ἐκ μέσου γένηται

Greek Koine and Biblical and Medieval Greek
1

This expression is from 2 Thes. 2:7. It means to be “taken out of the way,” to be “cast out,” to be “removed,” to be “exiled,” as it were. Thus we see in Revelation 12:10 that the Great Dragon (Satan) is cast out or removed from Heaven:

καὶ ἤκουσα φωνὴν μεγάλην ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ λέγουσαν Ἄρτι ἐγένετο ἡ σωτηρία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐβλήθη ὁ κατήγωρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν, ὁ κατηγορῶν αὐτοὺς ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός.

So 2 Thes. 2:7 is telling us that τὸ μυστήριον τῆς ἀνομίας (the mystery of lawlessness) will continue to restrain the return of Jesus Christ , until such time that Satan is cast out of Heaven and thrown down to the earth. It is around this time that Satan will empower “the man of sin,” thereby “revealing” him to the whole world. Satan will have only a short time remaining once he is cast down to earth to accomplish his purpose, and he would be full of wrath, knowing that Christ’s coming is imminent & his rule on earth is about to end. Thus Rev. 12:12 says:

διὰ τοῦτο εὐφραίνεσθε, οὐρανοὶ καὶ οἱ ἐν αὐτοῖς σκηνοῦντες· οὐαὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν, ὅτι κατέβη ὁ διάβολος πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔχων θυμὸν μέγαν, εἰδὼς ὅτι ὀλίγον καιρὸν ἔχει.

And we notice in the very next chapter of Revelation (chapter 13), in the very first verse, the man of sin is revealed.

2

“Taken out of the way” is passive and implies an external agent. ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται isn’t passive and does not imply anything about the agent. To me, it reads very literally, “until he is no longer in between”. Context would have to be used to establish whether that is equivalent to “tossed out,” ἐβλήθη, or not.

3

I should have been more careful with my English. ἐκ μέσου γένηται literally means “out of the way.” So the verse is saying that the mystery of lawlessness will continue to restrain Christ until Satan is out of the way, in other words, when Satan is no longer in heaven. It’s talking about the fact of when he is no longer in heaven, not how he came to not be in heaven.

4

Interestingly, I looked at a few English translations of this verse, and they do use the “passive” (as in “implication of an agent”):

New International Version

For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is > taken out of the way> .

Berean Standard Bible

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it will continue until he is > taken out of the way> .

King James Bible

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be > taken out of the way> .

New American Standard Bible

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until > He is removed> .

NASB 1977

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is > taken out of the way> .

Amplified Bible

For the mystery of lawlessness [rebellion against divine authority and the coming reign of lawlessness] is already at work; [but it is restrained] only until he who now restrains it is > taken out of the way> .

American Standard Version

For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be > taken out of the way> .

NET Bible

For the hidden power of lawlessness is already at work. However, the one who holds him back will do so until he is > taken out of the way> ,

etc…

5

Well, you’ve come across a good reason to know Greek. I wonder if this is a nasty case of Bible translators being in a rut because they look over each other’s shoulders for the hard bits? Though RSV and a few others are a bit more exact, I see. “…until he is out of the way.”

6

Maybe the reason for the passive translation is, that the evil will probably not volontarely get out of the way, but must be removed (by whom-/whatsover).

Even mr Bill Mounce has questions regarding this text (https://www.billmounce.com/path/should-be-title), but he supports Joel‘s point.

7

Yes. While I agree with jeidsath that the expression ἐκ μέσου γένηται literally just means ἐκ (from) μέσου (midst) γένηται (become) or “to be out of the way,” the broader context allows us to translate with an agency in mind. After all, the expression ἐκ μέσου γένηται does not exist in a vacuum. But the most literal translation of the phrase would be as follows:

Contemporary English Version

His mysterious power is already at work, but someone is holding him back. And the wicked one won’t appear until > this someone is out of the way> .

English Standard Version

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until > he is out of the way> .

Berean Literal Bible

For the mystery of lawlessness is working already; there is only the one at present restraining it, until he might be > gone out of the midst> .

Christian Standard Bible

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until > he is out of the way> ,

Holman Christian Standard Bible

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until > he is out of the way> ,

Literal Standard Version

for the secret of lawlessness already works, only the [One] now restraining [will do so] until > He may come out of [the] midst> ,

Young’s Literal Translation

for the secret of the lawlessness doth already work, only he who is keeping down now will hinder – till > he may be out of the way> ,

As Mounce puts it, γένηται is middle. So it could be an active (“steps out of the way,” ) or ambiguous (“is out of the way”). I believe γένηται here to be ambiguous.

