fresh set of questions originating in real social experience to be posed to texts such as 2 Thessalonians. Attempts, such as that of Menken (1994), to discuss this dimension to 2 Thessalonians almost solely in relation to (the undoubtedly important) framework of end-time speculation in Israelite biblical and extrabiblical literature, have an unnecessarily limited focus.
5. In what follows I will refer to the author of this letter as 'Paul' (with inverted commas) or 'the author' because of the view taken here that the historical Paul was not its author.
D. Structure. 2 Thessalonians, like i Thessalonians, can be given a structure based on thematic, epistolary, or rhetorical considerations (helpfully summarized by Jewett 1986: 222— 5). It is doubtful, however, whether the rigorous application of ancient rhetorical or epistolary categories to various sections of the letter does much to further our understanding of it. Accordingly, in the commentary I will adopt the following
(pragmatic) structuration, essentially thematic in type, while making occasional reference to possible epistolary or rhetorical subdivisions:
Prescript (1:1-2) Thanksgiving and Encouragement (1:3—12) The End and the Man of Lawlessness (2:1—12) Encouragement to Persevere (2:13-17) Mutual Prayer (3:1-5) Warning against Idlers (3:6—12) Conclusion (3:13—18)
(1:1—2) Prescript This is the beginning of one long sentence (1:1-12). Rhetoricians would call this section the 'exordium'.
3. It is always worth remembering that the social context of the ancient Mediterranean world in which this example of
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count you worthy'. The judgement Paul has in mind is the judgement of God at the end-time (usually, although not very helpfully, referred to as 'eschatological') commonly described in Israelite literature (i Enoch 1:1-9; 2 Esd 7.33-44; Apoc. Abr. 29.14-29; D. F. Russell 1964: 379-85). Without doubting their actual existence for the original audience of 2 Thessalonians, the troubles referred to in the text are capable of interpretation as the 'woes' before the end attested in other Israelite and Christian literature (Dan 12:1; 2 Apoc. Bar. 25.2—4; Mk 13:19, 24; Rev 7:14). Thus we see a merger of experience and religious tradition located in biblical and non-biblical Israelite literature typical of this text and other early Christian literature. It is likely, however, that Menken (1994: 85—7) is mistaken in seeing the current sufferings of the Thessalonians
Letters in the ancient Mediterranean began with a prescript, comprising the names of the senders and the addressees and a brief greeting, in Greek typically chairei, 'hail'. These verses constitute the prescript to 2 Thessalonians. The senders (Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy) and addressees ('ekkllsia, the community'—'church' sounds a little anachronistic—'of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ') are the same as in i Thessalonians, while the greeting has been Christianized (a practice possibly inaugurated by Paul) even further here by an additional reference to Jesus Christ as Lord and God as Father, v. 2, by invoking upon the addressees grace (charis) and peace (tirene; Heb. salom) from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, comes close to putting them on an equal footing, unless we are meant to see God as patron and Jesus Christ as broker in accordance with common Mediterranean social patterns, that is, a mediator who gives clients access to the resources of a more powerful patron (Moxnes 1991: 248).
(which will absolve them from future judgement) as caused by their own sinfulness, since this conflicts with the good things said about them earlier in the text.
w. 6—7», the sentiment here represents a rather bald example of the law of revenge (lex talionis). Although modern European or North American readers might find this puzzling, in ancient Mediterranean culture serious insults, which desecrated one's honour, had to be avenged. Thus God will bring vengeance on those who have dishonoured his people
(1:3-12) Thanksgiving and Encouragement v. 3, after the prescript, Paul often includes a thanksgiving for the good qualities of his addressees (Rom 1:8—10; i Cor 1:4—8; Phil 1:3—6; but not in Galatians, where Paul is too annoyed with his audience to engage in the usual courtesies!). Yet here he says 'we must always give thanks to God', rather than 'we thank God', which seems to some critics a rather more formal expression, even though he does go on to mention that their faith is growing and their love for one another increasing. The first person plural may reflect the fact that three persons are named as senders of the letter, or represent an example of the 'epistolary plural', where a single writer talks of himself or herself in the plural.
