Passage
2 Thessalonians 2.10-11
Book: 2 Thessalonians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV
8. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming; 9. even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10. and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11. And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:
- that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13. But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: (2 Thessalonians 2:8-13, ASV)
WEB
8. Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; 9. even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10. and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11. Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie;
- that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13. But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth; (2 Thessalonians 2:8-13, WEB)
KJV
8. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
- That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: (2 Thessalonians 2:8-13, KJV)
YLT
8. and then shall be revealed the Lawless One, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the manifestation of his presence, 9. [him,] whose presence is according to the working of the Adversary, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders,
10. and in all deceitfulness of the unrighteousness in those perishing, because the love of the truth they did not receive for their being saved, 11. and because of this shall God send to them a working of delusion, for their believing the lie,
- that they may be judged, all who did not believe the truth, but were well pleased in the unrighteousness. 13. And we, we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, that God did choose you from the beginning to salvation, in sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, (2 Thessalonians 2:8-13, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: Paul the Apostle, on the relation between refusing truth and being given over to falsehood.
- 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 order of the two verses is the whole interpretation. Verse 10 states a refusal: they "did not receive the love of the truth." Verse 11 states a consequence: "God sends them a strong delusion." The refusal comes first in the text and the sending follows, which frames the delusion as judicial ratification rather than as the origin of the unbelief.
"The love of the truth." Paul does not write that they failed to hear the truth or failed to understand it. The object refused is he agape tes aletheias, affection for the truth. This is why the same people can be described in verse 12 as having "taken pleasure in unrighteousness." The categories are volitional.
"So as to be saved." The purpose clause makes clear that the truth in view is the gospel, not truth in the abstract.
"God sends." The verb is a plain present active with God as subject, and softening it into mere permission is not translation. What the passage does supply is the sequence, and the parallel at Romans 1:24-28, where the giving over is repeatedly presented as God handing people to what they have already elected.
A pastoral use, and a misuse. The verses were written to explain why an unbelieving world would be taken in by a counterfeit, and to reassure a church that this is neither surprising nor outside God's governance. They were not written to let anyone read the state of another person's heart.
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.
- G0622 - apollymi, apollymi, Strong's G0622
- G0225 - aletheia, aletheia, Strong's G0225
- G4982 - sozo, sozo, Strong's G4982
- G0026 - agape, agape, Strong's G0026
- G4100 - pisteuo, pisteuo, Strong's G4100
- G3956 - pas, pas, Strong's G3956
Quoted in
Arguments and defeaters:
Concepts:
- Church at Thessalonica, via 2 Thessalonians 2.1-12
- Rapture Timing Comparison, via 2 Thessalonians 2.1-12
Lexicon:
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.