8

Here’s my translation of 2Th 2:1-12, with some notes. It makes a bit more sense to me now than the last time I looked at it. Hopefully it will make even more sense the next time I run across it, however many years from now. But who knows?

Ἐρωτῶμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, ὑπὲρ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἡμῶν ἐπισυναγωγῆς ἐπ’ αὐτόν, εἰς τὸ μὴ ταχέως σαλευθῆναι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ νοὸς μηδὲ θροεῖσθαι μήτε διὰ πνεύματος μήτε διὰ λόγου μήτε δι’ ἐπιστολῆς ὡς δι’ ἡμῶν, ὡς ὅτι ἐνέστηκεν ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου.

We request you, brothers, for the sake of the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our rapture to him, to not be quickly shaken out of your wits, nor to be afraid, neither because of a spirit, nor because of a prophecy, nor because of a letter that seems to be from us, saying that the day of the Lord is at hand.

  • See LSJ ἐρωτάω.III for this usage

μή τις ὑμᾶς ἐξαπατήσῃ κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον· ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ ἔλθῃ ἡ ἀποστασία πρῶτον καὶ ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ὁ ἀντικείμενος καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενος ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν ἢ σέβασμα, ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσαι, ἀποδεικνύντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἔστιν θεός.

Let no one mislead you by any means that [the day of Lord is here] if the apostasy does not come first and reveal the Man of Lawlessness, the Son of Destruction, the Opposer exceeding everyone called God or August, so that he settles himself into the temple of God, publishing himself as being God.

  • Clear reference to the Roman Emperors, imo. ΘΕΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ on the coins. But this guy is worse.

Οὐ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ἔτι ὢν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ταῦτα ἔλεγον ὑμῖν; καὶ νῦν τὸ κατέχον οἴδατε, εἰς τὸ ἀποκαλυφθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ καιρῷ· τὸ γὰρ μυστήριον ἤδη ἐνεργεῖται τῆς ἀνομίας· μόνον ὁ κατέχων ἄρτι ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται.

Do you not remember that while I was still present with you that I told you these things? And now you know the delay; it’s for the sake revealing him in [God’s] own time. For the Mysterium is already in operation against the Lawlessness. He is only the Delayer for now, until he comes to the fore.

  • ἑαυτοῦ referring to God, the agent of the revealing, seems far more likely to me than αὐτοῦ referring to the Man of Lawlessness.

** I think τῆς ἀνομίας is objective genitive. The separation from τὸ μυστήριον is just a bit too weird. He could have added τὸ τῆς ἀνομίας or something to make it clearer if he had meant “of lawlessness”.

*** Whether ὁ κατέχων refers to God or to the Man of Lawlessness, I can’t really tell. The ἕως phrase refers to the Man of Lawlessness, corresponding to the revealing, but that may not be the subject. I don’t think it affects the meaning much either way.

**** μόνον goes with ἄρτι, imo

***** I don’t like “out of the way”, which I quoted in an earlier post from the RSV. I was going to mention it, but didn’t want to distract then. Out from in between or out from the middle is more literal. Given the ἀποκαλυφθῆναι language, I think it means out from a concealing position, so I give “comes to the fore” here.

καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος, ὃν ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἀνελεῖ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργήσει τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, οὗ ἐστὶν ἡ παρουσία κατ’ ἐνέργειαν τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει καὶ σημείοις καὶ τέρασιν ψεύδους καὶ ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ ἀδικίας τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις, ἀνθ’ ὧν τὴν ἀγάπην τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἐδέξαντο εἰς τὸ σωθῆναι αὐτούς· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πέμπει αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς ἐνέργειαν πλάνης εἰς τὸ πιστεῦσαι αὐτοὺς τῷ ψεύδει, ἵνα κριθῶσιν πάντες οἱ μὴ πιστεύσαντες τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀλλὰ εὐδοκήσαντες τῇ ἀδικίᾳ.

And then the Lawless Οne will be revealed, who the Lord Jesus will destroy with the spirit of his mouth and abolish with the obviousness of his presence, whose presence is against the operation of Satan in every power with both signs and wonders of falsehood and in every trick of unrighteousness against those being destroyed, due to which they have not accepted the love of truth for their salvation. And because of this, God sends them an operation of deceit so that they will believe the lie, so that everyone who has not believed in the truth, but has approved the unrighteousness, may be separated out.

  • There are other ways to understand “κατ’ ἐνέργειαν τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει καὶ σημείοις καὶ τέρασιν ψεύδους καὶ ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ ἀδικίας τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις”. Whose are the false signs? Jesus’ or Satan’s? The rest of the verse seems to establish the former.

** ἀντ᾿ ὧν = wherefore, because of these false signs, etc.