(see Deut 32:35-6) and therefore slighted him as well. This is a fairly common biblical theme. In particular Isa 66:6 refers to 'the voice of the LORD dealing retribution to his enemies' and Aus (1976) has suggested that this section of Isaiah may have influenced this verse and what follows. 'Rest' (tmesis) refers to the absence of tension and trial. The persecution and oppression mentioned in w. 6—7 may be likened to the disturbance of traditional lifestyles suffered by North American Indians or Melanesians at the hands of European conquerors or colonists. In North America and Melanesia (in the South Pacific) millennial myths developed which described a coming convulsion in the cosmos when the white people would be swept away, so that the traditional lifestyles would be restored, the ancestors return, the game revisit the plains, or cargo be dropped on the people from the sky (see Esler 1994: 101—4, and literature cited there). The punishment for the oppressors and vindication of the oppressed in 2 Thessalonians reflects a somewhat similar social experience, v. jb, the author now specifies when (or by what means) the events just mentioned will occur, literally: 'at the revelation (apocalypsis) of Lord Jesus Christ from heaven with the angels of his power'. Firstcentury Christ-followers thought Jesus had gone to heaven after his resurrection and that he would return from there (i Thess 1:10; 4:16; i Cor 1:7; i Pet 1:7, 13). Such beliefs were fortified (if not stimulated) by Israelite traditions describing future vindicators of Israel, such as i Enoch 48:4-6 and Dan 7:13. Normally Paul uses parousia of the future coming of Jesus, the sole use of apocalypsis in this regard being at i Cor 1:7. The angels represent the heavenly host or court who accompany God when he comes in judgement (Zech 14:5; i Enoch 1.9), although the early Christ-movement attached them to Jesus (Mk 8:38; 13:27).
v. 4, virtually all translations (including the NRSV) have 'Paul' saying something like 'we ourselves boast' among the communities (NRSV 'churches') of God concerning your steadfastness and faith in all persecutions (diogmoi) and afflictions (thlipsds). But 'boast', which carries a negative connotation to modern ears, is a mistranslation. In a grouporiented culture dominated by honour as the pre-eminent virtue and always needing to be acknowledged by others, 'Paul' is saying that 'we ourselves base our claim to honourp' on the qualities mentioned. He can say this in relation to the relevant public (here 'the communities of God') either because he is intrinsically linked to the Thessalonians' endurance and faith as their progenitor, or because he is closely connected with the Thessalonian Christ-followers who now exhibit these qualities, or both. Also see i Thess 2:19; 2 Cor 9:2-3. The presence of persecutions and oppressions among whatever group of Christ-followers for which 2 Thessalonians was originally destined provides either the motivation for, or reinforcement of, narratives of future deliverance of the sort prominent in the text.
v. 5 begins 'This is evidence' (enddgma). But to what stated previously does endeigma refer? Possibly to their faith and steadfastness while they suffer persecution and tribulation (Best 1972: 254-5), but it is more probable, given the tight interconnection of v. 4, that it refers to the fact that Paul lays his claim to honour on these characteristics: 'our claiming honour from your endurance and faith before the other communities (who did not demur) is a sure sign that God will also
v. 8, in flaming fire, Jesus will mete out vengeance (ekdikIsis) on those who do not know God and those who do not obey his gospel. The notion of fire as a feature of the vengeance God would inflict on his enemies originates in the OT (Isa 66:15— 16) and here the theme is linked to the activities of Jesus.
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though from us' can mean either a forgery or a letter which he did write that is now being misinterpreted. If Paul had actually written 2 Thessalonians, he would have signally failed to address either alternative. For he neither denounces the letter as a forgery nor seeks directly to correct the misinterpretation. The statement is easier to interpret on the hypothesis of pseudonymity. Paul's letters were difficult and liable to be misunderstood (see 2 Pet 3:15-16). This could have been the fate of i Thess 4:13—5:11. There were several statements in this passage that could have been used to support an argument that the day of the Lord had come. 2 Thess 2:2 makes good sense as an attempt by its author to counter a misinterpretation of i Thess 4:13-5:11.
