2 Thessalonians 1:10

When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) When he shall come.—Not simply a repetition of the temporal date which was mentioned in 2Thessalonians 1:7—“when the Lord,” &c—but an introduction of the contrast which will be presented “in that day” by the spectacle of the glory of the saints. Thus the penalty of 2Thessalonians 1:9 is made to appear greater, while at the same time the readers’ minds are turned back to a more wholesome subject for meditation.

To be glorified in his saints.—This is not exactly the purpose, but the effect of His coming. A comparison of John 13:31-32; John 14:13; John 17:10; 2Thessalonians 1:12; shows that the saints are the objects on which and by which the glorious perfection of Christ is exhibited: to see what the saints will be exalted to “in that day” will make all observers acknowledge, not the holiness or greatness of the men, but the divine power of Him who was able so to exalt them. As the persecutors were divided into two classes to be punished, so the saved are described under two aspects: in contrast with “them that know not God” they are “saints,” i.e., fully consecrated to God; in contrast with “them that obey not the gospel” they are “they that believed” (for the past tense is the better reading), i.e., accepted the gospel. As the profane Gentiles, looking on the saints, recognise the “glory” of the God whom they knew not, so the disobedient Jews, seeing the faithful, are aptly filled with “wonder” (Acts 13:41), before they perish, at the glory to be attained by obedience to the law of suffering.

Because our testimony.—Introduced to show why the writers had said specially “in all them that believed” (the past tense is employed because it looks back from the Judgment Day to the moment when the gospel was offered and the divergence between believers and unbelievers began); the reason was, because among “all them that believed” the Thessalonians would be found included.

In that day.—Added at the end to make the readers look once more (as it were) upon the wonderful sight on which the writer’s prophetic eyes were raptly fixed.

MacLaren's Expositions

2 Thessalonians

CHRIST GLORIFIED IN GLORIFIED MEN

2 Thessalonians 1:10.

The two Epistles to the Thessalonians, which are the Apostle’s earliest letters, both give very great prominence to the thought of the second coming of our Lord to judgment. In the immediate context we have that coming described, with circumstances of majesty and of terror. He ‘shall be revealed . . . with the angels of His power.’ ‘Flaming fire’ shall herald His coming; vengeance shall be in His hands, punishment shall follow His sentence; everlasting destruction shall be the issue of evil confronted with ‘the face of the Lord’--for so the words in the previous verse rendered ‘the presence of the Lord’ might more accurately be translated.

And all these facts and images are, as it were, piled up in one half of the Apostle’s sky, as in thunderous lurid masses; and on the other side there is the pure blue and the peaceful sunshine. For all this terror and destruction, and flashing fire, and punitive vengeance come to pass in the day when ‘He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be wondered at in all them that believe.’

There be the two halves--the aspect of that day to those to whom it is the revelation of a stranger, and the aspect of that day to those to whom it is the glorifying of Him who is their life.

I. The remarkable words which I have taken for my text suggest to us, first of all, some thoughts about that striking expression that Christ is glorified in the men who are glorified in Christ.

If you look on a couple of verses you will find that the Apostle returns to this thought, and expresses in the clearest fashion the reciprocal character of that ‘glorifying’ of which he has been speaking. ‘The name of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ says he, ‘may be glorified in you, and ye in Him.’

So, then, glorifying has a double meaning. There is a double process involved. It means either ‘to make glorious’ or ‘to manifest as being glorious.’ And men are glorified in the former sense in Christ, that Christ in them may, in the latter sense, be glorified. He makes them glorious by imparting to them of the lustrous light and flashing beauty of His own perfect character, in order that that light, received into their natures, and streaming out at last conspicuously manifest from their redeemed perfectness, may redound to the praise and the honour, before a whole universe, of Him who has thus endued their weakness with His own strength, and transmuted their corruptibility into His own immortality. We are glorified in Christ in some partial, and, alas! sinfully fragmentary, manner here; we shall be so perfectly in that day. And when we are thus glorified in Him, then--wondrous thought!--even we shall be able to manifest Him as glorious before some gazing eyes, which without us would have seen Him as less fair. Dim, and therefore great and blessed thoughts about what men may become are involved in such words. The highest end, the great purpose of the Gospel and of all God’s dealings with us in Christ Jesus is to make us like our Lord. As we have borne the image of the earthly we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. ‘We, beholding the glory, are changed into the glory.’

And that glorifying of men in Christ, which is the goal and highest end of Christ’s Cross and passion and of all God’s dealings, is accomplished only because Christ dwells in the men whom He glorifies. We read words applying to His relation to His Father which need but to be transferred to our relation to Him, in order to teach us high and blessed things about this glorifying. The Father dwelt in Christ, therefore Christ was glorified by the indwelling divinity, in the sense that His humanity was made partaker of the divine glory, and thereby He glorified the divinity that dwelt in Him, in the sense that He conspicuously displayed it before the world as worthy of all admiration and love.

