the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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2 Thessalonians 2:2
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Don't let yourselves be easily upset or worried if you hear that the day of the Lord has already come. Someone might say that this idea came from us—in something the Spirit told us, or in something we said, or in a letter we wrote.
not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
that ye be not sodely moved from youre mynde and be not troubled nether by sprete nether by wordes nor yet by letter which shuld seme to come from vs as though the daye of Christ were at honde.
to the end that you won't 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 Messiah had come.
that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
Do not become easily upset in your thinking or afraid if you hear that the day of the Lord has already come. Someone may have said this in a prophecy or in a message or in a letter as if it came from us.
to the end that you are 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;
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.
not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
to the end that you won't 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.
and our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind or terrified, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand.
not readily to become unsettled in mind or troubled--either by any pretended spiritual revelation or by any message or letter claiming to have been sent by us--through fancying that the day of the Lord is now here.
that ye be not mouyd soone fro youre witt, nether be aferd, nether bi spirit, nether bi word, nether bi epistle as sent bi vs, as if the dai of the Lord be nyy.
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 [now] present;
not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter presuming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come.
not to be easily upset or disturbed by people who claim that the Lord has already come. They may say that they heard this directly from the Holy Spirit, or from someone else, or even that they read it in one of our letters.
not to be quickly unsettled or alarmed either by a [so-called prophetic revelation of a] spirit or a message or a letter [alleged to be] from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has [already] come.
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;
That you may not be moved in mind or troubled by a spirit, or by a word, or by a letter as from us, with the suggestion that the day of the Lord is even now come;
not to be easily shaken in your thinking or anxious because of a spirit or a spoken message or a letter supposedly from us claiming that the Day of the Lord has already come.
that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as [if it were] by us, as that the day of the Lord is present.
that you be not soon moved in your minds, nor perturbed, nor by word, nor by spirit, nor by letter, which (may be) as (if it were) from us, that, Behold, the day of our Lord cometh!
that ye be not soon agitated in your mind, nor be troubled, neither by word, nor by spirit, nor by letter, as coming from us, that lo, the day of our Lord is at hand.
That yee bee not soone shaken in minde, or bee troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from vs, as that the day of Christ is at hand,
Don't be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don't believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us.
do not be troubled in mind or worried by the talk you hear. Some say that the Lord has already come. People may say that I wrote this in a letter or that a spirit told them.
not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.
That ye be not suddenly mooued from your minde, nor troubled neither by spirit, nor by worde, nor by letter, as it were from vs, as though the day of Christ were at hand.
That you let not your minds be hastily excited or troubled, neither by word, nor by prophecy of the spirit, nor by an epistle, supposedly from us, stating that the day of our LORD is at hand.
That ye be not quickly tossed from your mind, nor be put in alarm - either by spirit, or by discourse, or by letter as by us, as that the day of the Lord, hath set in:
That you be not easily moved from your sense nor be terrified, neither by spirit nor by word nor by epistle. as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand.
That ye be not sodenlye moued from [your] minde, nor be troubled, neither by spirite, nor by worde, nor yet by letter, as from vs, as though the daye of Christe were at hande.
not to be so easily confused in your thinking or upset by the claim that the Day of the Lord has come. Perhaps it is thought that we said this while prophesying or preaching, or that we wrote it in a letter.
not to be easily upset or troubled, either by a prophecy or by a message or by a letter supposedly from us, alleging that the day of the Lord has come.
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.
that you not be easily shaken from your composure, nor be troubled either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter alleged to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has arrived.
for you not to be quickly shaken in the mind, nor to be disturbed, neither through a spirit, nor through speech, nor through letter, as through us, as if the Day of Christ has come.
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;
that ye be not sodenly moued fro youre mynde, and be not troubled, nether by sprete, nether by wordes, ner yet by letter, which shulde seme to be sent from vs, as though ye daye of Christ were at hande.
you would not by any pretended revelation, by any discourse or epistle ascrib'd to us, be immediately perplex'd in your minds, or under any concern for the approach of the day of the Lord.