There seems no basis for seeking to distinguish those mentioned into two groups comprising Gentiles and Israelites, v. 9, we now learn what the vengeance will consist of: 'the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might'. The punishment does not consist of total annihilation, but of exclusion from God and, importantly in an honour-driven society, from his exalted and powerful honour. This vision is very different from the tortured future in store for the wicked in later Christian texts, v. 10 further specifies the occasion for these events: 'when he comes to be glorified [i.e. greatly honoured] by his saints' etc., while also evoking the fate of the blessed as contrasted with that of those who will be punished. Honour is shared among groups and here his followers revel in the great things he has done. The notion of'the day (of judgement)' is a common feature of Israelite end-time speculation (see Joel 2:1-2; Zech 9:16; Mai 3:1-2). w. ii—12, 'Paul' informs the Thessalonians that he regularly prays for them, by asking God to make them worthy of his calling and powerfully fulfil every good resolution and work of faith. The object of all this is specified in v. 12: 'so that the name of our Lord Jesus maybe glorified [i.e. greatly honoured] in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ'. Although this situation has been described as 'mutual glorification' (Menken 1994: 94), it is possible to improve on such a designation. For here we have the typical Mediterranean phenomenon of sharing honour among the members of a group. If we understand God as father or patron, Jesus as broker, and the believers as clients, we have a fictive kinship arrangement in which Jesus honours
Barclay (1993: 526), who considers 2 Thessalonians authentic, canvasses earlier suggestions as to whether the 'day of the Lord is here' means: (i) a literal event—altering the structure of the universe, which is unlikely since no such event had occurred in the experience of the audience of 2 Thessalonians; (2) an internal and personal reality, entry into a new world, which remains a popular view, especially if linked to some kind of spiritualized or Gnostic understanding of the parousia; or (3) something which has not yet occurred but is imminent, an option that is now generally regarded as grammatically impossible. Barclay himself proposes a fourth alternative. It is possible to draw from i Thessalonians a distinction that Paul did not himself make between parousia (4:13—18) and the day of the Lord (5:1—11), the latter being associated with the sudden destruction of unbelievers. Perhaps the Thessalonians interpreted certain calamitous events in the early 503 of the first century as the sudden destruction of unbelievers, thus triggering a belief that 'the day of the Lord' had arrived. If one regards the letter as inauthentic and takes what is probably the more likely view that the parousia and the day of the Lord would have been understood by the recipients of 2 Thessalonians as referring to the same event, what meaning might one attach to 'the day of the Lord is here'? One possibility is that people had appeared claiming to be Christ and that such claims were troubling the target audience of this letter (so Menken 1994: 100—i). Mk 13:6 (to be dated sometime shortly before or after 70 CE) provides a basis for this suggestion.
(and is honoured in) them and they honour (and are honoured in) him.
The final statement, 'according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ', indicates a very close relationship between the two, if not necessarily equating Jesus with God
(Best 1972: 272-3).
(2:1—12) The End and the Man of Lawlessness v. i, 'Paul' now moves on to what is called in epistolary nomenclature the 'body' of the letter, or in the language of rhetoric the partitio (coveringw. 1—2), with the probatio beginning atv. 3. Paul begs them in connection with 'the coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together (episynagoge) to him'. In Hellenistic Greek the word parousia referred to the arrival of a high official at a city or town, to the accompaniment of elaborate greetings and celebrations. But the word came to be applied to the imminent arrival of Jesus from heaven (i Thess 2:19; 3:13: 4:15; 5:23; i Cor 15:23; Mt 24:27, 37, 39; Jas 5:7, 8). The notion of God gathering in his people is found in the OT, either from exile (Isa 27:13; 43:4—7; Jer 31:8) or for final salvation (2 Mace 2:7; Sir 36:10). In Psalms of Solomon 17.26 it is said that the Messiah will gather in the people. Modern parallels exist in the form of the individuals who focus and lead a millennial movement (Esler 1994: 99).
w. 3—4, Paul expresses concern that someone might deceive them. Deception prior to the end is also mentioned in the Markan apocalypse (13:5) and here seems to relate to the date of the parousia. The second clause in v. 3 opens with the words 'because unless', which begin the protasis of an anacoluthon, a sentence containing two conditions, which continues until the end of v. 4 without being rounded off with an apodosis, a statement of what will happen, presumably requiring something like 'the parousia of the Lord will not occur'. The first condition required is the apostasy or rebellion (apostasia). The lack of specification as to who will apostasize and in what way suggests that the author could count on the original recipients of 2 Thessalonians knowing what was meant. For modern readers, however, both aspects are difficult. At a general level the word refers to the dramatic breakdown of the legal, moral, social, and even natural order which is predicted in certain Israelite and NT texts of the period before the end (Jub. 23:14— 21; 2 Esd 5:1—13; 2 Tim 3:1—9; Jude 17—19). Yet uncertainty surrounds the issue of whom the apostasy will involve:
v. 2, the content of Paul's entreaty is that his addressees should not be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a prophetic utterance ('a spirit') or a word or letter 'as though from us', saying that 'the day of the Lord is already here'. This is one of the most important verses in the letter. 'A letter as
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Jewish and Christian tradition, is that the restraining power is God's plan of salvation and the restraining person is God himself. Less likely is the idea that the power is the Roman empire and the person is the emperor himself, especially in view of the author's lack of interest in the political realm. Lietaert Peerbolte (1997), finally, makes the interesting suggestion that these words are deliberately obscure, allowing 'Paul'—who has no answer for the delay of the parousia—to create the illusion among the readers of 2 Thessalonians that there is an answer of which the original Thessalonians were aware.
