Часть третья нравоисправительная (глава 3)

St. Paul's moral discourse begins in verse 6. The preceding words from verses 1 to 5 form the preface to it. Meanwhile, both in form and content, they are more like the conclusion of the entire message. For “other things”, as this section begins, that is, finally, at the end of everything, as it were: all that remains is to tell you, directly points to the final speech. And the thoughts expressed here: pray for me, - I hope that you will carry out my instructions, - May the Lord guide your hearts - are only fitting for the conclusion, so that if verses 16-18 followed immediately after this, there would be no noticeable interruption or disturbance of order in the flow of speech. Apparently, a strict lesson about correcting the malfunction that has crept into Thessaloniki seems to have been accidentally inserted into this environment. Meanwhile, it is also clear that it was necessary, and Saint Paul could not miss it. Why is this done? It is impossible to think that the Apostle, having already reached the end of the epistle, remembered that such a lesson should have been given and wrote it down. On the contrary, it should rather be assumed that St. Paul intentionally did this. At first he had the idea of ​​​​giving them corrective lessons; but in order to ease the impression of a reproach, which is always not entirely pleasant, he arranged the speech in such a way that it seemed that he was talking about it as if by accident. Moreover, the reproach did not apply to everyone and should not have been pointed out sharply, but rather placed as if it were a passing remark. So the Apostle began his speech as if he was in a hurry to finish the epistle, and immediately inserted his lesson. Thus, what is supposedly the conclusion of the message became the preface to the last corrective part of this message. And yet, in these few words of verses 1–5, the Apostle managed to place such suggestions that paved the way for a complacent acceptance of reproof and promised the success of correction. This is how Saint Chrysostom understands all this, who says: “Since he then intends to begin denunciation, he first softens their hearts - both by saying: I am confident in your obedience, and by asking them for prayers for himself, and, again, by praying himself for the sending down of countless blessings to them.” a) Final: petition, hope, good wishes (2 Thess. 3:1–5) 2Sol. 3:1, 2. Otherwise, pray for us, brothers, that the word of the Lord may flow and be glorified, as it is in you, and that we may get rid of evil and crafty people: not everyone has faith. He asks you to pray for yourself. “He asks for an equal, as it were, retribution” (Damascene). “First he prayed for them, so that they would be established in the faith. Now he turns to them with a request, asking them to pray for him” (Chrysostom). “At the same time, he encourages them and inspires them, considering them content to pray for the teacher” (Ecumenius), or presenting in them so much boldness before God that their prayer can contribute to the success of the preaching of their teacher himself (Theophylact). He asks to pray for himself, but not for anything temporary, but for the success of the word, the preaching of which he considered the task of his life, a matter dearer than life itself. The Apostle's love for the Gospel and zeal for its spread extended to the point of self-forgetfulness. To do this, he first gave himself up to death, and so treated himself as if he were on death row (1 Cor. 4:9). Therefore, there was no need to worry about anything necessary for life, or about life itself, as long as the word was successful. “He asks for nothing for himself, but everything for God” (Theophylact), asks “not to not be exposed to dangers, for this is what he has doomed himself to, “this is what he lies in”, as said in the first message (1 Thess. 3:3), but “let the word of God flow” (Chrysostom), “let the preaching of the Gospel flow and be accepted by everyone with faith” (Ecumenius). “The Word of the Lord” is “the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13), which the Lord Himself taught to the Apostles, commanding them to teach it in all languages, the same as the Gospel: you are under the wrath of God for the transgression of your forefathers and for your own sins - behold, we bring you good news: the Son of God died for us and turned away the wrath of God for us. Believe, and you will be accepted into the mercy of God and His grace to please Him. “Flows”, spreads unhindered and quickly, without encountering barriers, without being constrained or stopped by anything (2 Tim. 2:9). Just as a majestic river flows, spreading widely, so let the Gospel sermon flow through the lips of the Apostles and water the whole earth. “Glorified”, let it exert its glorious, beneficial effects on minds, and hearts, and morals, and be honored as something great, wondrous, Divine, first by you, and then through you and by all. Not earthly glory accompanied the word of God everywhere, “I make haste for the Lord, and confirm the word with signs that follow” (Mark 16:20). But this is external glory. It was more glorious when those who believed the word accepted grace and were renewed. Since this is the purpose of the word, and the path to this is faith, then, asking for prayers for the glory of the word, the Apostle asks to pray that the hearts of all will open to receive the word “by faith” and through this attract wondrous, grace-filled overshadowings. This, in fact, is the glory of the word, not so brilliant, but multi-effective. Those who were worthy of this marveled themselves, saying: this is what the word has done in me! And others said, marveling: Look what the word has made them! “As in you,” “in the same way,” he says, “as it flowed and was believed in you” (Ecumenius); “so that everyone submits to him just like you” (Theophylact). The testimony of Saint Paul himself is that his preaching soon spread among the Thessalonians, attracted many and had glorious effects, so that he was glorified by the Thessalonians themselves and by outsiders who saw their faith. Here we praise the Thessalonians (Chrysostom) for their quick conversion and attachment to the faith. Great praise! Remembering how quickly and easily faith was established among them and how, on the contrary, she encountered many quarrelsome people in Corinth, she dwells with joy on the first, wishing to get rid of these latter ones. He says, as it were: you are better than the Corinthians; God would grant that the Corinthians and those around, and everyone everywhere, were the same as you. Anyone can see how this praise is appropriate here for the purpose of the Apostle to dispose the faulty to the good. The thought is visible: you are so glorious; Do not allow those among you to be faulty, bringing dishonor to the whole society with their disorderly behavior. “And let us get rid of evil and crafty people.” “Apparently there are two petitions here (in connection with verse 1); but they are one; because when the evil ones are defeated, then the word of preaching will flow unchecked” (Theodoret). So that the word of God expands in Corinth and the surrounding area, the Apostle wants to get rid of the enemies of this word who are hindering its success. He calls them “evil” and “deceitful.” Evil from the Greek ατοπων, which means inappropriate and in relation to people, unable to act in accordance with the circumstances of time, place and persons, absurd, stupid. Here it can have a meaning: a stubborn screamer who, not listening to any reason, only contradicts, sometimes shouting incessantly and thereby causing confusion and not allowing others to listen to the power of the word. Crafty πονηρων, which implies cunning, malicious intent. These are, perhaps, those who spoke less and acted more, building feats and putting obstacles in all paths to the apostolic action. Saint Chrysostom understands here the supporters and counteractors: “The Apostle speaks here about those who refuted his preaching, rebelled and were at enmity against the dogmas of faith, about people who contradicted and opposed (his preaching), like Hymenaeus and Alexander Kovacs. “For so much,” he says, “they resist our words” (2 Tim. 4:15). Others wanted to more accurately determine the attitude of these persons to faith, relying on the following words: “not everyone has faith.” But since faith can have more than one meaning, they also disagreed. “Not everyone’s faith” can be understood this way: not everyone’s faith is Christian; this will indicate those who do not believe at all. Or: not everyone’s faith is right. This will point to those who, although they accepted the Christian teaching, do not hold it right, distorting it with their wisdom. Or: not everyone has real faith. This will indicate those who, although they believe rightly, do not live by faith, their faith is weak, does not have enough tension to arrange their morals according to their spirit. From this it is clear that by the persons about whom St. Paul speaks one can understand either unbelievers, or evil believers and false believers, or those bearing only the name of believers (perhaps indifferents). The first kind of people can be considered Jewish fanatics, who, everywhere rebelling against the Gospel themselves, often incited the pagans to do the same. The second kind of people can be considered the Judaizers, who, accepting the Gospel, did not want to lag behind the Old Testament law, or those who, accepting the apostolic preaching, did not agree with its main dogma about the Divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, as were the Ebionites - or those who tried to mix their previous errors with Christian truths, like Simon the Magus. These two kinds of evil and crafty people had already emerged by the time the epistle was written. They could have been or appeared in Corinth, and Saint Paul could have understood them. But whether he understood them accurately cannot be stated without any, even small, indication. Therefore, it is safer to adhere to the thoughts of Saint Chrysostom and our other ancient interpreters, because here the Apostle generally means contradictors and counteractors, such as he already met in Thessalonica and who clearly rebelled against him in Corinth (Acts 18:12ff). It is inappropriate to understand persons of the third kind here, because it was easy to get rid of them either with a word of admonition, or with the severity of a court, as was later done in Corinth with an incestuous man and as the Apostle here threatens to do if “those who do nothing but go around deceitfully” do not listen to his commands (2 Thess. 