Translation
that you not be quickly shaken in your minds nor be frightened, either by a spirit, or a word, or a letter, as if [it were] from us,
Go to footnote numberthat the Day of the LORD
Go to footnote numberis already here.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
That you not be easily disturbed in your minds nor thrown into confusion that causes alarm by those who say the Day of THE SUPREME RULER has already come, whether you heard it by way of a false claim to a special revelation from God, or
a false claim to a word from God, or a fraudulent letter that claims to come from us.
Footnotes
1
According to Benson, there were several times that congregations Paul had planted got letters from someone pretending to be him. It sounds like that may have happened to the church in Thessalonica. Paul’s point to them was that anything or anyone who claimed that the coming of Jesus in power to judge the nations had already happened was false, therefore, the means used to convey that message was also false.
2: “Day of the Lord”
This phrase always meant the time when God would judge men’s actions and deliver punishment or reward. This choice of words tells us that Paul thought the coming of Jesus would be followed immediately by the final judgment and its punishments and rewards. He thought there would be no time between His coming and His judging.
3
Some translators render this as if it were the perfect participle which means “is at hand” but it is not a participle, rather it is a perfect verb form of a word that means “present” indicating that the presence or reality of that event has already arrived.
PAUL KNEW THAT “THE DAY OF THE LORD” HAD NOT YET COME
In the Old Testament, the phrase “the day of the Lord” usually meant a time of God’s judgment. Here it is referring first of all to the time when Jesus would “come” in power and great glory to eliminate the sacrificial system by destroying the temple. Was that a time of judgment? Yes. For Jews and Gentiles who did not believe in Jesus it was indeed an act of judgment. For believers in Jesus it was a confirmation that He was indeed the Messiah.
Jesus did not tell them when this event would happen, but he indicated that “when it happens, you will know it because it will be obvious.” Paul knew that nothing that obvious had yet occurred, especially since the main thing Jesus predicted was the total destruction of the temple. So he was able to confidently tell them that Jesus had not yet returned and the “day of the Lord” that Jesus spoke so clearly about (AD 70) had not yet occurred. That was what Paul had in mind when he addressed the concerns of the people in Thessalonica.