Paul told his readers in 2Thessalonians 3:14 “…if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.” As I concluded in earlier studies, this doesn’t mean that the disorderly brother had to be avoided completely, just as when Paul told the Corinthians to not keep company with fornicators (immoral people), he never meant his words to be literally carried out, because, if that should be necessary, believers would have to leave the world entirely (1Corinthians 5:9-10). What Paul meant was to avoid being with such folks, while they were being immoral. Therefore, to have “no company” with a disorderly brother meant to not participate with him in his practice of being a busybody—don’t be with him in the act, don’t do as he does, don’t behave as though you approve of his activity etc.
The whole idea was not so much to punish those being disorderly, but rather to cause him to reconsider his activity and repent. Consider the Greek word Paul used for have no company (sunanamignumi, G4874).[1] The Greek word is used only in 2Thessalonians 3:14 and 1Corinthians 5:9, 11. So, it is a little difficult to truly understand the full meaning of the word as it is used in the New Covenant text. It is also used in the Septuagint, and there we are able to get a better picture of what Paul was telling the Thessalonians believers.
The Greek word is used in Ezekiel 20:18
And I said to their children in the wilderness, do not go in the law of your fathers, and do not keep their ordinances, and do not intermingle [G4874] in their practices, and be not defiled! (LXX, Polyglot translation; brackets mine)
And I said to their children in the wilderness, Walk not ye in the customs of your fathers, and keep not their ordinances, and have no fellowship [G4874] with their practices, nor defile yourselves with them. (LXX, Brenton translation; brackets mine)
Notice that the prophet was concerned with the evil practices of the fathers of the folks the Lord led into the Promised Land. The Lord had condemned those practices and didn’t want his people participating them. Therefore, in the context of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, it seems logical to say Paul didn’t want the Thessalonians believers to approve of or participate in the disorderly conduct of the erring brother.
Ephraim is intermixed [G4874] in his peoples; Ephraim became a cake baked in hot ashes not being turned over. (Hosea 7:8; LXX, Polyglot translation; brackets mine).
Ephraim is mixed [G4874] among his people; Ephraim became a cake not turned. (Hosea 7:8; LXX, Brenton translation; brackets mine).
Once again, the Greek word is used to show intimacy and approval. Ephraim mingled himself with the gentile community, approving of their practices, instead of remaining separate. They defiled themselves by participating in the evil behavior of the gentiles. So, for Paul to say: “have no company with” the disorderly brother (2Thessalonians 3:14), he had to be concerned with approving and / or participating in the practices of the erring brother. Remember, he was to be treated as a brother, not an enemy (2Thessaloniasn 3:15). It would be difficult to completely disassociate oneself with a brother and still claim he is a beloved brother in Christ.
Paul ended his epistle by asking Christ, the Lord of peace, to give the believers at Thessalonica peace always and under all circumstances. This invocation concerns ending one’s rebellion with God. The Lord, in Christ, ended his warfare with mankind in Christ, while he hung on the cross (2Corinthians 5:19), so Paul, in the name of Christ, asked that all the Thessalonian believers, including those walking disorderly, would end their rebellion once and for all and be at peace with God (2Thessalonians 3:16; cp. 2Corinthians 5:20).
Paul’s ending was written in his own handwriting (2Thessalonians 3:17). While the bulk of the epistle would usually be written by another man, Paul characteristically always ended his epistles in this manner as a sign that the epistle was authentic, for as he said elsewhere (2Thessalonians 2:2), enemies would seek to subvert the believing community in his name. Finally, concluding by asking that the grace of the Lord, Jesus, would be with them (2Thessalonians 3:18).
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[1] It is actually two Greek words. The negative particle (G3361) is used with (G4874) to make it “have NO (G3361) company” (G48740) with the disorderly fellow.
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