AN ANALYSIS OF 2 THESSALONIANS

SALUTATION. 1:1-2
Sender(s): Paul, Silvanus, Timothy

Addressees: the church of the Thessalonians

Greetings: grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Christian Motifs: -

OPENING MESSAGE. 1:3-12

Thanksgiving: (1:3-4) We ought to give thanks to God because your faith is
greatly enlarged; Speak proudly of perseverance and faith in the midst of persecutions

Blessing: -

Prayer: (1:11-12) God count you worthy of your calling; Name of the Lord Jesus
glorified in you and you in Him, according to the grace of God and Lord Jesus Christ

Declaration: -

Exhortation: (1:5-10) Encouragement that their suffering is not in vain and will be
repaid by God

Significance of the presence of the above elements: Paul wants to commend the
Thessalonians for their faith even in the face of persecution. He goes on to tell them that
God will repay those who have afflicted them.

Significance in the absence of the above elements: There is no opening encouragement

to ‘stand fast’ in their faith for they are doing so, probably based on the encouragement
they received from Paul’s last letter. The Blessing is replaced with the exhortation that
God will not let those who wronged them go unpunished forever.

BODY OF LETTER: 2:1-3:15

FIRST MAIN SECTION: 2:1-17 The Day of Christ’s Return and the Man of
Lawlessness

Sub-Section 1: 2:1-3 (DECL/HORT) The day of Christ’s return has not

come yet

Sub-Section 2: 2:4-12 (DECL) Description of what must take place

before Christ’s return. The man of lawlessness must be revealed. Christ will come and
destroy the man of lawlessness and vindicate those who believed in the truth and judge
those who followed the lie
 Sub-Section 3: 2:13-15 (HORT) Stand firm on the traditions that you
were taught (i.e. the gospel)

Sub-Section 4: 2:16-17 (HORT) Benediction

SECOND MAIN SECTION: 3:1-5 (HORT) Please pray for us

THIRD MAIN SECTION: 3:6-15 Brothers Who Lack Discipline

Sub-Section 1: (DECL/HORT) Avoid brothers who lead

unruly/undisciplined lives. They should continue to work for their bread just as Paul,
Silvanus, and Timothy worked while they were with the Thessalonians. Paul’s
exhortation, “Work in a quiet fashion and eat your own bread.”

Sub-Section 2: (HORT) Admonish those that disregard Paul’s teaching to

follow Paul’s example.

The Body’s major Declarative Elements: Paul’s teaching regarding the last days and
Christ’s return; his teaching regarding those believes who have stopped working (perhaps
expecting Christ to return immediately.

The Body’s major Hortatory Elements: Paul encouraging the Thessalonians that they
have not missed Christ’s return; Paul asks for prayer for his current ministry; Believers
should continue to work for their food and believers should admonish those brothers that
are rejecting Paul’s teaching (but not associate with them).

CLOSING: 3:16-18

Greetings: -

Final Instructions or Information: -

Doxology: -

Benediction: 3:16, 18 Grace and peace of the Lord be with you all

Signature: 3:17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand

STRUCTURE

Opening Message’s anticipations of the rest of letter: Paul, while he is speaking of the
faith of the Thessalonians, springboards into a discussion about the non-believers that are
persecuting them. He explains what will happen in the future which is the problem that
the Thessalonians were facing; some of them believed they had missed the day while
others saw it as something that was going to happen soon (so soon that they were
probably not be working as a result).

Relation of sections of Body to each other, and to Opening and Closing: This letter
deals almost entirely with Jesus Christ’s return. As such, Paul is correcting errors that
have arisen from a misunderstanding regarding the Second Coming. Paul does not need
to teach them again about Christ for their faith is strong and growing (1:3; 2:13-15) but
he does encourage them not to be distressed and lose heart because of persecution.

Relation of Closing to the various parts of the letter, including the Salutation and
Opening Message: The closing is very brief and is almost a restatement of the
Salutation (1:2) and the Benediction that appears in the middle of the Body of the letter
(2:16-17). Paul also mentions that he is writing this “greeting” in his own hand (whether
it is that one line or the entire letter is up for debate but I suspect the latter).

Significance in the order and arrangement of the material of the letter as a whole;
signs of logical progression: Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians follows the pattern of
encourage, correction, encouragement, correction. Paul thanks them for the strength of
their faith and then moves on to a misunderstanding regarding Christ’s return. He
apparently had two issues he wanted to resolve and introduces both after he has thanked
the Thessalonians for their faith.

Evidence of Inclusios: The only two I saw was Paul’s use of “the grace and peace” and
1:3 and 2:13 “we ought always to give thanks to God for you…”