Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
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2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you not to be quickly shaken in your mind, and not be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by letter as if from us, saying that the day of Christ has already come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God. Don’t you remember that, when I was still with you, I told you these things? Now you know what is restraining him, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is one who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Parallel Translations
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Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming;
even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
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And then shall that wicked be vttered whom the lorde shall consume with the sprete of hys mouth and shall destroye with the apearaunce of his commynge
even him whose commynge is by the workynge of Satan wyth all lyinge power signes and wonders:
and in all deceavablenes of vnrightewesnes amonge them that perysshe: because they receaved not the (love) of the truth that they myght have bene saved.
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And then shall that wicked man be reueiled, whome the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and shall abolish with the brightnes of his comming,
Euen him whose comming is by the effectuall working of Satan, with all power, and signes, and lying wonders,
And in al deceiuablenes of vnrighteousnes, among them that perish, because they receiued not the loue of the trueth, that they might be saued.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (75)
- Matthew 24:24 (v9) For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even…
- Revelation 19:20 (v9) The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the…
- 1 Corinthians 1:18 (v10) For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- Ephesians 2:2 (v9) in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works…
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3 (v8) Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of…
Show all 74 cross-references
- Revelation 19:20-21 (v8) The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the…
- Isaiah 11:4 (v8) but he will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of…
- 2 Corinthians 11:3 (v9) But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is…
- Proverbs 1:7 (v10) The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
- John 4:48 (v9) Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.”
- Revelation 20:10 (vv8–9) The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be…
- Mark 13:22 (v9) For there will arise false christs and false prophets, and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the…
- Deuteronomy 13:1-2 (v9) If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of…
- Revelation 19:15 (v8) Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He…
- Daniel 7:10-11 (v8) A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before…
- John 8:44 (v9) You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand…
- Acts 13:10 (v9) and said, “You son of the devil, full of all deceit and all cunning, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the…
- 2 Corinthians 4:2-3 (v10) But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the…
- Revelation 2:16 (v8) Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.
- John 8:41 (v9) You do the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”
- John 8:45-47 (v10) But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who…
- Romans 16:18 (v10) For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the…
- 2 Corinthians 4:4 (v9) in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the…
- 2 Corinthians 11:14 (v9) And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
- Titus 2:13 (v8) looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
- 2 Peter 2:12 (v10) But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are…
- Revelation 12:9 (v9) The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown…
- Revelation 13:11-15 (v9) I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. He exercises all the authority of…
- Revelation 18:23 (v9) The light of a lamp will shine no more at all in you. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will be heard no more at all in you; for…
- 1 Corinthians 16:22 (v10) If any man doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed. Come, Lord!
- 2 Timothy 3:8 (v9) Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, who concerning the faith are rejected.
- 1 John 5:18 (v8) We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn’t touch him.
- Ephesians 4:14 (v10) that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in…
- 2 Timothy 1:10 (v8) but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light…
- 2 Timothy 4:8 (v8) From now on, the crown of righteousness is stored up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to…
- Hebrews 10:27 (v8) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.
- Revelation 18:8-10 (v8) Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for the Lord God who has…
- Job 4:9 (v8) By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed.
- Proverbs 8:17 (v10) I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.
- Daniel 7:26 (v8) “ ‘But the judgment will be set, and they will take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end.
- Romans 2:7-8 (v10) to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; but to those who are self-seeking,…
- 2 Corinthians 2:17 (v10) For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.
- 2 Corinthians 11:15 (v10) It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
- Revelation 12:17–13:5 (v9) The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’…
- Exodus 7:22 (v9) The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh…
- Exodus 8:7 (v9) The magicians did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 8:18 (v9) The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on man, and on animal.
- Psalms 18:15 (v8) Then the channels of waters appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of…
- Proverbs 2:1-6 (v10) My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you, so as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to…
- Proverbs 4:5-6 (v10) Get wisdom. Get understanding. Don’t forget, and don’t deviate from the words of my mouth. Don’t forsake her, and she will preserve you.…
- Hosea 6:5 (v8) Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of…
- Matthew 13:19 (v8) When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his…
- Matthew 13:38 (v8) the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one.
- John 3:17 (v10) For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
- John 3:19-21 (v10) This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.…
- John 5:34 (v10) But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved.
- Acts 8:9-11 (v9) But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out…
- Romans 10:1 (v10) Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.
- 2 Corinthians 2:15 (v10) For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are saved and in those who perish:
- 1 Timothy 2:4 (v10) who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.
- 1 Timothy 6:14 (v8) that you keep the commandment without spot, blameless, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
- 2 Timothy 4:1 (v8) I command you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom:
- 1 John 2:13 (v8) I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.…
- 1 John 3:12 (v8) unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
- Revelation 1:16 (v8) He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its…
- Matthew 13:11 (v10) He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.
- Romans 6:17 (v10) But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you…
- 2 Corinthians 11:13 (v10) For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 (v8) punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus, who will pay the penalty: eternal…
- Hebrews 3:13 (v10) but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
- James 1:16-18 (v10) Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with…
- 2 Peter 2:18 (v10) For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping…
- Revelation 9:11 (v9) They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is “Abaddon”, but in Greek, he has the name “Apollyon”.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:16 (v10) forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost.
74 distinct cross-references across this passage (75 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (22 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8 And then will be revealed — that is,…
8 And then will be revealed — that is, when that impediment (τὸ κατέχον) shall be removed; for he does not point out the time of revelation as being when he, who now holds the supremacy, will be taken out of the way, but he has an eye to what he had said before. For he had said that there was some hindrance in the way of Antichrist’s entering upon an open possession of the kingdom. He afterwards added, that he was already hatching a secret work of impiety. In the third place, he has interspersed consolation, on the ground that this tyranny would come to an end. He now again repeats, that he who was as yet hidden, would be revealed in his time; and the repetition is with this view — that believers, being furnished with spiritual armor, may, nevertheless, fight vigorously under Christ, and not allow themselves to be overwhelmed, although the deluge of impiety should thus overspread.
Whom the Lord. He had foretold the destruction of Antichrist’s reign; he now points out the manner of his destruction — that he will be reduced to nothing by the word of the Lord. It is uncertain, however, whether he speaks of the last appearance of Christ, when he will be manifested from heaven as the Judge. The words, indeed, seem to have this meaning, but Paul does not mean that Christ would accomplish this in one moment. Hence we must understand it in this sense — that Antichrist would be wholly and in every respect destroyed, when that final day of the restoration of all things shall arrive. Paul, however, intimates that Christ will in the mean time, by the rays which he will emit previously to his advent, put to flight the darkness in which Antichrist will reign, just as the sun, before he is seen by us, chases away the darkness of the night by the pouring forth of his rays.
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This victory of the word, therefore, will shew itself in this world, for the spirit of his mouth simply means the word, as it also does in Isaiah 11:4, to which passage Paul seems to allude. For the Prophet there takes in the same sense the scepter of his mouth, and the breath of his lips, and he also furnishes Christ with these very arms, that he may rout his enemies. This is a signal commendation of true and sound doctrine — that it is represented as sufficient for putting an end to all impiety, and as destined to be invariably victorious, in opposition to all the machinations of Satan; as also when, a little afterwards, the proclamation of it is spoken of as Christ’s coming to us.