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.
not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ [fn] had come.
Don't let those who say Jesus has already came back get under your skin. Believe me, he's coming back to get us.
that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
that you not be quickly shaken in your mind or be alarmed whether by a spirit or a word or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
shaken: Isaiah 7:2, Isaiah 8:12, Isaiah 8:13, Isaiah 26:3, Matthew 24:6, Mark 13:7, Luke 21:9, Luke 21:19, John 14:1, John 14:27, Acts 20:23, Acts 20:24, Ephesians 5:6, 1 Thessalonians 3:3
by spirit: Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Jeremiah 23:25-27, Micah 2:11, Matthew 24:4, Matthew 24:5, Matthew 24:24, 2 Peter 2:1-3, 1 John 4:1, 1 John 4:2, Revelation 19:20
nor by letter: 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 2 Peter 3:4-8
Reciprocal: Luke 17:24 - in Acts 3:20 - General Acts 11:12 - the Spirit 1 Corinthians 11:26 - till Ephesians 4:14 - tossed Philippians 4:5 - The 2 Thessalonians 2:15 - whether Hebrews 13:9 - carried
Cross-References
But Jesushe">[fn] answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I, too, am working."John 9:4; 14:10;">[xr]
For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day as follows: "On the seventh day God rested from all his works,"Genesis 2:2">[fn]Genesis 2:2; Exodus 20:11; 31:17;">[xr]
Gill's Notes on the Bible
That ye be not soon shaken in mind,.... Or "from your mind or sense", as the Vulgate Latin version; or "from the solidity of sense", as the Arabic version; that is, from what they had received in their minds, and was their sense and judgment, and which they had embraced as articles of faith; that they would not be like a wave of the sea, tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine; or be moved from the hope of the Gospel, from any fundamental article of it, and from that which respects the second coming of Christ particularly; and especially, that they would not be quickly and easily moved from it; see Galatians 1:6
or be troubled; thrown into consternation and surprise, for though the coming of Christ will not be terrible to saints, as it will be to sinners; yet there is something in it that is awful and solemn, and fills with concern; and to be told of it as at that instant might be surprising and shocking: the several ways in which their minds might be troubled and distressed with such an account are enumerated by the apostle, that they might guard against them, and not be imposed upon by them:
neither by spirit; by a prophetic spirit, by pretensions to a revelation from the Spirit, fixing the precise time of Christ's coming, which should not be heeded or attended to; since his coming will be as a thief in the night:
nor by word: by reason and a show of it, by arguments drawn from it, which may carry in them a show of probability; by enticing words of man's wisdom; by arithmetical or astronomical calculations; or by pretensions to a word, a tradition of Christ or his apostles, as if they had received it "viva voce", by word of mouth from any of them:
nor by letter, as from us; by forging a letter and counterfeiting their hands, for such practices began to be used very early; spurious epistles of the Apostle Paul were carried about, which obliged him to take a method whereby his genuine letters might be known; see 2 Thessalonians 3:17 or he may have respect in this clause to his former epistle, wherein he had said some things concerning the Coming of Christ, which had been either wrongly represented, or not understood; and as if his sense was, that it would be while he and others then living were alive and on the spot: wherefore he would not have them neither give heed to any enthusiastic spirits, nor to any plausible reasonings of men, or unwritten traditions; nor to any letters in his name, or in the name of any of the apostles; nor even to his former letter to them, as though it contained any such thing in it,
as that the day of Christ is at hand; or is at this instant just now coming on; as if it would be within that year, in some certain month, and on some certain day in it; which notion the apostle would have them by no means give into, for these reasons, because should Christ not come, as there was no reason to believe he would in so short a time, they would be tempted to disbelieve his coming at all, at least be very indifferent about it; and since if it did not prove true, they might be led to conclude there was nothing true in the Christian doctrine and religion; and besides, such a notion of the speedy coming of Christ would tend to indulge the idle and disorderly persons among them in their sloth and negligence: and now for these, and for the weighty reasons he gives in the next verse, he dissuades them from imbibing such a tenet; for though the coming of Christ is sometimes said to be drawing nigh, and to be quickly, yet so it might be, and not at that instant; besides, such expressions are used with respect to God, with whom a thousand years are as one day, and one day as a thousand years; and because the Gospel times, or times of the Messiah, are the last days, there will be no other dispensation of things until the second coming of Christ; and chiefly they are used to keep up the faith, and awaken the hope and expectation of the saints with respect to it. The Alexandrian copy, and some others, read, "the day of the Lord"; and so the Vulgate Latin version; and accordingly the Syriac and Ethiopic versions, "the day of our Lord".
