This is more of a word study on the use of the Greek word naós translated as temple and its use in 2 Thessalonians 2:4.
I’m not accustomed to writing this type of material, and when I read an article online concerning 2 Thessalonians 2:4 I felt an urge to dig in and find out just what was being communicated. There is a warning about false prophets and teachers in 2 Peter 2, and we live in such a time where there are many who can be understood as false because they distort the message we have been entrusted with. Textual craft is a means of manipulating text to specifically target an ideology or belief upon those who are unfamiliar with the scriptures or who do not study the scriptures by deceiving people and by steering them into alternate ideals and understandings.
The article online equated the temple (naós) in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 to “sitting among the believers” of God. The reference is used to show how the pope is the antichrist as well as all former popes. The use of naós in a metaphorical sense (which the article does) can lead to misunderstandings especially since the use of a metaphor is not truly used in 2 Thessalonians 2:4–the metaphor is a mind set to see things as the mind believe and is also the process of text craft. (see all references below).
From Strongs Concordance:
- ναός naós; gen. naoú, masc. noun from naíō (n.f.), to dwell. A dwelling, temple. In Class. Gr., mostly equivalent to the syn. word hierón (2411), the entire area of a temple which included the inner temple (though sometimes naós referred only to the interior and most sacred part of a temple where the image of a god was set up).(I) Generally, of any temple (Acts 7:48; 17:24; 19:24 referring to the miniature copies of the temple of Diana at Ephesus containing a small image of the goddess. Such shrines of other gods were also common, made of gold, silver, or wood, and were purchased by pilgrims and travelers, probably as souvenirs or to be used in their devotions).(II) Of the temple in Jerusalem or in allusion to it, but in distinction from hierón, the entire area (Matt. 23:16, 17, 35).(A) The building itself (John 2:19, 20).(B) The inner sanctuary. This is to be distinguished from thusiastḗrion (2379), altar, referring to the altar of burnt offerings. This stood in the court of the priests before the entrance of the naós (Matt. 27:5) where Judas threw the silver coins since he could not enter (Matt. 26:61; 27:40; Mark 14:58; 15:29; Luke 1:9, 21, 22; 2 Thess. 2:4). In the expression “the veil of the temple” (a.t. [Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45; Sept.: 1 Kgs. 6:5, 17; Ps. 5:7; 11:5]).(III) Symbolically, of the temple of God in heaven to which that of Jerusalem was to correspond (cf. Rev. 3:12; 7:15; 11:1, 2, 19; 14:15, 17; 15:5, 6, 8; 16:1, 17; 21:22).
(IV) Metaphorically, of persons in whom God or His Spirit is said to dwell or act, e.g., the body of Jesus (John 2:19, 21); of Christians (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21).
For example, the Septuagint has the words naós (“temple”) and oikós (“house; palace; dwelling; household”) as a literal structure and not a metaphor or allusion.
met·a·phor·i·cal: (also metaphoric) adjective characteristic of or relating to metaphor; figurative: many of our metaphorical expressions develop from our perceptions of the body.
metaphorical adjective: there is no clear line between literal and metaphorical senses: figurative, allegorical, analogous, symbolic, emblematic; imaginative, fanciful, extended; rare parabolic, tropical. ANTONYMS literal
met·a·phor | ˈmedəˌfôr, ˈmedəˌfər | noun: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable: her poetry depends on suggestion and metaphor | “I had fallen through a trapdoor of depression,” said Mark, who was fond of theatrical metaphors.
Vines Notes: (1) The “temple” mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 (naos), as the seat of the Man of Sin, has been regarded in different ways. The weight of Scripture evidence is in favor of the view that it refers to a literal “temple” in Jerusalem, to be reconstructed in the future (cp. Daniel 11:31; 12:11 , with Matthew 24:15 ). For a fuller examination of the passage, see Notes on Thessalonians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 250-252. (2) For oikos, rendered “temple,” Luke 11:51 , AV.
I hope this will help those seeking and those teaching.
Michael.
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