Israelites, Christ-followers, Gentiles, or representatives from all three possible groups.
The second condition needing to be fulfilled is the revealing of'the lawless one' (lit. the person of lawlessness: ho anthropos tls anomias), immediately described as 'the one destined for destruction' (lit. the son of destruction). Expressions similar to these occur in the OT (Ps 89:23; Isa 57:4) and in the Qumran literature (iQS 9:16, 22; CD 6:15; 13:14^. In Jn 17:12 Judas is called 'a son of destruction'. It is then stated that he (the lawless one) 'opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God'. While this figure plainly encapsulates the lawlessness (or the 'sin', if—as seems unlikely—the variant reading here is correct) which will characterize the apostasy preceding the End, it has not proved easy to identify him with any known character in Jewish or Christian literature. It is even unclear whether he is a human or supernatural figure, although we should be careful to avoid the modern tendency sharply to distinguish these realms. Elsewhere we find false false messiahs and prophets predicted for the time before the End (Mk 13:21-2) and presumably the person of lawlessness is somewhat similar. We must presume that in the millennial mythopoiesis (that is to say, the creation of myth, see Esler 1993:186-7) which had already occurred in the community for which this letter was written the person of lawlessness had been allocated a central role. The details in v. 4 show how this mythopoiesis was able to draw upon existing aspects in Israelite tradition in describing how the lawless person would behave. He will be like Antiochus IV Epiphanes who tried to extirpate Israelite religion and identity (in the period 167—164 BCE), as described in i Mace 1:16—64 an(^ Dan 11:36-7, Pompey (who entered the temple in Jerusalem; see Pss Sol. 17:11-15) and Caligula who wanted to install statues of himself in the temple (Jos. J.W. 2.184—5).
v. 8, 'then the lawless one (ho anomos) will be revealed, whom the Lord (Jesus) will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.' Whatever or whoever restrains the lawless person (an equivalent of'the person oflawlessness' at v. 3), there is no doubt that it is Jesus who will kill him once he is revealed. The author's determination to make this point leads him to it before he has actually described the lawless one's revelation (in w. 9-10). The manner of the killing, by 'the breath of his mouth', derives from Isa 11:4 ('by the breath of his lips he will kill the impious'; LXX). w. 9—10, in a second relative clause the author describes the coming of the lawless one as taking place through Satan's activity with 'all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing'. The picture of signs and wonders which will be worked by agents of evil before the End is reminiscent of Mk 13:22; Rev 13:14; 19:20. w. 11-12, 'For this reason', presumably their failing to accept the love of the truth, God sends on them a power of delusion to make them believe in falsehood, 'so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness (adikia) will be condemned'. Menken (1994: 117) points out that divine causality appears here to match the human causality of the preceding verse. There is an OT context for God inspiring false prophets in i Kings 22:23 an(^ Ezek 14:9, while an idea somewhat similar to what is said here occurs at Rom 1:18-32.
