Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Thessalonians 3:6

"Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which they received of us." — 2 Thessalonians 3:6 (ASV)

We command you — This is the practical conclusion of the letter. These words refer back to the expression in 2 Thessalonians 3:4, "you will do the things which we command you; now, the thing we command you is this."

In the name of our Lord — To do anything in a person’s name seems to mean, initially, the actual pronouncing of the name while performing the action—to do it with the name on one's lips, just as to “come with a rod” (1 Corinthians 4:21) literally means with a rod in hand. Thus, miracles are commonly said to be performed “in the name of the Lord,” specifically, with the audible repetition of His name (for example, Matthew 7:22, Mark 16:17; Luke 10:17). For examples of how the name was literally used, we can refer to Acts 3:6; Acts 9:34; and Acts 19:13—in the last case, the name was used as a mere incantation or charm. See also Philippians 2:10, where, since the adoration paid to Jesus Himself is the point, the phrase must mean, “at the mention of the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow.”

From this practice of mentioning the name while performing an action, the phrase takes on at least two distinct meanings:

1. First, as in Colossians 3:17, it implies an invocation of the person named or a recognition of his presence and interest in the matter. In this sense, it has passed into the common language of Christianity, legal formulas, and so on.
2. Second, here and in most cases, it means a claim to the authority of the person named—to act officially as his representative with full powers (See Notes on John 14:13; John 14:26).

Thus the prophets spoke “in the name of the Lord”—that is, as His authoritative exponents (James 5:10). Paul commands (Acts 16:18) and retains a person’s sins (1 Corinthians 4:5) “in the name of the Lord”—that is, as His official spokesman or ambassador. The priests are to administer the anointing of the sick with similar authority (James 5:14–15).

Therefore, the Thessalonians should not think that in disobeying Paul’s instructions they are rebelling against a mere human authority; Christ Himself speaks to them through Paul’s lips. Yet, even while commanding with this tremendous authority, they are still just “brethren” (Matthew 23:8).

Withdraw yourselves — The striking word used here is also found (in its simple form) only in 2 Corinthians 8:20: “avoiding this.” A more striking compound form of the word occurs in Acts 20:20; Acts 20:27; Galatians 2:12; and Hebrews 10:38. It is a metaphor from military strategy: a cautious general shrinking from an encounter and timidly drawing away under cover. We might illustrate it with the familiar English phrase “fight shy of every brother.” This seems to primarily mean a social excommunication rather than an ecclesiastical one, though the latter might also be involved.

From every brother — That is, every Christian. It was impossible to be so strict about the outside world (Compare 1 Corinthians 5:10–11). The person still remains a “brother” (2 Thessalonians 3:15).

Disorderly — The word is translated “unruly” in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 and is possibly suggested by the military metaphor mentioned above. It properly means “out of rank.” The kind of irregularity intended is made clear by 2 Thessalonians 3:10–11. The worthy Bengel quaintly uses this as an opportunity to denounce the Mendicant Orders: “An order of mendicants, then, is not an order; if the Thessalonians had bound themselves to it by a vow, what would Paul have said?”

The tradition — See Note on 2 Thessalonians 2:15. The word must imply systematic and definite teaching, and we see here again that a clear code of ethics was part of the apostolic catechism. (See Note on 1 Thessalonians 4:1)

He received — The best translation is, which they received—that is, all the brothers who were walking disorderly. The word “receive” is the regular correlative to “tradition” or “deliver.” (See, for example, Mark 7:4; 1 Corinthians 11:23; Galatians 1:9; Colossians 2:6.)