And, in like manner, as is the Son with the Father, participant of mutual and reciprocal glorification, so is the Christian with Christ, glorified in Him and therefore glorifying Him.

What may be involved therein of perfect moral purity, of enlarged faculties and powers, of a bodily frame capable of manifesting all the finest issues of a perfect spirit, it is not for us to say. These things are great, being hidden; and are hidden because they are great. But whatever may be the lofty heights of Christlikeness to which we shall attain, all shall come from the indwelling Lord who fills us with His own Spirit.

And, then, according to the great teaching here, this glorified humanity, perfected and separated from all imperfection, and helped into all symmetrical unfolding of dormant possibilities, shall be the highest glory of Christ even in that day when He comes in His glory and sits upon the throne of His glory with His holy angels with Him. One would have thought that, if the Apostle wanted to speak of the glorifying of Jesus Christ, he would have pointed to the great white throne, His majestic divinity, the solemnities of His judicial office; but he passes by all these, and says, ‘Nay! the highest glory of the Christ lies here, in the men whom He has made to share His own nature.’

The artist is known by his work. You stand in front of some great picture, or you listen to some great symphony, or you read some great book, and you say, ‘This is the glory of Raphael, Beethoven, Shakespeare.’ Christ points to His saints, and He says, ‘Behold My handiwork! Ye are my witnesses. This is what I can do.’

But the relation between Christ and His saints is far deeper and more intimate than simply the relation between the artist and his work, for all the flashing light of moral beauty, of intellectual perfectness which Christian men can hope to receive in the future is but the light of the Christ that dwells in them, ‘and of whose fulness all they have received.’ Like some poor vapour, in itself white and colourless, which lies in the eastern sky there, and as the sun rises is flushed up into a miracle of rosy beauty, because it has caught the light amongst its flaming threads and vaporous substance, so we, in ourselves pale, ghostly, colourless as the mountains when the Alpine snow passes off them, being recipient of an indwelling Christ, shall blush and flame in beauty. ‘Then shall the righteous blaze forth like the sun in my Father’s kingdom.’ Or, rather they are not suns shining by their own light, but moons reflecting the light of Christ, who is their light.

And perchance some eyes, incapable of beholding the sun, may be able to look undazzled upon the sunshine in the cloud, and some eyes that could not discern the glory of Christ as it shines in His face as the sun shineth in its strength, may not be too weak to behold and delight in the light as it is reflected from the face of His servants. At all events, He shall come to be glorified in the saints whom He has made glorious.

II. And now, notice again, out of these full and pregnant words the other thought, that this transformation of men is the great miracle and marvel of Christ’s power.

‘He shall come to be admired’--which word is employed in its old English signification, ‘to be wondered at’--’in all them that believe.’ So fair and lovely is He that He needs but to be recognised for what He is in order to be glorified. So great and stupendous are His operations in redeeming love that they need but to be beheld to be the object of wonder. ‘His name shall be called Wonderful,’ and wonderfully the energy of His redeeming and sanctifying grace shall then have wrought itself out to its legitimate end. There you get the crowning marvel of marvels, and the highest of miracles. He did wonderful works upon earth which we rightly call miraculous,--things to be wondered at--but the highest of all His wonders is the wonder that takes such material as you and me, and by such a process, and on such conditions, simply because we trust Him, evolves such marvellous forms of beauty and perfectness from us. ‘He is to be wondered at in all them that believe.’

Such results from such material! Chemists tell us that the black bit of coal in your grate and the diamond on your finger are varying forms of the one substance. What about a power that shall take all the black coals in the world and transmute them into flashing diamonds, prismatic with the reflected light that comes from His face, and made gems on His strong right hand? The universe will wonder at such results from such material.

And it will wonder, too, at the process by which they were accomplished, wondering at the depth of His pity revealed all the more pathetically now from the great white throne which casts such a light on the Cross of Calvary; wondering at the long, weary path which He who is now declared to be the Judge humbled Himself to travel in the quest of these poor sinful souls whom He has redeemed and glorified. The miracle of miracles is redeeming love; and the high-water mark of Christ’s wonders is touched in this fact, that out of men He makes saints; and out of saints He makes perfect likenesses of Himself.

III. And now a word about what is not expressed, but is necessarily implied in this verse, viz., the spectators of this glory.

The Apostle does not tell us what eyes they are before which Christ is thus to be glorified. He does not summon the spectators to look upon this wonderful exhibition of divine judgment and divine glory; but we may dwell for a moment on the thought that to whomsoever in the whole universe Christ at that great day shall be manifested, to them, whoever they be, will His glory, in His glorified saints, be a revelation beyond what they have known before. ‘Every eye shall see Him.’ And whatsoever eyes look upon Him, then on His throne, they shall behold the attendant courtiers and the assessors of His judgment, and see in them the manifestation of His own lustrous light.

