The Salutation of Paul 2 Thessalonians 3:17

As Paul gave his closing statements to the Thessalonian church members he desired for “the Lord of peace” to give them “peace always by all means”. In chapter three and verse seventeen of this second letter to the Thessalonian church members Paul shares a “salutation” with his “own hand” where we read:

The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.

The verse begins, “The salutation of Paul with my own hand,...” Paul began with the phrase, “The salutation” which means “greeting” “of Paul” whose name means “small or little” and was “the most famous of the apostles who wrote a good part of the New Testament” “with my own hand” which means “written by himself”. Paul usually dictated his letters and physically wrote final greetings at the end of them.

The verse continues, “...which is the token in every epistle: so I write.” Paul continued, “which is” or “that is or what is” “the token” which means “the sign or mark by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others and is known” “in every” or “each, any, all, the whole and everyone” “epistle” which means “letter” “so I write” or “to delineate (or form) letters on a tablet, parchment, paper, or other material and express in written characters”. Paul's final “salutation” was a “sign” or “token” that he had actually authored the letters.

When we consider these words of Paul, we admire his willingness to write this portion of his letter “with his own hand”. Rather than dictating these words, he wrote them himself. We might imagine there were imposture letters which went out to churches, so Paul made sure he wrote the final “salutation” in his. Many believe that Paul continued to be somewhat blinded by the light which shown on him on the Damascus road (Acts 9), and although he was healed by Ananias, he continued to have eye trouble. This caused him to dictate his letters until the final words were written where he would “sign” them himself. The Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit used Paul the apostle to declare the truths of the kingdom, and Paul's determination to give these directives to the church is not only admirable, but also gives an indication of his personal dedication to Jesus and his church. May we learn to care for others like Paul, so even if we have to dictate the gospel and only share a “salutation” at the end, we see the importance of them and their knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Next time we finish the book of Second Thessalonians by seeing Paul desire “the grace of God” to be upon all of the Thessalonian church members, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.