3:11). “Not everyone has faith.” It is not the idea that faith does not come to everyone, that it is not intended for everyone, no matter how God wants everyone to believe, destining others to unbelief and destruction. For the Lord is the Light that enlightens every man who comes into the world (John 1:9); why, sending the Apostles to preach, he commanded them to enlighten “all nations” with faith (Matthew 28:19). The apostle simply wanted to say that not everyone believes. Not everyone believes because not everyone wants to believe. And why someone wants or doesn’t want something cannot always be understood and interpreted; for deep is the heart of man. But in relation to the faith of Christ, one can unmistakably assume: they do not want to believe because they have no concern for the salvation of the soul. They have no concern for salvation and do not want to listen to words about this salvation. They have different interests, a different structure of mind and character: it is unpleasant for them to listen to a word that goes against this structure and demands their change. And that they were so determined, the reason for this, of course, was in their previous life and in present circumstances. But nevertheless, a person always forms himself and always has the power to conduct his affairs as he sees fit. No matter how damaged he is, as a result of the general fall by his personal bad deeds, the healthy side always remains in him - to bow before the evidence of the truth. The evidence of the Divinity of the Gospel truth was everywhere presented by the Apostles to the point of indisputable tangibility. And the unbelievers are unrequited. Of course, there is much that is incomprehensible in the fact that when the sermon is the same, the persons preaching the same, and the heavenly testimonies accompanying it are the same - some of the masses of those who listen to it believe, others do not believe, others even quarrel and oppose. But there is nothing fatal or unconditionally predetermined here, and everything is to blame for human will. In the word of God, although we find expressions that there are others, equipped for destruction and unbelief, who are called perishing, and others are equipped for faith and salvation, as those who have been brought “to eternal life” (Acts 13:48), who are called saved, but in the same word of God it is also explained that this happens “by the revelation of God” (1 Pet. 1:2) and “according to foreknowledge” (Rom. 8:28). God foresees where a person will lean, and so he intends it to be. And he does not do this indifferently, but arranges everything so that a person chooses the good path; and when nothing helps, he leaves him in the hands of his will. All this has been known to God and decided from time immemorial; but it was decided because one loved destruction, and the other salvation. God gave man freedom and does not violate its rights. We have some tendency to attribute many things to fatal definitions and resolve many issues for ourselves. In fact, everything is built by the free will of man and the strictest laws of truth and Divine goodness. So in the present case, with the words: “not everyone has faith,” one can say: not everyone is fit for faith, or not everyone is capable and worthy of it, just as not all of the soldiers are allowed to serve in the royal palaces, but only those who are capable and reliable, as Ecumenius and Theophylact say after Saint Chrysostom. But the real truth is one: their faith is not because they did not want to believe. This is expressed by the said interpreters in many other places; in the present, blessed Theodoret says: “To call is God’s work, but ours is to obey. So the Lord said in the Holy Gospel: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37); and: “If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23); because he does not force out of necessity, but seeks good will.” 2Sol. 3:3. But the Lord is faithful, He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. Amid the opposition encountered in Corinth, it was so gratifying and reassuring for him to remember the quick and willing acceptance of the Gospel by many in Thessaloniki. But just as everything on earth is changeable, and Christianity is always threatened by danger from the primordial enemy of all truth, the Apostle desires that the good state of the Thessalonians in faith not only continue, but also become stronger and stronger, without being exposed to evil - he wishes and hopes that this will be so due to the unshakable faith in God’s faithfulness to His promises, so it will not be from the efforts and means of the Thessalonians themselves, but from God, who chose them and who called. In the first verses, the Apostle expresses the thought: you are better than the Corinthians, continuing to assert that they serve as a model for all of Achaia (1 Thessalonians 1:7). Now he says: the Lord wills that you will remain the same in the future. "The Lord is faithful"; did he promise? – He promised by calling. The act of calling means that the Lord turns all His good promises to them. He promised to be with the believers “until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), and He sent down the Comforter Spirit to be with them forever (John 14:16), and in general said that those who remain faithful to Him, no one will snatch out of His hand (John 10:28). Saint Paul always remained in the confidence that “he will begin and will finish” (Phil. 1:6). Of course, this is not unconditional, but it is implied: if you do not stop betraying yourself to Him, if you always seek His help, if you remain faithful to His holy will. This condition is directly expressed by the holy Apostle in the next 4th verse. Saint Chrysostom writes: “Praying for them, Saint Paul presents the basis for the certainty of success in the fact that the promises were given, and says: “The Lord is faithful”: because if He has chosen you for salvation, He will not lie and will not allow you to completely perish.” “Whoever will establish you”, but in what, it is not said. But this can be considered obvious even without explanation. The Apostle’s whole concern is that they, having believed and been renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit, should live as renewed ones. “He will strengthen you, as we prayed, so that you will no longer be shaken” (Theophylact). And the Apostle prayed that the Lord would strengthen them “in every word and deed” (2 Thess. 2:17). Thus, the Apostle hopes that the Lord will heal their natural unsteadiness of will in good, will support their already excited moral energy and kindle the unquenchable fire of zeal for pleasing God, in which all life is. “And he will save from the evil one,” or from all evil, in words, deeds, thoughts and feelings, or from the devil, who teaches all evil and incites the unwary to it. The latter is more direct, as in the Lord’s Prayer: “Deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13), from which the Apostle probably took the very words. Believers deny the devil at baptism itself and from that moment they begin to fight with him. And he fights them all tirelessly, both himself and through evil people. “Save” does not mean that you will not be touched by the arrows of the evil one, but what will give you the strength to repel them and will bring you to the point where they will be insensitive to you. How is this? – Warming up the energy of the spirit, the heat of zeal for a perfect Christian life. This heat scorches the demons and makes the zealot inviolable. The power of God is hidden in him, terrible for the evil one. Why can we say: it will preserve by what it will approve. He will approve, and you will be like a rock, unharmed by the waves. Ecumenius writes: “Since I have chosen you for salvation, as stated above, I am confident that he will truly strengthen you as wavering and preserve you, so that Satan will not be able to defeat you.” Saint Damascus says: “What he asked to pray for for himself, he himself prays for the same for them. He asked to pray that he would be delivered from evil people, enemies of the faith; This is what he himself asks of them in prayer, that they may be preserved from the evil one.” 2Sol. 3:4. We trust in the Lord for you, as we command you, do and do. What is in the matter of salvation from the Lord will undoubtedly always be accomplished by Him in you, only under the condition: if you always do His holy will, communicated to you through us. “It’s like this: God is faithful, and, of course, will complete what he began in you (the work of salvation), but only if you act” (Theophylact). Just as I am confident that God will do His, so I trust that you will do yours. But this hope is also confirmed in the Lord, who is always ready to work for salvation everywhere, as soon as he meets hearts open to Him with faith and devotion to Him. As if there was something left unsaid: I beg you, do faithfully everything that we have commanded you. And your salvation will no longer be subject to any doubt. The Lord saves the seeker and the jealous, not the careless