We read that ‘unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places shall be made known’ in future days, ‘by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God.’ We hear that, after the burst of praise which comes from redeemed men standing around the throne, every creature in the earth and in the heavens, and in the sea and all that are therein were heard saying, ‘Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.’

We need not speculate, it is better not to enter into details, but this, at least, is clear, that that solemn winding up of the long, mysterious, sad, blood and tear-stained history of man upon the earth is to be an object of interest and a higher revelation of God to other creatures than those that dwell upon the earth; and we may well believe that for that moment, at all events, the centre of the universe, which draws the thoughts of all thinking, and the eyes of all seeing, creatures to it, shall be that valley of judgment wherein sits the Man Christ and judges men, and round Him the flashing reflectors of His glory in the person of His saints.

IV. And lastly, look at men’s path to this glorifying.

‘He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be wondered at in all them that believed ‘; as that word ought to be rendered. That is to say, they who on earth were His, consecrated and devoted to Him, and in some humble measure partaking even here of His reflected beauty and imparted righteousness--these are they in whom He shall be glorified. They who ‘believed’; poor, trembling, struggling, fainting souls, that here on earth, in the midst of many doubts and temptations, clasped His hand; and howsoever tremulously, yet truly put their trust in Him, these are they in whom He shall ‘be wondered at.’

The simple act of faith knits us to the Lord. If we trust Him He comes into our hearts here, and begins to purify us, and to make us like Himself; and, if that be so, and we keep hold of Him, we shall finally share in His glory.

What a hope, what an encouragement, what a stimulus and exhortation to humble and timorous souls there is in that great word, ‘In all them that believed’! Howsoever imperfect, still they shall be kept by the power of God unto that final salvation. And when He comes in His glory, not one shall be wanting that put their trust in Him.

It will take them all, each in his several way reflecting it, to set forth adequately the glory. As many diamonds round a central light, which from each facet give off a several ray and a definite colour; so all that circle round Christ and partaking of His glory, will each receive it, transmit it, and so manifest it in a different fashion. And it needs the innumerable company of the redeemed, each a several perfectness, to set forth all the fulness of the Christ that dwells in us.

So, dear brethren, beginning with simple faith in Him, partially receiving the beauty of His transforming spirit, seeking here on earth by assimilation to the Master in some humble measure to adorn the doctrine and to glorify the Christ, we may hope that each blackness will be changed into brightness, our limitations done away with, our weakness lifted into rejoicing strength; and that we shall be like Him, seeing Him as He is, and glorified in Him, shall glorify Him before the universe.

You and I will be there. Choose which of the two halves of that sky that I was speaking about in my introductory remarks will be your sky; whether He shall be revealed, and the light of His face be to you like a sword whose flashing edge means destruction, or whether the light of His face shall fall upon your heart because you love Him and trust Him, like the sunshine on the Alpine snow, lifting it to a more lustrous whiteness, and tingeing it with an ethereal hue of more than earthly beauty, which no other power but an indwelling Christ can give. He shall come with ‘everlasting destruction from the face’; and ‘He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be wondered at in all them that believed.’ Do you choose which of the two shall be your portion in that day.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:5-10 Religion, if worth anything, is worth every thing; and those have no religion, or none worth having, or know not how to value it, cannot find their hearts to suffer for it. We cannot by all our sufferings, any more than by our services, merit heaven; but by our patience under sufferings, we are prepared for the promised joy. Nothing more strongly marks a man for eternal ruin, than a spirit of persecution and enmity to the name and people of God. God will trouble those that trouble his people. And there is a rest for the people of God; a rest from sin and sorrow. The certainty of future recompence is proved by the righteousness of God. The thoughts of this should be terrible to wicked men, and support the righteous. Faith, looking to the great day, is enabled partly to understand the book of providence, which appears confused to unbelievers. The Lord Jesus will in that day appear from heaven. He will come in the glory and power of the upper world. His light will be piercing, and his power consuming, to all who in that day shall be found as chaff. This appearance will be terrible to those that know not God, especially to those who rebel against revelation, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the great crime of multitudes, the gospel is revealed, and they will not believe it; or if they pretend to believe, they will not obey it. Believing the truths of the gospel, is in order to our obeying the precepts of the gospel. Though sinners may be long spared, they will be punished at last. They did sin's work, and must receive sin's wages. Here God punishes sinners by creatures as instruments; but then, it will be destruction from the Almighty; and who knows the power of his anger? It will be a joyful day to some, to the saints, to those who believe and obey the gospel. In that bright and blessed day, Christ Jesus will be glorified and admired by his saints. And Christ will be glorified and admired in them. His grace and power will be shown, when it shall appear what he has purchased for, and wrought in, and bestowed upon those who believe in him. Lord, if the glory put upon thy saints shall be thus admired, how much more shalt thou be admired, as the Bestower of that glory! The glory of thy justice in the damnation of the wicked will be admired, but not as the glory of thy mercy in the salvation of believers. How will this strike the adoring angels with holy admiration, and transport thy admiring saints with eternal rapture! The meanest believer shall enjoy more than the most enlarged heart can imagine while we are here; Christ will be admired in all those that believe, the meanest believer not excepted.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When he shall come to be glorified in his saints - That is, the redeemed in that day will be the means of promoting his glory, or the universe will see his glory manifested in their redemption. His chief glory as seen in that day will be connected with the fact that he has redeemed his people; and he will come in order that all the appropriate honor of such a work may then be manifested. He will be "glorified" then by the numbers that shall have been redeemed; by their patience in the trials through which they have passed; by the triumphs which religion shall have made on the earth; by their praises and songs, and by their ascent with him to the realms of blessedness.

