2 Thessalonians 1

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 2 Thessalonians 1:1 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
2. 2 Thessalonians 1:2 tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”
3. 2 Thessalonians 1:2 tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A F G I 0278 1175 1241 1505 2464 M lat sy sa) have ἡμῶν (hēmōn) after πατρός (patros), reading “God our Father,” in apparent emulation of Paul’s almost universal style. The omission of the pronoun (the reading of B D P 0111^vid 33 1739 1881 SBL) seems to be the earlier wording of this salutation. As well, the intrinsic evidence also supports the shorter reading: If 2 Thessalonians is authentic, it was one of Paul’s earliest letters, and, if so, his stereotyped salutation was still in embryonic form (see discussion at 1 Thess 1:1). NA²⁸ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
4. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
5. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 tn Grk “as is worthy.”
6. 2 Thessalonians 1:5 tn Grk “so that you may be made worthy.” The passive infinitive καταξιωθῆναι (kataxiōthēnai) has been translated as an active construction in English for stylistic reasons.
7. 2 Thessalonians 1:6 tn Grk “if in fact/since,” as a continuation of the preceding.
8. 2 Thessalonians 1:7 tn Grk “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.”
9. 2 Thessalonians 1:7 tn Grk “angels of power,” translated as an attributive genitive.
10. 2 Thessalonians 1:8 tn Grk “meting out,” as a description of Jesus Christ in v. 7. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 8 in the translation.
11. 2 Thessalonians 1:8 sn An allusion to Jer 10:25, possibly also to Ps 79:6 and Isa 66:15.
12. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 tn Grk “who,” describing the people mentioned in v. 8. A new sentence was started here in the translation by replacing the relative pronoun with a personal pronoun.
13. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 tn Or “power,” or “might.” The construction can also be translated as an attributed genitive: “from his glorious strength” (cf. TEV “glorious might”; CEV “glorious strength”; NLT “glorious power”).sn An allusion to Isa 2:10, 19, 21.
14. 2 Thessalonians 1:10 tn Or “marveled at.”
15. 2 Thessalonians 1:10 tn Grk “because our testimony to you was believed.”
16. 2 Thessalonians 1:11 tn Or “your calling.”
17. 2 Thessalonians 1:12 tn Or “by means of.”