and careless. “So that they do not think that everything will come to them from God, who called them and chose them for salvation, and thereby become careless and careless, this requires their own activity. As if to say: true is God, who chose you for salvation. But things on your part are also necessary” (Ecumenius). “We trust in the Lord for you.” The Greek text also allows for the following translation: We hope for you in the Lord; but the idea is the same. Theophylact writes: “In the Lord,” that is, we believe in God’s love for mankind, that He will fill you with strength; to show them that everything depends on God. And again he did not just say: in the Lord, but: “about you, what you do,” and so on, so that they, referring everything to God, would not become lazy. We must place everything on God, but in such a way that we ourselves can act.” “We command you” - we do not mean only current instructions, but we embrace all the commandments, orders and institutions emanating from the Apostles, the whole will of God, no matter what we tell you. Conversion consists of the determination to act in this way; It also includes baptism itself, before the performance of which they ask: “They denied Satan and all his works...” and: “We joined Christ,” with a readiness to fulfill all His will. “And ye shall create and ye shall create.” “There is no need,” he says, to exhort you much. You have already shown your submission. And you are not content with what has already been done, but are ready to add other things after this” (Damascene). Not only that: you have already done the commandment, and whatever else we command you will do; but in general he sees in them obedience, ready, as long as they are alive, to faithfully carry out everything that is commanded. Because at the beginning they decided to obey the will of God, which was the only one the Apostles proclaimed to them. “I was not content to say: “create,” but added: “create,” showing that we must be zealous for virtue until our last breath” (Theophylact). Here he exhibits their complete obedience in order to incline them to fulfill what he had to command after this. The path leads to a moral lesson. “I said this to encourage them, so that, having learned what the Apostle’s opinion was about them, they would confirm it with deeds” (Theodoret). We consider it not superfluous to give a quite lengthy presentation of the thoughts of the Apostle hidden in this text, made by Saint Chrysostom. “See how the Apostle does not lead them to inactivity and that they themselves, believing that everything depends on God, do not indulge in sleep, and demands assistance on their part when he says to them: “We trust in the Lord for you, as we command you, do and do.” He says, as it were: it is true that God is faithful and, having given a promise to save you, will undoubtedly save you, but (will save you in the same way) as he promised. And how did He promise? – If we ourselves want this, if we obey Him, if we ourselves do not remain inactive, like trees and stones, not unconditionally. The Apostle also correctly used this expression: we trust in the Lord, that is, we trust in His love for mankind. Again he overthrows them (pride), showing that everything depends on God. For if he said that we believe you, then although this would be great praise for them, he would not show that they deliver everything depending on God; on the contrary, if he had said: we trust in the Lord that He will preserve you, and had not added that expression - “about you”, and another: “as we command you, both do and do”, then, having placed all their hope in the power of God alone, he would have made them more devoted to laziness. For although we must rely on God in everything, we ourselves must be active, we must decide on labors and exploits. Here the Apostle also shows that our virtue must reach the proper degree and perfection and remain with us until our last breath.” 2Sol. 3:5. May the Lord correct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. What the Thessalonians hoped from the Lord and what he expected from them in the Lord, he now prays to the Lord for. I hoped that the Lord would keep them strong in faith and virtue and steadfast against the evil one, and prayed to grant them patience; He expected from the Thessalonians in the Lord that they both fulfilled and will continue to fulfill every will of God revealed to them through the Apostles - and he prays to give them love, in which the fulfillment of the law and the strength of patience itself, prays for both to direct their hearts, so that not only externally they would be serviceable and steadfast, but internally, in the very depths of the soul. This is how hope does not remove the need for prayer, but, on the contrary, it gives birth to prayer, warms it up and makes it tireless. “Let him correct”, from Greek, let him straighten, “let him make you go straight to true love, without straying into crossroads” (Theodoret). "Let him correct hearts." How? – Of course, by the action of grace in the depths of the soul. And yet, it seems that grace does not produce everything, but only directs. The procession is carried out by the soul itself, searching and straining, although always with the help of God's grace. Theodoret writes in this place: “We need both, good intentions, and assistance from above. The prophet also begs for this: “Make my steps in Your paths, so that my steps may not move” (Ps. 16:5). “Into the love of God” - into love for God and for everything Divine, or, into the embrace of God’s love, from which love will kindle for Him, and for every person, and for every good thing, - or, into Divine love, great, pure, heavenly. There are differences in the sayings, but the essence of the matter is the same. But why is the procession to this love supposed to be long, subject to the danger of deviations? - Because love does not suddenly settle in the heart, due to the passions and passionate inclinations and sympathies remaining in it. The seed of love is placed in the soil of the heart at the moment of conversion, and it grows stronger and ripens as the heart is cleansed of passions. Work on cleansing the heart is crowned with complete love. In continuation of this internal work on oneself, deviations from the right path to love are possible and do occur. “Many things deviate from the right path of love, and covetousness, and vanity, and sorrows, and temptations. This and much more prevents us from moving directly towards the love of God and loving Him as we should” (Theophylact). Saint Chrysostom explains this in more detail, saying: “There are many objects that turn us away from love, and there are many paths that forcibly draw us from there. And, firstly, the vice of covetousness, as if grasping our soul with its, so to speak, shameless hands, and, holding it tightly, even against our will, draws and removes it from there. Then we are distracted (from love) by vanity and sorrow, often also by temptation. Therefore, we need God’s help, as if in some wind, so that our sail, as if with some strong breath, would be moved towards the love of God. Therefore, do not tell me that you love God even more than yourself. These are just words: prove to me through deeds that you truly love Him more than yourself. Love Him more than money, and then I will believe that you love Him more than yourself. For how can one deny himself who does not value money for the sake of God? If you do not turn away from covetousness, which you should do even without God’s command, then how will you turn away from yourself?” “And into the patience of Christ,” or into patience for the sake of Christ, or into patience in imitation of Christ, who suffered for us, such as Christ Himself showed when He endured passion and death for our salvation, or into patient waiting for the second coming of Christ, when He will reward those who endure with glory and bliss, waiting by which alone, after love, patience is maintained. In patience, when it exists, all these traits are combined. The Apostle combined them all in one expression, calling the patience of Christ. He prays only for two moral forces – love and patience. Love is the inner driving force of Christian life; Patience is also an internal force, but it protects that life from the outside. Patience is sustained by hope, but receives indestructible strength from love. He who does not love will hardly have patience for long. And whoever does not endure, his love is hardly strong. “The prayer of the Apostle,” says Saint Damascus, “concerns important subjects, namely, to love God and patiently endure sorrows for Christ, so that patience is combined with love, or, better, love is crowned with patience. For as soon as we love, but do not show patience, then love is ruined.” Theophylact also writes the same: “The words “into the patience of Christ,” or so understand: so that we may endure as He endured; or this way: so that we wait patiently for Christ and do not despair, but firmly believe that He will fulfill what He has promised. He combined patience with love because to love God means to endure everything for Him, without grumbling, complacently.” Both of them borrowed their thoughts from Saint Chrysostom, who speaks more extensively about this. With this the holy Apostle ends his seemingly final speech, in which he combined, however, such good wishes and expectations, after which the sorrowful acceptance of the reproachful speech was beyond doubt. With all this he “showed fatherly care for them. since he had to reproach some of them, he anoints their hearts in advance, so that they do not doubt that he is giving them an order out of much love” (Theophylact). b) Moral speech (2 Thess. 