When Paul adds, the brightness of his coming, he intimates that the light of Christ’s presence will be such as will swallow up the darkness of Antichrist. In the mean time, he indirectly intimates, that Antichrist will be permitted to reign for a time, when Christ has, in a manner, withdrawn, as usually happens, whenever on his presenting himself we turn our back upon him. And, undoubtedly, that is a sad departure of Christ, when he has taken away his light from men, which has been improperly and unworthily received, in accordance with what follows. In the mean time Paul teaches, that by his presence alone all the elect of God will be abundantly safe, in opposition to all the subtleties of Satan.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8–9 That wickedness shall at length be detected by the…
That wickedness shall at length be detected by the word of the Lord, and utterly be abolished by Christ’s coming.
Word for word, that lawless fellow: that is to say, he that shall tread God’s law clean underfoot.
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Bring to nought.
With his word: for the true Ministers of the word are as a mouth, whereby the Lord breatheth out that mighty and everlasting word, which shall break his enemies in sunder, as it were an iron rod.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom…
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Ver. 8. And then shall that wicked] Gr. ανομος, that lawless, yokeless, masterless monster to whom in the Council of Lateran, 1516 (one year only before Luther stood up to reform), there was granted plenary power over the whole Church; which was never settled upon him in any former Council. Pope Nicholas I said, that he was above law, because Constantine had styled the pope God. But the very gloss derides him for this inference.
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With the spirit of his mouth] i.e. With the evidence of his word in the mouths of his faithful ministers. Vide catalogum testium veritatis. Bellarmine confesseth to his great grief, that ever since the Lutherans have declared the pope to be Antichrist., his kingdom hath not only not increased, but every day more and more decreased and decayed. (Lib. iii. de Papa Rom. cap. 21.) What long hath been the opinion and fear of some not unconsiderable divines, that Antichrist before his abolition, shall once again overflow the whole face of the west, and suppress the true Protestant Churches, I pray God to avert.
With the brightness of his coming] At the last day. The holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months, Rev 11:2, that is (as some compute it) till the year of grace 1866. But that is but a conjecture. No more is that other, that Solomon’s temple was finished in the year of the world 3000; and was destroyed, together with the city, by the Romans, in the year of the world exactly 4000, therefore the spiritual temple shall be consummated in 3000, or perhaps in 4000 more. (Lightfoot’s Harm. 206.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv8–10 And then shall that Wicked be revealed: this revealing…
And then shall that Wicked be revealed: this revealing I think differs from that mentioned before, 2Th 2:3; he is first revealed, as I said: quoad existentiam, when he comes forth into being, and then quoad apparentiam, when he comes to be discovered. And this I suppose is meant here, because his destruction is mentioned as following upon it; for the discovering of him is the first step to his ruin, and here is called by another name. At his first rising he is a man of sin; but after he hath violated the laws of God and the laws of Christ by setting up his own, he is well called ανομος, that lawless one; and now he that pretended so highly for Christ is discovered to be antichrist. The mystery of iniquity that before lay hid comes to be revealed, God enlightening the eyes of many learned ministers and princes, yea, and of multitudes of people herein; the Scriptures, before shut up in an unknown tongue, being now translated to the understanding of the common people; those that were made drunk with the wine of her fornication, Rev 17:2, now put away their wine from them, as Eli said to Hannah; and the kings and kingdoms that gave their power to the beast, now come to hate the whore, & c., the time being come for the fulfilling the words of God herein, Rev 17:17. And this revelation is signified and foretold when the angel said to John, I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, Rev 17:7. There is need of a Divine revelation to know the mystery of iniquity, as well as the mystery of godliness. And the woman is the same with the man of sin mentioned before, once the spouse of Christ, but now by her idolatry become a whore, and divorced from him; said to be also that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth, Rev 17:18. By the understanding these thngs this wicked one comes to be revealed.
Whom the Lord shall consume; which is not done all at once; his consumption goes before his destruction. As Jezebel, the prophetess who seduced the servants of God to commit fornication, is said to be cast into a bed of languishing, Rev 2:20,22; as he rose up by degrees, so shall he be consumed gradually. His power declines by degrees, both civil and ecclesiastical, and the authority he had got both in and over the consciences of men. The seven vials are the seven last plagues, which do gradually consume him. And this is said to be done by the Lord himself, which is the Lord Jesus. He that made war with the Lamb is overcome by the Lamb, Rev 17:14; though many instruments may be employed herein; for he is said to have those with him who are called chosen and faithful; and it belongs to him, as all power of heaven and earth is given to him, to save his people, and to destroy his adversaries; as it is said of him, Psa 97:3; A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. As he is a refreshing, directing light to his people, so a consuming fire to his adversaries. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands, Dan 2:34, smites the image in the time of the fourth monarchy, when Christ came into the world, and in the latter end of it, under the antichristian state, it is broken in pieces.
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With the spirit of his mouth; as was prophesied of him, Isa 11:4; With the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked, even this wicked one here in the text, Rev 18:8; 19:15. And this, as some interpret, he shall do with ease, as by a word speaking; or by a word of command, saying: Let it be done, and it shall be done. Or, as we may read it, with the spirit of his lips, because of the power or spirit that goes along with his word. But this breath of Christ’s mouth Cajetane and others understand of the word of the gospel, which is the breath of Christ’s mouth in the mouths of his ministers, called the everlasting gospel, Rev 14:6, which an angel flying through the midst of heaven is said to have, to preach to them that dwell upon the earth; and then followed by another angel, saying: Babylon is fallen, is fallen, 2Th 2:8. The mystery of iniquity will be unveiled by the clear preaching of the word; and the primitive pure institutions of Christ, and doctrines of the gospel: will be vindicated from the antichristian corruptions and innovations. And the spirit of Christ going forth with the gospel, will make it effectual hereunto. These are the rod of his strength, whereby he rules in the midst of his enemies, Psa 110:2, and whereby he shall consume this man of sin. Nations and people will fall off from him as they come to understand the truth by the word preached.
And shall destroy; after is consuming follows his destruction, καταργησει, the word destroy here signifies to abolish, enervate, to make of no force; and so used often in the New Testament: sometimes applied to the law, Rom 3:31, sometimes to the body of sin, Rom 6:6, sometimes to persons to whom Christ will not be effectual, Gal 5:4; here to the man of sin: so that whatever remains there may be of him in the world, they shall be without any efficacy or power: his jurisdiction shall be abolished, his keys shall not be able to open or shut, the edge of both his swords shall be quite blunted, his triple crown shall fall off his head, his purgatory fire shall be put out, his images shall lose their veneration; the spell of the cross shall be detected, the intercession of saints shall be found to be a fiction, infallibility shall be fonnd to be a deceit, supremacy of the church shall fall to the ground; the rivers of his large revenues shall be dried up, &c., and the beast that was, and is not, and yet is, Rev 17:8, shall now utterly cease to be.