And to be admired in all them that believe - This may either mean that he will be admired among or by them that believe; or that the ground of the admiration which he will receive in that day will be what will be seen in them; that is, their graces, their numbers, their joys, their triumphs will be the occasion of producing admiration of him - for he will be regarded as the source of it all. Tyndale renders it: "and to be made marvelous in all them that believe." The latter interpretation seems to me to be the correct one. The general idea is, that Christ in that day will be manifested in a glorious manner, and that the source of his highest triumphs will be what is seen in the saints. His main honor when he returns to the world will not be the outward splendors which will attend his coming, nor the angels that will accompany him, nor the manifestation of his power over the elements, but the church which he has redeemed. It will then be seen that he is worthy of universal admiration, for having redeemed that church. He shall then be admired or glorified in his people:

(1) for having conceived the plan of redeeming them;

(2) for being willing to become incarnate and to die to save them;

(3) for the defense of his church in all its persecutions and trials;

(4) for raising his people from the dead;

(5) for the virtues and graces which they will exhibit in that day.

This appropriate honor of Christ in the church has never yet been fully seen. His people on earth have, in general, most imperfectly reflected his image. They have in general been comparatively few in number, and scattered upon the earth. They have been poor and despised. Often they have been persecuted and regarded as the "filth of the world and the offscouring of all things." The honors of this world have been withheld from them. The great have regarded it as no honor to be identified with the church, and the proud have been ashamed to be enrolled among the followers of the Lamb. In the last day all this will be changed, and the assembled church will show to admiring worlds how great and glorious is it, Redeemer, and how glorious was the work of redemption.

Because our testimony among you was believed. - The meaning of this seems to be, that they would be among the number of those who would in that day honor the Saviour, because they had embraced what the apostle had preached to them respecting these future scenes. Thus interpreted, this clause should be regarded as connected with 2 Thessalonians 2:7. "And to you it is a righteous thing that he should give rest with us, because our testimony among you was believed," That is, you have shown that you are true Christians, and it is proper that you should partake of the triumphs and hopes of that day.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10. "When He shall have come."

glorified in his saints—as the element and mirror IN which His glory shall shine brightly (Joh 17:10).

admired in all them that believe—Greek, "them that believed." Once they believed, now they see: they had taken His word on trust. Now His word is made good and they need faith no longer. With wonder all celestial intelligences (Eph 3:10) shall see and admire the Redeemer on account of the excellencies which He has wrought in them.

because, &c.—Supply for the sense, among whom (namely, those who shall be found to have believed) you, too, shall be; "because our testimony unto (so the Greek for 'among') you was believed" (and was not rejected as by those "who obey not the Gospel," 2Th 1:8). The early preaching of the Gospel was not abstract discussions, but a testimony to facts and truths experimentally known (Lu 24:48; Ac 1:8). Faith is defined by Bishop Pearson as "an assent unto truths, credible upon the testimony of God, delivered unto us by the apostles and prophets" (originally delivering their testimony orally, but now in their writings). "Glorified in His saints" reminds us that holiness is glory in the bud; glory is holiness manifested.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This speaks the different manner of Christ’s coming towards the saints and believers; not in flaming fire to destroy them, as in the former verse; but to be

glorified and admired in them. He saith not to be glorified by them, by their adoring and praising of him, but in them. He hath a personal glory, wherein he will appear glorious, and another mystical, in his saints. The Head will be glorified in the members, as they are glorified in and from the Head: as the sun hath a lustre and glory in the moon and stars besides what it hath in its own body, as Colossians 3:4: When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear with him in glory. The glory God gave his Son, he hath given it to his saints, John 17:22, and will put it upon them, and be glorified in it in the day of his appearing; as God is said to have glorified himself in Israel, Isaiah 44:23.