3:6–15) The deficiency exposed here has already been reproached by Saint Paul in his first letter (1 Thessalonians 4:11, 5:14). But there it is shorter and more condescending, and here it is stricter and more extensive. It is true that this long-standing vice was common among the Thessalonians before their conversion and was not considered a sin; which is why they did not correct themselves soon. But it was obvious and stood out in such a way that Saint Paul noticed it during his first stay in Thessaloniki and then gave the necessary commandments and suggestions (1 Thess. 4:11; 2 Thess. 3:10). In confirmation of those instructions, he made a command in his first message. As they went into the same thing, here, in the second epistle, he assigns a whole section of 10 verses to reproof, where he lays out the basis for the inappropriateness of the reproached behavior, gives a strict commandment against it and lays down punishment for those who disobey if they do. The train of thought here is this: imitating me, verses 7-9, and remembering the commandment that I personally gave, believers should behave modestly and live by their own labors, verse 10. But some of you act differently, do nothing, just wander here and there, verse 11. I command them to correct themselves, so that they may eat their own bread while working. Let me know about those who will not listen to this word of mine; Meanwhile, do not have any communication with them, verse 14, not with hostile feelings, and in the form of correction, verse 15. Apparently the Apostle desires to quickly stop the spread of evil, or to speed up the correction that has begun. For this purpose, with particular insistence, he orders those who are correct in this regard to stop communicating with those who are faulty. This achieved two benefits - the serviceable ones got rid of the infection and were more confirmed in their serviceability, while the faulty ones were ashamed and, in addition to other incentives to work, received a new fact in that, for their lack of work, everyone shunned them and made them seem like exiles among society. Considering this remedy so powerful, Saint Paul especially insists on it, remembering it both at the beginning of his speech, verse 6, and at the end, verse 14, and elevates it into an immutable law, spoken from the person of the Lord Himself. Nowhere is it visible that this lack of work, an idle and parasitious life was revealed in such force among the Thessaloniki Christians as a result of the false belief that the day of the Lord has come. If there had been any connection between this idleness and the hope of the coming of the Lord, the Apostle would have indicated it in some way. But he has no indication of this. Rather, it must be assumed that this was a general vice of pagan life. In crowded cities, the noisy, cheerful, idle, riotous life catches everyone's eye. This is how it is between us now. If the Apostle had appeared in one of our big cities, he, too, would have seen what he saw among the Thessalonians, and he would have told us the same thing that he told those: they do nothing, they just fuss, run from end to end, chase pleasures and have fun. It is indecent for Christians to live like this. They should behave modestly, stay at home, do work, so that they can have the consolation of eating their bread. A comfortable, idle life is so contrary to the spirit of Christianity. So the Apostle wants to wean Christians from it, so that there will be no trace of them on these paths of pagan life. 2Sol. 3:6. We command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you separate yourself from every brother who walks disorderly, and not according to tradition, which you received from us. The Apostle here prescribes a general law for the maintenance of Christian conduct; to a special case, which will be discussed below, only a slight hint is made here. The apostles, preaching the Gospel, from the very beginning established new Christian orders of life among believers, how they should behave in the family, in society, in the church - and on behalf of the Lord they gave an urgent law: whoever does not live like this, separate from him. This carried out a silent judgment and excommunication of the guilty from Christian society, for when they were excommunicated, they naturally became excommunicated. It follows from this that, according to the intentions of the Lord and the holy Apostles, Christian societies, as a whole, must be strict followers of the commandments and immaculate in morals, and that maintaining such purity is the work of the entire society, like the law of self-preservation. “We command.” First I said: We hope that whatever we command you, do and do. Now he says: “We command you” - that’s what. Directly points to the previous one. Consequently, it was said in this way; that hope makes an application, or indicates a case to justify it. "On the name of our Lord Jesus Christ". The name stands instead of the person. “About the name” is the same as: by Christ the Lord Himself, or on behalf of the Lord Himself, by His authority given to us for the establishment of His kingdom on earth. It’s like this: “It’s not we who say this, but Christ” (Chrysostom). “He legitimizes this through us” (Theodoret). “For what I say, He says” (Theophylact). The Apostle says this “either in this sense: let Christ be a witness that we have given you such a commandment, or in this sense: the word I speak is not mine, but His” (Ecumenius). A command expressed in every possible way is the direct will of God, an immutable law, which cannot be ignored or interpreted crookedly. “Speaking in this way, the Apostle shows with what fear this command should be looked at” (Chrysostom). Together, the suggestion is clear that deviation from this command will cast a shadow on the Gospel itself, and, as it were, on the Lord Himself. Why is such strictness so that outsiders cannot say: look what they teach, look what their faith is, look what their Christ is. “To leave”, “to separate” (Theodorite), “to move away, to move away” (Ecumenius), “to turn away” (Chrysostom). Below it says: “do not interfere”; but together in such a way that not as an enemy we have a faulty one, but as a brother we admonish with such an attitude towards him (2 Thess. 3:14). It is clear that this is more than just one removal from participation in business or lifestyle. And this could be expressed as a suggestion: we do not walk your way and do not advise you, which could have a sobering effect on the faulty one. Seeing that his behavior was not encouraged with participation, but his behavior was reproached with indifference, the brother was able to come to his senses and correct himself. The Apostle says more, namely, that when separated from a disorderly brother, he should be excommunicated from himself, so that he should see himself alienated from Christian society. This is the whole power of the corrective measure established by the Lord through the Apostles; We will quote St. Chrysostom’s lengthy speech about this below. “Every brother,” that is, a Christian, and as long as there is a Christian. In the Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle commands the same thing not to mix with various persons of disorderly behavior, but only with persons belonging to the Christian community, that is, the brethren. For, he says, if it were a law to distance oneself from all such people, one would have to go out of the world (1 Cor. 5:10). “Walking without order,” “that is, living” (Chrysostom), “one who lives without any order, not according to the laws of God” (Ecumenius). Judging by the disorderly behavior discussed below, those who walk disorderly here mean those who are loitering, doing nothing, moving away from useful work and spending their lives only in fun and joy. This is what all our godly interpreters understand. But nothing prevents us from understanding by such people all sorts of violators of the order of Christian life, in general those who do not live according to the tradition received from the Apostles. The apostles everywhere instituted new orders of life, moral and religious, family, civil, and unconditionally demanded their fulfillment. Those who violated these decrees deviated from rank and found themselves disorderly and disorderly. To separate from all such people and thereby excommunicate them from oneself was the universal apostolic law, which the Apostle mentions in many epistles. Writing to the Romans, for example, he commands us to avoid everyone who “creates strife” (Rom. 16:17); in the letter to the Corinthians he lists all such persons, saying: “Now you will not mix with the writings, unless a certain one, we call him a brother, is a fornicator, or a covetous person, or an idolater, or a troublemaker, or a drunkard, or a predator: with such is lower than food” (1 Cor. 5:11). How charitable such a law was then and how one could wish for it to be in force in our times, St. Chrysostom writes about this at length: “The Apostle wants us to distance ourselves from every brother who walks disorderly. To be excommunicated from an entire community of brethren was then considered a great disaster. Therefore, the Apostle subjects everyone to this punishment. So, in another place, precisely in the letter to the Corinthians, he said: “with such is lower than food” (1 Cor. 5:11). But now the majority of people consider this unimportant, and everything has now merged and become disordered: we, indiscriminately, as it happens, enter into communication with adulterers, with fornicators, with covetous people. If it was necessary to distance oneself from someone who only, due to laziness, needs the help of others, then even more so from others. And so that you may know what fear excommunication from fellowship with the brethren inspired and what benefit it brought to those who complacently accepted such punishment, listen to how the one who was proud of his sin, who reached the last degree of depravity, who committed fornication, which even the pagans do not mention, who