2 Thessalonians 3

This is the final chapter of 2 Thessalonians. After 2 Thessalonians 2 corrects a misunderstanding about the day of the Lord and urges the readers to hold fast to the teaching they received, this chapter offers a request for prayer and instructions on community life, then closes the letter with final greetings.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 Paul and his companions ask for prayer that the word of the Lord may spread widely and that they may be delivered from wicked men. They affirm that the Lord is faithful (trustworthy) and express confidence that the believers will do what they command.
• Verses 6–12 Paul and his companions command the believers to withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly. They remind the believers that, although they had the right to be supported, they worked night and day to set an example. They then repeat the instruction "if any would not work, neither should he eat," and exhort those who do not work but are busybodies to work quietly and eat their own bread.
• Verses 13–15 The believers are urged not to grow weary in well doing. They are to have no company with anyone who does not obey the words of the letter, yet they are not to count him as an enemy but to admonish him as a brother.
• Verses 16–18 The letter ends with a prayer for peace, Paul's greeting in his own hand, and a benediction invoking grace.

Key Verses

• 2 Thessalonians 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you" — grounds comfort not in human faith but in the faithfulness of the Lord.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:10 "If any would not work, neither should he eat" — the verse most frequently cited in discussions of the Christian work ethic.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:16 "Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means" — the prayer for peace placed at the close of the letter.

People and Places

• Paul — sends his greeting in his own hand in verse 17. The "we" of this chapter is understood to include Silvanus and Timothy, who are named alongside him in 1:1.
• Thessalonica — a port city in Macedonia and the home of the church that received this letter.

Points for Reflection

• The Greek word ataktōs, rendered "disorderly" in the KJV, originally meant "out of rank" or "out of order." Translations variously render it as "idly" or "disorderly."
• A widely known interpretation connects these believers' refusal to work with the expectation, discussed in chapter 2, that the day of the Lord was imminent. The text itself, however, does not state their reason directly.
• Commentators often point out that verse 10 addresses not those who are unable to work but those who are unwilling to work.
• Paul's example of working to support himself in his ministry in verses 7–9 connects with 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 and Acts 20:34–35. The minister's right to receive support is also discussed in 1 Corinthians 9.
• Verses 14–15 are cited as a biblical basis for church discipline. Interpreters emphasize that the passage pairs discipline with brotherly admonition.
• The reference to Paul's own handwriting in verse 17 is read in connection with 2:2, which warns against a letter purporting to come from Paul and his companions. Some scholars regard this letter as a later work written under Paul's name, but it has traditionally been received as written by Paul himself.

In the Korean Church

• Verse 10 is widely known even outside the church in the form "Whoever does not work shall not eat." Within the church it is frequently used in sermons on labor and vocational calling.
• Verses 7–9 are cited as Paul's example in discussions of self-supporting missions and bivocational ministry.