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An Apocalyptic Reading of Psalm 78 in 2 Thessalonians 3

Department of Theology and Religion, University of Durham, Abbey House, Palace Green, Durham DH1 3RS, UK nijay.gupta{at}gmail.com

2 Thessalonians has suffered from neglect in biblical scholarship for many reasons, such as its brevity, its similarities in content and structure with 1 Thessalonians and its supposed dubious authorship. However, detecting an allusion to Ps. 78.8 (LXX Ps. 77.8) in 2 Thess. 3.5 (that includes verbal and thematic parallels) may offer insight into literary features of the hortatory section of the letter—a portion commonly considered to be disjointed and almost incoherent. Psalm 78 recounts the history of Israel, demonstrating God's goodness and Israel's ingratitude and persistent stubbornness and failure. The psalmist's hope that the `next generation' would rise above the `wicked and perverse' previous generation is re-envisaged by Paul in an apocalyptic fashion, with the new generation (those `in Christ') able to attain a faith(fulness) not possible for the `Israel' of the Psalm—an important message for a church in turmoil.

Key Words: 2 Thessalonians • apocalyptic • intertextuality • Psalm 78

Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Vol. 31, No. 2, 179-194 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0142064X08098280


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