14 If any man doesn't obey our word in this letter, note that man, that you have no company with him, to the end that he may be ashamed.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
If any one obeys not. He has already declared previously, that he commands nothing but from the Lord. Hence the man, that would not obey, would not be contumacious against a mere man, but would be rebellious against God himself; [1] and accordingly he teaches that such persons ought to be severely chastised. And, in the first place, he desires that they be reported to him, that he may repress them by his authority; and, secondly, he orders them to be excommunicated, that, being touched with shame, they may repent. From this we infer, that we must not spare the reputation of those who cannot be arrested otherwise than by their faults being exposed; but we must take care to make known their distempers to the physician, that he may make it his endeavor to cure them. Keep no company. I have no doubt that he refers to excommunication; for, besides that the (ataxia) disorder to which he had adverted deserved a severe chastisement, contumacy is an intolerable vice. He had said before, Withdraw yourselves from them, for they live in a disorderly manner, (2-Thessalonians 3:6.) And now he says, Keep no company, for they reject my admonition. He expresses, therefore, something more by this second manner of expression than by the former; for it is one thing to withdraw from intimate acquaintance with an individual, and quite another to keep altogether aloof from his society. In short, those that do not obey after being admonished, he excludes from the common society of believers. By this we are taught that we must employ the discipline of excommunication against all the obstinate [2] persons who will not otherwise allow themselves to be brought under subjection, and must be branded with disgrace, until, having been brought under and subdued, they learn to obey. That he may be ashamed. There are, it is true, other ends to be served by excommunication -- that contagion may spread no farther, that the personal wickedness of one individual may not tend to the common disgrace of the Church, and that the example of severity may induce others to fear, (1-Timothy 5:20;) but Paul touches upon this one merely -- that those who have sinned may by shame be constrained to repentance. For those that please themselves in their vices become more and more obstinate: thus sin is nourished by indulgence and dissimulation. This, therefore, is the best remedy -- when a feeling of shame is awakened in the mind of the offender, so that he begins to be displeased with himself. It would, indeed, be a small point gained to have individuals made ashamed; but Paul had an eye to farther progress -- when the offender, confounded by a discovery of his own baseness, is led in this way to a full amendment: for shame, like sorrow, is a useful preparation for hatred of sin. Hence all that become wanton [3] must, as I have said, be restrained by this bridle, lest their audacity should be increased in consequence of impunity.
1 - "Ce n'eust point contre vn homme mortel qu'il eust addresse son opiniastre et rebellion;" -- "It would not have been against a mortal man that he had directed his stubbornness and rebellion."
2 - "Et endurcis;" -- "And hardened."
3 - "Tous ceux qui se desbordent et follastrent;" -- "All those that break out and become wanton."
And if any man obey not our word by this epistle - Margin, "or signify that man by an epistle." According to the marginal reading this would mean "signify, mark out, or designate that man to me by an epistle." The difference is merely whether we unite the words "by the epistle" with what goes before, or what follows. The Greek would admit of either construction (Winer, p. 93), but it seems to me that the construction in the text is the correct one, because:
(1) the requirement was to proceed to discipline such a man by withdrawing from him;
(2) in order to do this it was not necessary that the case should be made known to Paul, for there was no supposable difficulty in it, and the effect would be only needless delay;
(3) Paul regarded the right of discipline as residing in the church itself, and did not require that cases should be referred to him to determine; see the notes on 1-Corinthians 5:2-4.
(4) though the Greek will admit of either construction, yet it rather favors this; see Oldhhausen, in loc. Note that man. The word here used, means to mark; to sign; to note with marks; and the idea is, set such a mark upon him that he shall be shunned; that is, withdraw all Christian fellowship from him.
And have no company with him - The Greek word here means, to mix up together; then to mingle together with; to have contact with. The idea is that they were not to mingle with him as a Christian brother, or as one of their own number. They were not to show that they regarded him as a worthy member of the church, or as having a claim to its privileges. The extent of their discipline was, that they were to withdraw from him; see the 2-Thessalonians 3:6 note, and Matthew 18:17 note; compare 2-John 1:10-11.
If any man obey not - They had disobeyed his word in the first epistle, and the Church still continued to bear with them; now he tells the Church, if they still continue to disregard what is said to them, and particularly his word by this second epistle, they are to mark them as being totally incorrigible, and have no fellowship with them.
Some construe the words δια της επιστολης with τουτον σημειουσθε· Give me information of that man by a letter - let me hear of his continued obstinacy, and send me his name. This was probably in order to excommunicate him, and deliver him over to Satan for the destruction of the body, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. The words of the original will bear either construction, that in the text, or that given above.
(11) And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no (12) company with him, (13) that he may be ashamed.
(11) Excommunication is a punishment for the obstinate.
(12) We must have no familiarity or fellowship with the one who has been excommunicated.
(13) The end of the excommunication is not the destruction, but the salvation of the sinner, that at least through shame he may be driven to repentance.
And if any man obey not our word,.... Of command, to work quietly, and eat his own bread, now signified "by this epistle", particularly in 2-Thessalonians 3:12,
note that man; some read this clause in connection with the preceding phrase, "by this epistle", or by an epistle; and so the Ethiopic version, "show", or "signify him by an epistle"; that is, give us notice of it by an epistle, that we may take him under our cognizance, and severely chastise him, according to the power and authority given us by Christ; but that phrase rather belongs to the preceding words: and the clause here respects the notice the church should take of such a person; not in a private way, or merely by way of admonition and reproof, such as is given before rejection from communion; but by the black mark of excommunication; lay him under censure, exclude him from your communion, put a brand upon him as a scabbed sheep, and separate him from the flock; and so the Syriac version renders it, "let him be separated from you" and this sense is confirmed by what follows,
and have no company with him; as little as can be in common and civil conversation, lest he should take encouragement from thence to continue in his sin, and lest others should think it is connived at; and much less at the Lord's table, or in a sacred and religious conversation, or in a way of church fellowship and communion:
that he may be ashamed; that he may have his eyes turned in him, as the word signifies, and he may be brought to a sight and sense of his sin, and be filled with shame for it, and loath it, and himself on the account of it, and truly repent of it, and forsake it; and this is the end of excommunication, at least one end, and a principal end of it, to recover persons out of the snare of the devil, and return them from the error of their ways: so the Jews say (s),
"in matters of heaven (of God or religion), if a man does not return privately, they "put him to shame" publicly; and publish his sin, and reproach him to his face, and despise and set him at nought until he returns to do well.''
(s) Maimon, Hilch. Deyot, c. 6. sect. 8.
note that man--mark him in your own mind as one to be avoided (2-Thessalonians 3:6).
that he may be ashamed--Greek, "made to turn and look into himself, and so be put to shame." Feeling himself shunned by godly brethren, he may become ashamed of his course.
If any man obey not. Whoever does not obey these charges, let him be noted, withdrawn from. See 2-Thessalonians 3:6. He must be made ashamed of his course by seeing that it is repudiated by the church.
Yet count him not as an enemy. The object of discipline is to save. Compare 1-Corinthians 5:5. Give him kind and brotherly admonition, and let him know the reason for your course.
The Lord of peace. Christ, who bestows peace upon all who walk in him.
Have no company with him - No intimacy, no familiarity, no needless correspondence.
*More commentary available at chapter level.