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 Sibylline Oracles 5:33 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

Summary

The fifth Sibylline Oracle predicts that the returning Nero will make himself equal to God before he is judged. 2 Thessalonians uses very similar language for a coming lawless figure who presents himself as God.

Passages

Sibylline Oracles 5:33

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

31 acting the athlete, driving chariots, putting to death and daring countless things; 32 and he will split the mountain of two seas and sprinkle it with gore; but out of sight 33 the destructive man will also vanish; then, making himself equal to God, 34 he will return; but God will prove him nothing.

150 BCE – 700 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Sibylline Oracles

2 Thessalonians 2:4

New Testament

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

... Mention should also be made here of the expectation of a return of the Roman Emperor Nero. He died in 68 CE, and soon after his death rumours arose that he had not died but had fled to Parthia, from where he would return to Rome. One Jewish text in which this expectation is reflected is the fifth book of the Sibylline Oracles. The Sibylline Oracles are a collection of Jewish and Christian oracles attributed to the pagan Sybil. In the (Jewish) fifth book, dating from the period 80–132 CE, we find a passage about Nero in which his lawlessness and his divine pretensions (evident from, among other things, his attempt to dig a channel through the Isthmus of Corinth) are prominent: ...who one day will lay hands on his own family and slay them, and throw everything into confusion, athlete, charioteer, murderer, one who dares one thousand things. He will also cut the mountain between two seas and defile it with gore. But even when he disappears he will be destructive. Then he will return declaring himself equal to God. But he will prove that he is not. (5.29–34; translated by J. J. Collins, in Charlesworth 1983:393) ...

Maarten J. J. Menken, 2 Thessalonians, New Testament Readings (London: Routledge, 1994), 106–107.

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 Sibylline Oracles 5:33 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4

Summary

Passages

Sibylline Oracles 5:33

2 Thessalonians 2:4

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library