V. IXTEGRITY.— The difficulties of 2'-'= have natur- allj' led to suggestions of interpolation. Pierson and Nalieri r(;n'.ri»ii7K«, pp. 21-25) treat l'''"2'"'- 3 (except 7-13. 16-18) .^g parts of a pre-Christian Jewish apo- calviise, worked up into a Christian form by .some unknown bishop of the name of Paul (cf. preceding art.). Schmidt, S. Davidson, and others treat the main body as Pauline, with 2'''- as a late insertion of about 6'J ; Hausrath treats 2'"'- as the only Pauline fragment worked up into an Epistle at a later date. But there is no MS support for any of these theories, and 2'"'^ cannot be separated from 1'"'°, which latter section shows striking similarities with the Jewish expectations ; cf. esp. 1* and 2" with Sib. Orac. iii. 67 i. of the coming of Beliar —
(cf. Clemen, Die EinhcitUchkcit der Paul. Bric/e, pp. 17, 18 ; Moflatt, Historical NT, p. 626).
vi. Value. — Short as the Epistle is, it b of great value, both doctrinal and historical. It marks the high position attributed from the first tu Christ, the language of the OT about Jehovah li'-iiig applied to llim (1'), and He being ranked "ilh tlie Father as the one source of comfort and strength (2" TrapokoX^crai . . . oTupiJai, each in the singular). It shows us the strength of the expectation of the Second Advent in the Early Chuich ; the deep sense of the struggle between good and evil, between truth and falsehood, its consummation in delinite persons, and the final triumph of the good and true; the faith in the ultimate justice of God to right the injustice of this world. It shows the method in which the apostle met the feverish impatience that would antedate the end : (a) laying stress on those elements in the traditional expectation which innilied lapse of time and an overruling Providence wlucli fixed the right moment for the coming ((u T(f aiiroO xaipv, cf. I's- Sol n-" its tJk Kaipof in oUat au, 6 Otit) ; (6) insist- ing on the duty of each man earnin" his own livelihood an<l discouraging all cringing dependence on Church charity ; (i:) strengthening the bonds of discipline, iire.s.sing the authority of hia own com- mands, and calling upon the Church to rise to the iluty of keei>iiig its ranks free of unworthy mem- bers ; 3" marks the commencement of Church discipline. It .sanctions the tendency to read the ^-igns of the times an<l to see the great struggle between good and evil working itself out in con- temporary events ; and even if we cannot for certain identify St. I'aul's application, or even if it was not fullilled exactly as he expected, yet as the great expectation had grown with centuries and was rooted in principles, so it remains still, claim- ing a more adequate fulfilment. For applications
made in subsequent Christian times see Smith's DB, s.v. 'Anti-Christ.'
Historically, the section 2'"" was of great im- portance ; for the identification of the Roman empire with 6 (car^x"" led to its being treated as the great protecting power, and so gave special point to the prayers tor it and for the emperor (cf. Tertullian, A/wl. 32: ' est et alia major ueces- sitas nobis orandi pro imperatorilms, eliam pro omni statu imperii rebusque Itoniani.s, qui vim ma.vimam nniverso orbi imminentem ipsanique clausulam sa'culi accrbitates borrendas commin- antem Romani imperii coniiiicatu scimus retar- dari '). The language of 3" is also valuable, as indicating that St. Paul had a larger correspond ence than we now possess, and probably hints at a danger of forged letters even at this early date.
LiTKttATiniE. — See at end of preceding article, and add Goebel, IHe Thessalonuchen Brif/e, a crisp, terse, sensible com- mentary. The authurship is best discussed, as against St. Paul, bv Spitta (see above), Schmiedel, lldcom. pp. 7-11 : as fur St. Paul, by Julicher, Kinl* pp. 45-.''il ; Zahn, pp. 160-182 ; Sloffatt, tiistorical ST, pp. 142-14S ; Hornemann in Meyer's Comnunfar ziiin ST. Interesting suggesti»»ns for the emendation ul the text (in l^'^ irirratlh;, 2- mi Ok roa/^) will be found in Westcott- Hort, it App. p. 128 ; Field, NoUt <m Tram. V ST. p. 2n2.
W. Lock. THESSALONICA [QeaaaKovlK-ri), a city of Mace- donia, still known by that name under the but slightly altered form of i>alo>ii/ci, b.-is lun'' held a prominent place in history, and still ranks, after Constantinople, as the most imiiortant town in European Turkey. It is situated on the inner- most bay, or north-eastern recess, of the larger gulf, which now takes its name from the modern town, but was known to the ancients as the Thcrmaic Gulf, after an earlier town on the .same site, called Thcrme. It is built in the form of an amphitheatre on the slopes at the head of the bay ; and it is seen from .a great distance, crowned by its citadel above, and conspicuous by white- washed walls several miles in circuit. ' The situa- tion,' says Tozer, ' recalls the appearance of Genoa from the way in which the hou.-ics rise from the water edge, and gradually a.sccnd the hillsides to- wards the north. It is admirably plac-ed for pur- poses of communication and trade, as it lies in the innermost bay of the winding gulf, and forms the natural point of transit for exports and imports; besides which it commands the resources of the immense plain, wliich reaches in a vast arc as far as the foot of Olympus, and receives the waters of three important rivers, the Axins, the Lydias, and the Haliacraon ' (G'eoj'. o/" Greece, 1873, p. 2U4). It is said to have borne earlier the names of Emathia and Ilalia: certainly it bore that of Tlierme, by wliich it is known to Herod, (as a halting-place of Xerxes on bis way to Greece, vii. 121, 123, 124, 127, 128, 183) and Thucyd. (i. 61, ii. 20), and which it probably owed to hot mineral springs (thenna;), still existing in its vicinity. The name Thessa- lonica (as to the origin of which various conjectures are brought together by Tzetzes, Chil. xiii. 30511'.), which is first einploj'ed by Polybius (xxiii. 4, 4 ; 11, 2; xxix. 3, 7), would appear to commemorate a victory over the Thessafiaiis, of wliich nothing di Unite is known as to time, place, or victor (Philip?). It was most probalily given to the city by Ca.ssander (who rebuilt it about B.C. 315, ancl transferred to it the inhabitants of several small townships in the vicinity; Strabo, vii. fr. 21) in honour of his wife of that name, who was daughter of Philip, and step-sister of Alexander. The place soon gained imjiortance, becoming, on tbecomiuest of Macedonia by the Romans, tiie cajiital of the second of its four divisions (Liv. xlv. 2!)), and, on the conversion of the country a few years lafer into a province, jiractically the capital of the whole, and residence of the Roman governor • called