With the brightness of his coming: the breath of his mouth wasted him, and the brightness of his coming destroys him. Some interpret this of Christ’s personal coming to judgment, which will be with great brightness, as Mat 24:27; As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be; coming in the glory of heaven, and every eye shall see him; and of his coming he spake 1Th 4:1-18, and in this chapter also, as that which was not so near at hand as some imagined. And without question his coming will destroy him, if not destroyed before, as well as the rest of the wicked, 2Th 1:9; but whether judgment may not first proceed against the antichristian state, and those that have sinned under the gospel, is a question. It is sometimes mentioned particularly with respect to them: as in the parable of the tares and wheat, Mat 13:1-30, of the ten virgins, and the talents, Mat 25:1-46. And the beast and false prophet are cast into the lake of fire, Rev 19:20, before the general judgment, mentioned Rev 20:12. So that at Christ’s personal coming his judgment will, as some conceive, begin here, and then proceed to the rest of the world; whereupon many assign some great length of time to Christ’s stay upon earth, and judging the world. Others take
the brightness of his coming in a spiritual sense, for a clearer manifestation of Christ in the world. As the kingdom of antichrist, or of this man of sin, is founded in darkness, so the brightness of this coming will dispel and destroy it. With respect to his eternal generation, Christ is said to be
the brightness of his Father’s glory, Heb 1:2; but this is a brightness with respect to men. And though he hath come in his Spirit to enlighten his church from the beginning of the world, and more eminently after his ascension, yet this will exceed all the former, and is peculiarly styled
the brightness of his coming. And so they expect this destruction of this man of sin before Christ’s coming to judgment; for if it be the same with the fall of Babylon, mentioned in the Revelation, many things are to be done here upon earth after that, before Christ’s last coming, and they mention the calling of the Jews, the destruction of those enemies called Gog and Magog, the coming down of the new Jerusalem from heaven, which is some glorious state of the ctmrch here upon earth. However, the apostle here mentions nothing of a destruction by the material sword; what princes may do of different religions upon a civil account, I do not know, but as this man of sin rose out of the apostacy of the church, so he will not be consumed and destroyed but by a return from it, which is done by the breath of Christ’s mouth, and the brightness of his coming. But yet, by some instruments or other, God will avenge the blood of his servants upon this man of sin in the time and way appointed of him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv8–10 These words contain both the risk and ruin of…
These words contain both the risk and ruin of Antichrist, his revelation and destruction.
Observe, 1. The title given to him, o Anomos, the lawless one, he that boasts himself to be above all law, and assumes to himself a power to dispense with all the laws of God, as we well know who does.
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Observe, 2. His revelation, Then shall that wicked be revealed. God has revealed Antichrist to the world, let none wilfully shut their eyes against him, but let him be shunned and abhorred; if his adherents will not fall off from him, but be partakers with him in his sins, let them expect to be partakers also with him in his plagues; to continue his adherents is dangerous, but to turn his disciples is more dangerous: for that is a downright apostasy, and flat revolt from Christ to Antichrist. How Almighty God may dispense mercifully with errors imbibed in our education we know not, but to turn our back on the truth wherein we have been educated and instructed, makes it more dangerous to our salvation.
Observe, 3. Antichrist’s ruin, Whom the Lord shall consume and destroy.
Here note, That the apostle had no sooner discovered Antichrist’s rise, but he presently declares his ruin: The Lord shall destroy him; that is, the Lord Jesus Christ shall destroy him gradually, he shall waste away by little and little; as his rise was, such shall his ruin be: destroyed and consumed he shall be, but not presently; because God has an use for him, work to do for him, to scourge his people, to try his people, to unite his people.
Observe, 4. How Antichrist’s ruin is accompolished,
(1.) With the spirit of his mouth, or the breath of his mouth: the expression denotes, the facility and easiness of his destruction: it is done with a breath; the breath of God here denotes the preaching of the gospel, and intimates, that Antichrist’s destruction shall be by the ministry of the word, and the victorious evidence of truth; but besides this ministerial word, there will be a providential word, which God will make use of for Antichrist’s destruction: the former means we are to use, the latter God is to make use of.
Again, (2.) The destruction of Antichrist shall be by the brightness of Christ’s coming; at Christ’s coming to judgment, the final ruin and utter destruction of Antichrist shall be accompolished; let not the church then be discouraged, though Antichrist remains, after all endeavours used for his ruin, it is sufficient we are assured that Antichristianism shall be finally destroyed; for the time, leave we that to God; if it be not till the day of judgment, or Christ’s final conquest over all his adversaries, why should not we be contented to tarry for it; seeing infinite wisdom determines the time, as well as the thing itself.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–10 And then shall that wicked be revealed,.... That lawless…
And then shall that wicked be revealed,.... That lawless one, who sets himself above the laws of God and man, and dispenses with them at pleasure, who judges all men, but is judged by no man; as he was in his ecclesiastical power, when Phocas, who murdered the Emperor Mauritius, granted to Boniface III. to be called universal bishop; and in his civil power in succeeding popes, who took upon them the power over kings and emperors, to crown, depose, and excommunicate at pleasure:
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth: that is, the "Lord Jesus", as the Alexandrian copy, and Vulgate Latin version read; and the Syriac version, "our Lord Jesus": who is Lord of lords, and God over all; and so able to do what he is here said he shall do: and which he will do
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with the Spirit of his mouth; meaning either the Holy Spirit, the third person which proceeds from him, as in Psa 33:6, and so the Ethiopic version, "whom the Spirit of our Lord Jesus shall cast out"; Christ will by his Spirit blow a blast upon antichrist and his kingdom, which he shall never recover again, but ever after consume and waste away: or else by his spirit is meant his Gospel; the Scriptures in general are the breath of God, being divinely inspired by him, and are the sword of the Spirit, the twoedged sword of law and Gospel, which proceeds out of Christ's mouth; the Gospel contains the words of Christ, which are spirit and life; these come out of his mouth, and are sharper than any twoedged sword; and as hereby sinners are cut to the heart, hewn and slain, convicted and converted, so by this likewise antichrist will be consumed, and is consuming; for this phrase denotes the beginning of his destruction, which took place at the time of the reformation by the preaching of the Gospel by Luther and others; by which this man of sin received his deadly wound, and has been in a consumption ever since, and is sensibly wasting in his power and glory every day, and will ere long come to utter destruction:
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming; either in a spiritual way, when he shall come in his spiritual kingdom and glory, by the light of his Gospel and the illuminations of his Spirit; when at eventide it shall be light; when he the sun of righteousness shall arise; when latter day light and glory shall appear, and latter day darkness, the gross darkness of Popery, Paganism, and Judaism, which cover the people, shall, be removed, and antichrist in every form shall disappear: or in a personal manner, when he shall come to judge the quick and dead, which will be in flaming fire and great glory; and then will antichrist and his followers, the beast and those that have worshipped him, be cast with the devil and the false prophet into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone; and this will be the last and utter end of him. In this passage there is a manifest reference to Isa 11:4, "with the breath of his mouth shall he slay the wicked": which the Targumist paraphrases,
"with the words of his lips he shall slay , "Armillus the wicked":''
and which the Jews say will be done by the Messiah at his coming;
"for so (i) (say they) that phrase in Deu 22:8 "if a man fall from thence", has respect to Armillus the wicked, who at the coming of our Messiah will be slain, as it is said in Isa 11:4'
This Armillus, the Jews say (k), is the head of all idolatry, the tenth king who shall reign at Rome, the city of Satan; that he shall rise up after Gog and Magog, and shall go up to Jerusalem, and slay Messiah ben Joseph, and shall himself be slain by Messiah the son of David; yea, they say expressly (l), it is the same whom the Gentiles call antichrist: it is the same with Romulus the first king of the Romans, and designs a Roman, the Roman antichrist; and it may be observed, that the Targumist interprets "the breath of his mouth", by his word; and so says another of their writers (m),
"the meaning is by the word of his lips, for the word goes out of the mouth with the vapour and breath:''
such an expression as this is said (n) to be used by Moses, when he was bid by God to answer the angels who objected to his having the law given him;
"I am afraid (says he) they will slay (or burn me), , "with the breath of their mouth":''
much more may this be feared from the breath of Christ's mouth.