And to be admired; and this glory will be so great, that he shall be admired in it, as the word signifies. It will set the saints themselves, and all the angels of heaven, yea, the whole world, a wondering. Small things do not cause admiration, but what is great and we cannot comprehend, that we admire. And Christ will not only be admired by them, but in them; the wonderful love, grace, mercy, wisdom, and faithfulness of Christ towards them will be admired. To raise up such a number of poor, sinful, despicable worms out of the dust into such a sublime state of glory and dignity, will be admirable.

Because our testimony among you was believed; and that these Thessalonians might have the comfort of this particularly, he having spoken of saints, and those that believe in general, the apostle applies this therefore to themselves in way of parenthesis: q.d. Christ will be admired in all that believe; and ye are among them that believe; ergo, &c. And the doctrine of the gospel he had preached, he called it his testimony, as John 3:33 1 Corinthians 3:6; which implies it was not an invention of his own, he did not speak of himself, as the word implies: and this testimony found different entertainment, some believed it not, others believed it and received it; upon which account the Thessalonians are commended and comforted here by the apostle. The Syriac read the words in the future tense, without a parenthesis; Christ will come to be thus glorified and admired in his saints, because our testimony among you concerning it shall be believed or confirmed in that day; he means the day of Christ’s last coming, which he called the day of the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 5:2; and because it is so great a day, is therefore by way of emphasis called that day.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

When he shall come to be glorified in his saints,.... Or by them who are set apart for holiness and happiness by God the Father; whose sins are expiated by the blood and sacrifice of Christ; to whom he is made sanctification; and who are sanctified by the Spirit and grace of God; and in whom Christ has a peculiar interest, through his Father's gift, his own purchase, and the power of his grace: and when he comes a second time he will be glorified in these persons; he will appear glorious to them; he will come in his own glory both as God and man; and in his Father's glory, authority, and majesty, conferred on him as the Judge of the whole earth; and with the glory of his angels, who will accompany him. And he will also bestow a glory on them; their souls will be endowed with perfect knowledge and holiness; and their bodies will be made like to his glorious body; and both will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father; and this glory on the members of Christ will redound to the glory of him their head. And as he will then, in the most full and clear manner, display the glory of his person and perfections, of his wisdom, power, faithfulness, and goodness, set off the glory of his offices, and, the administration of them, and open the riches both of his grace and glory to them; so they will, in return, ascribe honour, praise, and glory, to him, and give him the glory of their salvation to all eternity:

and to be admired in all them that believe; who are the same with the saints; these are convertible terms; for no man can be a saint, unless he is a believer in Christ, let him make what pretensions to holiness he will: and no man can be a true believer in Christ, unless he is a saint; for true faith works by love, and in a way of holiness; and in those, or by those that are sanctified by faith in him, will he be admired when he appears a second time. He is admired by them now; he is with them the chiefest among ten thousands, and altogether lovely: they wonder at the glory and beauty of his person, and the fulness of his grace; and are amazed that such as they are should be admitted to communion with him; and how much more will they wonder, when they shall see him as he is? and he will be admired by others on the account of them, when they shall see those that they have despised, and persecuted, and accounted as the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things, received into the arms of Jesus with all the expressions of tenderness and love; placed at his right hand, and set down with him on his throne, clothed with white robes, and crowns on their head, and palms in their hands: and he himself will be admired with them, when they shall see him whom they took to be a mere man, and who was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs, and was loaded with reproach and ignominy, and at last suffered a shameful death, coming in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory as the Judge of quick and dead; thus will he be admired by them, in them, and with them.

(Because our testimony among you was believed) in that day; the phrase, "in that day", belongs to all that goes before, as that Christ shall take vengeance on wicked men, and they shall be punished by him, and he shall be glorified and admired in and by his people in that day, when he shall be revealed from heaven, and come to judge both quick and dead. Though some versions read it in construction with the clause immediately preceding, "because our testimony among you was believed in that day"; or concerning that day; that is, you gave credit to the testimony we bore, when among you, concerning this illustrious day of the Lord; or our testimony, the ministry of the word by us, in which we bore a testimony to the person and grace of Christ, to his first, and to his second coming, was received and embraced by you with a view to this day, and to the enjoyment of the glory of it. The Arabic version renders it, "for our testimony will be true in that day"; that is, it will appear to be so, everything we have said will be accomplished then. The Syriac version is very remote, "that our testimony concerning you may be believed in that day": but it is best to read this clause in a parenthesis, as in our version; which is an application of what is said to the Thessalonians, who might conclude, that since they had embraced the testimony of the Lord Jesus, borne unto him by his apostles, they would be found among the number of the saints and believers, in whom Christ would be glorified and admired; the consideration of which might animate and encourage them to endure afflictions and persecutions with patience, and to hold out to the end, and at last enjoy the heavenly glory, for which the apostle next prays.

