In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 is Paul's reference to "our gathering with him" an allusion to Psalm 46:10 LXX?

Question

Paul associates the coming of Christ with "our gathering together to him":

[2Th 2:1-2 NASB] 1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

Is he alluding to this?

LXX Psalm 46:10 The rulers of the people are gathered with the God of Abraham, for God’s mighty ones of the earth are magnified exceedingly.

Brannan, R., Penner, K. M., Loken, I., Aubrey, M., & Hoogendyk, I. (Eds.). (2012). The Lexham English Septuagint (Ps 46:10). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

If so, is Paul expecting Christ to only come for the apostles?

Answer 1

This whole chapter is speaking of AFTER God has destroyed the nations and gathered all of His people back to Him and is reigning over the Gentiles,as per Psalm 47.

You could take it as an event during His return, I see it as after he has already destroyed His enemies.

It would be quite ludicrous to think that He is only returning for His Apostles. The LXX has a bad rendering of this verse through and through and is faulty. It says in Hebrew:

"The princes of the people were gathered people of the God of Abraham, because to God the shields of the land are very exalted."

Here it speaks of the princes, as well as the people, not exclusively of the princes. I have never heard anyone allude to Paul expecting Christ to only come for the apostles. Isaiah 11:11 tells us that He is coming for the remnant. Zechariah 14 tells us that He is fighting against the armies that come against Jerusalem.

Isaiah 27:12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.

*I Thessalonians 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

That tells us of him bringing the dead in Christ.

I Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

That verse is for the rest of us that are alive. Those 2 verses encompass all of the believers that He is coming for.

So in conclusion, no, He is not coming for just the Apostles.

Answer 2

The difference between Psalm 46:10 in the LXX and in the Greek is huge:

LXX Psalm 46:10 The rulers of the people are gathered with the God of Abraham, for God’s mighty ones of the earth are magnified exceedingly.

Brannan, R., Penner, K. M., Loken, I., Aubrey, M., & Hoogendyk, I. (Eds.). (2012). The Lexham English Septuagint (Ps 46:10). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

vs

[Psa 46:10 NIV] [10] He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Now we know, from tons of textual evidence that "the Bible" of the authors of the NT was the corrupt, mish-mash corpus we call "the LXX," though it lacks the imprimatur of King James.

So I have no problem at all about assuming that what Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 was intended to evoke LXX Psalm 46:10. If not, then what is he on about?

This gets to the heart of my hermeneutic, that what the NT authors wrote was systematically rooted in the Torah and the prophets; and the writings; and a lot of other "now considered asburd" documents that were extant to them in the first century of Judea and the Galilee.

So in keeping with that understanding, AND the obvious disconnect with the Hebrew text AND the evident similarity in the LXX, I think that the proposition that the NT author was alluding to LXX Psalm 46:10 is precisely correct.