(i) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 148. 2. (k) Apud Buxtorf. Lex. Talmud. col. 221, 222, 223. (l) Abkath Rochel, par. 1. sign. 7. p. 52. (m) In Ohel Moed. fol. 19. 1. (n) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 88. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 And then - When every prince and power that…
And then - When every prince and power that restrains is taken away. Will that wicked one - Emphatically so called, be revealed. Whom the Lord will soon consume with the spirit of his mouth - His immediate power. And destroy - With the very first appearance of his glory.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Verse 8. Whom the Lord shall consume] He shall…
Verse 8. Whom the Lord shall consume] He shall blast him so, that he shall wither and die away; and this shall be done by the spirit of his mouth-the words of eternal life, the true doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus; this shall be the instrument used to destroy this man of sin: therefore it is evident his death will not be a sudden but a gradual one; because it is by the preaching of the truth that he is to be exposed, overthrown, and finally destroyed.
The brightness of his coming] This may refer to that full manifestation of the truth which had been obscured and kept under by the exaltation of this man of sin.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8–9 2Th 2:8. And then — When every prince and…
2Th 2:8. And then — When every prince and power that restrains is taken away; that wicked — Ο ανομος, that lawless one, who boasts himself to be above all laws, and the infallible judge, dispensing with, and interpreting the laws of God, according to his pleasure. Nothing can be more plain than that this wicked or lawless one, and the man of sin, must be one and the same person: shall be revealed — This revelation must mean that he would then no longer work secretly, but would openly show himself, possessing the character, and performing the actions ascribed to the man of sin. Whom the Lord shall consume — The apostle does not mean that he should be consumed immediately after he was revealed; but, to comfort the Thessalonians, he no sooner mentions his revelation, than he foretels also his destruction, even before he describes his other qualifications; which qualifications should have been described first in order of time, but the apostle hastens to what was first and warmest in his thoughts and wishes. The word αναλωσει, here rendered to consume, Chandler observes, is used to denote a lingering, gradual consumption; being applied to the waste of time, to the dissipation of an estate, and the slow death of being eaten up of worms. He supposes it has the same meaning here, importing that the man of sin is to be gradually destroyed by the spirit — Or breath rather, as it seems πνευμα should have been here translated; of Christ’s mouth — By which expression the preaching of true doctrine, and its efficacy in destroying the man of sin, are predicted. For the mouth being the instrument by which speech is formed of breath, or air from the lungs, the breath of his mouth is a proper figurative expression to denote the speaking or preaching of true doctrine. Accordingly, the preaching of the gospel is termed, (Rev 19:15,) a sharp sword proceeding out of the mouth of Christ; and (Hos 6:5) God says, I have hewed them by the prophets, I have slain them by the word of my mouth. See also Isa 11:4. Or, the expression may include both the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Spirit accompanying it; and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming — By clear, convincing reasons and arguments contained in the doctrine of those that shall speak or write by the Spirit of Christ, or by God’s manifest judgments against him in the pouring out of the several vials, Revelation 16. The original expression, επιφανεια της παρουσιας αυτου, is, literally, the bright shining of his coming, and means that, as darkness is dispelled by the rising of the sun, so the mystery of iniquity shall be destroyed by the lustre with which Christ will cause the true doctrine of the gospel to shine. “If,” says Dr. Benson, “St. John and St. Paul have prophesied of the same corruptions, it should seem that the head of the apostacy will be destroyed by some signal judgment, after its influence or dominion hath, in a gradual manner, been destroyed by the force of truth.” According to Daniel, (Dan 7:27,) after the little horn is consumed and destroyed, the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; a prediction which undoubtedly signifies the general conversion of both Gentiles and Jews to the Christian faith, and the universal reign of righteousness and peace through all the earth.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv8–10 And then shall that Wicked be revealed - ὁ…
And then shall that Wicked be revealed - ὁ ἄνομος ho anomos - “the wicked one,” referring to the “man of sin,” and called “the wicked one” because of the eminent depravity of the system of which he was to be the head; see the notes on 2Th 2:3.
Whom the Lord shall consume - The Lord Jesus; see the notes on Act 1:24. The word “consume” here - ἀναλώσει analōsei - means “to destroy;” see Gal 5:15; Luk 9:54. The word would be applicable to any kind of destruction. The methods by which this will be done are immediately specified - and it is of much importance to understand them, if this refers to the papacy. “With the spirit of his mouth.” What goes out of his mouth, or what he speaks; that is, word, truth, command, or gospel - all of which he may be regarded as speaking. In Rev 1:16; Rev 19:15, Rev 19:21, it is said of the Redeemer that “a sharp two-edged sword goeth out of his mouth;” that is, his word, doctrine, or command - what he speaks - is like a sharp sword. It will cut deep; will lay open the heart; will destroy his enemies. Compare Isa 11:4, “With the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” The reference in the passage before us is to one of the methods which would be employed to “destroy” the man of sin; and the sense is, that it would be by what is spoken by the Redeemer. This may refer either to what he will say at his coming, or to his truth - already spoken; to what has gone from his lips, by whomsoever uttered; and the meaning then is, that one of the grand agencies for destroying this anti-Christian power is the truth spoken or revealed by the Saviour - that is, his pure gospel.
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If this latter is the true interpretation, it may mean that the process for his destruction may have commenced long anterior to the personal appearing of the Redeemer, but that the complete destruction of this power will be accomplished by the splendor of his second coming. It cannot be denied, however, that the most obvious interpretation is that which refers both clauses in the sentence to the same period - that of his second coming. Still, it is not improper to suppose that it may be implied that his power will be weakened and diminished by the influence of the gospel, though it may not be wholly destroyed until the second coming of the Saviour.
And shall destroy - καταργήσει katargēsei. Shall bring to nothing; cause to cease; put an end to. This is, in some respects, a stronger word than that which in the former part of the verse is rendered “consume.” It denotes a more entire destruction than that, though it does not refer so much to any positive agency by which it will be done. In the former word, the attention is directed more to the agency by which the destruction will be effected - to the exertion of some kind of power to do it; in this word the attention is directed rather to the entireness or totality of the destruction. The anti-Christian domination will wholly cease, or be entirely destroyed. The words would naturally harmonize with the idea that there would be a somewhat gradual process under the operation of truth toward the destruction of the man of sin, but that the complete annihilation of his power would be by some more manifest exhibition of the personal glory of the Saviour.