v. 5, 'Paul' asks if they do not remember that he used to tell them (i.e. on more than one occasion) of these things when he was still with them. This statement, loosely based on i Thess 3:4, serves to provide an air of reality to the pseudonymous fiction. There is no mention in i Thessalonians of either the apostasy or the person of lawlessness, w. 6-7, the author affirms that 'you know what is now restraining (katechon) him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes. For the mystery of lawlessness (anomia) is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains (katechon) it is removed.' These are extremely difficult verses (see Lietaert Peerbolte 1997; Powell 1997). The chief problems have to do with the movement from a restraining power or thing to a restraining person, with the person of lawlessness as the implied subject of restraint, and with the identity of the restrainer and the restraint. But even to translate the Greek using 'that or who restrains' means opting for one among several possibilities (others being 'possess' or 'hold sway'). Possibly (see below), the original readers of this letter knew what or who was meant, although the expression does not occur elsewhere in Jewish or Christian writings dealing with the End. This phenomenon may have been an element of the mythopoiesis concerning the End with which they were familiar. The answer may simply be beyond us (Best 1972: 301). Yet one option worth mentioning, suggested by Strobel (1961: 98—116) and based on the possible influence of Hab 2:3 as interpreted in
(2:13—17) Encouragement to Persevere w. 13—14, quite suddenly 'Paul' changes tack, by launching into a second thanksgiving (following the precedent in i Thess 2:13). The reason for the thanks is that God has established the notional Thessalonian addressees (who stand for the original audience of this letter) as a differentiated and privileged group in the world, with a particular history and a glorious destiny (which links the thanks to the previous material about the End). They are 'brothers [NRSVhas "brothers and sisters"] beloved by the Lord', whom God (as in OT traditions of divine election) chose 'from the beginning [though the uncertain Gk. could also mean "as the first fruits"; NRSV] for salvation through sanctification (hagiasmos) by the Spirit and through belief in the truth'. God called them to this through 'Paul's' gospel, to obtain the exalted honour (doxa) of Jesus Christ. Such descriptions serve the fundamental purpose of delineating their identity, that is, providing answers to the always vital question 'Who are we?' The word 'sanctification' in particular serves to distinguish them and their present experience from the welter of idolatry and immorality implied as characteristic of the world outside the group. On the other hand, 'salvation' expresses the future goal of their existence; it is very common for people to tell themselves who they are in terms of their sense
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confidence in the Lord that they are following and will continue to follow his commands. In a pseudonymous letter this is a way of encouraging the target audience to adhere to the message associated with Paul. Specifics of the instruction will be provided in 3:6—12. v. 5, 'Paul' prays that the Lord may 'direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ'. This prayer takes the audience to the source of their ability to carry out the instructions. It is probable that the author appeals to Christ's steadfastness to provide them with a role model during the current difficulties they are experiencing. (3:6-15) Warning against Loafers v. 6, 'Paul' commands the 'Thessalonians' to avoid every member of the congregation who is living 'in a disorderly way' (ataktos) and not in accordance with the tradition (paradosis) they received from him. The word ataktos appears again at v. n, where the author describes how certain of his addressees are behaving, and 'Paul' himself denies he behaved in such a way at v. 7. It is reasonably clear from the associations of the word in w. 6—15 that by 'disorderly' the author means 'not in accordance with the discipline of working and supporting oneself, thus behaving like a loafer (hence 'living in idleness' in the NRSV). Scholars have long explained this idleness as rooted in 'eschatological' excitement produced by a belief in the imminence of the parousia of Christ (see R. Russell 1988: 105-7). Several examples of millennialism in modern times, moreover, have revealed that a belief in the imminent or actual transformation of the world can produce, not surprisingly, a breakdown in belief in the need for everyday activities, such as work. Rejection of work and the usual social order can be associated with exaggerated behaviour and often a belief in a return to a Golden Age which preceded the current period and its tribulations (Jewett 1986: 173-5; Esler 1994: 101). In the unknown community for whom 2 Thessalonians was written it is likely that such attitudes had made an appearance and needed to be attacked. If Menken (1994: 130—3) is correct in assuming that underlying the order which 'Paul' would like to be restored is the rule of work that originated in the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden in Gen 3:17—19, it is possible that those refusing to work were appealing to the alleged reestablishment of prelapsarian bliss to support their position.
of where they are going (Esler 1998: 42, 175). In this heavily group-oriented culture, it is natural that the members of the group will share in the honour of their most honourable and honoured leader.
