The salutation of Paul with my own hand: which is the sign in every epistle. So I write.
ο ασπασμος τη εμη χειρι παυλου ο εστιν σημειον εν παση επιστολη ουτως γραφω
9 Church Fathers comment on this verse
He says that he writes this in every epistle so that no one may be able to compose forged epistles, since his signature will be found in each as a trustworthy sign. He calls the prayer a salutation, showing that at that time all spiritual duties were fulfilled. When a greeting had to be made, it was joined with benefit, and prayer was then not merely a sign of love.
"The salutation by my own hand, Paul's." He calls the prayer a salutation, showing thereby what was done when greeting was necessary. This act was performed with spiritual benefit and prayer, and was not a simple sign of friendship. "Which is a sign in every epistle." So that no epistles may be composed in my name by deceivers, as we said at the beginning many were doing, I write the salutation with my own hand. "In every epistle" means either every epistle that may perhaps be sent to you, or every epistle sent to anyone at all.
Since they wrote letters in my name (2 Thess. 2:2) and read them before you, I, Paul, have written this salutation with my own hand. I set this as the sign of authenticity for all my epistles. Therefore all epistles brought to you that do not have this sign should be regarded by you as unnecessary and useless.
"Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace in every way." This means that you may be at peace both with Him and with one another, and be delivered from the plots of your adversaries. For this is the meaning of "in every way": "The Lord be with you all. The salutation by my own hand, Paul's, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write." By "salutation" the Apostle meant the blessing added at the end.
"A sign in every epistle; so I write." Thus already at this time, while writing only the second epistle, the Apostle foresaw that he would have to write many epistles to various Churches and persons. Therefore, from the very beginning, he strives to establish the distinctive mark of his epistles.
Because of weak eyesight, or the difficulty of his handwriting, or some other bodily infirmity, he did not write his epistles with his own hand, but dictated them to scribes.
For this reason, malicious opponents of the Apostle could easily issue their own writings under his name and thereby harm the truth of apostolic, divinely inspired teaching.
This is what happened in Thessalonica. A forged epistle appeared there, supposedly sent by Paul. It shook the minds of the Thessalonians and produced a strong, though false, alarm in their hearts.
To remove such harmful falsehood in the future, the Apostle agreed to act in this way. At the end of each epistle, he would always add the concluding greeting to churches and persons in his own hand.
That is, he would write the words, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and so forth, with his own hand. This is what he always did afterward.
Only the Epistle to the Galatians did he write entirely with his own hand, which he presents as a sign of his special zeal for them (Gal 6:11).
The final greeting, written by the hand of the Apostle Paul himself as a sign of the epistle’s authenticity, probably had certain distinctive features.
These were not only in its handwriting, as in patriarchal letters, by which those who knew the Apostle’s hand could verify it. They were also in the very content of the greeting: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”
Grace, given in the varied mysteries and needs of Church life, is so great a treasure that whoever has it has everything necessary for salvation.
According to the explanation of blessed Theophylact, the Apostle speaks as if saying: “If the grace that saves us abides with you, it will heal all your infirmities. Such is the power of grace.
It will abide with you if you do not drive it away. Grace dwells in prudent souls, filled with simple faith and brotherly love.”
May it be granted to us also to have such souls, so that we too may be guarded on every side by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who received us and brought us to the Father in the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Concluding his epistle with a greeting, the Apostle points to the fact that, in view of the appearance of a forged epistle under his name, he usually signs his own epistles himself. Thus the readers could be assured of their authenticity by the handwriting.
By “kiss” he meant the blessing and prayer expressed in the following verse. It is also in the first epistle, but there it was written by the same hand that copied the epistle. Here Saint Paul writes it himself and promises henceforth always to write it in every epistle.
This was to prevent deception by forgery. Some had succeeded in unsettling the Thessalonians from sound understanding by showing them a letter supposedly written by the Apostle, though it had not been written by him.
Therefore, lest such a case recur among them or elsewhere, Saint Paul decided to mark his genuine epistles by writing the final blessing in his own hand: “The grace of the Lord,” and so forth.
It is as though he said: In any epistle where these words are found written not by my hand, it is not mine. And so that you may recognize this without error, here is my handwriting: “Thus I write.”
From now on this sign will be “in every epistle, whether one perhaps is to be sent to you, or in every epistle, to whomsoever it may be sent” (Theophylact).
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 14 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS