Katechon: II Thess 2.1–12 im Horizont apokalyptischen Denkens. By Paul Metzger. Pp. xi + 368. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2005. isbn 3 1 018460 5

Abstract

Paul Metzger, in a revised version of a thesis of 2004 at the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, seeks to solve the apparently intractable riddle of the neuter (or should it be masculine?) participle katechon in 2 Thess. 2: 6–7. His method is to concentrate on the historical context and exegesis of this chapter of the letter. He then discusses parallel motifs in 2 Peter 3:3–13; Rev. 5:1–5; 6:9–11; and 7:1–8; 4 Ezra 4:33–43; the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch; and Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum 51. 3–6 of Pseudo-Philo. He also draws comparisons with the Synoptic Apocalypse (Mark 13 and parallels) and with Qumran (1Qp Hab 7 and 1Q 27). His conclusion is that the most probable reference is to the Roman Empire or emperor, because they represent a power (both human and demonic) that is a present reality in world history, with a negative force that delays the parousia of the Messiah and does not protect the religious community in the present age, but is nonetheless a factor which has its appointed time within God's plan of ultimate salvation.