2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ… The striking word "withdraw" is, in its simple form, found only besides in 2 Corinthians 8:20. In a still more striking compound it occurs in Acts 20:20-27; Galatians 2:12; Hebrews 10:38. It is a metaphor from the language of strategy; a cautious general shrinking from an engagement and timidly drawing off under cover. Perhaps we might illustrate it by the familiar "fight shy." A social excommunication rather than ecclesiastical seems chiefly meant, though the latter might be involved. The word "disorderly" is rendered "unruly" in 1 Thessalonians 5:14. The kind of irregularity is made clear in vers. 10, 11. Bengel quaintly makes this an opportunity for denouncing the Mendicant Orders. "An order of mendicants is not an order; if the Thessalonians had bound themselves to it by a vow, what would Paul have said?" (Canon Mason.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. |
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