A. T. Robertson's Word Pictures
2 Thessalonians 2:2
To the end that (
eis to). One of Paul's favourite idioms for purpose,
eis to and the infinitive.
Ye be not quickly shaken (
mê tacheôs saleuthênai humas). First aorist passive infinitive of
saleuô, old verb to agitate, to cause to totter like a reed (
Mt 11:7), the earth (
Heb 12:26). Usual negative
mê and accusative of general reference
humas with the infinitive.
From your mind (
apo tou noos). Ablative case of nous, mind, reason, sober sense, "from your witte" (Wyclif), to "keep their heads."
Nor yet be troubled (
mêde throeisthai). Old verb
throeô, to cry aloud (from
throos, clamour, tumult), to be in a state of nervous excitement (present passive infinitive, as if it were going on), "a continued state of agitation following the definite shock received (
saleuthênai)" (Milligan).
Either by spirit (
mête dia pneumatos). By ecstatic utterance (
1Th 5:10). The nervous fear that the coming was to be at once prohibited by
mêde Paul divides into three sources by
mête, mête, mête. No individual claim to divine revelation (the gift of prophecy) can justify the statement.
Or by word (
mête dia logou). Oral statement of a conversation with Paul (Lightfoot) to this effect
as from us. An easy way to set aside Paul's first Epistle by report of a private remark from Paul.
Or by epistle as from us (
mête di' epistolês hôs di' hêmôn). In
1Th 4:13-5:3 Paul had plainly said that Jesus would come as a thief in the night and had shown that the dead would not be left out in the rapture. But evidently some one claimed to have a private epistle from Paul which supported the view that Jesus was coming at once,
as that the day of the Lord is now present (
hôs hoti enestêken hê hêmera tou kuriou). Perfect active indicative of
enistêmi, old verb, to place in, but intransitive in this tense to stand in or at or near. So "is imminent" (Lightfoot). The verb is common in the papyri. In
1Co 3:22;
Ro 8:38 we have a contrast between
ta enestôta, the things present, and
ta mellonta, the things future (to come). The use of
hôs hoti may be disparaging here, though that is not true in
2Co 5:19. In the
Koiné it comes in the vernacular to mean simply "that" (Moulton,
Proleg., p. 212), but that hardly seems the case in the N.T. (Robertson,
Grammar, p. 1033). Here it means "to wit that," though "as that" or "as if" does not miss it much. Certainly it flatly denies that by conversation or by letter he had stated that the second coming was immediately at hand. "It is this misleading assertion that accounts both for the increased discouragement of the faint-hearted to encourage whom Paul writes
2Th 1:3-2:17, and for the increased meddlesomeness of the idle brethren to warn whom Paul writes
2Th 3" (Frame). It is enough to give one pause to note Paul's indignation over this use of his name by one of the over-zealous advocates of the view that Christ was coming at once. It is true that Paul was still alive, but, if such a "pious fraud" was so common and easily condoned as some today argue, it is difficult to explain Paul's evident anger. Moreover, Paul's words should make us hesitate to affirm that Paul definitely proclaimed the early return of Jesus. He hoped for it undoubtedly, but he did not specifically proclaim it as so many today assert and accuse him of misleading the early Christians with a false presentation.
