The organization of Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians is much more simple than that of I Thessalonians, as you can see below:
Figure 1: The Structure of II Thessalonians
I. Address (1:1-2) Grace and Peace
II. Thanksgiving (1:3-12) “We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren.”
III. Satan in Action (2:1-2:12)
“the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”
“We always pray for you”
“You yourself know”
The word of the Lord glorified
The lawless one
Those perishing
II'. Thanksgiving (2:13-15) “We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren.”
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II''. Prayer (2:16-17) “Now may our Lord...”
III'. Christians at Rest (3:1-15)
“the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”
“Pray for us...”
“You yourself know”
The word of the Lord glorified
The evil one
Those who are idle
II''' Prayer (3:16) “Now may our Lord...”
I'. Final Words (3:17-18) Peace and Grace
This book contains exactly seven addresses to “brothers,” some of which mark the beginning of a new section (i.e. 1:3; 2:1; 2:13; and 3:1). In addition, this letter utilizes the phrase “Lord Jesus (Christ)” exactly twelve times. Fig. 1 pictures the organization of this epistle as a chiasm in which the body, divided into two parts (III and III') each bracketed by prayer or thanksgiving elements (the four “II” sections), is in turn bracketed by two greetings (I and I'). These bookend sections contain in themselves the chiastic elements “grace...peace” and “peace...grace” if one includes 3:16 as part of the closing remarks. The ambiguous function of 3:16 has been a topic of much discussion by scholars. Does it end the body of the letter or begin the concluding remarks? The safest view seems to be that it has a dual function.
The four appearances of “word” mark the conclusions of II' (2:15) and II” (2:17) as well as the beginnings of sections III (2:2) and II' (2:15). As an inclusio for the combined sections of III and II' are the reversed phrases “word or letter” in 2:2 and “letter or word” at 2:15.
The two main sections of this letter are set apart from the intervening material mainly by their subject matter. In addition, gar (“for”) is used repeatedly throughout Section III' to introduce different reasons for the admonition to withdraw from the disorderly. (Malherbe) The verb “command” appears four times in Section III' and nowhere else in the letter.
The word “faith” at 1:3 and 1:11 serves as an inclusio for the section, and the address “brothers” at 2:13 and 15 serves the same function for II'. The parallelisms between sections II and II' and between II'' and II''' are obvious and need no further discussion. Somewhat less obvious is any similarity between the two main content units in this letter. Some of the verbal parallels between III and III' are given in Fig. 1. In addition, the reason for writing about the respective concerns of these sections (the timing of the Parousia and the idleness of some of the brethren) is usually felt to be correction of misunderstandings of Paul’s earlier eschatological teachings. Malherbe, however, rightly warns that these sections should be viewed as concerning behavioral issues as much as doctrinal ones.
The two-part division of this epistle, shown in Fig. 1 as occurring at 2:15, is partially confirmed by the observation that the phrase “so then,” which appears in this verse, is usually employed by Paul to conclude a section. (Wanamaker) Moving to the opening of the second half of the letter, it begins with a startling reversal of names in an invocation that has puzzled commentators. This may, however, be seen as a literary device tying together the openings of the two halves of the epistle in a mirror-image manner:
“ God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 1:1)
“God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 1:2)
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“ Our Lord Jesus Christ...and God our Father” (II Thessalonians 2:16)
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