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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
1 Th 2 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V17 V18 V19 V20
OET (OET-LV) forbidding us to_the pagans to_speak, in_order_that they_may_be_saved, because/for which to_fulfill of_them the sins always.
But came on them the severe_anger to end.
OET (OET-RV) forbidding us from telling non-Jews that they need to be saved so that they stay in their sins, but God’s severe anger will finish them off.
Paul also thanked God that the new Thessalonian believers had accepted the message that he and his companions taught them as words that truly came from God. The result was that other Thessalonians caused them to suffer just as fellow Jews had caused the new believers in Judea to suffer. Furthermore, Jews had also killed Jesus and the prophets before him. The Jews had also persecuted Paul and his companions and tried to stop them from telling non-Jews how they could be saved. Because the Jews had continued to sin greatly for a long period of time, God would soon punish them.
hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved.
trying to stop us(excl) from telling the non-Jews that/how God can save them instead of punishing them because of their sins.
Gentiles: Gentiles were all people who were not Jews. See the word Gentile in the glossary.
As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity;
So, just as people add things to make a pile, the Jews have continually added more and more sins until they have reached God’s limit.
They keep adding sin to sin, until at last God must punish them.
And so the result of the Jews doing all these bad things is that they are sinning so greatly that God cannot ignore it.
As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity: The grammatical construction in Greek in this part of the verse can be understood in two ways:
It indicates the result of the Jews’ actions. This means that they had tried hard to stop Paul. That resulted in them adding to their previous sins of killing the prophets and Jesus, which they had done thinking (mistakenly) that they were pleasing God. (BSB, NIV, GNT, NET, GW, NJB, NRSV, NCV, NLT)
It indicates the purpose of their actions. Some translations suggest that the Jews knew that they were sinning. (KJV, RSV, JB)
It is recommended that you follow the first option (1), along with the majority of English versions.
heap up their sins: This is a metaphor. Paul was comparing the way that they sinned more and more to someone adding to a pile of rubbish. This illustrated how God had been patient from even Old Testament times. He had figuratively allowed the pile of sins to grow high. But finally, Paul said, God had become very angry and would soon punish them. See the note on 2:16c.
the utmost wrath has come upon them.
The result is that finally God is angry and will soon punish them.
And now at last God is certainly about to punish them.
the…wrath: Here Paul implies that the wrath is God’s wrath. Many English versions have made this explicit in the text. For example:
The wrath of God (NIV)
utmost: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as utmost is more literally “in/to the end.” This phrase can have several meanings. There are two primary possibilities:
The phrase goes with “has come upon them” and indicates that these people are experiencing wrath “finally” or “in the end.” (RSV, ESV, NIV, CEV, NCV, GNT, GW, NJB)
The phrase goes with “wrath” and indicates that this “wrath” is extreme or complete. (BSB, KJV, REB, NET)
It is recommended that you follow the first option (1), along with the majority of English versions.
has come upon them: Commentators do not agree about the timing of this. The tense of the verb in Greek would seem to indicate that the judgment had already taken place before Paul wrote the letter. However, Paul may have used the past tense here to show that this was something certain to happen.
Many English versions simply follow the Greek past tense, though the JB and GW use a present tense verb. Here is another way to translate this phrase:
Now God has finally become angry and will punish them. (CEV)
You need to choose the tense in your language which most clearly conveys that God’s judgment was something that was going to happen very soon and therefore was as certain as if it had already happened.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
κωλυόντων
forbidding
Here, the word forbidding could introduce: (1) a reason why Paul says that the unbelieving Jews are not “pleasing to God” and are “hostile to all men” (see [2:15](../02/15.md)). Alternate translation: [because they forbid] or [which is because they forbid] (2) the means by which the unbelieving Jews act in ways that are not “pleasing to God” and “hostile to all men” (see [2:15](../02/15.md)). Alternate translation: [which they do by forbidding]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
λαλῆσαι
˓to˒_speak
Here Paul implies that he and his fellow workers speaks the gospel. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [to speak the gospel]
Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-logic-goal
