Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Thessalonians 2:8

"And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming;" — 2 Thessalonians 2:8 (ASV)

After this time has elapsed, the Lord Jesus will personally come to earth to “overthrow” (lit., “slay”; GK 359) the lawless one “with the breath of his mouth” and “destroy” (lit., “abolish”; GK 2934) him “by the splendor of his coming” (parousia; GK 4242). By putting the lawless one to death, the Lord will also bring to an end his program of deceiving the world. “The breath of his mouth” could be a figurative reference to a word spoken by Christ, but a literal sense is quite satisfactory. The breath of God is a fierce weapon according to the OT (Exodus 15:8; 2 Samuel 22:16; Job 4:9; Psalms 33:6; Isaiah 30:27–28). “The splendor [or “appearance”; GK 2211] of his coming” is his other means of conquest. The translation “appearance” is preferred, since in the Pastoral Letters this word is practically equivalent to parousia as a name for his coming (1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13). This “appearance” phase of the parousia differs from the “gathering” phase (v.1). It concludes and climaxes the tribulation instead of beginning it. The visible presence of the Lord Jesus in the world will put an immediate stop to an accelerated diabolical program.