SEV Biblia, Chapter 2:3
¶ No os engae nadie en ninguna manera; porque no vendr sin que venga antes la apostasía, y se manifieste el hombre de pecado, el hijo de perdicion,
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 2 Thessalonians 2:3
Verse 3. Except there come a falling away first] We have the original word apostasia in our word apostasy; and by this term we understand a dereliction of the essential principles of religious truth - either a total abandonment of Christianity itself, or such a corruption of its doctrines as renders the whole system completely inefficient to salvation. But what this apostasy means is a question which has not yet, and perhaps never will be, answered to general satisfaction. At present I shall content myself with making a few literal remarks on this obscure prophecy, and afterwards give the opinions of learned men on its principal parts. That man of sin] o anqrwpov thv amartiav? The same as the Hebrew expresses by wa ya ish aven, and l[ylb ya ish beliyaal; the perverse, obstinate, and iniquitous man. It is worthy of remark that, among the rabbins, Samael, or the devil, is called wa yaw l[ylb ya ish beliyaal veish aven, the man of Belial, and the man of iniquity; and that these titles are given to Adam after his fall.
The son of perdition] o uiov thv apwleiav? The son of destruction; the same epithet that is given to Judas Iscariot, John xvii. 12, where see the note. The son of perdition, and the man of sin, or, as some excellent MSS.
and versions, with several of the fathers, read, anqrwpov thv anomiav, the lawless man, see ver. 8, must mean the same person or thing. It is also remarkable that the wicked Jews are styled by Isaiah, Isa. i. 4, mytyjm ynb benim mashchithim, "children of perdition;" persons who destroy themselves and destroy others.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 3. Let no man deceive you by any means , &c.] By any of the above means; by pretending to a revelation from the Spirit; or to have had it from the mouth of anyone of the apostles; or to have a letter as from them, declaring the day of Christ to be instant; or by any other means whatever; do not be imposed upon by them for the following reasons, for there were things to be done before the coming of Christ, which were not then done, and which required time: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first ; either in a political sense, of the nations from the Roman empire, which was divided into the eastern and western empire; for which, way was made by translating the seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium, or Constantinople; the former of these empires was seized by Mahomet, and still possessed by the Turks; and the latter was overrun by the Goths, Huns, and Vandals, and torn to pieces; Italy particularly was ravaged by them, and Rome itself was sacked and taken: or rather in a religious sense, of the falling of men from the faith of the Gospel, from the purity of Gospel doctrines, discipline, worship, and ordinances; and this not of some Jews who professed faith in Christ, and departed from it, or of some Christians who went off to the Gnostics; but is to be understood of a more general defection in the times of the Papacy; when not only the eastern churches were perverted and corrupted by Mahomet, and drawn off to his religion, but the western churches were most sadly depraved by the man of sin, by bringing in errors of all sorts in doctrine, making innovations in every ordinance, and appointing new ones, and introducing both Judaism and Paganism into the churches; which general defection continued until the times of the reformation, and is what the apostle has respect to in ( 1 Timothy 4:1-3) where he manifestly points out some of the Popish tenets, as forbidding marriage to priests, and ordering abstinence from meats on certain days, and at certain times of the year: this was one thing that was to precede the coming of Christ, another follows, which should take place at the same time; and that man of sin be revealed ; who was now hid, though secretly working; by whom is meant not only any particular person or individual; not the devil, for though he is the wicked one, a damned spirit, an opposer, an adversary of God and Christ, and his people, and who has affected deity, and sought to be worshipped, and even by Christ himself; yet the man of sin is here distinguished from Satan, ( 2 Timothy 2:9) nor is any particular emperor of Rome intended, as Caius Caligula, or Nero, for though these were monsters of iniquity, and set up themselves as gods, yet they sat not in the temple of God; nor is Simon Magus designed, who was a very wicked man, a sorcerer, and who gave out himself to be some great one, and was called the great power of God, before big profession of faith in Christ; and afterwards affirmed that he was God, the Father in Samaria, the Son in Judea, and the Spirit in the rest of the nations of the world; and, because of his signs and lying wonders, had a statue erected by the Roman emperor with this inscription, to Simon the holy god; but then this wicked man was now already revealed: nor is this to be understood of a certain Jew, that is to be begotten by the devil on a virgin of the tribe of Dan, and who is to reign three years and a half, and then to be destroyed by Christ, which is a fable of the Papists; but a succession of men is here meant, as a king is used sometimes for an order and succession of kings, ( Deuteronomy 17:18) and an high priest for that whole order, from Aaron's time to the dissolution of it, ( Hebrews 9:7) so here it intends the whole hierarchy of Rome, monks, friars, priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and especially popes, who may well be called the man of sin, because notoriously sinful; not only sinners, but sin itself, a sink of sin, monsters of iniquity, spiritual wickednesses in high places: it is not easy to reckon up their impieties, their adulteries, incest, sodomy, rapine, murder, avarice, simony, perjury, lying, necromancy, familiarity with the devil, idolatry, witchcraft, and what not? and not only have they been guilty of the most notorious crimes themselves, but have been the patrons and encouragers of others in sin; by dispensing with the laws of God and man, by making sins to be venial, by granting indulgences and pardon for the worst of crimes, by licensing brothel houses, and countenancing all manner of wickedness; and therefore it is no wonder to hear of the following epithet, the son of perdition ; since these are not only the Apollyon, the king of the bottomless pit, the destroyer, the cause of the perdition of thousands of souls, for the souls of men are their wares; but because they are by the righteous judgment of God appointed and consigned to everlasting destruction; the devil, the beast, and the false prophet, will have their portion together in the lake that burns with fire, ( Revelation 20:10) the same character as here is given of Judas, the betrayer of Christ, ( John 17:12).
