2 Thessalonians (New Testament Readings)

180 Pages·1994·2.77 MB·English

by  Maarten J.J. Menken

2 Thessalonians

The second letter to the Thessalonians, ascribed to Paul, is a difficult
text for modern readers. Maarten Menken aims to make the letter
accessible by treating it from a predominantly historical point of view,
as part of a process of communication between its sender and the
original addressees.
A new translation of the short Greek text is provided. The book then
examines three important aspects of its historical context: letter genre,
authorship, and religious milieu. The nature of ancient letter-writing is
discussed. Professor Menken offers an extensive introduction to
apocalyptic eschatology and considers the implications of this element
of the letter for our understanding of its original message. 2
Thessalonians is an apostolic, advisory letter, not written by Paul
himself but by a later author who placed himself in the Pauline
tradition, and who was at home in the realm of thought and the
imagery of apocalyptic eschatology. Part 2 of Professor Menken’s book
offers an extensive commentary on the letter and examines its literary
structure in detail.
2 Thessalonians: Facing the end with sobriety will appeal to theologians,
ministers of religion, students of theology and all those interested in
biblical studies.
Maarten J.J.Menken is Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the
Catholic Theological University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. His
previous publications include Numerical Literary Techniques in John (1985)
as well as many contributions to periodicals and collected essays. He
is Editorial Secretary of Novum Testamentum, an International Quarterly
for New Testament and Related Studies.
New Testament Readings

Edited by John Court
University of Kent at Canterbury
JOHN’S GOSPEL
Mark W.Stibbe
EPHESIANS
Martin Kitchen
2 THESSALONIANS
Maarten J.J.Menken
Forthcoming books in this series:
MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
David J.Graham
MARK’S GOSPEL
John Painter
ACTS
Loveday Alexander
GALATIANS
Philip Esler
JAMES
Richard Bauckman
THE GOSPEL OF THOAMS
Richard Valantasis
READING THE NEW TESTAMENT
John Court
2 Thessalonians

Maarten J.J.Menken

London and New York
First published 1994
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
© Maarten J.J.Menken 1994

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.
Menken, M.J.J.
2 Thessalonians/Maarten J.J.Menken
p. cm. —(New Testament Readings)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Bible. N.T.Thessalonians, 2nd-Commentaries.
I. Title. II. Title: Second Thessalonians. III. Series.
BS2725.3.M46 1994 93–33187
227'.82077–dc20

ISBN 0-415-09504-2 (Print edition) 0-415-09505-0 (pbk)
ISBN 0-203-13306-4 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-17817-3 (Glassbook Format)
Contents

Series editor’s preface vi
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction: 2 Thessalonians in historical perspective 1
2 Thessalonians in English translation 5
Part 1 The setting of 2 Thessalonians
1 2 Thessalonians as a letter 11
2 The author of 2 Thessalonians 27
3 The milieu of 2 Thessalonians 44
Part 2 A commentary on 2 Thessalonians
4 The structure of 2 Thessalonians 69
5 2 Thessalonians 1: Prescript and proem—the
eschatological retribution 79
6 2 Thessalonians 2: The body of the letter—the day of
the Lord has not yet come 96
7 2 Thessalonians 3: Exhortation and letter-closing—the
disorderly brothers and sisters 125
Conclusion: 2 Thessalonians and Paul 146
Bibliography 150
Index of subjects 156
Index of references to biblical and other ancient
literature 160
Series editor’s preface

This volume has every right to stand on its own, as a significant
contribution to the study of the book of the New Testament with
which it is concerned. But equally it is a volume in a series entitled
New Testament Readings. Each volume in this series deals with an
individual book among the early Christian writings within, or close to
the borders of, the New Testament. The series is not another set of
traditional commentaries, but designed as a group of individual
interpretations or ‘readings’ of the texts, offering fresh and stimulating
methods of approach. While the contributors may be provocative in
their choice of a certain perspective, they also seek to do justice to a
range of modern methods and provide a context for the study of each
particular text.
The collective object of the series is to share with the widest
readership the extensive range of recent approaches to Scripture.
There is no doubt that literary methods have presented what
amounts to a ‘new look’ to the Bible in recent years. But we should
not neglect to ask some historical questions or apply suitable methods
of criticism from the Social Sciences. The origins of this series are in
a practical research programme at the University of Kent, with an
inclusive concern about ways of using the Bible. It is to be hoped
that our series will offer fresh insights to all who, for any reason,
study or use these books of the early Christians.
John M.Court
Series Editor
Acknowledgments

Chapter 4, ‘The structure of 2 Thessalonians’, is an adapted and
slightly abbreviated version of my article ‘The Structure of 2
Thessalonians’, in R.F.Collins (ed.), The Thessalonian Correspondence
(Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 82),
Leuven: Leuven University Press—Uitgeverij Peeters, 1990, pp. 373–
82. I thank both publishers for their permission to reuse the article.
Parts of the commentary on 2 Thessalonians 2 and 3 are an
adapted and slightly abbreviated version of my article ‘Paradise
Regained or Still Lost? Eschatology and Disorderly Behaviour in 2
Thessalonians’, New Testament Studies, 1992, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 271–
89. I thank Cambridge University Press for their permission to reuse
the article.
I thank Professor James H.Charlesworth for his permission to
include materials from J.H.Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha, 2 vols, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1983 and
1985.
Last but not least, I thank my colleague and friend Dr John M.
Court, not only for his invitation to contribute a volume to the series
New Testament Readings, but also for his critical remarks and his
correction of my English.

Introduction: 2 Thessalonians
in historical perspective

The letter known to us as Paul’s second letter to the Christian
community of Thessalonica is in many respects a text that at first sight
seems foreign to our present-day attitude to life. Its author, who calls
himself Paul, is apparently very interested in what is usually called the
second coming or parousia of Christ. He speaks of a revelation of
Jesus from heaven with angels and with fire, of a retribution which
means punishment for unbelievers and salvation for believers. He also
asserts that Christ’s second coming will be preceded by apostasy and
by the arrival of a person called ‘the man of lawlessness’, who is an
instrument of Satan, and who performs signs and wonders. It seems
that the author of 2 Thessalonians speaks in a mythical language
about a topic that is hardly relevant to a modern reader.
At the same time, we may have a feeling that this author touches
on certain important points for both ancient and modern times. He
speaks of the ultimate future of our world and of final justice to
oppressors and oppressed, to persecutors and persecuted. He gives a
perspective in which the reality of evil in history is taken seriously
but not given the final word; for him, the course of history is in the
end determined by God and Christ. He discusses the value of labour
and the relationship between labour and the right to sustenance. One
could only wish that he had treated these topics in a language that is
more comprehensible to people living at the end of the twentieth
century than the apocalyptic imagery he employed.
As a part of the New Testament, 2 Thessalonians is considered by
Christians as possessing a certain authority, and sections of the letter
are sometimes read and explained in liturgical assemblies. For those
in our society who are not themselves members of a Christian
church, the letter may nevertheless have some importance because, as
a New Testament letter, it is part of our cultural heritage and has had