2 Thess 1:1-5 Dateline Meter

Latest master summary of Bible dateline meters, with links to all the related docs and videos: http://www.brainout.net/LukeDatelineMeters.pdf

 

Infra-doc Links   xxx   xxx   xxxx   xxxx   xxxx   xxxx   xxxx   xxxx   xxxx

	Verse	Syllable		Cumulative
1	Παῦλος καὶ Σιλουανὸς καὶ Τιμόθεος	12		12
	τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεσσαλονικέων ἐν θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ ἡμῶν	16		28
	καὶ κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ,	7		35
2	χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς [ἡμῶν]	15	7	50	42
	καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.	7		57	49
3	Εὐχαριστεῖν ὀφείλομεν τῷ θεῷ πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοί,	21		78	70
	καθὼς ἄξιόν ἐστιν, ὅτι ὑπεραυξάνει ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν	19		97	89
	καὶ πλεονάζει ἡ ἀγάπη ἑνὸς ἑκάστου πάντων ὑμῶν εἰς ἀλλήλους,	22		119	111
4	ὥστε αὐτοὺς ἡμᾶς ἐν ὑμῖν ἐγκαυχᾶσθαι ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τοῦ θεοῦ	22		141	133
	ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑπομονῆς ὑμῶν καὶ τῆς πίστεως	13		154	146
	ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς διωγμοῖς ὑμῶν	9		163	155
	καὶ ταῖς θλίψεσιν αἷς ἀνέχεσθε,	10		173	165
5	ἔνδειγμα τῆς δικαίας κρίσεως τοῦ θεοῦ	12		185	177
	εἰς τὸ καταξιωθῆναι καὶ ὑμᾶς τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ,	18		203	195
	ὑπὲρ ἧς καὶ πάσχετε,	7		210	202

                                                                                                                                                     

 

 

Paul writes:

o         same dateline meters as 1 Thess, 4160 1^st (Adamic/autumnal year) quarter, Winter ad 53/54, maybe at or just after the Lord's birthday, since the 1 Thess '53' was based on the Abrahamic schedule, but the '57' here is His actual age, 4160-57=4103 when He was actually born.  Bible's age convention is 'last birthday'. (Google on that term if you don't know it, means that until your next birthday occurs, your 'age' is as of your last birthday, not nearest.  However, the way Bible numbers suddenly are one short or over, tells you if the person is near his next birthday, as shown here.)

 

o         Textual variants make a big difference here.  Third column shows what the meter would be if ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς [ἡμῶν] were excluded; however, if the text is included (and it is the default UBS text), then you get the second column of meter aggregates, and they look very intentional.

o         On the other hand, if you exclude that phrase: then to get the text to end with a sevening, would mean adding one but not both, of the remaining two exclusions in verse 4 or 5.  But neither addition provides two datelines, so those two extra words, are suspect.  Neither is in the UBS text.

o         Finally, excluded but in the UBS text, was the first ἡμῶν  .  It's excluded here, because the 2^nd letter is written within a month or two of the first, the meter and its formulas are all the same as for 1 Thess, so it's very doubtful Paul would add the word (not needed for meaning or context, already understood).  If it were added, all the meter falls apart.  Inclusion alters Paul's stress on God as THE Father and Christ as THE Lord, not merely 'ours'.  The meter should be allowed to be determinative (not a sole criterion,  but certainly more provable than 'majority' prevalence in mss, especially where the meaning doesn't change).