Texts in Conversation
The phrase “mystery of lawlessness” in 2 Thessalonians resembles Genesis Apocryphon in the Dead Sea Scrolls that describes corruption and forbidden practices. Both represent early Jewish apocalyptic traditions about hidden evil revealed in history.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1Q20 1:2
Genesis Apocryphon
Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Retellings
1 […] … descending, and with the women 2 […] … and also the mystery of wickedness, which 3 […] … and the mystery that 4 […] … not making known 5 […] … 6 … […] until 7 … […] 8 the day … […] them 9 all … […] … 10 drugs, sorceries, and [magic …] … 11 the earth … […] part of 12 the deed that … […] … upon 13 and the evil to … […] …
Date: 160–60 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
2 Thessalonians 2:7
New Testament
5 Surely you recall that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you. 6 And so you know what holds him back, so that he will be revealed in his own time. 7 For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. However, the one who holds him back will do so until he is taken out of the way, 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. 9 The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders,
Date: 80–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Moreover, the mystery of evil. This is the Aramaic equivalent of the Qumran Hebrew expression 'mysteries of sin' (1Q27 1:2; 1QH 5:36; fragment 50:5; compare 1QM 14:9). A striking New Testament parallel, used however in a different sense, is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 ... 'the mystery of lawlessness is already at work' ..."
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Genesis Apocryphon of Qumran Cave 1 (1Q20): A Commentary, 3rd ed., BibOr 18/B (Rome: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2004), 120.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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