Here as in verse 8, Good News Translation changes the noun “coming” into an active verb come. But here it is not the Lord Jesus but the Wicked One who comes. Good News Bible and some other translations mark this change by a new sentence.

The grammatical structure of the Greek is not clear. The Wicked One will come may be linked with (1) “by the activity of Satan,” (2) “with all power…,” or (3) “for (the destruction of) those who will perish.” The third possibility is remote. “By the activity of Satan” comes first in the Greek, and it seems more natural to understand it as the basis of the signs and wonders, rather than simply as an aside. This is the view taken by most translators (e.g. New English Bible “the coming of that wicked man is the work of Satan,” cf. Moffatt Phillips Jerusalem Bible Barclay Translator’s New Testament; Revised Standard Version “the coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power….”)

Will come reflects a present tense in Greek (see the notes on vv. 9-12). Translators must avoid making nonsense of the passage by suggesting that the Wicked One had already come. Yet there is a serious problem involved in the future form of the verb will come since it repeats the beginning of verse 8 and so seems to contradict what has been said in the latter part of that same verse. It may be necessary, therefore, to refer to the coming of the Wicked One as a temporal setting for the kinds of miracles, signs, and wonders which he will perform, for example, “when the Wicked One comes with the power of Satan, he will perform all kinds of miracles….”

On the power of Satan, see verse 7. Satan should be carefully distinguished in translation from his servant the Wicked One. A literal rendering of with the power of Satan might suggest that the Wicked One was merely carrying along Satan’s power. It may be necessary to introduce this phrase as a parenthetical and explanatory statement, for example, “Satan himself will give the Wicked One his power,” or “he will have Satan’s power.”

All kinds of false miracles raises two separate questions, one about all, and the other about miracles. (1) All may mean (a) all kinds of (Good News Translation cf. Jerusalem Bible Barclay New English Bible Translator’s New Testament), as in Matthew 4.23 (Good News Translation “every kind of disease”), or (b) “to the highest degree,” as in Philippians 1.20 (Good News Translation “full of courage,” literally “with all courage”). Moffatt (“the full power”) and Phillips (“all the force”) choose this second meaning of all. (2) When the Greek word dunamis “power” is used in the plural, it often means miracles. But in this verse, dunamis is in the singular, and Moffatt Revised Standard Version Phillips New English Bible Barclay accordingly translate it as “power.” Combining these two choices, the translator has in practice two possibilities: (1) “all kinds of power” (New English Bible Barclay); (2) “power in the highest degree” (Moffatt Phillips).

Good News Translation, however, combines the expression of power (so frequently used to refer to supernatural force) with the following two Greek terms, generally translated as “signs and wonders.” The resulting coalesced expression is perhaps the closest natural equivalent of a rather unusual Greek phrase.

It is also possible to translate “power in the highest degree,” leaving the false miracles and wonders to be understood as examples of this power. However, all kinds of fits in better with every kind of wicked deceit in verse 10, so “all kinds of power” is perhaps to be preferred. It may be necessary to translate as “he will demonstrate all kinds of power,” or “he will show that he has all kinds of power,” and then to bring in the false miracles in an added phrase, for example, “by causing people to see false miracles.”

“Signs and wonders” are often linked together, especially by Luke in Acts, in speaking of the miracles performed by the apostles. “Signs” indicates the significance of the event: God is active in a special way, the time of his final victory is near. “Wonders” stresses the astonishment of those who see these events. The combination of the two is so common in principle it would be possible to link them in translation as “miraculous signs” or “amazing and significant happenings.”

False miracles and wonders may mean (1) apparent signs and wonders which are really fakes (Knox uses the word “counterfeit,” cf. Revised Standard Version “pretended”); (2) signs and wonders which come from a false source (Moffatt “the full power, the miracles and portents, of falsehood,” cf. New English Bible); or (3) signs and wonders “calculated to deceive” (Barclay). It is difficult to find any parallel to (1) false miracles and wonders in the New Testament, for the New Testament normally takes seriously even those miracles which are performed by evil powers. (2) fits in well with the reference to Satan as the ultimate cause of these events. (3) fits in well with the more detailed description of those who will perish, especially in verse 11, and is perhaps slightly preferable. Accordingly, false miracles and wonders may be rendered as “signs and wonders which deceive people,” or “… which cause them to turn the wrong way” (using an idiom which refers to general behavior). It may be possible to combine miracles and wonders as “wonderful events” or “very astonishing happenings.”

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 .