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-4 - If errors arise among Christians, we should set them right; and goo men will be careful to suppress errors which rise from mistaking their words and actions. We have a cunning adversary, who watches to d mischief, and will promote errors, even by the words of Scripture Whatever uncertainty we are in, or whatever mistakes may arise abou the time of Christ's coming, that coming itself is certain. This ha been the faith and hope of all Christians, in all ages of the church it was the faith and hope of the Old Testament saints. All believer shall be gathered together to Christ, to be with him, and to be happ in his presence for ever. We should firmly believe the second coming of Christ; but there was danger lest the Thessalonians, being mistaken a to the time, should question the truth or certainty of the thin itself. False doctrines are like the winds that toss the water to an from; and they unsettle the minds of men, which are as unstable a water. It is enough for us to know that our Lord will come, and wil gather all his saints unto him. A reason why they should not expect the coming of Christ, as at hand, is given. There would be a genera falling away first, such as would occasion the rise of antichrist, tha man of sin. There have been great disputes who or what is intended by this man of sin and son of perdition. The man of sin not only practise wickedness, but also promotes and commands sin and wickedness i others; and is the son of perdition, because he is devoted to certai destruction, and is the instrument to destroy many others, both in sou and body. As God was in the temple of old, and worshipped there, and is in and with his church now; so the antichrist here mentioned, is usurper of God's authority in the Christian church, who claims Divin honours.
Greek Textus Receptus
μη 3361 τις 5100 υμας 5209 εξαπατηση 1818 5661 κατα 2596 μηδενα 3367 τροπον 5158 οτι 3754 εαν 1437 μη 3361 ελθη 2064 5632 η 3588 αποστασια 646 πρωτον 4412 και 2532 αποκαλυφθη 601 5686 ο 3588 ανθρωπος 444 της 3588 αμαρτιας 266 ο 3588 υιος 5207 της 3588 απωλειας 684
Vincent's NT Word Studies
3. Deceive (exapathsh). Better beguile; since the word means not only making a false impression, but actually leading astray.
Except there come a falling away. Before except insert in translation the day shall not come. Such ellipses are common in Paul.
Falling away (apostasia). Only here and Acts xxi. 21. Comp. LXX, Josh. xxii. 22; 2 Chron. xxix. 19.
The man of sin - the son of perdition (oJ anqrwpov thv ajnomiav, oJ uiJov thv ajpwleiav). See on children of light, 1 Thess. v. 5. The phrase man of sin (lawlessness) does not occur elsewhere, either in N.T. or LXX. Son of perdition is found John xvii. 12, o LXX: tekna apwlei.av children of perdition (A.V. transgression), Isa. lvii. 4. The man of sin has been thought to refer to Caligula, Titus, Simon Magus, Nero, the Pope of Rome, Luther, Mahomet, etc.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
2:3 {Let no man beguile you in any wise} (me tis humas exapatesei kata medena tropon). First aorist active subjunctive of exapataw (old verb to deceive, strengthened form of simple verb apataw) with double negative (me tis, medena) in accord with regular Greek idiom as in #1Co 16:11 rather than the aorist imperative which does occur sometimes in the third person as in #Mr 13:15 (me katabatw). Paul broadens the warning to go beyond conversation and letter. He includes "tricks" of any kind. It is amazing how gullible some of the saints are when a new deceiver pulls off some stunts in religion. {For it will not be} (hoti). There is an ellipse here of ouk estai (or genesetai) to be supplied after hoti. Westcott and Hort make an anacoluthon at the end of verse #4. The meaning is clear. hoti is causal, because, but the verb is understood. The second coming not only is not "imminent," but will not take place before certain important things take place, a definite rebuff to the false enthusiasts of verse #2. {Except the falling away come first} (ean me elqei he apostasia prwton). Negative condition of the third class, undetermined with prospect of determination and the aorist subjunctive. apostasia is the late form of apostasis and is our word apostasy. Plutarch uses it of political revolt and it occurs in I Macc. 2:15 about Antiochus Epiphanes who was enforcing the apostasy from Judaism to Hellenism. In #Jos 22:22 it occurs for rebellion against the Lord. It seems clear that the word here means a religious revolt and the use of the definite article (he) seems to mean that Paul had spoken to the Thessalonians about it. The only other New Testament use of the word is in #Ac 21:21 where it means apostasy from Moses. It is not clear whether Paul means revolt of the Jews from God, of Gentiles from God, of Christians from God, or of the apostasy that includes all classes within and without the body of Christians. But it is to be {first} (prwton) before Christ comes again. Note this adverb when only two events are compared (cf. #Ac 1:1). {And the man of Sin be revealed, the son of perdition} (kai apokalufqei ho anqrwpos tes anomias, ho huios tes apwleias). First aorist passive subjunctive after ean me and same condition as with elqei. The use of this verb apokaluptw, like apokaluyin of the second coming in #1:7, seems to note the superhuman character (Milligan) of the event and the same verb is repeated in verses #6,8. The implication is that {the man of Sin} is hidden somewhere who will be suddenly manifested just as false apostles pose as angels of light (#2Co 11:13ff.), whether the crowning event of the apostasy or another name for the same event. Lightfoot notes the parallel between the man of Sin, of whom Sin is the special characteristic (genitive case, a Hebraism for the lawless one in verse #8) and Christ. Both Christ and the adversary of Christ are revealed, there is mystery about each, both make divine claims (verse #4). He seems to be the Antichrist of #1Jo 2:18. The terrible phrase, the son of perdition, is applied to Judas in #Joh 17:12 (like Judas doomed to perdition), but here to the lawless one (ho anomos, verse #8), who is not Satan, but some one definite person who is doing the work of Satan. Note the definite article each time.
