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[Alternate Coconut]

Who is the restrainer of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7?

[jimwalton]

Craig Keener's comment:

"The interpretations of this passage (vv. 6-7) are more diverse than those of most passages in the NT. Even the translation is not certain (is the restrainer 'taken out of the way' or does the lawless one 'come forth from the midst' at the end of v. 7?)."

Some possibilities I've read about:

1. Paul himself (Ellicott)
2. A collection of the saints at Jerusalem (Mt. 24.16-21) (Wieseler)
3. The Jewish state (Warfield)
4. The succession of Roman emperors (Wordsworth)
5. Law and order in general, but especially embodied in the Roman Empire (Rom. 13.1-7) (Tertullian, Chrysostom, Augustine, Cyril, Hippolytus, Denny, Findlay, Alford, Moffatt, Ellicott, Wolff)
6. Satan (Needham)
7. The full manifestation of evil (Dan. 10.13, 20)
8. Satan’s Messiah (Moffatt)
9. The Holy Spirit (Walvoord)
10. The archangel Michael (Dan. 12.1)
11. The power of God: God’s sovereign restraint (Ezk. 5.11) (Ladd, Ryrie)
12. The Church