Chapter 3

Chapter Three

¹ Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as it is with you. He himself prayed for them, that they might be established; and now he asks them in turn to pray for him—not that he may not be in danger (for to this he was appointed), but “that the preaching may run and be glorified.” And the request is made with praise; for he says, “even as it is with you”—that is, “that all may so obey, as you also do.” Thus he prayed for nothing of his own, but all for God.

² And that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked men; for not all have faith. He speaks of those who oppose the preaching, who fight against the doctrines—such as was Alexander the coppersmith; for this he hinted at by saying, “for not all have faith”—that is, not all believe, but the worthy; just as if one were to say that not all may serve in the royal army, but those fit for it. And he rouses them, seeing that they have such great boldness as even to make the preaching go easily for their teacher. And he secretly hints also at the dangers being brought upon him by those who resist the word. And this too is sufficient for their consolation—that even so great a Paul is still wrestling amid dangers.

³ But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. He said above, “God has chosen you unto salvation,” meaning “He elected you.” “Faithful,” then, means “true”; and He will certainly accomplish what He has begun. And He will establish you, just as we also prayed, so that you be no longer shaken; and He will guard you, so that Satan may not prevail against you.

⁴ And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that the things we command you, you both do and will do. Since he had prayed for them, and said that God is faithful, that He will accomplish what He began—lest, supposing the whole to be of God, they themselves grow slack, behold, he now also requires their cooperation, as if saying such things as these: “God indeed is faithful, and will certainly do His part; but only if you too labor.” And observe his wisdom: he did not say simply, “We have confidence in you,” but “in the Lord”—that is, “We trust in His love for mankind, that it will strengthen you”—to show them that the whole is to be hung upon God. Again, he did not say simply, “We trust the Lord,” but “concerning you,” and “that you do and will do,” lest, hanging the whole upon God, they themselves become slacker. For we must indeed cast the whole upon God, yet while acting ourselves. He was not content with saying “you do,” but added “and will do,” showing that virtue must be present with us even to the last breath.

⁵ And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ. Again he prays for them, showing his care. For since he is about to rebuke some of them, he first smooths their hearts, that he may seem to rebuke out of much love. He says, then, “May the Lord direct your hearts”—that is, “may He make them come to straight paths, and not be turned aside.” For there are many things that turn us aside from the straight road toward love: money, vainglory, afflictions, and trials. For these and many more do not let us travel straight to the love of God, and to love Him as we ought. And the phrase “into the patience of Christ” you may understand either thus, “that we may endure as He endured,” or, “that we may with patience await Christ, and not despair, but firmly believe that He will fulfill what He has promised.” And by saying “patience” he hinted at afflictions. He joined patience to the love of God; for this is to love God—to endure for His sake, and not be troubled. And by “the Lord” here understand the Spirit, as the great Basil noted.

⁶ Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have often said that Paul calls the more severe teaching a “command.” And so now, making the command more fearful, he says, “It is not we who command, but Christ. For what I say, He says.” For nowhere did He enjoin idleness.

⁷ That you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly. That is, separate yourselves from everyone who lives disorderly—that is, idly—whether he be rich or poor or holy. For those who abstain from useful works for the most part are flung headlong into frivolity and indifference. And these things belong to disorder. How? By this very thing, idleness, and inasmuch as he steps outside the order set for him by his teacher. And so he adds the following.

⁸ And not after the tradition which they received from us. Which I handed down to you by my deeds, becoming a pattern for you. For such handing-down is tradition in the proper sense.

⁹ For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, for we did not behave disorderly among you, neither did we eat any man’s bread for nothing. “We did not behave disorderly,” that is, we were not idle. For he calls idleness “disorder,” as also above; and so it is. For God ordered man to work, and fashioned his limbs for this. So that he who is idle has abandoned the order. And observe how he called being fed at their expense “eating for nothing.” And yet it was not for nothing, for he was preaching; for the laborer is worthy of his food.[1]

¹⁰ But in toil and hardship, working night and day. Observe the intensifications. But we, if we are not preferred above God by those whom we have taught, are aggrieved, as though most greatly wronged.

¹¹ That we might not be a burden to any of you. Properly speaking, a burden is to take from the unwilling. But here he says this because they were poor.

¹² Not because we have no authority, but to give ourselves to you as a pattern to imitate us. For he had authority to be idle, since he was occupied with a greater work, the preaching, and to be fed by his disciples; yet out of generosity he worked, and fed both himself and those with him, that he might teach his disciples this also.

¹³ For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any will not work, neither let him eat. “With you” stands for “among you, in your company.” Now in the former letter he discussed these matters more gently, but here more severely. For if he himself worked night and day, though under no necessity, much more ought the others to do this.