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
That ye be not soon shaken in mind - The word here used signifies, properly, to be moved as a wave of the sea, or to be tossed upon the waves, as a vessel is. Then it means to be shaken in any way; see Matthew 11:7; Matthew 24:29; Luke 6:38; Acts 4:31; Hebrews 12:26. The reference here is to the agitation or alarm felt from the belief that the day of judgment would soon occur. It is uniformly said in the Scriptures, that the approach of the Lord Jesus to judge the world, will produce a great consternation and alarm. Matthew 24:30, “then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.” Revelation 1:7, “behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” Luke 23:30, “then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills Cover us;” compare Isaiah 2:21-22.
Of the truth of this, there can be no doubt. We may imagine something of the effects which will be produced by the alarm caused in a community when a belief prevails that the day of judgment is near. In a single year (1843) 17 persons were admitted to the Lunatic Asylum in Worcester, Mass., who had become deranged in consequence of the expectation that the Lord Jesus was about to appear. It is easy to account for such facts, and no doubt, when the Lord Jesus shall actually come, the effect on the guilty world will be overwhelming. The apostle here says, also, that those who were Christians were “shaken in mind and troubled” by this anticipation. There are, doubtless, many true Christians who would be alarmed at such an event, as there are many who, like Hezekiah Isaiah 38:1-2, are alarmed at the prospect of death. Many real Christians might, on the sudden occurrence of such an event, feel that they were not prepared, and be alarmed at the prospect of passing through the great trial which is to determine their everlasting destiny. It is no certain evidence of a want of piety to be alarmed at the approach of death. Our nature dreads death, and though there may be a well-founded hope of heaven, it will not always preserve a delicate physical frame from trembling when it comes.
Or be troubled - That is, disturbed, or terrified. It would seem that this belief had produced much consternation among them.
Neither by spirit - By any pretended spirit of prophecy. But whether this refers to the predictions of those who were false prophets in Thessalonica, or to something which it was alleged the apostle Paul had himself said there, and which was construed as meaning that the time was near, is not certain. This depends much on the question whether the phrase “as from us,” refers only to the letters which had been sent to them, or also to the “word” and to the “spirit,” here spoken of; see Oldshausen on the place. It would seem, from the connection, that all their consternation had been caused by some misconstruction which had been put on the sentiments of Paul himself, for if there had been any other source of alarm, he would naturally have referred to it. It is probable, therefore, that allusion is made to some representation which had been given of what he had said under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and that the expectation that the end of the world was near, was supposed to be a doctrine of inspiration. Whether, however, the Thessalonians themselves put this construction on what he said, or whether those who had caused the alarm represented him as teaching this, cannot be determined.
Nor by word - That is, by public instruction, or in preaching. It is evident that when the apostle was among them, this subject, from such causes, was prominent in his discourses; see 2 Thessalonians 2:5. It had been inferred, it seems, from what he said, that he meant to teach that the end of the world was near.
Nor by letter - Either the one which he had before written to them - the First Epistle to the Thessalonians - or one which had been forged in his name. “As from us.” That is, Paul, Silas, and Timothy, who are united in writing the two epistles 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1, and in whose names a letter would be forged, if one of this description were sent to them. It has been made a question, whether the apostle refers here to the former epistle which he had sent to them, or to a forged letter; and on this question critics have been about equally divided. The reasons for the former opinion may be seen in Paley’s Herin Paulinae, in loc. The question is not very important, and perhaps cannot be easily settled. There are two or three circumstances, however, which seem to make it probable that he refers to an epistle which had been forged, and which had been pretended to be received from him. (1.) one is found in the expression “as from us.” If he had referred to his own former letter, it seems to me that the allusion would have been more distinct, and that the particle “as” (ὡς hōs) would not have been used. This is such an expression as would have been employed if the reference were to such a forged letter.
