Passage

2 Thessalonians 2.1-3

Book: 2 Thessalonians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

1. Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him; 2. to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand; 3. let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,

he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. 5. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, ASV)

WEB

1. Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him, we ask you 2. not to be quickly shaken in your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by letter as from us, saying that the day of Christ had come. 3. Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction,

he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God. 5. Don’t you remember that, when I was still with you, I told you these things? (2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, WEB)

KJV

1. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, ^{unto him: or, around him} 2. That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, KJV)

YLT

1. And we ask you, brethren, in regard to the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together unto him, 2. that ye be not quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled, neither through spirit, neither through word, neither through letters as through us, as that the day of Christ hath arrived; 3. let not any one deceive you in any manner, because, if the falling away may not come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of the destruction,

who is opposing and is raising himself up above all called God or worshipped, so that he in the sanctuary of God as God hath sat down, shewing himself off that he is God, [the day doth not come]. 5. Do ye not remember that, being yet with you, these things I said to you? (2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle, correcting a report that the day of the Lord had already come.
Audience: The church at Thessalonica, capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and a free city on the Via Egnatia. Paul had planted the congregation only months earlier (Acts 17:1-9) and left the city under duress; the believers were still under local pressure, and had been unsettled by a report that the day of the Lord had already arrived (2:2).
Location: Most probably Corinth, where Silvanus and Timothy were with Paul (Acts 18:5), written shortly after 1 Thessalonians.
Time period: c. AD 50-52. The date is anchored by the Gallio inscription at Delphi, which places the proconsulship of Achaia held by Gallio (Acts 18:12) at roughly AD 51-52.

Theological reading

The problem being fixed. Someone had told the Thessalonians that the day of the Lord was already present. Paul lists three possible channels for the claim, a spirit, a spoken word, or a letter "as if from us," and does not say which one it was. He appears not to know, which is why he supplies a hand-written signature at 3:17.

"Do not be quickly shaken or alarmed." The first verb pictures something knocked from its moorings; the second is a present tense of continuing agitation. Paul is addressing a congregation in a state of ongoing fear, not a doctrinal curiosity.

The argument from sequence (2:3). Paul's answer is not a date but an order. Two things must appear first: the apostasia and the revealing of "the man of lawlessness." Whatever these are, the readers can see that neither has happened, so the claim that the day is present is false on its face. This is a falsifiable pastoral argument rather than a prediction.

Apostasia. The noun means a defection or standing away, used in the Greek Old Testament for rebellion against God. A minority reading takes it as a physical departure, but the word's usage and the immediate pairing with the lawless one favour religious rebellion.

Textual note. The best manuscripts read "man of lawlessness" where the later tradition reads "man of sin." The sense is close, and the reading with the stronger support fits the chapter, which returns twice more to lawlessness.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G3563 - nous, nous, Strong's G3563
G3952 - parousia, parousia, Strong's G3952
G0266 - hamartia, hamartia, Strong's G0266
G3056 - logos, logos, Strong's G3056
G5207 - huios, huios, Strong's G5207
G4151 - pneuma, pneuma, Strong's G4151

Quoted in

Concepts:

Lexicon:

G3563 - nous, via 2 Thessalonians 2.2
G3952 - parousia, via 2 Thessalonians 2.1
G5207 - huios, via 2 Thessalonians 2.3

Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.