SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THE SS ALONIANS. 171 



3. The second epistle is written in the joint name of 

 Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus, and it cautions the Thessa- 

 lonians against being misled "by letter as from us," ur 6i' 

 fffjLuv. Do not these words, 6C jy/zajv, appropriate the reference 

 to some writing which bore the name of these three teach- 

 ers ? Now this circumstance, which is a very close oiie, 

 belongs to the epistle at present in our hands ; for the epis- 

 tle which we call the First Epistle to the Thessalonians con- 

 tains these names in its superscription. 



4. The Avords in the original, as far as they are material 

 to be stated, are these : elg to fiy raxeuc oakev-drivaL vfiug a~b tov 

 uoog, fiTjTE ■&podadac, fir^Te 5lu irvEVjJ.arog, //f/re 6lu loyov^ ftrjre 6l' krciaTO- 

 A//f, o)q di' rjnuv^ ug on kvEGTTjKtv ?) r^fiEpa tov XpiGTOv. Under the 

 weight of the preceding observations, may not the words 

 uTjTe 6iaX6yov,fiT/TE 6l' t7naTo?S/g, ug 6t' iiucov, be construed to signify 

 quasi noz quid tale aut dixerinvus aut scripserimus,'^ inti- 

 mating that their words had been mistaken, and that they 

 had in truth said or written no such thing ? 



* Should a contrary interpretation be preferred, I do not think that 

 it implies the conclusion that a false epistle had then been published 

 in the apostle's name. It will completely satisfy the allusion in the 

 text to allow, that some one or other at Thessalonica had pretended 

 to have been told by St. Paul and his companions, or to have seen a 

 letter from them, in which they had said that the day of Christ wa? 

 at hand. In like manner as, Acts 15 : 1, 24, it is recorded, that some 

 had pretended to have received instructions from the church of Je- 

 rusalem, which had been received, "to whom they gave no such 

 commandment." And thus Dr. Benson interpreted the passage fiTjTe 

 ■&QOEl(r&aL, {if/TE 6td. 'nvivfiaTOC, ^tjte 6ixl J^byav^ fiTjTE 6C k-KiaTolfj^ wf 6l' 

 lfj(iibv^ "nor be dismayed by any revelation, or discourse, or epistlo, 

 which any one shall pretend to have heard or received from us." 