Geneva Study Bible

When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe ({7} because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

(7) They are considered as children of God by the faith which they have in the Gospel, which is preached to them by the apostles.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

2 Thessalonians 1:10. Further, with this explanation 2 Thessalonians 1:10 agrees best, since in it, as the counterpart to 2 Thessalonians 1:9, the discourse is not so much of a glorification of Christ as of a glorification of Christians—a glorification certainly which necessarily reflects on Christ Himself as its producer.

ὅταν ἔλθῃ] when He shall have come, a statement of the time of δίκην τίσουσιν, 2 Thessalonians 1:9. Schott less simply unites it with διδόντος ἐκδίκησιν, 2 Thessalonians 1:8.

ἐνδοξασθῆναι] the infinitive of design. See Winer, p. 284 [E. T. 399]. The ἅγιοι are not the attending angels (Macknight, Schrader), but Christians. ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ does not, however, import through His saints (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Kypke, II. p. 341, Vater, Pelt, Schott, and others), nor among them, but in them, so that the glorification of Christians becomes a glorification of Christ Himself. So also Christ is admired in all believers, because the admiration of the blessedness to which believers have been exalted has as its consequence an admiration of Christ as the Creator of that blessedness.

ὅτι ἐπιστεύθη … ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς] is a parenthesis:[39] for our testimony brought to you has been believed. This is occasioned by πιστεύσασιν. It is designed to bring forward the certainty that also the Thessalonians belong to the ΠΙΣΤΕΎΣΑΝΤΕς. In a peculiar—intermixing much that is strange—and unnatural manner Ewald: “As the subject particularly treats of the truth of the apostolic testimony concerning divine things (!), or whether the gospel, as the apostles and first witnesses proclaimed it, will or will not one day be confirmed in its entire contents and promises by God Himself at the last judgment (?), so Paul summarizes the chief contents (?) of that glory and admiration in a lively reference to his immediate readers directly in words which one might almost then exclaim: ‘Our testimony among you was verified (?).’ And it is as if the apostle had put here this somewhat strange short expression, the rather because he has said directly before that God (?) will be admired in those who believed, as if a verification or complete confirmation (?) of the contents of faith must at last justly correspond to the human faith regarding them.”

τὸ μαρτύριον ἡμῶν] our testimony, i.e. the testimony proclaimed by us. Really different, neither from μαρτύριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ, 1 Corinthians 1:6 : the testimony whose subject is Christ; nor from ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ, 1 Corinthians 2:1 : the testimony which God published through the apostles concerning Christ. To limit, with Bretschneider, ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ to the instructions of the apostle concerning the advent of Christ contained in the First Epistle, instead of taking it entirely generally in the sense of ΚΉΡΥΓΜΑ or ΕὐΑΓΓΈΛΙΟΝ, is rendered impossible by the relation of ὍΤΙ ἘΠΙΣΤΕΎΘΗ to ΠΙΣΤΕΎΣΑΣΙΝ.

ἘΦʼ ὙΜᾶς] is connected with ΤῸ ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ ἩΜῶΝ into one idea; and hence the article ΤΌ, whose repetition before ἘΦʼ ὙΜᾶς might have been expected, is omitted. See Winer, p. 123 [E. T. 169]. Comp. on ἘΠΊ with ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ, Luke 9:5. Ingenuous, but erroneous, Bengel: ἘΦʼ ὙΜᾶς denotes: ad vos usque, in occidente.

ἘΝ Τῇ ἩΜΈΡᾼ ἘΚΕΊΝῌ] belongs not to ἜΛΘῌ (Zeger, Pelt, Olshausen), but to ΘΑΥΜΑΣΘῆΝΑΙ, whilst by it the indication of time, ὍΤΑΝ ἜΛΘῌ, is resumed. The Peshito, likewise Pelagius, John Damascenus, Estius, Lucius Osiander, Menochius, Cornelius a Lapide, Grotius, Harduin, Storr, Koppe, Krause, Rosenmüller, Nösselt, Flatt, Baumgarten-Crusius, and others, not assuming a parenthesis, unite ἘΝ Τῇ ἩΜΈΡᾼ ἘΚΕΊΝῌ with the directly preceding, either with ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ or with ἘΠΙΣΤΕΎΘΗ. The interpretations resulting from this mode of connection vary much from each other; but are all arbitrary, inasmuch as, on the one hand, in order to preserve the statement of time in ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, one feels himself constrained to consider the aorist ἐπιστεύθη as placed for the future, and thus to alter the import of the verb (will be authenticated); or, on the other hand, in order to preserve ἐπιστεύθη in the sense of the aorist, one has recourse to the expedient of construing ἘΝ Τῇ ἩΜΈΡᾼ ἘΚΕΊΝῌ as the objective statement belonging to ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ, in the sense of ΠΕΡῚ Τῆς ἩΜΈΡΑς ἘΚΕΊΝΗς.

