So then and our brothers show that Paul is introducing a new thought. After having spoken of God’s activity, he turns briefly to what his readers must do. Stand firm (see 1 Thess. 3.8) and hold on refer to action over a period of time. Instead of being “shaken” (v. 2) by false teaching, the Thessalonians must remain loyal to what Paul and his companions taught them, both by word of mouth during their first visit and by “a letter of ours,” presumably 1 Thessalonians.

It is frequently impossible to use the metaphor stand firm. In some languages it would be taken to mean “defend yourselves.” Useful equivalent may be “continue to believe as you have,” “do not change your beliefs at all,” or “do not let anyone change your beliefs.” The two expressions, stand firm and hold on to those truths, are essentially equivalent in meaning. They are simply two different ways of describing how one should remain true to one’s convictions. Hold on to those truths may often be rendered as “continue to believe…” or “do not give up believing those truths.”

Those truths is literally “the traditions.” This word can have a bad meaning, as when Jesus condemns those who “hold fast the tradition of men” (Mark 7.8), but that is not the case in this verse. Paul is referring here to a body of teaching which was not simply his own way of presenting the Christian message (cf. “our gospel,” v. 14), but which was shared, at least in general terms, by the church as a whole. This teaching was partly doctrinal (as most probably in this passage) and partly to do with worship and daily life. Paul does not mean only that he handed these truths on to the Thessalonians, but also that the truths had been handed on to him (cf. 1 Corinthians 11.23, 15.3). Bible en français courant (cf. Bijbel in Gewone Taal) has “the teachings which we have passed on to you.” Moffatt‘s “rules” is too narrow. An equivalent of “the teachings which we have passed on to you” may be in some languages “what we taught and which we in turn had earlier been taught,” or “… which others in turn had taught us.”

In our preaching may be rendered as “when we were talking to you,” or “when we were preaching to you” In our letter may be rendered as “in the letter which we wrote to you.” It may, however, be necessary to be more explicit, for example, “in the earlier letter we wrote to you,” thus avoiding the suggestion that Paul is referring to the letter he was dictating at that time.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .