Later text
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers,
Intertextuality Pair
2 Thessalonians 2:1 → Psalm 106:47
Echo
Earlier text
Psalm 106:47BSB
Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise.
+ 3 more earlier texts
Earlier text
Isaiah 27:13BSB
And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
Earlier text
43:4-7BSB
Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made."
Earlier text
49:12BSB
Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.”
Significance
Paul's concept "our gathering to him" draws from the widespread OT and Jewish eschatological hope of God gathering scattered Israel from exile (Psalm 106:47; Isaiah 27:13; 43:4-7; Jeremiah 29:14; 31:8; Joel 3:1-2), which Jesus appropriated for his ministry (Matthew 24:31; 23:37). Paul transforms this tradition by shifting the referent from geographical gathering to the land (OT prophets) to spiritual gathering to a person—the Lord Jesus Christ—and from ethnic Israel to all believers (as in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17's rapture description). This hermeneutical move demonstrates Paul's pattern of seeing OT promises fulfilled in Christ in transformed ways, emphasizing the corporate nature of salvation and the centrality of union with Christ. For the suffering Thessalonians, this imagery provides pastoral comfort by grounding them in certain hope—they will be gathered to Christ—before Paul addresses their confusion about timing, demonstrating wisdom in addressing anxieties.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Echo
- Connection Method(s)
- Typology + Promise-Fulfillment