[B-Greek] 2 Thessalonians 2:3

Mark Spitsbergen awakesd at earthlink.net
Tue Aug 9 03:03:15 EDT 2005


I am new to this forum and probably should spend more time observing the way
the dialogue works but if you will allow me I would like to jump in with
both feet and present an alternative translation to 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
Hopefully, I have used your nomenclature correctly.

"Mh tis umas exapathsh kata mhdena tropon oti ean me elqh h apostasia prwton
kai apokalufqh ho anqropos ths anomias ho uios ths tou apwleias"

"Let no one deceive you in any manner for before the apostasy may come,
first even the man of lawlessness shall be revealed the son of destruction"
2 Thessalonians 2:3.

Please let me humbly present this translation of 2 Thessalonians for review.
I would like to argue for a significantly different view of this verse based
upon how one translates 'ean me'. The phrase 'ean me' occurs about 60 times
in the New Testament. It is usually translated 'except' but of course it
literally means 'if not'. However, there is precedence set for  translating
the phrase 'ean me' as 'before' (AV-John 7:51). If this is a valid
translation then we may derive a clearer picture of the sequence of events
that will occur. Additionally, I am arguing for the adverb 'prwton' as the
separator of the two events: the apostasy and the revealing of the man of
lawlessness. 

ttt

Mark




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