remained insensitive to his wound, for this is the extreme degree of corruption, like this (the man himself), who was so vicious, to such an extent He humbled himself and tamed himself, which Paul later said about him: “This prohibition is sufficient for him, even from many... so strengthen your love for him” (2 Cor. 2:6, 8). For such a person was then the same as a member severed from the rest of the body. The reason why this inspired such fear at that time was that it was then considered a great blessing to be in the company of believers. For then they lived in every Church as people live among themselves, living in the same house, subject to the same father, and participating in the same meal. Therefore, such a misfortune constituted for everyone a distance from such great love. And now this does not seem to be anything important, because we do not consider it anything important when we are in mutual communication. What was previously delivered as a series of punishments, now, due to the cooling of love, happens between you not as punishment, we move away from each other out of indifference. For the cause of all evil is the absence (in us) of love; it destroyed and destroyed everything great and glorious in the Church, precisely everything for which we should rejoice.” It should be noted that in the words: “not according to tradition, which was received from us,” tradition, as obvious, does not mean teaching, but the order of life established by the Apostles, and it embraces all orders. These orders were accepted by Christian societies and were preserved inviolably, under the title of immutable law. From the immediate successors of these orders, personally from the Apostles, they passed unchanged to their successors. As the Church emerged from the apostolic age, such it was formed directly by the holy Apostles. The doctrine was taught by the word and confirmed, where necessary, by scripture. Orders were established by deeds, by direct orders, although they were sometimes mentioned in messages. In the present place, the legend is, of course, factual, brought into practice by deeds. Theodoret writes: “Tradition is understood not in words, but in deeds.” Other interpreters here also understand by tradition the example of the Apostle, for with this the Apostle’s order about a hard-working life sooner entered into life among Christians and acquired more force. “Tradition,” says Saint Chrysostom, “is what the Apostle calls what they saw in his actions.” Ecumenius: “The tradition that I delivered to you through deeds, being an example for you.” “For this is actually a legend,” adds Theophylact. – It is in vain that the wisdom of the heterodox is unfavorable towards this patristic understanding. Having expressed the general law, the Apostle now speaks of its application to the Thessalonians. I would say directly: to separate yourself from those who walk disorderly is an urgent law; you have disorderly ones, so separate from them. But the Apostle explains in advance the guilt of these rioters (7-10); then he definitely points out the vice of the accused rioters (11); then invites them to improve (12). And as soon as they do not listen, we must separate ourselves from them (2 Thess. 3:13, 14). The Apostle determined the guilt of the rioters by the strength of the motives they had to be in rank. They had these motivations in the example of the Apostle himself, in the way he lived and acted while with them (7–9), and in the direct commandment given to them (10). The motives from the example of the Apostles are thus explained: you must imitate us; but while living with you, we did not riot, did not parasitize, but spent day and night in work and feat. You should do the same. 2Sol. 3:7–9. For yourselves, you know how difficult it is for you to become like us, as if you are not unworthy of your ranks, who eat less of your bread, but in labor and struggle, night and day, so that we do not burden anyone from you: not as if we are not imams of power, but as an image of a lady for you, in order to become like us. “You know yourself.” Naturally, students are inclined to imitate their teachers and their children are inclined to imitate them. This is always kept in their minds. And the Thessalonians, as disciples of the Apostle and as children born of his gospel, could not help but have an attraction to imitate him. But the Apostle speaks of imitation not as a matter of the heart, but as a morally obligatory duty. Not only to the Thessalonians, but also to others, he inspired: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). The apostles were the mirror of Christianity. They interpreted it in words, but represented it in action in life. For a believer, imitating them is as much a duty as being faithful to faith in everything. And in everyday life it happens that whoever is the first to establish some kind of order, everyone imitates him; and such imitation passes from generation to generation. “How ridiculous it is for you to become like us.” How pure was the apostolic conscience! How impeccably they acted in everything, according to all the demands of the Christian spirit! Living openly, in the eyes of everyone, they could say: this is how you live! They were sure that so many eyes could not see anything reproachful in them; and this is because they saw themselves as pure in the eyes of God, for they never consciously and arbitrarily bowed to anything that their conscience testified was contrary to the will of God. This mutual confidence gave them the courage to say so. They were all devoured to God and by God, and they spoke thus, moved by the Spirit, as devoured to God in everything. Saint Chrysostom writes: “Great boldness is inspired by the thought that a teacher can, referring to his righteous deeds, admonish his students. That’s why Paul said: “You yourselves know how wonderful it is for you to become like us.” For a teacher must teach more by life than by word. Let no one think that the Apostle said this, wanting to praise himself immoderately, for necessity forced him to say this, and, moreover, for the sake of the common good.” Then, from the total sum of his deeds worthy of imitation, the Apostle focuses attention only on those who, in contrast to their faulty behavior of some Thessalonians, strictly denounced their faultiness. “Not bezchinnovah,” he says, “below the tuna, the bread of anyone is poisonous.” Denies the reproachful aspects of those who are accused. Consequently, they behaved outrageously and ate bread without food. But this should not have happened, just as the Apostles did not have it. “They did not act outrageously”, from Greek - ουκ ητακτησαμεν - did not live tactlessly. Consequently, those convicted lived tactlessly, without regard to time, place, or persons, or lived disorderly (for ταξις - order), that is, not according to the order to which their title obliged them, for example, husband, father of a family, and the like - they lived carefree, in idleness, wandering uselessly around squares and markets, indulging in folk pleasures, walking and having a fun life. “Here the Apostle calls disorder without labor and work, as above. For God intended man to be at work and for this purpose provided him with members suitable for this; so that whoever remains idle steps out of the rank of God” (Theophylact). “Below the tuna of bread is poison from anyone,” they did not eat bread for free from anyone, although “even if they ate from someone, it would not be for free: “the worker is worthy of his reward” (Matthew 10:10)” (Chrysostom). Consequently, those denounced ate nothing but parasitism and lived at someone else’s expense. Perhaps they indulged in revelry, going from house to house to eat and drink, thereby depleting themselves or those in their circle who had some income. Having the strength to work and thereby earn a living for themselves, they were not ashamed to court others with all sorts of lies and eat them up. “But in labor and struggle, working day and night.” They did not eat bread without bread, but “working”, that is, obtaining it with the labor of their hands. It was not someone else who supported us for nothing, but we ourselves fed on our own labors. “Having brought the Gospel to you, we did not take anything from anyone, but we spent day and night in labor in order to thereby acquire what we needed for food” (Theodoret). “Day and night” is not the idea that we just did and worked, because we had to eat and sleep, preach in the synagogue and from house to house. The apostle wants to say: neither day nor night no one saw us idle. All our time, in order to satisfy the natural needs of the body, was spent on work, in addition to preaching. And this is what some of the Solunians who turned to us lacked: to sit quietly at home and patiently correct the work that was assigned to whom. “Let us not burden anyone with you.” The Thessalonians who believed, of course, would not have considered it a burden to support the Apostles when, as the first letter says, they provided benefits even to those living in other places. “An aggravation is considered when someone takes something from someone against their will” (Theodoret), or even “when someone gives to another without great zeal” (Chrysostom). But neither the first from the Apostles, nor the second from Thessalonians can be expected. What would they not have done for Saint Paul, whom they loved with intense love, as he himself testified? But the Apostle exposes what especially motivated him to act in this way. His fatherly love for his converts did not allow him to disturb them even in the slightest. She encouraged him to do everything for them, without demanding or accepting anything from them. In his letter to the Corinthians, he indicates that the motivation for this is the fear of hindering the success of the preaching; and here - this delicacy of his fatherly feeling. He puts