With the brightness of his coming - This is evidently a Hebraism, meaning his splendid or glorious appearing. The Greek word, however, rendered “brightness” (ἐπιφανεία epiphaneia - epiphany) - means merely “an appearing,” or “appearance.” So it is used in 1Ti 6:4; 2Ti 1:10; 2Ti 4:1, 2Ti 4:8; Tit 2:13, in all which places it is rendered appearing, and refers to the manifestation of the Saviour when he shall come to judge the world. It is used nowhere else in the New Testament. There is no necessary idea of splendor in the word, and the idea is not, as our translation would seem to convey, that there would be such a dazzling light, or such unsufferable brightness that all would be consumed before it, but that he would appear, and that this anti-Christian power would be destroyed by his appearing; that is, by himself when he would return. The agency in doing it would not be his brightness, but himself. It would seem to follow from this, that, however this enormous power of wickedness might be weakened by truth, the final triumph over it would be reserved for the Son of God himself on his second return to our world. Yet, if this be so, it need not lessen our zeal in endeavoring to diminish the power of these corruptions; to establish and spread the truth, or to convert the defenders of these errors to a better faith.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 Spirit of his mouth, &c. St. Paul make use…
Spirit of his mouth, &c. St. Paul make use of this expression, to shew the ease with which God can put down the most powerful from his seat. He does it likewise to give the Thessalonians a right notion of the man of sin. For as he before told them, he would cause himself to be adored, they might have imagined him more upon an equality with the Almighty. These words, however, quite take away that meaning. He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. (Isaias xi. 4. &c.) (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8–10 Translate, "the lawless one"; the embodiment of all the…
Translate, "the lawless one"; the embodiment of all the godless "lawlessness" which has been working in "mystery" for ages (Th2 2:7) : "the man of sin" (Th2 2:3).
whom the Lord--Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "the Lord Jesus." How awful that He whose very name means God-Saviour, should appear as the Destroyer; but the salvation of the Church requires the destruction of her foe. As the reign of Israel in Canaan was ushered in by judgments on the nations for apostasy (for the Canaanites were originally worshippers of the true God: thus Melchisedek, king of Salem, was the "priest of the most high God," Gen 14:18 : Ammon and Moab came from righteous Lot), so the Son of David's reign in Zion and over the whole earth, is to be ushered in by judgments on the apostate Christian world.
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consume . . . and . . . destroy--So Dan 7:26, "consume and destroy"; Dan 11:45. He shall "consume" him by His mere breath (Isa 11:4; Isa 30:33) : the sentence of judgment being the sharp sword that goeth out of His mouth (Rev 19:15, Rev 19:21). Antichrist's manifestation and destruction are declared in the same breath; at his greatest height he is nearest his fall, like Herod his type (Isa 1:24-27; Act 12:20-23). As the advancing fire, while still at a distance consumes little insects [CHRYSOSTOM] by its mere heat, so Christ's mere approach is enough to consume Antichrist. The mere "appearance of the coming" of the Lord of glory is sufficient to show to Antichrist his perfect nothingness. He is seized and "cast alive into the take of fire" (Rev 19:20). So the world kingdoms, and the kingdom of the beast, give place to that of the Son of man and His saints. The Greek for "destroy" means "abolish" (the same Greek is so translated, Ti2 1:10); that is, cause every vestige of him to disappear. Compare as to Gog attacking Israel and destroyed by Jehovah (Eze. 38:1-39:29), so as not to leave a vestige of him.
with the brightness of his coming--Greek, "the manifestation, (or appearance) of His presence": the first outburst of His advent--the first gleam of His presence--is enough to abolish utterly all traces of Antichrist, as darkness disappears before the dawning day. Next, his adherents are "slain with the sword out of His mouth" (Rev 19:21). BENGEL'S distinction between "the appearance of His coming" and the "coming" itself is not justified by Ti1 6:14; Ti2 1:10; Ti2 4:1, Ti2 4:8; Tit 2:13, where the same Greek for "appearing" (English Version, here "the brightness") plainly refers to the coming itself. The expression, "manifestation (appearing) of His presence," is used in awful contrast to the revelation of the wicked one in the beginning of the verse.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. Then—As soon as the hinderance is withdrawn. The…
8. Then—As soon as the hinderance is withdrawn. The Roman-pagan empire must disappear, before the Roman-papal power can disclose itself. The Roman emperor must cease before the Roman pope can commence supremacy. The great red dragon must be cast down before the beast can rise. One antichristic guise must be dropped before another can be assumed.
That Wicked—That Lawless; who overrules God’s laws and substitutes his own.
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Revealed—Clearly alluding to the personal Satan. For as Christ is revealed, being pre-existent, so is this antichrist revealed, being pre-existent.
Consume… destroy—We have now a vivid semi-poetic picture of the double destruction of antichrist. Our apostle, in the glow of inspiration, interrupts his description to hasten to the destruction. He has a moment of old Hebraic rapture, and gives us a splendid specimen of Hebraic parallelism:—
Shall consume with the breath of his mouth,
Destroy with the brightness of his coming.
But the Hebrew parallelism was not always the reiteration of the same thought, but two richly varied phases of the same subject. The subject here, as just noted, is the double destruction of antichrist, first under his beast guise, as in Rev_19:12-21, and the second in his incarnate form, as in Rev_20:7-10.
Consume with the spirit (or breath) of his mouth—An allusion to the beautiful words of Isa_11:4 : “He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” This figure is not to be degraded into a description of a physical or bodily destruction by an uttered word of Christ.
“The rod of his mouth” is the powerful truth that he utters to the world; and “the breath of his lips” is that divine doctrine by which the old man is slain that the new man may be born. This passage is virtually reproduced in Rev_19:15 : “Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations.” As a material image this would be very gross; but as an emblem of all-conquering truth going forth from the lips of Jesus, cutting and smiting down all before it, it is a parable of beauty. And so the entire passage (Rev_19:11-21) is a picture of spiritual conquests and providential overrulings by Jehovah-Christ in behalf of his earthly kingdom. Kings, there, are, as in ancient prophecy, antitheistic dominations and organisms; the beast and false prophets are not so much men as antichristic systems; their overthrow is the emancipation of “the nations” of 2Th_2:15, who are still existing in Rev_20:3; Rev_20:8. This battle and overthrow are not the work of a day, but of an age; and it is the preparation for that predominance of Christ’s kingdom symbolized by the reign with Christ of the imparadised “souls” of the martyrs in the battle, who are enthroned over the world, Satan having been bound.
And—As the previous member of this parallelism describes Rev_19:11-21, so the following corresponds with Rev_20:7-10.
Destroy—Bring to naught. Not “annihilate,” as Alford (apparently following Lunemann’s vernichten) translates it; but, abolish, nullify. To “annihilate” would imply the putting the very elements of his being out of existence.
Brightness of his coming—The επιφανεια της παρουσιας, by the resplendence of his parousia. Very flatly rendered by Alford “annihilated by the appearance of his coming.” It is by the epiphania, and not by the parousia, that antichrist is said to be destroyed. The word in the New Testament uniformly implies either physical or moral resplendence; as an adjective, Act_2:20; as noun, 2Ti_1:10; as verb, Act_27:20; Luk_1:79. In Rev_20:9, antichrist’s armies are “devoured” by “fire out of heaven,” just before the parousia.
This interpretation does, with a slight yet effective variation, ratify the view taken of this parallelism by the best Protestant writers. Thus says Dr.
