This week is celebrated all round the world as the feast of St. Stephen. Christmas is merely a preparatory time before the major festival of St. Stephen's Day on December 26th.
But what do I read in the New American Commentary under 2 Thessalonians 3:2 ....??
3:2 The second prayer request is for deliverance from evil and wicked men. This verb for deliverance was used both to indicate eschatological future deliverance (e.g., Rom 11:26; Col 1:13; 1 Thess 1:10) and deliverance from dangers in this present age (e.g., Rom 15:31; 2 Cor 1:10).5 The latter is what the apostle had in mind in v. 2. Paul had once been an opponent of the gospel (Gal 1:13–14). He had witnessed the death of Steven and knew the lengths to which persons opposed to the gospel might go (Acts 8:1; 9:1–2). It is certainly reasonable to fear such persons. Yet the prayer for the deliverance of the evangelists sprang not from timidity but from Paul’s desire for the unhindered advance of the gospel.
Martin, D. M. (1995). Vol. 33: 1, 2 Thessalonians. The New American Commentary (263). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
What have these Americans come to? It is bad enough that I have to put up with "color", "traveling" and other new fangled manglings of English. But what is this ... ":Steven" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please cancel my subscription to every American newspaper and breakfast cereal.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the festivities that lead up to the great day next Wednesday.
Stephen Miller
Sydney, Australia