it on display for this particular purpose, so as to more clearly indicate the ugliness of parasitism. He wanted to instill, as St. Chrysostom notes, the following lesson: “If I, the preacher of the words of doctrine, was afraid to burden you, then all the more (should be afraid of this) the one who does not bring you any benefit.” Not like imams of power. And the Lord commanded “those who preach the Gospel to live according to the Gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14), when, sending the Apostles to preach, he said to them: “In the same house (in which they will be received) abide, eating and drinking the same things that are with them” (Luke 10:7). All the Apostles did this. Probably, Saint Paul also used this rule at times. He could have used it among the Thessalonians, and, of course, no one would have dared to say anything against it. But he didn't do it. The Spirit of God, who guided him, inspired him with a different way of acting, perhaps according to the character of those peoples among whom he was destined to spread the Gospel. “But let the image of the lady be yours, so that you may become like us.” Writing to the Corinthians, he sets another goal, as has already been noted, namely, so that the Gospel preaching is accepted more impartially; but here to give an example. Why? - Hard work, homebody, sedateness and integrity. This again suggests the idea that, indeed, loitering, parasitism, carousing and partying constituted an outstanding feature of the life of Thessalonians (in paganism). Saint Paul noticed this the first time and immediately began to convince them to be diligent and sedate (verse 10). But in order to have a stronger effect on them, he himself began to work tirelessly to support himself and those with him. An example in this regard, for sure, could be more powerful than any word. The course of action of Saint Paul could not but disturb the conscience of the idle sloths and dispel them to work hard. “For if,” as Saint Chrysostom notes, “Saint Paul, who did not have the need (to work), but had, on the contrary, the opportunity to free himself from this kind of work and, having taken upon himself such a great task, despite this, worked, and not just worked, but worked night and day, so that he could give benefits to others, then how much more should others do so.” 2Sol. 3:10. For when I was with you, I bequeathed this to you: for if anyone does not want to do anything below, let him eat. The disorderly brethren had their second motivation to live in order in the exact commandment personally given by the Apostle himself. The example could still be reinterpreted, but the direct commandment was obligatory, eliminating any possibility of evasion. The commandment imposed a duty, the example disposed to fulfill it, indicating the way, or leading to it, as if along a paved road. Both together should have a victorious influence on the correction of character, which was previously crooked. Both are used by the Apostle. And a strong example is given, and the commandment is proposed in a very strict tone: “whoever does not want to do it, let him eat.” He wants to say: there is no reason to feed him bread, he loses, as it were, the right to eat food, and if he eats, it is without any right, but either through his own impudence, or through the mercy of others. This is the extent to which work is obligatory! A man is born to work, just as a bird is born to fly (Job 5:7). So it was awarded immediately after the fall. Labor is a penance common to all, imposed on everyone in Adam: “By the sweat of your brow you shall bear your bread” (Gen. 3:19). Under the condition of sweat, bread is given to him to eat. So, labor, whether physical or spiritual, is inevitably obligatory for everyone. The Apostle does not dismiss anyone from him. Whoever does not want to work, no matter who he is, whether rich or poor, “below and eat,” even if he eats, he eats with the violence of his conscience, with sin. Meanwhile, however, one should not lose sight of the fact that the Apostle’s word is addressed here to idle sloths, in order to disturb their conscience, and not to others, in order to stop their charity. He has the wrong idea: don’t let him eat. He does not give this trial and punishment to anyone. On the contrary, he speaks directly against this below, so that, while doing good, you should not suffer the cold that is given to parasites (verse 13). Theodoret writes: “And this: “below and eat”, the Apostle said not to those who give, but to those living in idleness. In a few words he gives advice to those who give not to look at bad behavior, but without a doubt to show their characteristic generosity.” 2Sol. 3:11. We hear of some who walk around you disorderly, doing nothing, but passing around cunningly. Having ascertained the grounds for the guilt of those accused, he points out the guilt itself, as if saying: but you, despite such obligatory incentives for decent behavior, have people who do not behave at all as they should. What was wrong with these persons has already been indicated. These are “walking without order,” that is, living tactlessly, disorderly, not according to the order established by the Apostles, contrary to the decorum of walking that he demanded in the first epistle (1 Thessalonians 4:12); “doing nothing”, not just sitting with their hands folded, but walking around doing nothing, who do not like to sit at any serious and constant work, but spend time pleasantly for their own pleasure, to delight their feelings, eyes, hearing, taste, etc.; - “but craftily bypassing”, from Greek - all those who are curious about what is there, what is happening here, what they are telling, what they are planning, and the like. These are glazers, talkers, debaters. Staggering around the squares, marketplaces, streets and houses, they are scouting everyone out, and it’s not surprising that they spy on purpose and enter into disputes, where the fervor, strife, fighting and all the disorder in society come from. “Those who live in idleness,” writes Theodoret, “are characterized by idle talk, talkativeness, and useless curiosity.” Ecumenius also points out the reason for this. “God gave us,” he says, an active mind. Therefore, when we remove him from works (that are pleasing to God), he, not being able to remain inactive, indulges in the works of the devil, in curiosity, talkativeness, slander, ridicule and the like.” Theophylact also writes the same: “Our mind is ever moving; therefore, when we do not occupy him with useful matters, he indulges in indecent matters, inquiring how others live, and hence into gossip, idle talk and idle talk.” It is not at all clear that these were people with obvious vices; otherwise the Apostle would not have failed to denounce this, as he does in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5:11); or that they were poor, able to support themselves with the labor of their hands, who, however, do not like to work, but live at the expense of others by begging or deception; at least maybe there was someone like that. These are all idle people, wasting time. But it must be assumed that there were not many of these, for the holy Apostle says: “certain”. Their number was so insignificant that they did not prevent the Church of Thessalonica, the entire community of believers there, from being distinguished by those wonderful qualities that St. Paul extols in them in both epistles. He speaks about them with such severity and so much because it’s a pity to lose even one soul, and out of fear that indulgence in them or inattention to their faults might make others easy to look at such an unkind way of life, and give them a reason to be carried away to imitate them. In addition, the Apostle writes: “we hear”, there is a rumor. He does not say who brought or often brought the rumor, but it is clear that the rumor was not empty and Saint Paul believed him. And he was so jealous that he could not indifferently tolerate any lack in his Churches. He tried to present all of them to Christ as pure and immaculate brides (2 Cor. 11:2). 2Sol. 3:12. We forbid such people and pray to our Lord Jesus Christ, that they who do it in silence may eat their own bread. It would be expected that, following the indication of the disorderly ones, the Apostle would immediately say: leave these alone. But since his goal is not judgment and reprisal, but correction, he first invites the faulty to return to the right path, and then, if they do not listen, he then commands the faulty not to mix with them. The commandment given now was already known. Here it is repeated only with a fatherly conviction on behalf of the Lord Himself to fulfill it exactly. It is clear how strong the Apostle’s desire is for no one to be disobedient, for everyone to become decently living, and for there to be no need to separate from anyone or make anyone excommunicate. For this reason he commands as an Apostle and prays as a father; both on behalf of the Lord Himself. He commands the power given by the Lord; pleads with the love of Christ. He makes his speech both menacing and attractive to both, driving them from all sides towards performance. Severity with love is always victorious. “Because,” writes Theophylact, “he spoke somewhat sternly above, saying: “We command you to leave” (2 Thess. 