The expression “taking his
seat in the temple of God” should be viewed in apocalyptic terms, no matter how
vivid or dramatic the imagery. (1) There is much background in apocalyptic
literature for the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple, whether the activity of
the king of Tyre, who haughtily claimed to be a god (Ezek 28:2), of the
provocative Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; also Mark 13:14), of
Pompey the Roman general who entered the holy of holies (PssSol 2; 17:11–14),
or of Gaius Caligula, who tried “to erect an image of himself in the temple of
God” (Josephus, JA 18:261). Such lore
served as model for end-day conduct of the apocalyptic evil one. (2) Also, the
temple and the divine throne often figure in apocalyptic scenarios as heavenly
realities representing the site of God’s power and presence (Ps 11:4; 2 Bar 4;
T. Levi 5; Rev passim: both heavenly throne and temple). The author therefore
employs temple imagery as symbol for the site of God’s power and the phrase
“taking his seat” to represent the ancient theme of human aspirations to
divinity, whether Adam and Eve (Gen 3:5) or Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:21–23;
Josephus, JA 19:343–47), in addition
to the examples given above. Finally, the addition in some late mss of the
phrase “as God” is both unnecessary in the context and poorly attested
textually (TCGNT, 635–36). (Earl
J. Richard, First and Second Thessalonians [Sacra Pagina Series; Collegeville,
Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 2007], 328-29)
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