Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
Romans 15:31 That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saint…
Deuteronomy 32:20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is…
Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Romans 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
2 Corinthians 1:8-10 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength,…
Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of th…
Acts 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting an…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
In these words observe,
I. The apostle desires the prayers of his friends: Finally, brethren, pray for us, Th2 3:1. He always remembered them in his prayers, and would not have them forget him and his fellow-labourers, but bear them on their hearts at the throne of grace. Note, 1. This is one way by which the communion of saints is kept us, not only by their praying together, or with one another, but by their praying for one another when they are absent one from another. And thus those who are at great distance may meet together at the throne of grace; and thus those who are not capable of doing or receiving any other kindness may yet this way do and receive real and very great kindness. 2.…
that we . . . be delivered from unreasonable . . . men--literally, men out of place, inept, unseemly: out of the way bad: more than ordinarily bad. An undesigned coincidence with Act 18:5-9. Paul was now at Corinth, where the JEWS "opposed themselves" to his preaching: in answer to his prayers and those of his converts at Thessalonica and elsewhere, "the Lord, in vision," assured him of exemption from "the hurt," and of success in bringing in "much people." On the unreasonable, out-of-the way perversity of the Jews, as known to the Thessalonians, see Th1 2:15-16.
have not faith--or as Greek, "the faith" of the Christian: the only antidote to what is "unreasonable and wicked." The Thessalon…
Unreasonable and wicked men - The word ατοπων, which we translate unreasonable, signifies rather disorderly, unmanageable; persons out of their place - under no discipline, regardless of law and restraint, and ever acting agreeably to the disorderly and unreasonable impulse of their own minds.
For all men have not faith - The word πιστις is without doubt, to be taken here for fidelity or trustworthiness, and not for faith; and this is agreeable to the meaning given to it in the very next verse: But the Lord is faithful, πιστος δε εστιν ὁ Κυριος.
There are many, even of those who have received a measure of the Divine light, in whom we cannot confide; they are irregular, disorderly, and canno…
The Church Fathers
But because "all men have not faith" and the crafty Tempter never delights so much in wounding the hearts of men as when he can poison their unwary minds with errors that are opposed to Gospel Truth, we must strive by the mighty teaching of the Holy Ghost to prevent Christian knowledge from being perverted by the devil's falsehoods. And against this danger it behoves the rulers of the churches especially to guard and to avert from the minds of simple folk lies which are coloured by a certain show of truth.
For it is not to no purpose that the blessed apostle exhorts Timothy, and says, "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called; which some professing have erred concerning the faith." And again, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me in many exhortations, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." If, then, the blessed (apostle) delivered these things with a pious caution, which could be easily known by all, as he perceived in the spirit that "all men have not faith," how much greater will be our danger, if, rashly and without thought, we commit the revelations of God to profane and unworthy men?
"And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men; for all have not faith." This is the manner of one showing also his dangers as to which especially he besought them. "From unreasonable and evil men," he says, "for all have not faith." Thus he is speaking of those who contradict the Preaching, who oppose and contend against the doctrines. For this he has intimated by saying, "For all men have not faith." And here he seems to me not to glance at dangers, but at the men who contradicted and hindered his word, as did Alexander the coppersmith. For he says, "he greatly withstood our words." That is, there are some to whom it is given. As if he were speaking of a paternal inheritance, that "it is not for all to serve in the Palace." And at the same time he also excites them, as already having such ground of confidence as to be able both to deliver their Teacher from dangers, and to facilitate his preaching.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Faith · The wicked destitute of — The wicked destitute of
Persecution · Pray for those suffering — Pray for those suffering
Unbelief · 5:12-14; — 5:12-14;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men,.... Either from the unbelieving Jews, see Romans 15:30 who were the avowed enemies of the Gospel, and did all they could to hinder the spread of it; and who were the implacable and constant adversaries of the apostle; who often lay in wait for him, and opposed him, and gave him trouble in all places, stirring up the people against him: or from the false teachers, and those of their party, who are the false brethren by whom he often was in perils; who were enemies of the cross of Christ, and great hindrances to the spread of the Gospel; being men of absurd principles, and of wicked lives and conversations, whereby they perverted t…
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
1. Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:
1. Quod reliquum est, orate fratres pro nobis: ut sermo Domini currat et glorificetur, quemadmodum et apud vos;
2. And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.
2. Et ut liberemur ab importunis et malignis hominibus: non enim omnium est fides.
3. But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
3. Fidelis autem Dominus, qui confirmabit vos, et custodiet a maligno.
4. And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command…
