Chapter 2

1 Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,⁠ 2 not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.⁠ 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship,⁠ and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God.⁠ 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, 10 and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved. 11 Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.⁠ 12 And so all of them who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evil will be condemned. 13 But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 He called you to this salvation through our gospel, so that you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions that we taught you, whether by speech or by letter. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good thing you do or say.

Texts in conversation

Compare Jubilees 10:3 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions · New Testament

Summary

2 Thessalonians warns of a future “man of lawlessness” whose destruction is certain, using apocalyptic language to stress his inevitable fate. Jubilees uses similar language when describing people after the flood who were also destined to be destroyed.

Passages

Jubilees 10:3

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions

1 And in the third week of this jubilee the unclean demons began to lead astray Noah's grandchildren, and to make them go astray and destroy them. 2 And the sons of Noah came to Noah their father, and they told him concerning the demons which were leading astray and blinding and killing his grandsons. 3 And he prayed before the Lord his God, and said: 'God of the spirits of all flesh, who have shown mercy to me And have saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood, And have not caused me to perish as You did the people destined for destruction; For Your grace has been great toward me, And Your mercy to my soul has been great; Let Your grace extend over my sons, And do not let wicked spirits rule over them So that they do not destroy them from the earth. 4 But bless me and my sons, so that we may increase and multiply and fill the earth.

170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

2 Thessalonians 2:3

New Testament

1 Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God. 5 Surely you recall that I used to tell you these things while I was still with you.

80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Thessalonians

References

"... The Johannine image of Jesus the 'shepherd', of which the reader will undoubtedly be reminded here, has a deeper and more all-embracing grasp of Jesus' care to preserve in faith (compare contra, 10:13): he 'knows' his own, gives his life for them, gives them eternal life (10:28a) and keeps them in God's sphere. The continuation of this verse, with the 'son of perdition' in view, is a justification on Jesus' part with regard to the traitor, whom he himself chose from among the twelve (see 6:70; 13: 18). What is striking here is the new beginning, since this verb (which is used elsewhere in the gospel only in 12:25 and 12:47, but with a different meaning) narrows down the idea of 'keeping' to 'guarding' or 'protecting'. The only one of this protected discipleship who has been lost is the 'son of perdition', who can only be the traitor Judas. The obscure fact of his betrayal and his elimination from the group of disciples chosen by Jesus, the circle of 'his own' (see 13:1, 30), is once again, as in 13:18, illuminated by the statement that 'the scripture might be fulfilled'. The scriptural text of Psalm 41:10 quoted explicitly in 13:18 is clearly in mind here. No other scriptural reference to the 'son of perdition' can be found. Other texts that have been considered here are: 2 Samuel 12:5 ('a son of death'); Isaiah 57:4 ('children of transgression'); Jubilees 10:3 (the same); Matthew 23:15 ('a son of hell'). These are similar formations to those that occur in the Qumran documents (1 QS 9:16; 10:19; Dam 6:15; 13:14), but they are not the source of John 17:12, nor are they closely analogous, since the Johannine text mentions an individual person ..."

Rudolf Schnackenburg, The Gospel According to St. John (London: Burns & Oates, 1980), 181–182.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

2 Thessalonians3 chapters

Compare Jubilees 10:3 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3

Summary

Passages

Jubilees 10:3

2 Thessalonians 2:3

References

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