(2) A second circumstance is found in the expression in the next verse, “Let no man deceive you by any means,” which looks as if they were not led into this belief by their own interpretation of his former epistle, but by a deliberate attempt of some one to delude them on the subject.
(3) Perhaps a third circumstance would be found in the fact that it was not uncommon in early times of Christianity to attempt to impose forged writings on the churches. Nothing would be more natural for an impostor who wished to acquire influence, than to do this; and that it was often done is well known. That epistles were forged under the names of the apostles, appears very probable, as Benson has remarked, from chap. 2 Thessalonians 3:17; Galatians 6:11; and Philemon 1:19. There are, indeed, none of those forged epistles extant which were composed in the time of the apostles, but there is extant an epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, besides the two which we have; another to the Laodiceans, and six of Paul’s epistles to Seneca - all of which are undoubted forgeries; see Benson in loc. If Paul, however, here refers to his former epistle, the reference is doubtless to 1 Thessalonians 4:15, and 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, which might easily be understood as teaching that the end of the world was near, and to which those who maintained that opinion might appeal with great plausibility. We have, however, the authority of the apostle himself that he meant to teach no such thing. “As that the day of Christ is at hand.” The time when he would appear - called “the day of Christ,” because it would be appointed especially for the manifestation of his glory. The phrase “at hand,” means near. Grotius supposes that it denotes that same year, and refers for proof to Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 3:22; Galatians 1:4.Hebrews 9:9. If so, the attempt to fix the day was an early indication of the desire to determine the very time of his appearing - a disposition which has been so common since, and which has led into so many sad mistakes.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 2 Thessalonians 2:2. Be not soon shaken in mind — αποτουνοος. From the mind; i.e. that they should retain the persuasion they had of the truths which he had before delivered to them; that they should still hold the same opinions, and hold fast the doctrines which they had been taught.
Neither by spirit — Any pretended revelation.
Nor by word — Any thing which any person may profess to have heard the apostle speak.
Nor by letter — Either the former one which he had sent, some passages of which have been misconceived and misconstrued; or by any other letter, as from us - pretending to have been written by us, the apostles, containing predictions of this kind. There is a diversity of opinion among critics concerning this last clause, some supposing that it refers simply to the first epistle; others supposing that a forged epistle is intended. I have joined the two senses.
The word σαλευθηναι, to be shaken, signifies to be agitated as a ship at sea in a storm, and strongly marks the confusion and distress which the Thessalonians had felt in their false apprehension of this coming of Christ.
As that the day of Christ is at hand. — In the preface to this epistle I have given a general view of the meaning of the phrase the coming of Christ. Now the question is: Whether does the apostle mean, the coming of Christ to execute judgment upon the Jews, and destroy their polity, or his coming at the end of time, to judge the world? There are certainly many expressions in the following verses that may be applied indifferently to either, and some seem to apply to the one, and not to the other; and yet the whole can scarcely be so interpreted as to suit any one of these comings exclusively. This is precisely the case with the predictions of our Lord relative to these great events; one is used to point out and illustrate the other. On this ground I am led to think that the apostle, in the following confessedly obscure words, has both these in view, speaking of none of them exclusively; for it is the custom of the inspired penmen, or rather of that Spirit by which they spoke, to point out as many certain events by one prediction as it was possible to do, and to choose the figures, metaphors, and similes accordingly; and thus, from the beginning, God has pointed out the things that were not by the things that then existed, making the one the types or significations of the other. As the apostle spoke by the same Spirit, he most probably followed the same plan; and thus the following prophecy is to be interpreted and understood.