Gloat: “The spirit or breath of his mouth has been understood to denote the preaching of the pure gospel, the diffusion of the word of God, and the revival of evangelical doctrines, which will undermine popery. By the brightness of his coming is meant… the final destruction of popery by the coming of Christ to judgment.” Substitute antichrist here for popery, embracing our historic-prophetic view of antichrist, and these words express our exposition of this parallelism. And so says Bishop Newton: “If the two clauses relate to two different events, the meaning manifestly is, that the Lord Jesus shall gradually consume him with the free preaching of his gospel, and shall utterly destroy him at his second coming.” The former began to take effect at the Reformation, and the latter will be accomplished in God’s appointed time.
And this puts into our hands a key for the solution of the most important section of the Apocalypse, Revelation 10-20. It is a tracing the history of the stages of contest between Christ and antichrist from the first to the second coming. The former appears under successive phases of his true Person, as man-child, conquering hero, and final judge; the latter lurks through various guises and exposures as dragon, beast, naked Satan, and incarnate anti-messiah. At the successive time-points the two, Christ and antichrist, meet; at every point Christ is increasingly victorious; until at last his glorious advent consigns the adversary to hell forever.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. And then shall that Wicked be revealed] Then,…
8. And then shall that Wicked be revealed] Then, “in his own season” (2Th_2:6), in contrast with the now of the last clause, the time of his restraint: then shall be revealed the lawless one (R. V.).
It is essential that we keep in mind the identity of the figure depicted from 2Th_2:3 onwards. The variety, of synonyms employed by the A.V. is distracting. This “revealing of the Lawless One” is the unveiling of “the mystery of lawlessness already at work;” he is no other than “the man of lawlessness, the son of perdition” announced in 2Th_2:3. Three times, with persistent emphasis, the word revealed is repeated (2Th_2:3; 2Th_2:6; 2Th_2:8), as of some unearthly and portentous object, that holds the gazer spell-bound. Comp. note on “mystery,” 2Th_2:7.
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“The lawless” (anomos) is a term frequently occurring in the LXX, both in the singular and plural; it denotes the typical “sinner,” or “wicked person” of the O.T.
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth] According to the true reading, and better rendering, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth (R. V.).
On the title “Lord Jesus” and its relation to the Second Advent, see note to 1Th_2:19. Jesus, the human Name, could not be wanting here, where the overthrow of “the man of lawlessness” is in question.
The words that follow come from the prophecy of the judgement of the Rod of Jesse, Isa_11:4 : “He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked.” Such predictions had not been accomplished in the humble, suffering Messiah,—or but in foretaste, by the denunciations of Jesus (Matthew 23. &c.); they remain to be verified in His triumph. The Lawless One, being the ultimate embodiment of the world’s wickedness and defiance of God, must suffer the conclusive fulfilment of the prophet’s words.
Just as the sight of the Lord Jesus will suffice to bring ruin on cruel persecutors (ch. 2Th_1:9), so it will need but the breath of His mouth to lay low the haughty and Titanic Antichrist: “A word shall quickly slay him!”
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming] More exactly, and shall bring to nought with the manifestation of his coming (or presence: Greek parousia; see note on this word, 1Th_2:19).
The Greek verb signifies to make inoperative, destroy in effect; it is a favourite word with St Paul: comp. 2Ti_1:10, “having abolished death;” and Gal_3:17, “to make the promise of none effect.” The elect of the manifestation of the Lord Jesus will be to paralyse the Lawless One and strip him of his power. See note on ch. 2Th_1:9, “destruction (coming) from the presence of the Lord.”
The word rendered “manifestation” (epiphaneia, our Epiphany) is not found in St Paul again till we come to his latest Epistles, where it is applied to the Second, and once to the First Coming: 1Ti_6:14; 2Ti_1:10; Tit_2:13. It signifies by usage an extraordinary, commonly a superhuman, divine apperance. Similarly the corresponding adjective, rendered “notable’ in Act_2:20 (from Joe_2:31 : Hebrew, “terrible”). Prima ipsius adventus emicatio (Bengel).
In 2Th_2:9-12 we are told (1) of the agency which brings about the coming of the Man of Lawlessness and the means employed for the purpose, (2) of the victims of his ascendancy (2Th_2:10), and (3) of the issue for which in the sovereignty of Divine judgement his power is overruled (2Th_2:11-12).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv8–10 (8) And then.—Then at length, when the obstructor is…
(8) And then.—Then at length, when the obstructor is gone, two things shall happen: (1) the Lawless One shall be revealed, and (2) then the Lord will come and destroy him. The purpose with which St. Paul began this chapter was to show relatively the date of our Lord’s Advent; but he is now so engrossed in describing the events which must precede it, that when he does mention the Advent again he does so in a parenthetical relative clause.
That Wicked.—Or, the Lawless One. The English version has again obscured the passage by not keeping the same word as in 2Th_2:7. The general tendency to “lawlessness” or “rebellion” will be brought to a head in the person of “the Lawless One” or “the “Rebel,” just as the “obstruction” is impersonated in “the Obstructor.” The publication of the “secret of rebelliousness” will be effected by the manifesto of the Rebel-in-chief. Of course, this Rebel is the same person with the Man of Sin, the change of title being due to the particularising of his sin by the word “lawlessness” in 2Th_2:7; the specification of the time is the only additional intelligence; all the emphasis of the sentence, therefore, rests on “And then.”
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The Lord.—The best text adds the name Jesus, which serves more clearly to contrast Him with His rival. The word “whom” might be more pointedly paraphrased by “and him.”
With the spirit of his mouth.—St. Paul is quoting roughly from Isa_11:4 (comp. Job_4:9; Psa_18:15; Wis_11:20 : “might have fallen down with one blast, . . . scattered abroad through the breath of Thy power”); and therefore we are to understand it to signify the perfect ease with which Christ will destroy Antichrist. Even when the phrase is used of speech (as it may perhaps be here), the absence of labour is the point to be noticed (e.g., Psa_33:6).
With the brightness of his coming.—Rather, with the appearing of His presence. Here, again, it is the mere fact of the true Christ’s showing Himself, which will reduce to nothingness (such is the meaning of the Greek for “destroy”) the false Christ. When they shall stand face to face there will be no possibility of delusion any more.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv8–10 And then; namely, so soon as he that restraineth…
And then; namely, so soon as he that restraineth is taken out of the way. Shall that Wicked; or, that lawless one, in whom the mystery of lawlessness is realized; not different from, but the same with, the "man of sin, the son of perdition." Be revealed; appear unveiled in all his naked deformity. No longer working secretly, but openly, and in an undisguised form; no longer the mystery, but the revelation of lawlessness. The apostle now interrupts his description of the man of sin by announcing his doom.
Whom the Lord; or, as the best attested manuscripts read, whom the Lord Jesus. Shall consume; or rather, shall slay (R.V). With the spirit (or, breath) of his mouth. Various interpretations have been given to this clause. Some refer it to the Word of God, and others to the Holy Spirit, and suppose that the conversion of the world is here predicted; but this is evidently an erroneous interpretation, as the doom of antichrist is here announced. Others refer the term to a cry or word, and think that the sentence of condemnation pronounced by the Lord Jesus on the wicked is intended. But the words are to be taken literally as a description of the power and irresistible might of Christ at his coming that the mere breath of his mouth is sufficient to consume the wicked. (comp. Isa_11:4, "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked And shall destroy (or, annihilate) with the brightness (or, appearance) of his coming. The two words, epiphany and parousia, which are elsewhere used separately to denote the coming of Christ, are here employed. There is no ground for the assertion that the first is the subjective and the second the objective aspect of Christ"s coming (Olshausen). The brightness of Christ"s coming is not here expressed; but the meaning is that the mere appearance of Christ"s presence will annihilate the wicked.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv8–9 And then shall that wicked be revealed
2Th_2:8
And then shall that wicked be revealed
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Antichrist
I.
