New Testament · Epistle · Book 53 of 66
Book of 2 Thessalonians
A follow-up letter to the Thessalonians: encouragement in suffering, clarity about the day of the Lord, and a call to steady, faithful work.
3 Chapters
2 Thessalonians 1–3
Author
Paul (with Silas and Timothy)
Written
c. A.D. 51
Written From
Corinth
Overview
Book of 2 Thessalonians Summary
Second Thessalonians was written only a short time after the first letter. The church was still suffering persecution, and new problems had come up. Some had been told that the day of the Lord had already arrived (2:2), and some had stopped working and were living off others (3:6–12).
In chapter 1 Paul thanks God for the church’s growing faith and love and encourages them to endure. He assures them that God is just and will bring relief to His people and judgment on those who reject Him when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven.
Chapter 2 corrects the confusion. Paul says the day of the Lord has not yet come, and that a great rebellion and the revealing of the man of lawlessness must come first. He urges believers to stand firm in the teaching they received. Chapter 3 asks for prayer, calls the idle back to honest work, and closes with Paul’s personal greeting.
About the Name
Title
The letter is named for its recipients, the same church at Thessalonica addressed in the first letter. The early Greek title is Pros Thessalonikeis B, “To the Thessalonians, second.”
Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia, and the church there had faced opposition from its beginning (Acts 17:1–9; 2 Thessalonians 1:4–5).
Who Wrote It
Author Details
The letter opens with Paul, Silas (Silvanus) and Timothy (1:1), the same three names as in 1 Thessalonians. Paul warns against a forged letter “supposedly from us” (2:2) and ends with a greeting in his own hand as “the distinguishing mark in all my letters” (3:17).
Most scholars accept Paul’s authorship. Some question it because of its close parallels with 1 Thessalonians and its teaching about the end times, but others find those differences easy to explain. This page follows the traditional view.
When It Was Written
Date of Writing
The letter was probably written about A.D. 51, a few months after 1 Thessalonians, while Paul was still in Corinth with Silas and Timothy (Acts 18:5–18).
Paul’s long stay of about eighteen months in Corinth gave time for news to travel back and forth between the two churches.
Study Guide
2 Thessalonians Outline
3 chapters in three parts. Tap any section to expand it, and tap a verse reference to read it at BibleGateway.
Part III
Pray, Work and Stand Firm
Chapter 3 · A call to faithful living
Continue Your Study
Verse references link to the NIV at BibleGateway.