The
śāṭān, the prosecuting attorney in the heavenly court (Job 1) who, in
later Jewish apocalyptic thought, became the prince of the demonic world, is a
figure of the Jewish Scripture and tradition and thus unknown to the Gentiles
of Thessalonica. Paul’s intent here is not to teach the new converts something
about the workings of Satan. The self-evident way in which the work of Satan is
spoken of indicates that such aspects of the apocalyptic worldview have been a
part of the initial mission preaching and have been communicated in the
instruction the congregation has received since, as they have appropriated the
new symbolic universe. . . . Satan does not play an essential role in Paul’s theology;
in Rom 1-8 he can develop his understanding of sin, the human predicament, and
salvation with no reference to Satan. For the modern reader< the main point
is assumed rather than stated—that Paul saw his life and mission as something
not his own, in which he was not in control. (M. Eugene Boring, I & II
Thessalonians: A Commentary [The New Testament Library; Louisville, Ky.:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2015], 111)
