Part 2 - Destruction "away from" or "coming from"? An examination of 2 Thess. 1:9

(This is the second post in a three-post series on my rejection of the idea that Hell is should be thought of as separation from God. Check out Part 1 HERE.)

Here in Part 2, I want to tackle 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and how that particular verse plays into the discussion of Hell as separation from God. But to do that we need to get into the Greek weeds a little bit. I’ll try not to get too technical, but this is the good, hard work of knowing the Bible better, so stick with me!

First, remember what 2 Thessalonians 1:9 says in the ESV:

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from[a] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

Please note the [a]. That indicates a footnote in the ESV that reads: "or destruction that comes from." I hope you can see the problem. The main text and text in the footnote mean very, very different things. There's no confusion or uncertainty when it comes to the Greek text. The Greek text could be translated into English either way, which means that the reading chosen is a matter of discerning which is the more likely reading in the context of 2 Thess. 1:9. Ultimately, that's a decision of the translators.

I use the ESV as my Bible translation of choice, but not because I think it's superior to other translations. It's mostly because I bought an ESV 15 years ago or so and it's been "my Bible" ever since. But even with my commitment to the ESV, I still find translations from time to time that I disagree with based on my understanding of the original languages. That's not to say that the ESV is a bad translation. I like it a lot, and I'm confident that I'm reading God's Word when I'm reading it. All I'm saying is that sometimes translators can get their interpretation of a verse wrong. I think that's what's going on with 2 Thess. 1:9.

The big problem in how the ESV translates this verse in its main text comes with the preposition apo (απο). This is one of two very common prepositions in the New Testament that mean “from”. Now, prepositions in any language are fickle things. They can have a bunch of different meanings. Apo can mean “away from” like in Matthew 5:29 when Jesus says that if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. That’s apo.

It can also mean “coming from.” Bill Mounce calls this meaning of apo “origination from agency or instrumentality” (found in the Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, Accordance edition). This is how Matthew uses apo when the Scribes and Pharisees say to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” (Matthew 12:38)

So, back to 2 Thessalonians. Both the main text and the footnote of the ESV’s 2 Thessalonians 1:9 are technically correct. But which meaning is more likely: away from or coming from? Well, I’ll tell you what I did. I wanted to see what the phrase “from the presence of the Lord” (ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ κυρίου) was doing in other contexts in the Bible. Revelation 14:9-11 already gives us a clue of which meaning we should choose (see Part 1), but do we have examples of this phrase meaning “coming from the presence of the Lord” and not just “away from the presence of the Lord”? As it turns out, we do.

In Acts 3, after healing the lame beggar in the Temple, Peter starts preaching, and as part of his altar call, he says this,

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. (Acts 3:19-20)

 Did you see what Peter said there? He said that times of refreshing will come “from the presence of the Lord.” This is the exact same Greek phrase that Paul uses in 2 Thessalonians 1:9. Now, Peter’s talking about blessing here, not judgment like what’s in 2 Thessalonians, but what Peter says clearly falls into Mounce's meaning of “origination from agency or instrumentality.” Blessing is coming from God in Acts 3.

There’s another example of "coming from the presence of the Lord" in the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was made about 150-200 years before New Testament times. That translation is called the Septuagint, and something like it was probably the Old Testament that Paul and some of the other New Testament writers would have been most familiar with. We see evidence of a Greek translation of the Old Testament being quoted and allude to in a whole bunch of places in the New Testament.

In the Septuagint version of Numbers 16, after Korah and his rowdy crowd were judged by God for trying to act like priests, verse 46 says,

And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer, and put on it fire from the altar, and put incense on it, and carry it away quickly into the camp, and make atonement for them; for wrath is gone forth from the presence of the Lord, it has begun to destroy the people.

Now, remember, this is an old Greek translation of the Numbers 16:46, so it’s going to read a little differently than your Old Testament which is based on Hebrew manuscripts. But the point is that this version of Numbers 16:46 uses essentially the same phrase that we see in 2 Thessalonians 1:9. Here, we even have a verse that’s discussing judgment coming from the presence of the Lord. (For the sake of thoroughness for those who care, the Septuagint of Numbers 16:46 says ἀπὸ προσώπου Κυρίου, leaving out the τοῦ which is the definite article and unnecessary in the context. It would still read "coming from the presence of the Lord.")

So, what do we end up with after this dive into the Greek weeds? I think we have clear, biblical precedence to use the ESV’s footnoted translation of 2 Thessalonians 1:9 in place of its main text translation. And while either translation might be technically, using “coming from” has theological precedence in Revelation 14:9-11 that I mentioned in Part 1. I would even suggest that using “away from” in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 is a theological decision by the translator that does not have enough biblical support. Hell is not separation from God. Hell is being fully in the presence of God with no mediator. In that situation, it is precisely God’s holy presence that dispenses wrath on the unrepentant.

In Part 1, I mentioned another challenge to my reading of 2 Thessalonians 1:9: what do we do with the puzzle of Jesus’ words on the cross. As he’s suffering the wrath of God, why does he scream, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” And honestly, the answer to this question is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in the Bible. I love sharing it with people, and I’d like to share it with you in my next post.

To close out this post, I want to reiterate: this is just, but horrible. This series of posts is not meant to be a celebration of eternal suffering in Hell. It is meant to be an attempt to read the Bible rightly. And if I'm reading the Bible rightly here, then it's a sobering, heart-wrenching reminder of what the unrepentant having waiting for them. If anything, this series of post should motivate us even more to share the Gospel with the lost so that they avoid being in God's presence without the mediation of Christ.