v. 15, the author encourages them to stick resolutely to the traditions (paradoseis) which they have received by word of mouth (diet logon) or in a letter. It is likely that the original recipients of 2 Thessalonians would have interpreted the letter mentioned here as i Thessalonians. The oral proclamation referred to was presumably teaching they had already received with which 'Paul' concurred. We must imagine a situation, therefore, in which the author is saying in effect, 'Just as the Thessalonians were told by Paul to rely on his earlier letter and the teaching given them in the community, so too must you', w. 16—17, moving easily from thanks to intercession, 'Paul' now offers a prayer that Jesus Christ and the God 'who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort (paraklesis) and good hope' might comfort (parakaleiri) and strengthen their hearts 'in every good work and word'. The prominence of Jesus in this prayer indicates the fairly high Christology characteristic of the letter. 'Good hope' seems to derive from mystery cults as a way of referring to life after death (Best 1972: 321); mystery cults, such as those of Eleusis, offered their adherents a relation of intense communion, often ecstatic in nature, with a god. (3:1-5) Mutual Prayer Many critics arguing for a rhetorical structure to the letter regard v. i as beginning its exhoHatio. Epistolary theorists tend to see here the beginning of a series of moral admonitions (Jewett 1986: 224-5). wI~2> in a Wa7 somewhat similar to that of i Thess 5:25, 'Paul' asks the adelphoi, literally 'brothers' but presumably also meant to include female members of the congregation (so perhaps 'brethren'), to 'pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified [i.e. "greatly honoured"] everywhere, just as it is among you, and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people; for not all have faith'. If 2 Thessalonians is pseudonymous, such a sentiment conveys an aura of verisimilitude, but also serves to legitimate—that is, to explain and justify the existence and identity of—whatever community this letter was originally intended for. They would be reassured of the value of their faith and of the fact that their sharp differentiation from sinful and uncomprehending outsiders was just what Paul had indicated would be the lot of the Thessalonians. Yet a similar conclusion could be drawn if the letter is authentic, only now it would be the Thessalonians themselves for whom the point was being made. The hostile reception that Paul and his co-workers had received figures both in the clearly genuine correspondence (such as Rom 15:30-1; 2 Cor 1:8-11; and i Thess 2: 2) and also in the deutero-Pauline writings, such as in 2 Tim 3:10-11; 4:16-18). v. 3, the author asserts the faithfulness of the Lord, who will strengthen and guard them from the evil one, and this quality stands in stark contrast to the lack of faith (and the evil associated with it) mentioned in the previous verse. It is noteworthy that although this statement is probably based on i Thess 5:24, here the faithful one is the Lord (that is, Jesus Christ) and not God, which indicates the move to a higher Christology in 2 Thessalonians. v. 4, now 'Paul' expresses his
R. Russell (1988) proposes a different view (which has been challenged recently by Romaniuk 1993), that this idleness has nothing to do with end-time excitement, but is a result of the urban poor finding support within the social networks of Christ-fearers and then giving up work. A similar view has more recently been presented by Jewett (1993), who proposes that the early Christ-movement was likely to have been located in the tenement houses of the non-elite, where the system of internal support would have been jeopardized by the refusal of some members to contribute.
w. 7—8, 'Paul' offers himself as a model for them, inasmuch as he did not exhibit the disorder of idleness when he was amongst them, but worked day and night so as not to be a burden on them by eating at their expense. Imitation of Paul is a reasonably common theme in the genuine Pauline epistles (i Cor 4:16,11:1; Phil 3:17; i Thess 1:6). v. 8b is closely based on i Thess 2:9, and there are similar statements at i Cor 9:12; 1518; 2 Cor 11:7—8; 12:13. m these passages, however, Paul is
i2ig
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author of 2 Thessalonians seems to claim—wrongly—that this was Paul's universal practice, Jewett's (1986: 6) conclusion that this itself indicates authenticity since otherwise the author would be casting doubt on other Pauline letters not bearing the addition is unwarranted if the letter were written before the collection of Paul's letters towards the end of the first century. On the other hand, i Thessalonians does not bear Paul's self-attestation and this strengthens Jewett's point if 2 Thessalonians was originally directed to Christ-followers who possessed i Thessalonians. The self-conscious (and unique) way in which the author draws attention to the practice in 3:17 by saying that 'This is the mark' (semeion, sign) is itself suspicious, v. 18, the letter ends with a standard benediction.
seeking to allay any suspicion that he preached the gospel for personal profit, while in 2 Thessalonians the point is made to encourage the target audience to imitate him in this respect, v. 9, the author notes he had a right to be supported by the congregation, even though he did not exercise it, in order to offer them a model for imitation, a theme introduced in v. 7. v. 10, by mentioning that he had previously told them in their presence that anyone unwilling to work should not be fed, 'Paul' makes explicit the precise nature of the disorder which has been implied hitherto—the fact that some members of the congregation are living off the others. There are parallels to this saying (which has been frequently cited out of its context ever since), in Prov 10:4; 12:11; 19:15; and PseudoPhocylides, Sentences, 153—4.
v. n, here again is a reference to disorder, now with an unequivocal core meaning brought to the surface in v. 10, together with the disturbing news—expressed in a pun— that some of them are not busy at work (ergazomenous) but busybodies (periergazomenous). Presumably the author has in mind here some exaggerated type of behaviour of the sort common among millennial movements, but its precise nature remains unclear. Not only are they not working, but they are interfering with the work of others, v. 12, 'Paul' follows up the statement in v. n with a direct exhortation to the troublemakers here: 'to do their work quietly and to earn their own living' (lit. eat their own bread). The reference to quietness here suggests that their current state is one of loud activity or excitement, no doubt associated with the millennial belief that 'the day of the Lord is already here' (2:2).