OET interlinear 2 TH 3:17

3:17a

3:17b

3:17a–b

This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. This is my mark in every letter; it is the way I write: Paul usually dictated his letters (that is, he spoke aloud what he wanted to say) so that another person could write them down for himOne cannot be sure why Paul dictated his letters to a secretary, since it is clear that he was an educated man who could read and write both Greek and Hebrew. Paul may have had poor eyesight. No one knows for sure. What Paul seems to be saying in 3:17 is, “I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand, and not by means of a secretary. This is a distinctive sign to show you that this letter is from me, Paul, and not from someone else pretending to be me. I do the same with all my letters, so that if you receive a letter without these last few words written by me, you may know that it does not come from me. That is the way I write my letters.”. However, he would often take the pen at some point to write the final part of the letter himself, presumably as a proof that it was really from himWhy was Paul afraid that someone else would write a letter that claimed to be from him? Or if he was not afraid of that, why did he write the end of this letter with his own hand? In the context, Paul has just emphasized a warning to disobedient and lazy believers. Therefore he may want to show that this letter has also come from the same person who wrote the first letter (1 Thessalonians), which they would have with them still. If they believed the first letter came from him, they would then be able to compare the handwriting of the end of each letter and see that they were the same. See also 1 Corinthians 16:21; Galatians 6:11; Colossians 4:18. It is not clear how much of the letter Paul wrote, so you should avoid being too specific.Which words did Paul himself write? Below are three main points of view on this:(1) Paul wrote the last few words (3:17 and 3:18) in his own handwriting.(2) Paul wrote the words of 3:17 in his own handwriting. He emphasizes that the Thessalonians should be able to recognize his own handwriting (NJB, REB). However this opinion puts too much emphasis on their ability to recognize the handwriting. It is more important to emphasize his statement that he wrote the end of all his letters by himself to show that they were truly from him.(3) Paul wrote (in his own handwriting) only the word “Paul,” or the words “Greetings from Paul” (GNT). This view emphasizes that the signature was truly Paul’s writing. This is not likely to be what Paul really meant, since this is not the way he ended the first letter (1 Thessalonians). However, in two later letters (1 Corinthians 16:21 and Colossians 4:18), he wrote “the greeting of Paul with my hand.” He also wrote Philemon 19 with his own hand. He did not write his signature as the last word in his letters, as people do today. In that time, someone would know that a letter was from him usually because his name was written in the first line of the letter. But in this case, it was in the handwriting of his secretary.