But wherefore did Paul add ἘΝ Τῇ ἩΜΈΡᾼ ἘΚΕΊΝῌ after the sentence beginning with ὍΤΙ? Perhaps only for the sake of parallelism. But possibly also Calvin is correct when he says: “repetit in die illa … Ideo autem repetit, ut fidelium vota cohibeat, ne ultra modum festinent.”

[39] Certainly otherwise Hofmann. According to him, ὅτι ἐπιστεύθη τὸ μαρτύριον ἡμῶν ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς is to be added as a reason to ἀνταποδοῦναι ὑμῖν ἄνεσιν μεθʼ ἡμῶν, ver. 6 f. (!). But this is not yet enough. Besides the statement of design, ἵνα ὑμᾶς ἀξιώσῃ κ.τ.λ., ver. 11, is made also to depend on ἐπιστεύθη τὸ μαρτύριον ἡμῶν ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς; to this statement of design also ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ belongs; this is placed before ἵνα for the sake of emphasis, and εἰς ὃ καὶ προσευχόμεθα πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν forms a mere parenthesis—suppositions which are certainly worthy of an exegesis like that of Hofmann, but are only possible to it.

Expositor's Greek Testament

2 Thessalonians 1:10. ἐπιστώθη, like the variant ἐπιστεύθη, is suggested by πιστεύουσιν (cf. a similar instance in 2 Thessalonians 3:3). The abrupt parenthesis (“you included—for”) shows how Paul was thinking of the Thessalonians especially, while he depicted the bliss of the saints in general.—ἐνδοξ., in one sense they were to be a credit and honour to their apostles (I., 1 Thessalonians 2:19 f.); in another, they were a glory to Christ Himself, by their ripened character—a Johannine touch (cf. John 17:10, and 2 Thessalonians 1:12 of this chapter; the parallel between ἔργον πίστεως and John 6:29 is verbal).—θαυμ. = to be wondered at (by whom? cf. Ezekiel 39:21, Ephesians 3:10?) in (i.e., by reason of, on account of) believers; for a partial parallel to the phrase see Isaiah 62:6 (καὶ ἐν τῷ πλούτῳ αὐτῶν θαυμασθήσεσθε). If ὅτι … ὑμᾶς had been meant to give the reason for θαυμασθῆναι (so Zimmer, Wohl.), Paul would probably have put God’s witness instead of our witness, and expressed the idea unambiguously; the transition from the πᾶσιν to the special case of the Thessalonians becomes, on this construction, an anti-climax. The rhythmical swing of 7b–10 suggests a reminiscence or quotation of some early Christian liturgical hymn, perhaps one of the prophetic ψαλμοί which he had heard at Corinth (1 Corinthians 14:15; 1 Corinthians 14:26).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe] Better, without the comma: when He hath come to be glorified in His holy ones and wondered at in all those who believed. The last verb, in the true reading, is past in tense. We are transported to the time of the Parousia. With astonishment all beholders look back on the faith of these now perfected saints, and view its glorious outcome; they think of the “mustard seed” which has grown into so mighty “a tree” (Matthew 13:31-32). And they give the praise of all to Christ. Comp. 2 Thessalonians 1:12, and note; for holy ones, see note on 1 Thessalonians 3:13.

At His coming “the glory of His might” brings ruin to the wicked (2 Thessalonians 1:9). But there is another glory dearer to Him, that “of His grace” (Ephesians 1:4-6), which will be now exhibited in its full splendour, in His holy ones. “I am glorified in them,” said Jesus (John 17:10; comp. 2 Corinthians 8:23). Himself “the Holy One of God” and “Firstborn among many brethren,” His triumph is realised in the multitude of those who through believing in Him have become holy like Himself. So the Thessalonian believers “in that day” will be Christ’s high glory, as they are already the “glory and joy” of their Apostle (1 Thessalonians 2:20).

With glory like that rendered to God, a tribute of wonder will then be paid to Christ—by the angels surely (see Ephesians 3:10, and 1 Peter 1:12, for the interest they take in Christ’s work on earth), and by the saints themselves, wondering at themselves and at each other, and at the undreamed-of results of their faith. It will be said then, in the fullest sense, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:23). The praise that will be rendered to Christ at His advent is anticipated in such words as those of Revelation 1:5-6 : “Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed is from our sins in His blood; and He made us His kingdom, made us priests unto His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the might for ever and ever.”