His title. That lawless one. It is the property of Antichrist to boast himself to be above all laws, in which he resembles Antiochus (Dan_11:36). It cannot, therefore, be hard to find him out, for--
1. Who is that infallible judge that takes upon him to decide all controversies, who judges all things, is judged of none; who destroys with fire and sword those who question his authority, and who releases from their allegiance the subjects of those who dispute his supreme sovereignty?
2. Who is he that takes upon him, with faculties, licences, and pardons to dispense with the law of God, and to allow open and notorious sins?
3. Who is he that by his own writers is said to be freed from all human law, that has a paramount authority to all laws, that he cannot be bound by them? One expressly says that he is above law, against law, and without law; a plain description of the lawless one in the text; and another, not without a spice of blasphemy, God and the Pope have their will for a law.
4. Who is he that has brought into the Church the worship of God by images, and the worship of saints and angels, which is the great lawlessness which is branded by the Christian law as such? If there be no such power extant, then we are yet to seek for Antichrist; but if there be, none so wilfully blind as they that cannot see wood for trees, and know not where to fix this character.
II. His revelation.
1. His appearance in the world. He shall be in the world as soon as a certain hindrance is removed.
(1) The most learned argue that this impediment was the Roman empire: that gone, Antichrist was to be revealed or the prediction proved false.
(2) Things of great moment cannot be removed nor established in a minute. The removing of the Roman empire was not all at once, nor the rising of the pontificate, but by degrees. When Constantine began to remove the imperial throne to Byzantium, though the majesty of the empire continued at Rome, yet this was a step in removing the impediment; it lessened the Emperors authority there and increased that of the Popes.
(3) The progress of Antichristian tyranny is, in short, this: About A.D. 600 their ecclesiastical power began to be raised when the majesty of the empire was weak in Italy. When John of Constantinople had usurped the title of universal bishop, Gregory the Great said, The king of pride is near, and an army of priests is prepared to serve him as their general; and in about six years Phoeos conferred on Pope Boniface the same title. About 688 the Pope obtained the Pantheon, or temple of all devils, and consecrated it to Mary and all saints. The temporal monarchy was long in hatching, but began in that century. Pope Constantine would have his foot kissed like another Diocletian, and openly resisted the Emperor Philippius, and encouraged the treason of Justine and Anastasius. In the eighth century, Gregorys II and III continued the rebellion, and caused all Italy to withdraw their obedience from the Emperor Leo; and later Zachary assisted Pepin to depose Childeric. Afterward Adrian took upon him to translate the empire of the Greeks to the Latins, and ever since the Popes have made broils in kingdoms and assumed the right of deposing kings.
2. Gods discovery of him to the world was also by degrees, in raising up witnesses against the tyranny and usurpation of Rome in every age. Five hundred years before Luther, Peter Bruis began, and Henry, his scholar, succeeded him, and to both succeeded the Waldenses and Albigenses; then Wicliffe, the Bohemians, Savonarola, and lastly Luther and the German and English reformers.
III. His ruin.
1. The manner of his fall.
(1) Consumed. Antichrist is not presently to be destroyed, but to waste away by a lingering consumption; as his rising was by degrees so he will lose his authority.
(a) The reason for this is that God has a use for him as he has for the devil himself, and therefore permits him some limited power to scourge his people for their sins, to try his peoples obedience, to cure their divisions, and to keep up a remembrance of His mercies.
(b) Observe how this consumption is accomplished. The pomp and height was about 1,500 years after Christ, but what a decay has happened since by the revival of religion and learning.
(c) Caution. Antichrist is being consumed, but he is not yet dead. What strength he may recover before his last destruction God knows; but it has re-entered many countries from which it was cast out, and made havoc among the evangelical Churches. What, then, shall we do? Watch and pray (Mat_13:25); reform and repent (Rev_2:5); be fortified and established by knowledge (2Pe_3:17), by grace (Heb_13:9; 1Jn_2:20).
(d) The author and means of this consumption, The Lord … with the breath of his mouth, which means either His providential Word (Isa_11:4; Psa_33:6; Heb_1:3; Joh_18:6), or the efficacy of His Gospel (Eph_6:17; Heb_4:12; Rev_2:16). Antichrists destruction is to be by the victorious evidence of truth. It must needs be so, for the tyranny is upheld by darkness which is dispelled by the light of truth; and therefore the Papists cannot endure the Scriptures. Again, his kingdom is carried on by falsehood, and his impostures are discovered by the simplicity of the gospel.
(2) Destroyed. The coming which is to accomplish this final annihilation is most likely the Second Advent (2Th_1:7-8; 2Th_2:1-3). Others conceive some notable manifestation of his presence and power in his Church, but it is certain that at the judgment the beast and false prophet shall be cast into the lake of fire (Rev_19:20).
2. The use to be made of this. Be not discouraged at the survival of Antichrist: his doom is sealed. (T. Manton, D. D.)
The means of the destruction of Antichrist
The gospel--the breath of His mouth. And how admirably adapted is the means to accomplish the end!
1. The man of sin has usurped the place of God in the throne of the Church. What is required to depose the tyrant? The proclamation and reception of the gospel. This shows that St. Peter had no dominion over the consciences of his brethren or the faith of the Church to which he ministered, and consequently that he never transferred such power to others. The gospel shows that God is the only Lord of conscience: and as this is known and appreciated will man fall from the position he has usurped, and God be raised and worshipped.
2. The man of sin has dictated the creed of the Church and declared it to be the merit of human actions and sufferings. And what is necessary to consume this fatal error, but the knowledge of the gospel which declares that the just shall live by faith: that salvation is of grace, through faith, and the gift of God.
3. The man of sin has vended and sold pardons and future rewards, what is necessary to consume this power of the Pope, except the knowledge and belief that God only can forgive sins; that He forgives freely through the merits of Christ, and for His sake confers the kingdom of heaven on those that believe.
4. The man of sin assumes a dominion over the invisible world, and professes to have power to deliver souls from the flames of purgatory, what is necessary to consume this error, but to circulate the Scriptures, which most clearly show that God only has power to reach the inhabitants of the invisible world.
5. The man of sin labours to keep men in ignorance. What is necessary to dispel the darkness of the human mind, and thus to consume this his stronghold, but to send men the light of life. (C. Lee.)
The Christian revelation of life
1. In Modern Painters Ruskin reminds us of the delight we feel in view of a bright distance over a dark horizon. At sunrise, beyond some line of purple hills, we have seen the sky become a great space of light, and though the shadows of night were lingering in the valley we have looked into the dawn.
2. In the Bible we are always looking over a foreground in shadow into a bright distance.
(1) In Old Testament prophecy the waste and tumult of history were seen against the far Messianic glory.
(2) In the New Testament the apostles have learned to see all the wickedness of the world horizoned by the manifestation of the Coming of Christ.
