to set fast · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
keep
φυλάξειphulaxei
G5442
to watch · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
from
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
evil
πονηροῦ.ponērou
G4190
hurtful · adjective — genitive singular masculine
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 Timothy 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen…
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye ar…
Psalms 121:7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
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.…
faithful--alluding to "faith" (Th2 3:2) : though many will not believe, the Lord (other very old manuscripts read "God") is still to be believed in as faithful to His promises (Th1 5:24; Ti2 2:13). Faith on the part of man answers to faithfulness on the part of God.
stablish you--as he had prayed (Th2 2:17). Though it was on himself that wicked men were making their onset, he turns away from asking the Thessalonians' prayers for HIS deliverance (Th2 3:2 : so unselfish was he, even in religion), to express his assurance of THEIR establishment in the faith, and preservation from evil. This assurance thus exactly answers to his prayer for them (Th2 2:17), "Our Lord . . . stablish you in every…
From evil - Απο του πονηρου may be translated, from the devil or from the evil one. They had disorderly men, wicked men, and the evil one or the devil, to contend with; God alone could support and give them the victory; he had promised to do it, and he might ever be confided in as being invariably faithful.
John Gill on 2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful,.... Or "God" as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, as do also the Alexandrian and Claromontane copies. This is said for the comfort of the saints, lest they should be discouraged upon hearing that all professors of faith in Christ had it not, who might be ready to take it to themselves, and fear, that either they had it not, or if they had, that they might lose it, and fall from it. Wherefore the apostle observes to them the comfortable attribute of God's faithfulness, which he will not suffer to fail. He has promised many things, and he is faithful that has promised, who also will do them, nor will any good thing he has promised ever fail.
Who shall sta…
The Church Fathers
"But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord touching you that ye both do and will do the things which we command you." Neither ought we, having committed everything to the prayers of the Saints, to be idle ourselves, and run into wickedness, and to lay hold of nothing; nor again when working good to despise that succor. For great indeed are the things which prayer for us can effect, but it is when we ourselves also work. For this reason Paul also, praying for them, and again giving them assurance from the promise, says, "But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and guard you from the evil one" For if He has chosen you to salvation, He does not deceive you, nor suffer you utterly to perish. But that should themselves sleep, see how he also demands cooperation from them, saying, "And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you." "The Lord" indeed, he says, "is faithful," and having promised to save will certainly save; but as He promised. And how did He promise? If we be willing, and hear Him; not simply hearing, nor like stocks and stones, being inactive. And he has well introduced the words, "We have confidence in the Lord," that is, we trust to His lovingkindness. Again he brings them down, making everything depend thereupon. For if he had said, We have confidence in you, the commendation indeed was great, but it would not have taught them to make all things dependent upon God. And if he had said, We have confidence in the Lord, that He will preserve you, and had not added "as touching you," and, "that ye do and will do the things which we command you," he would have made them more slothful, by casting everything upon the power of God. For it becomes us indeed to cast everything upon Him, yet working also ourselves, embarked in the labors and the conflicts. And he shows that even if our virtue alone were sufficient to save, yet nevertheless it ought to be persevering, and to abide with us until we come to our latest breath.
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
Faithfulness Of God, The · Manifested: To his saints — Manifested: To his saints
Protection · God is faithful to afford — God is faithful to afford
Stability · OF CHARACTER — OF CHARACTER
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).
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…