because our testimony among you was believed] Rather, unto you (R. V.)—“our testimony addressed to you,” or “in its application to you.” This parenthesis, characteristic of St Paul’s style (see Introd. p. 33), emphasizes the fact of the Thessalonians’ faith, the primary condition in all His holy ones of the glory He will reap from them. “Glorified, I say, in you that believed. Yes, for the testimony we addressed to you won your faith; and in that faith of yours we see the pledge of Christ’s glorification.” Similarly in 1 Thessalonians 1:3-4 the Apostle found in the vigorous faith of his readers an evidence of their “election” to eternal life (see note).

in that day] Added with solemn emphasis to signalize the time of the revelation of Christ, when He will win honour and admiration from His saints, and inflict ruin on their enemies and His. The clause looks beyond the foregoing parenthesis to “the revelation of the Lord Jesus” described in 2 Thessalonians 1:1-10. Comp. the position and emphasis of the similar adjunct in Romans 2:16. For “that day,” see notes on 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:4.

The Apostle’s Thanksgiving, as in other instances (1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Ephesians 1:3-19; Php 1:3-11; &c.), ends in prayer, that the marvellous results which he anticipates from his readers’ faith may he fully realised.

Bengel's Gnomen

2 Thessalonians 1:10. Ἐν, in) Saints and believers shall not only behold Him, but by them the admirable glory of Christ will put itself forth in its fulness. See the following verses.—ἁγίοις, the saints) The mention of glory, and the saints, is sweetly joined, as is also the mention of admiration (Christ coming “to be admired”), and, believers (“them that believe”).—πᾶσι, all) This word, not added to, the saints, but to them that believe, intimates, that the term believers [“them that believe”] has a somewhat wider signification than saints. See Acts 20:32, note. So all, Php 1:9,[5] note. ‘Saints’ are those of the circumcision; ‘believers’ are they of the Gentiles, among whom were also the Thessalonians [who, when the testimony of the Apostles had reached also them, received it with praise-worthy firmness of mind.—V. g.]. Comp. the two expressions[6] standing in antithesis to these, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, note.—ὅτι, because) The motive of ‘admiration’ [which shall prompt them to “admire Christ”] will be, that the testimony of the Apostles concerning Christ, having obtained faith among the Thessalonians, proves to be what it professed [stands forth unshaken] in that day, on which truth alone stands firm. Comp. Php 2:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:19.—ἐπιστεύθη) נאמן, ΠΙΣΤῸΝ, stood forth as faithful [was proved to be trustworthy and stedfast], and as such was received [credited] by you, upon whom it (the testimony) had come.—ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς [among you, i.e.] even to you) coming as far as to you, in the west.—ἘΝ Τῇ) construe with ἜΛΘῌ, When He shall come [not with ἐπιστεύθη, was believed or accounted faithful].

[5] “I pray that your love may abound—in knowledge and in all judgment;” where the all is prefixed before ‘judgment’ as being the more general term; but not before knowledge as being more special and limited. So here, all before “them that believe,” but not before the more restricted term, “the saints.”—ED.

[6] Viz. τοῖς μὴ εἰδόσι Θεὸν, “them that know not God,” namely, Gentiles; and τοῖς μὴ ὑπακούουσιν, “them that obey not, namely, the Jews who refused to believe, though the Gospel was preached to them.—ED.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - When; defining the period when this judgment of the wicked will occur. He; namely, the Lord Jesus. Shall come to be glorified; the purpose of his coming. In; not "through," or "among," but "in," as the sphere or element of his glory. His saints; not the holy angels who will accompany him to judgment, but holy men whom he has redeemed with his blood. Christ will be glorified in his saints, inasmuch as their glory was the result of his sufferings and death, and their holiness is the reflection of his holiness; "They will reflect as in a mirror the glory of the Lord." And to be admired; wondered at, praised. In all them that believe; or, believed. The work of faith is past; the result of faith, the state of sight and glory, has commenced. The glorification of believers will thus become the glorification of Christ. The glory of Christ does not arise from the punishment of the wicked, but from the glorification of believers. Christ will indeed be glorified in the punishment of the wicked. His justice will be manifested and vindicated; but his glory will be especially seen in the manifestation of his mercy toward believers. Because our testimony; namely, the testimony of Paul and his associates, Silas and Timothy. Among you; or rather, unto you. Was believed; to be considered as a parenthesis. In that day; namely, the day of the Lord's advent, to be connected with the commencement of the verse, "In that day when he shall come to be glorified in his saints." Some, overlooking the parenthesis, render the words either, "because our testimony concerning that day was believed among you;" or, "because our testimony among you shall be believed on that day" - assented to by the whole universe; but the first rendering gives a false meaning to the preposition, and the second a false construction to the verb, as if it were future. 2 Thessalonians 1:10

Vincent's Word Studies

To be glorified (ἐνδοξασθῆναι)

Only here and 2 Thessalonians 1:12 in N.T. Repeatedly in lxx. See Exodus 14:4, Exodus 14:17; Isaiah 45:26. oClass.