3:6), now he turns to them with greater condescension and says: “We pray in the Lord.” But through this will it becomes even more weighty and strict.” “Let those who work in silence eat their own bread,” so that they do not wander idly here and there, but sit at home, and sit at home without folding their hands, but at work. A modest, solitary, hard-working life is commanded, as opposed to loitering and wasting time. “We command not only to live in silence (quietly, serenely), but also to work” (Ecumenius). “He demands two things from them: as from the disorderly, to remain silent, as from the idle, to work.” ' Ησυχια, silence, is the opposite of noise, rebellion, trouble, fussiness, as well as restlessness, scattered and idle life. From here, anyone can imagine a picture of family, home life, which St. Paul gives as a model to believers. “So that they eat their own bread,” or so that they do not parasitize, do not live at the expense of others, but earn their own living with their own hands, or, so that even though they have their own wealth, they still work so that they can eat their own labor bread, for it is sweeter and, one might say, more sacred. Here, of course, it also goes without saying that we should not live on alms or begging, but should support ourselves through our own labors when we have the strength. The more holy Chrysostom leans on these latter ones, for he writes: “Why didn’t the Apostle say: if they do not behave outrageously, then let them eat alms from you; but demands both, that they be both modest and hardworking? - Because he wants them to work and feed themselves. For this is what the words mean: “let them eat their own bread,” that is, from their own labors, and not someone else’s, obtained by begging for alms. He speaks of those who, by their own choice, belong to the poor. Really, why don’t you work? God gave you hands not so that you could receive from others, but so that you yourself could give to others.” Theophylact then more definitely sets out his further thoughts: “So, you need to have labor, working with your own hands. Those who, having the strength to work, indulge in idleness, should not beg for alms. You will say: I pray and fast. But this is not the work of hands. You can still have manual work. And if you are negligent about this, then you will be subject to judgment as an idle lover. They will say: how is it that those who teach (with St. Chrysostom, of course, the Apostles, teachers of the Church) are not forced to work? “He has a very important and difficult job, which does not allow him to do manual work. But you, a private person, have nothing like that, and you are sinning by neglecting your work.” 2Sol. 3:13. But you, brothers, do not be cold, you do good. He gave the commandment to those who were faulty to correct themselves, and to those who were faulty he instructed them to remain in their correctness. As if the lesson would not be complete if something were not said by this too. What exactly does he instill in them? - So that you don’t get bored, don’t feel burdened, don’t become exhausted, “doing good.” And this “doing good” - καλοποιουντες has two meanings, it means either: doing well, leading a good life, maintaining good behavior, or: doing good to others, doing good. If we accept the first meaning, then in the words of the Apostle one will have to see the inspiration of the serviceable to continue a life opposite to the life of those disorderly, a serene, solitary, hard-working life. Sitting all at home doing business, depriving themselves of public entertainment and pleasures, denying their senses ordinary pleasures, they seemed to be some kind of prisoners, as if they were losing something, while they seemed to be placed in a more advantageous position. Some of them, of course, might have thought that such a life was boring. The Apostle encourages them: you who lead a good, sedate and hardworking life, leaving that disorderly, idle and empty life, do not get bored and burdened by it, and do not envy those idle lovers and do not be tempted by their position, as if it is the most advantageous. If we accept the second meaning, then the Apostle’s suggestion will be as follows: you, who have hitherto shown charity even to these parasites who are accustomed to eating other people’s bread, do not lag behind this way of acting, do not change this attitude towards them, continue to do good to them, without getting bored or burdened by it and without allowing the thought that in this way your good is coming for nothing. Your goodness in no way ceases to be good because those, in our opinion, are unworthy of mercy. God “His sun shines on the evil and the good, He rains on the righteous and the unjust”; “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful (Matthew 5:45, 48; Luke 6:36). The need must be seen in the person asking, and not pay attention to his malfunction. And the first meaning is not inappropriate, but the second is closer, and preferable because this is how our holy interpreters understand this passage, limiting, however, the circle of disorderly living only to those who live on alms, having the strength to work. They suggest in the Apostle the fear that Christians, hearing a strict reproach to the idle and the commandment for them to live by the labor of their hands, would not stop doing good to them, while these had not yet corrected themselves and were not accustomed to work, and, remaining without help, could die of hunger. All that good Christians had to do was to “absent”, not to get involved, and thereby encourage the correction of those who were faulty; they will not stop doing charity. “Do you see the fatherly compassion? - Ekumeniy calls. - He extended severity nearby, fearing that these rioters would die of hunger. Although he commands us to leave them and through this to admonish them, but until, he says, they correct themselves, give them so that they do not languish from hunger. This punishment is enough for them, that you separate from them.” To this Blessed Theophylact adds: “Although some of them will not improve even after this, still do not be cold, doing good.” Theodoret expresses the force of this and the previous text in abbreviated form as follows: “Having prescribed by law for some to engage in work and silence, he advises others to be guided by love for humanity: “do not be cold, do good.” Let their bad behavior not prevail over your generosity.” Saint Chrysostom resolves the usual objection: “So, what, will someone say: if he (the idle one) receives everything from us in abundance, will he remain idle forever? “Against this,” he says, I showed you an easy remedy, namely: separate from such a person, that is, do not give him boldness, show the appearance that you are angry with him. Meanwhile, this (instruction) is important. For this is how we must punish our brother if we really want him to improve. We must know how we can punish. For, tell me, if you had a brother according to the flesh, would you really leave him without help when he was dying of hunger? “I don’t think so, but you’d probably take care to fix it.” 2Sol. 3:14, 15. If anyone does not listen to our word by message, mark this and do not interfere with him, so that he will be put to shame: and do not have him as an enemy, but punish him as a brother. Then the Apostle so strictly rebuked those who walked disorderly and gave them such commandments, so that they would correct themselves and not disgrace the Christian society, which must be pure and holy in all its members and in all respects. But if at last they do not show obedience and remain in their malfunction, then this is the order given: “designate” them and not mix with them, and, however, not harbor hostile feelings towards them, but admonish them as brothers. The first thing that had to be done was to “name”. What is this sign and who is it for? For the Apostle Paul or for the Thessalonians? Our ancient Slavic translation gives the idea that the Thessalonica Christian society, or their leaders, having declared the Apostle’s commandment to them and about them invalid and seeing that they were not corrected, should have let St. Paul know about them with a special message, naming them by name in this message, for his further orders, similar, for example, to those he later made in Corinth regarding the incestuous man. Naturalness, compliance with the flow of speech and the Greek text force one to take the side of such a translation and understanding. For if it was given to the Apostle to know about the faulty ones, and if then it was necessary for them to announce what the Apostle was writing about them, then they must have been obvious to everyone, and there was no need to signify them for the Thessalonians. From that moment of his declaration of the apostolic will, non-interference with them began without special orders, which ceased in relation to others as soon as they were in good working order. And noticing them would lead to nothing. This was not what was expected, but something more strict. Turned out to be faulty; it was given to know about them, or the Apostle found out and writes a strict reproof and admonition; the whole thing was declared faulty; if they have improved, good; and if they haven’t corrected themselves, what’s next? – It is expected that the Apostle will be informed about them for further orders. This is the simplest and most natural course of things. And there is no doubt that this was the Apostle’s thought: let me know about him with a message, and meanwhile do not mix with him, not with hostile feelings, but to shame and admonish, like a brother, love. Others understand the “sign” - for the Thessalonians: signify it for yourself, or keep it in mind. At the same time, the word: “by message” - δια της επιστολης, is connected not with “signify”, but with “our word”, so: whoever does not listen to our word, spoken or communicated to you through this message, keep him in mind, or take note for yourself. But such a combination of words may not be accepted, because in this case it would be expected λογω... τω δια... If this is not the case, then the translation becomes strained and arbitrary. With it, it is necessary to understand: what is being expressed or communicated, so that the thought comes out; whereas with “name” it fits naturally and does not require additions; “signify with a message.” The interpretation of our ancient interpreters would give special weight to this