Passage

2 Thessalonians 2.6-7

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

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

4. 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?

6. And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. 7. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way.

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, (2 Thessalonians 2:4-9, ASV)

WEB

4. 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?

6. Now you know what is restraining him, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. 7. For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way.

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, (2 Thessalonians 2:4-9, WEB)

KJV

4. 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?

6. And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. ^{withholdeth: or, holdeth} 7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

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, (2 Thessalonians 2:4-9, KJV)

YLT

4. 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?

6. and now, what is keeping down ye have known, for his being revealed in his own time, 7. for the secret of the lawlessness doth already work, only he who is keeping down now [will hinder], till he may be out of the way,

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, (2 Thessalonians 2:4-9, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle, referring to instruction the Thessalonians had already received in person.
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 most debated two verses in the letter. Something neuter "restrains" now (verse 6), and someone masculine "restrains" now (verse 7). Paul writes as though the readers already know what he means, which is consistent with 2:5, and that is exactly why the modern reader does not.

Katecho. The verb can mean to hold down or hold back, and also to hold fast or possess. The restraining sense fits the sentence, which contrasts the present holding with a future removal, but the lexical range is worth noting because a minority reading takes the participle in the opposite direction, of one who holds sway.

The main proposals. The Roman state with its emperor; the preaching of the gospel with the missionary who carries it; the restraining work of God through the church; a supernatural or angelic agent; and, less commonly, the principle of civil order as such. The neuter and masculine pairing is what any proposal has to explain, since it implies both a force and a person.

"The mystery of lawlessness is already at work." Mysterion in Paul is normally a disclosed secret, and here the noun is applied to evil: what will one day be public is already operating out of sight. The sentence keeps the passage from being purely futurist. Whatever is coming is a culmination of something present.

"Until he is taken out of the way." The Greek is literally "until he comes out of the midst," and it does not by itself specify who removes whom. Reconstructions that make this verse carry a detailed programme are asking more of it than it says.

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.

G2722 - katecho, katecho, Strong's G2722
G3466 - mysterion, mysterion, Strong's G3466
G2540 - kairos, kairos, Strong's G2540
G1492 - oida, oida, Strong's G1492
G1096 - ginomai, ginomai, Strong's G1096

Quoted in

Concepts:

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.