¹⁴ For we hear that there are some who walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but being busybodies. For since our mind is ever in motion, it is necessary, when it does not handle some useful work, that it busy itself with useless things, as has been said above, and pry into the lives of others, and thence be flung headlong into slander, idle talk, and frivolity. One must therefore work the works done by the hands. For he who is able yet idle ought not to be pitied. “But I pray,” he says, “and fast.” Yet this too is not a work of the hands; and besides, you can, along with doing these things, still also work. Since, then, you despise this, you are condemned as idle. “And how,” they say, “is the teacher not compelled to work?” Because he handles a greater and more difficult labor, which also hinders him from the work of the hands. But for you, a private man, there is nothing of the kind. So that you sin by neglecting work.

¹⁵ Now such as these we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ. Since he had laid hold of them sharply by saying “we command,” he again makes his word gentler, and says, “we exhort.” The exhortation, then, is more fearful and more worthy of belief.

¹⁶ That with quietness they work and eat their own bread. He requires both: as men behaving disorderly, that they be quiet; and as idle men, that they work—so that they may eat their own bread, not another’s. For they ought not to look to the hands of others.

¹⁷ But you, brethren, be not weary in well-doing. See how at once the fatherly compassion was moved, how at once he had mercy on them. “Withdraw indeed,” he says, “from them and separate yourselves; yet do not let them perish of hunger.” What then, if that man, presuming that I feed him, persists in idleness? Let it suffice to withdraw from him and not to grant him familiarity, showing that you are angry. But if not even so is he corrected, still do not you be weary, he says, in doing him good.

¹⁸ And if any does not obey your word by this letter, mark that man. Some read “our word,” with the eta, and so understood it thus: “If any does not obey the word of me, Paul, who, as it were, speak through this letter, mark that man, and hold him as one set apart.” But the blessed John read “your word,” with the upsilon, and gave us to understand that “if any disobeys you, tell him to his face the things you learned through this letter of mine.”

¹⁹ And do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Do you see what the benefit is of his being set apart? To be put to shame. For if even simply to receive is a thing worthy of shame, how much more when men provide for him along with withdrawing from him? For of old excommunication seemed a great punishment; but not so now. For if one had to separate from the merely idle man, how much more from the others?

²⁰ And do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Just as above, having said, “He who does not work, neither let him eat,” he feared lest such men perish of hunger, and added, “But you, be not weary in well-doing”—so now, having said, “Do not keep company with him,” he was afraid lest this very thing cut him off entirely, when he despaired of the brotherhood. Therefore he added, “Do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother”; and after the giving, he set admonishing first, not reviling, so that he might be benefited in both soul and body. He who admonishes a brother does not parade the disgrace, but does this privately and with gentleness. “Let us grieve,” he says, “not because we give to an idle man, but because he transgresses the law of God”; and let us mourn over him as over one who is sick. Let those hear this who not only give but also heap insults and throw stones. Why is he poor? That you may be able to heal his wounds through your kindness to him; and do you drive away the one who is poor for your sake? What insensibility is this!

²¹ Now may the God of peace Himself give you peace always by every means. Everywhere, after his exhortations, he sets prayers, placing them like seals and signets upon the things stored up. And here too, since it was likely that quarrels would arise from such occasions—the excommunicated growing harsher, and those who had means no longer giving readily to such men—he fittingly prays peace for them, and “always.” For this is what is sought, to have it ever; “but also by every means,” so as to have no pretext for contention anywhere, neither from word nor from deed. For thus, he says, you will not with difficulty make even those men better. For nothing so contributes to the accomplishing of what we wish as being peaceable and free from strife, and not seeming to rebuke with hostility.

²² The Lord be with you all. This too the Lord promised: Behold, I am with you all the days.[2] If He be with you all—that is, both with the idle and with those who are not such—all good things will be. For He will heal those who are idle, and will further establish those who work.

²³ The salutation of Paul with my own hand. He calls the prayer a “salutation,” showing that even when it was time to greet them, the thing was a matter of prayer, with spiritual profit, and not simply a token of friendship.

²⁴ Which is the sign in every epistle; so I write. So that my letters may not be counterfeited by certain deceivers (for this, as we said at the outset, many did), “I,” he says, “subscribe with my own hand.” And “in every epistle” means the one that may perhaps be sent to you, or else simply, “in every letter to whomsoever.”

²⁵ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. He both began from grace, and now again ends the Epistle with grace, fortifying his words on either side as with great walls, laying secure foundations and bringing a secure conclusion. For if the grace that from the beginning saved us be with you, it will overlook all your weaknesses. For this is the property of grace. And it will be so, provided you do not drive it away. Grace dwells in grateful souls, in those that have simplicity and brotherly love. May we too come to have such souls, showing forth brotherly love, and admonishing as brethren those who perhaps stumble, and by every means working their correction together with peace toward them—that we may be guarded by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has taken us to Himself and brought us to the Father in the Holy Spirit; to whom belongs all glory, honor, and worship, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.