τοῖς ἔθνεσιν & ἵνα σωθῶσιν
˱to˲_the pagans & in_order_that ˱they˲_˓may_be˒_saved
Here, the clause so that they might be saved expresses the purpose for which Paul and his fellow workers speak to the Gentiles. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this connection more explicit. Alternate translation: [to the Gentiles, which we do so that they might be saved]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
σωθῶσιν
˱they˲_˓may_be˒_saved
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who does the action, it is clear from the context that it is God. Alternate translation: [God might save them]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
εἰς τὸ ἀναπληρῶσαι αὐτῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας πάντοτε
for to (Some words not found in SR-GNT: κωλυόντων ἡμάς τοῖς ἔθνεσιν λαλῆσαι ἵνα σωθῶσιν εἰς τό ἀναπληρῶσαι αὐτῶν τάς ἁμαρτίας πάντοτε ἔφθασεν Δέ ἐπʼ αὐτούς ἡ ὀργή εἰς τέλος)
Here Paul is referring to how the unbelieving Jews fill up their sins. He does not mean that the Gentiles who are saved are filling up their sins. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [so that these unbelieving Jews always fill up their sins]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
εἰς τὸ ἀναπληρῶσαι αὐτῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας πάντοτε
for to (Some words not found in SR-GNT: κωλυόντων ἡμάς τοῖς ἔθνεσιν λαλῆσαι ἵνα σωθῶσιν εἰς τό ἀναπληρῶσαι αὐτῶν τάς ἁμαρτίας πάντοτε ἔφθασεν Δέ ἐπʼ αὐτούς ἡ ὀργή εἰς τέλος)
Here, Paul speaks of how the unbelieving Jews sin as if it were filling something up with sins. He could mean: (1) that they commit many sins all the time. Alternate translation: [so that they commit many sins at many times] (2) that they commit enough sins that God will punish them. Alternate translation: [so that they always commit enough sins for God to punish them]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / pastforfuture
ἔφθασεν & ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ἡ ὀργὴ
came & on (Some words not found in SR-GNT: κωλυόντων ἡμάς τοῖς ἔθνεσιν λαλῆσαι ἵνα σωθῶσιν εἰς τό ἀναπληρῶσαι αὐτῶν τάς ἁμαρτίας πάντοτε ἔφθασεν Δέ ἐπʼ αὐτούς ἡ ὀργή εἰς τέλος)
Here Paul could be using the past tense phrase has come upon them to indicate that: (1) the wrath will come in the future. In this case, Paul uses the past tense to indicate that the wrath is certain or will be revealed soon. Alternate translation: [the wrath will certainly come upon them] or [the wrath will soon come upon them] (2) wrath has already come when Paul wrote this letter. In this case, at the time Paul wrote this letter, the unbelieving Jews were already experiencing the wrath. Alternate translation: [the wrath has already come upon them] (3) God had already revealed the wrath would eventually come. In this case, people already know about the wrath but will experience it in the future. Alternate translation: [it has already been revealed that the wrath will come upon them]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἡ ὀργὴ
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: κωλυόντων ἡμάς τοῖς ἔθνεσιν λαλῆσαι ἵνα σωθῶσιν εἰς τό ἀναπληρῶσαι αὐτῶν τάς ἁμαρτίας πάντοτε ἔφθασεν Δέ ἐπʼ αὐτούς ἡ ὀργή εἰς τέλος)
Here Paul implies that the wrath is God’s wrath. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [God’s wrath]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἔφθασεν & ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ἡ ὀργὴ
came & on (Some words not found in SR-GNT: κωλυόντων ἡμάς τοῖς ἔθνεσιν λαλῆσαι ἵνα σωθῶσιν εἰς τό ἀναπληρῶσαι αὐτῶν τάς ἁμαρτίας πάντοτε ἔφθασεν Δέ ἐπʼ αὐτούς ἡ ὀργή εἰς τέλος)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of wrath, you could express the same idea in another way. See how you translated this word in [1:10](../01/10.md). Alternate translation: [God has punished them] or [they have been punished]
Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
εἰς τέλος
for to end
Here, the phrase to the end could mean that God’s wrath has come up them: (1) completely or totally. In this case, God reveals all of his wrath, not just some of it. Alternate translation: [totally] or [fully] (2) at a specific moment at the end of a period of time. In this case, the unbelieving Jews are sinning until God finally reveals his wrath. Alternate translation: [finally] or [at last] (3) at the end of this world. In this case, the end refers to when Jesus comes back. Alternate translation: [at the end of this world] or [when Jesus returns]
2:16 The mission to the Gentiles was one of the most important issues in the early church (Acts 11:18; 13:46-49; 28:28; Rom 1:16).
• Judgment comes when sins pile up to their complete measure (Gen 15:16; Dan 8:23; cp. Matt 23:31-36).
OET (OET-LV) forbidding us to_the pagans to_speak, in_order_that they_may_be_saved, because/for which to_fulfill of_them the sins always.
But came on them the severe_anger to end.
OET (OET-RV) forbidding us from telling non-Jews that they need to be saved so that they stay in their sins, but God’s severe anger will finish them off.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.