3. In Christian vision, then, two aspects of Christian life and world history should be viewed together.
(1) If we have been compelled to observe the evil of the world we need to look on until we see its darkness beneath the brightness of the Lords presence.
(2) On the other hand, we must not shrink from any knowledge of the evil of the world. The Good Shepherd will seek the lost sheep, and not wait for the coming dawn.
4. Observe how Jesus always seemed to see both aspects. Sin was an ever present fact to Him, but He saw it all set in the holy love of God; and because of this He could at once condemn sin and rejoice over it.
5. A similar juxtaposition characterizes this chapter. We do not know exactly of what Paul was thinking, but it is clear that he saw the darker foreground, and the bright distance, the mystery of iniquity still working, and the manifestation of the coming of Christ.
I. The text discovers the law by which the manifestation of the presence of Christ follows the revelation of the man of sin. The revelation of sin is necessary for its judgment. As soon as the man of sin becomes revealed, then follows his destruction. Things have to grow worse in order that they may become better. We can discover this principle when we survey great historic masses of sin. When Babylons abominations were full, Gods judgment brought all her pomp down to hell. So with pagan and mediaeval Rome. The Goth and Vandals were let loose by Providence when the vices of a decayed civilization had filled the cup of wrath; and the Papal corruption was ripe for destruction when Luther sounded his appeal. What availed the voice of some New England divine to check the growing system of slavery in America? Both North and South were making money by letting it alone. But all the while it was growing up under the law of Gods judgment. Providence lets wheat and tares grow till the harvest. And when at last that man of sin was fully revealed, the compromises which had restrained the full growth and revelation of slavery being taken away, then came the hour of its destruction.
II. There is always, therefore, reason for hope when we see some evil thing coming out of its concealment, and making its power felt with a more shameless impudence. Whether it be intemperance, the power of the saloon, or greed, or lust, or monopoly, or anarchy. This law is a reason for hope and courage in all Christian work. Something may have given you a moments revelation of the mystery of iniquity in your neighbourhood, and discouraged, you are tempted to say What is the use of our feeble endeavour against such powers of evil? Or you may have run against some dead wall of indifference, or custom, or wrong method entrenched in some good institution, and because rebuffed where you expected sympathy you either drop the work or continue with heartlessness. But you have furled to look up until you saw some bit of Gods sky at the end of your way. If we are sure we have seen the wrong and harm, we may be sure that it will be manifest in time, and that in time what hinders its revelation will be removed, and then it shall be consumed in the brightness of the Lords Coming. This is the reason why the men who really have seen evil things, and fought mightily against them, as a rule have been not only the bravest men, the self sacrificing, the martyrs, but also the cheeriest and most hopeful men. It is the indifferent man, he who does not lift a finger to take any burden from mens shoulders, who fears that his country is going to destruction, as it might do for aught he does.
III. The same principle obtains with reference to our individual salvation. Sins one after another come to revelation in our lives, and, as they are revealed will be consumed in some manifestation of Christ. A man goes on in a life that was not satisfactory to his conscience or heart. Something happens to bring that dissatisfaction to revelation. He sees a larger, diviner self rising before his present self, condemning it, and ready to consume it as by the presence of Christ. That is a crisis for any man. And if we disown the man of sin in us, and own the Christ self, we are converted. And every time any sin comes to revelation is Gods opportunity of grace. When it Teaches its full measure it may not prove to be a vehement passion, or devouring beast, but only some little meanness, selfishness, etc. But at last we see it as an evil thing, contrary to God. Then let it be consumed in the presence of Christ. Behold now is the accepted time. And the progress upward is one of ever increasing quickness of perception of evil and power over sin.
IV. Such is the benign law of growth and grace; but its alternative cannot be escaped. If the man of sin in us is revealed, and we will not let him go, what then? The sin must be punished. God cannot hold heaven safe in one hand, and let the sin of the world escape from the other. The man of sin must be destroyed, and if we cling to it how can God separate us from its fate? We must go where sin goes, if our hearts cleave to the sin. That is so in this world, why should it be different in any ether? All dishonesties go straight and sure towards ruin, and eventually carry the defaulters with them. Hence the urgency of the gospel to us now. (Newman Smyth, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv8–10 8. Then shall that Wicked be revealed. After the…
8. Then shall that Wicked be revealed. After the hindering power is removed. Whom the Lord shall consume. The Wicked power will be destroyed by the Lord's coming, and will continue to exist, possibly, until that event.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv8–10 And then shall be revealed the lawless one whom…
And then shall be revealed the lawless one whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming [After the removal of the hinderer, the vague spirit or mystery of lawlessness will become an embodied personality--a Christ-rival. At the mere thought of his thus being revealed, Paul, in his fervent zeal for Christ, at once announces the triumph of the Lord over this adversary, though he has not yet finished describing him. In the next verse we shall find the apostle returning to tell what manner of ruler the antichrist was to be, and the quality and destiny of those who should follow him. Breath , etc., does not mean that Jesus shall slay antichrist by converting, and thus cutting off, his followers; for breath does not signify God's truth or instruction, but the execution of his judgment ( 2Sa_22:16 ; Job_4:9 ; Job_15:30 ; Isa_11:4 ; Isa_30:27-33 ). The manifestation (Greek, epiphany) of his coming is undoubtedly the divine excellency, radiance, glory and sublimity of the revealed Godhead; for the word "epiphany" conveys this idea ( Tit_2:13 ; 1Ti_6:14-16 ; comp. Rev_20:11 ). The destruction of antichrist will be caused by the judgment of God, and be effected by the appearing of God. The manifestation of the real and perfect will stand in awful, consuming contrast to the revelation of the sham and lie];
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v10 (See Scofield "Rom 1:16").
saved
(See Scofield "Rom 1:16").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v8 Then the lawless one will be revealed
Then the lawless one will be revealed
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Then God will allow the lawless one to show himself" (See: Active or Passive)
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with the breath of his mouth
Here "breath" represents the power of God. AT: "by the power of his spoken word" (See: Metonymy)
bring him to nothing by the revelation of his coming
When Jesus returns to earth and shows himself, he will defeat the lawless one.
with all power, signs, and false wonders
"with all kinds of power, signs, and false wonders"
with all deceit of unrighteousness
This person will use every sort of evil to deceive people to believe in him instead of God.
These things will be for those who are perishing
This man who is given power by Satan will deceive everyone who did not believe in Jesus.
who are perishing
Here "perishing" has the concept of everlasting or eternal destruction.
translationWords
lawful
reveal
lord
Jesus
Satan
power
miracle
deceive
righteous
perish
love
true
save
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8–9 2:8 Paul announces the doom of the man of…
2:8 Paul announces the doom of the man of lawlessness (cp. 2:3). Although this figure claims to be divine, places his cult above all other worship (2:4), and receives power from Satan (2:9), the Lord Jesus will violently and utterly destroy him (Isa 11:4). • splendor: A reference to Christ’s epiphany (1 Tim 6:14; 2 Tim 1:10; 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13), an alternative description of Christ’s coming (2 Thes 2:1; 1 Thes 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23) or unveiling (2 Thes 1:7). In ancient literature, an epiphany was the appearance of a deity or a demonstration of divine power that evoked worship.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.