understanding. But the words of St. Chrysostom to this saying: “signify this”, - therefore, he commands to do this, so that (such actions or such persons) are not hidden,” cannot be decisively converted in favor of such an understanding, especially if we take into account that he read the “word” not of “ours”, but of “yours”; with such a reading - δια της επιστολης - naturally should have gone to “mark”. Blessed Theodoret, Saint Damascus and Theophylact do not make any remark about this. Only Ecumenius wrote: “Mark this, so that it does not hide from you (or is not unknown to you).” It is obvious that with such an attitude of our ancient interpreters towards this place, understanding it in the latter sense may not be necessary and, at least, left to freedom. For us, the Slavic translation and the thought connected with it should take precedence. We are leaning towards him. “And do not interfere with him.” Write to me, but don’t communicate with him. “Do not mix in,” in Greek there is a word that means when someone interferes with a crowd and there merges with the general mass, like, for example, wine and water. The Apostle not only wants that no one sees Christians in the circle of these disorderly persons, but that strict Christians themselves let them notice that they are alienated from them because they consider their behavior incongruous with the title of Christians, and by this alienation they arouse their conscience and put them to shame: “let him be put to shame.” This is silent reproof and admonition without words. “But, according to the Apostle, such an attitude towards the faulty is prescribed as a punishment for the latter. And it is definitely no small punishment” (St. Chrysostom). “This punishment for the disobedient seems moderate; in fact, it is one of the heaviest. What’s harder than being in the desert even though you’re in the city?” (Saint Damascus). “The shame is very great when everyone turns away from someone” (Ecumenius). “And do not treat him as an enemy, but punish him as a brother.” Without mixing with the disobedient and turning away from him, do not, however, have hostility towards him, do not be indignant at him, do not despise or condemn him, but punish him like a brother. “Punish”, νουθετειτε, which means: to put something into the mind, to admonish. “Admonish,” he says, either by this accusatory turning away from him and non-participation in his ugly deeds, or not only by this, but also by a reasonable, brotherly, warmed with love word, with pity for him, why is he like this, humiliating and disgracing himself so much. Apparently, Saint Paul wants to kindle in the hearts of everyone a concern for moral purity, not only for everyone, but for the entire society, for the entire society as a whole. But of course, the exponents and executors of such care had to be the primates, to whom the care of the salvation of souls was entrusted. The Apostle probably entrusted them with the execution of this entire order. Here are the words of St. Chrysostom, breathing love for the weak, in this place: “Thus, (the Apostle) does not allow the punishment to extend beyond the proper measure. For, as he said above: “If anyone doesn’t want to do something, let him eat”, out of fear that they would not die of hunger, he added: “Don’t be cold when you do good”; so now, having said: “be separate and do not mix with him,” then out of fear that this would not separate him from the society of the brethren, for, having then doubted himself, he could soon perish if encouragement had been denied him, (the Apostle) added: “and do not have him as an enemy, but punish him as a brother.” By this he shows that the great appointed (the guilty) punishment, so that it could deprive him of all boldness. Admonish as a brother, said the Apostle, and do not insult as an enemy. Whoever admonishes his brother does not do it publicly, does not solemnly expose him to shame, but does it in secret and with great caution, grieving and lamenting, and with tears and weeping.” c) Again, final wishes and prayers (2 Thess. 3:16–18) Having expressed what was necessary to correct the character of some of the faulty, the Apostle again takes up the final speech, which he had deliberately interrupted, and hurries to finish it. He's definitely in a hurry; for, having expressed the desire for peace and indicating the distinctive feature of the authenticity of his messages, he concludes the speech with the usual benevolence of the presence of God's grace in them. 2Sol. 3:16. May the Lord of peace himself always give you peace in every way: the Lord be with you all. The wish for peace at the end of the epistles is usually to the holy Apostle Paul. Here it can be considered to be caused by the previous speech. The order he made and the discord, although the Apostle’s goal was to bring everyone into harmony through those corrective measures. So he prays that the Lord will preserve and establish a strong and comprehensive peace between them. The Apostle, by his corrective measure, seems to divide; but not so that there would be discord, but so that those separated, having come to their senses, would turn from their wrong path and, having entered into communion with everyone in good manners, would give the opportunity to all believers to enjoy a warm world. Saint Chrysostom writes: “See how he, when he commands them what must be done, seals his exhortations with prayer, placing prayers and supplications as a kind of seal on these treasures. "May peace give you." Since, probably, from this (that is, how he ordered them to treat the disobedient) strife could arise, because some would become more persistent and others less compliant, it is not without reason that he prays about this.” Ecumenius explains: “I knew that discord is born from reproofs and orders when those on whom they fall persist. That’s why he asks them for peace from the God of peace.” “Peace is always in every form.” “So that you may be at peace with the Lord and with each other, and get rid of the wiles of your opponents. For this means: in every form” (Theodoret). “So that they don’t have a reason for discord from anywhere, neither from words nor from the way they act. For in this way they will easily make those (disobedient) better. Nothing contributes so much to the correction of what we want to correct as peaceful, serene treatment and admonition without anger” (Theophylact). "The Lord be with you all". This is the height of Christian good wishes: for if the Lord remains with them, then with Him all good things will abundantly multiply among them for salvation. “If, he says, He will be with all of you, that is, with those who must be corrected and with those who have been corrected, then everything will be for good. He will heal those who do not want to work, and He will confirm those who love work in their diligence” (Theophylact). Saint Chrysostom gives the following lesson: “We can ask for this for ourselves, if only we fulfill what the Lord commanded. For listen to what Christ says to His disciples: “Behold, I am with you to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). This is said not only to them (the Apostles), but also to us, because from the words: “until the end of the age” it is clear that not only this is promised to them, but also to all those who will follow in their footsteps. The Lord bequeathed: “Behold I am with you,” but this only happens when we desire it. For He will not be with us at all if we ourselves begin to move away from Him. With you, he says, I will remain forever. Let us not drive away this grace from ourselves.” 2Sol. 3:17. Kissing Paul with my hand, which is a sign in every epistle, I write here. By “kissing” he called the blessing and prayer expressed in the next verse. It is also in the first message, but there it was written by the same person who rewrote the message. Here Saint Paul himself writes it and promises to always write it in every epistle. This is to prevent deception by forgery. Since some managed to move the Thessalonians out of their minds by showing them an epistle supposedly written by the Apostle, which, however, was not written by them, so that the same case would not be repeated among them or elsewhere, Saint Paul decided to mark his authentic epistles with his own handwritten writing of the last good wish: “the grace of the Lord” and so on. As if to say: in which message these words turn out to be written not by my hand, then it is not mine. And so that you can more accurately believe this, here is the handwriting of my hand: “I am writing to this girl.” This sign will henceforth be “in every message” that may be sent to you, or in every message to anyone” (Theophylact). 2Sol. 3:18. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. This is the same as above: “The Lord be with you all.” “He began with prayer, and concluded with prayer, protecting on both sides what was said (in the message) as with great walls; Having laid a solid foundation, he added to this an unshakable end. “Grace,” he says, “to you and peace.” And again: the grace of the Lord... is with you” (Chrysostom). He seemed to want to express such benevolence: “If grace, which saves us, remains with you, it will heal all your infirmities, for such is the power of grace. She will remain with you if you do not drive her away. Grace dwells in prudent souls, filled with simple faith and brotherly love. May we also be granted such souls that we too may be protected everywhere by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who accepted us (among the believers) and brought us to the Father in the Holy Spirit” (Theophylact). Thus, “having received the apostolic blessing, let us glorify Christ the Lord, who spoke through the Apostles. With Him be glory and splendor to the Father and the Holy Spirit, now, and always, and unto ages of ages. Amen" (Theodoret). You might be interested in: