2 Thessalonians 3:17
New International Version
I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

New Living Translation
Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul. I do this in all my letters to prove they are from me.

English Standard Version
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.

Berean Standard Bible
This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. This is my mark in every letter; it is the way I write.

Berean Literal Bible
The greeting is in my own hand--Paul, which is my sign in every letter. In this manner I write.

King James Bible
The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.

New King James Version
The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write.

New American Standard Bible
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.

NASB 1995
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.

NASB 1977
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.

Legacy Standard Bible
The greeting is in my own hand—Paul, which is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.

Amplified Bible
I, Paul, write you this final greeting with my own hand. This is the distinguishing mark in every letter [of mine, that shows it is genuine]. It is the way I write [my handwriting and signature].

Christian Standard Bible
I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand, which is an authenticating mark in every letter; this is how I write.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. This is a sign in every letter; this is how I write.

American Standard Version
The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Greetings, in the writing of my own hand. I, Paulus, have written what is the sign which is in all my epistles; I write in this way:

Contemporary English Version
I always sign my letters as I am now doing: PAUL.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The salutation of Paul with my own hand; which is the sign in every epistle. So I write.

English Revised Version
The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. In every letter that I send, this is proof that I wrote it.

Good News Translation
With my own hand I write this: Greetings from Paul. This is the way I sign every letter; this is how I write.

International Standard Version
I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine. It is the way I write.

Literal Standard Version
The salutation by the hand of me, Paul, which is a sign in every letter; thus I write.

Majority Standard Bible
This greeting is in my own hand—Paul. This is my mark in every letter; it is the way I write.

New American Bible
This greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s. This is the sign in every letter; this is how I write.

NET Bible
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, which is how I write in every letter.

New Revised Standard Version
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.

New Heart English Bible
The greeting of me, Paul, with my own hand, which is the sign in every letter: this is how I write.

Webster's Bible Translation
The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.

Weymouth New Testament
I Paul add the greeting with my own hand, which is the credential in every letter of mine.

World English Bible
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, which is the sign in every letter. This is how I write.

Young's Literal Translation
The salutation by the hand of me, Paul, which is a sign in every letter; thus I write;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Paul's Final Greetings
16Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. 17This greeting is in my own hand— Paul. This is my mark in every letter; it is the way I write. 18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.…

Cross References
Romans 16:22
I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 16:21
This greeting is in my own hand--Paul.

2 Thessalonians 2:2
not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come.


Treasury of Scripture

The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is the token in every letter: so I write.

with.

1 Corinthians 16:21
The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand.

Colossians 4:18
The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.

the token.

2 Thessalonians 1:5
Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

Joshua 2:12
Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:

1 Samuel 17:18
And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.

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Add Distinguishing End Epistle Greeting Hand Letter Mark Paul Salutation Sign Token Way Words Write Writing
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Add Distinguishing End Epistle Greeting Hand Letter Mark Paul Salutation Sign Token Way Words Write Writing
2 Thessalonians 3
1. Paul craves their prayers for himself;
3. testifies what confidence he has in them;
5. makes request to God in their behalf;
6. gives them various precepts, especially to shun idleness, and ill company;
16. and then concludes with prayer and salutation.














(17) The salutation.--At this point St. Paul takes the pen out of his secretary's hand, and adds the closing words himself. The actual salutation does not begin until the benediction of the 18th verse, to which this 17th is intended to attract attention.

Which.--Namely, the autograph addition of a salutation, or valedictory prayer, not the special words in which it was couched.

The token.--Rather, a token--a mark, that is, by which to tell an authentic Epistle of his from those forged letters with which false brethren had troubled the Thessalonian Church (2Thessalonians 2:2). At first sight, it seems to us too audacious for any one to have conceived the thought of writing a letter under the name of St. Paul; but, on the other hand, we must recollect several points. (1) St. Paul's genuine First Epistle, in spite of its claim to inspiration (1Thessalonians 4:15), could not yet have acquired in the eyes of the Thessalonians the sanctity it wears for us; they had no notion of such a thing as Holy Scriptures, and even if they had, St. Paul was a familiar figure, a mechanic who had just left them, not yet invested with the heroic halo. (2) Such literary forgeries were not uncommon in that age, and scarcely considered reprehensible, unless they were framed to inculcate with authority some heretical teaching. Apocryphal Gospels soon after abounded, under false titles, and works fathered upon St. Clement and other great Church teachers. (3) There need nor always have been a direct intention to deceive the readers as to the authorship, but the renowned name acted as a tempting advertisement for the work, and the theories thus shot forth hit their mark; whether the real authorship were discovered or not mattered little in comparison. Such points must be borne in mind before we accept as genuine any of the early Christian writings.

In every epistle.--That is, naturally, "in every Epistle which I write." It cannot be narrowly restricted to mean, "in every Epistle which I shall for the future write to you Thessalonians," though that is, of course, the practical significance. Nor does it imply a formed design of writing other Epistles to other churches. It seems necessary to suppose that St. Paul had already made a practice of concluding Letters with his autograph, though only one Letter of his is now extant of an earlier date than our present Epistle. There is no reason whatever to suppose that all the Letters ever written by St. Paul have been preserved to us (see Dr. Lightfoot's Philippians, p. 136, et seq.), any more than all the sayings and acts of Jesus Christ (John 21:25); and even when he wrote his First Epistle to Thessalonica he had seen the necessity of giving careful directions about his Letters (1Thessalonians 5:27), and of rousing his correspondents to a reasonable scepticism (1Thessalonians 5:21). The same solicitude re-appears in 1Corinthians 16:21; Galatians 6:11. And the rule which St. Paul had already made he always observed, so far as we can test; for all his extant Epistles, as Bishop Wordsworth points out on 1Thessalonians 5:28, contain his "salutation" at the end. . . .

Verse 17. - The salutation of Paul with mine own hand. The apostle usually dictated his Epistles to an amanuensis, but wrote the concluding words with his own hand. Thus Tertius was his amanuensis when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:22). Probably the Epistle to the Galatians is an exception (Galatians 6:11), and also the Epistle to Philemon on (Philemon 1:19). The same authentication expressed in the same words is found in the First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:21), and in the Epistle to the Colossians (Colossians 4:18). Which; referring, not to the salutation, but to the whole clause; which circumstance. Is the token; the mark of authentication. Of every Epistle. Such authentication was especially necessary in the case of the Thessalonians, as it would seem that a forged epistle had been circulated among them (2 Thessalonians 2:2). Some restrict the words to the Epistles which the apostle would afterwards write to the Thessalonians (Lunemann); but they are rather to be understood of a caution which the apostle practised, or was to practise, in all his Epistles. Some refer the token to the words, "The salutation of Paul with mine own hand," and although these words are only found in two other Epistles, yet it is asserted that the other Epistles were otherwise sufficiently authenticated. But it appears better to understand by the salutation the benediction which follows; and a similar salutation or benediction is found at the close of all Paul's Epistles (see 1 Thessalonians 5:28).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
[This]
(Ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

greeting [is]
ἀσπασμὸς (aspasmos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 783: A greeting, salutation. From aspazomai; a greeting.

in my own
ἐμῇ (emē)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Feminine 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1699: My, mine. From the oblique cases of ego; my.

hand—
χειρὶ (cheiri)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5495: A hand.

Paul.
Παύλου (Paulou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3972: Paul, Paulus. Of Latin origin; Paulus, the name of a Roman and of an apostle.

This
(ho)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

is
ἐστιν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

[my] mark
σημεῖον (sēmeion)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4592: Neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of semaino; an indication, especially ceremonially or supernaturally.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

every
πάσῃ (pasē)
Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3956: All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.

letter;
ἐπιστολῇ (epistolē)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1992: A letter, dispatch, epistle, message. From epistello; a written message.

it is the way
οὕτως (houtōs)
Adverb
Strong's 3779: Thus, so, in this manner. Or (referring to what precedes or follows).

I write.
γράφω (graphō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1125: A primary verb; to 'grave', especially to write; figuratively, to describe.


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NT Letters: 2 Thessalonians 3:17 The greeting of me Paul with my (2 Thess. 2 Thes. 2Th iiTh ii th)
2 Thessalonians 3:16
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