the imitation hypothesis 205
we can thereby see that paul uses ἐρωτῶ for requests in exactly the way
demonstrated in documentary papyri.
The other two examples of ἐρωτῶμεν in the undisputed pauline epis-
tles are both in 1 Thessalonians. while 1 Thess 4:1 is a combination with
παρακαλοῦμεν (for this combination see the section below on παρακαλῶ),
1 Thess 5:12–13 deals with concerns for the members of the community:
ἐρωτῶμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, εἰδέναι τοὺς κοπιῶντας ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ προϊσταμένους
ὑμῶν ἐν κυρίῳ καὶ νουθετοῦντας ὑμᾶς καὶ ἡγεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ ἐν
ἀγάπῃ διὰ τὸ ἔργον αὐτῶν. εἰρηνεύετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς (“but we appeal to you,
brothers and sisters, to respect those who labour among you, and have
charge of you in the lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly
in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves”). after this
request concerning the structure of the community there follows another
in 5:14, taking the form παρακαλοῦμεν, which deals with the communal life.21
Conclusions for ἐρωτῶ in 2 Thessalonians
Taking all these observations together, one may conclude that the private
and personal relationship that stands behind the use of ἐρωτῶ in docu-
mentary papyri is also indicated in 2 Thess 2:1–2. however, the only word
that directly suggests closeness in these verses concerning orthodoxy is
ἀδελφοί. exegetical works during the past have made comments on the
“lack” of a personal background in 2 Thessalonians, visible, for example,
in the lack of a greeting-list at the end of the letter.22 even so, these argu-
ments have to be left to one side, given the present focus on the sup-
port documentary papyri can provide for the question of pseudepigraphy
(although they may contribute to the broader picture). what we can
learn from the use of ἐρωτῶ in documentary papyri is that the request in
2 Thess 2:1–2 is urgent and personal, which—despite this observation—
stands in contrast to other requests of this kind in the undisputed pauline
epistles. In these, only requests concerning community matters take the
word ἐρωτῶ, whereas requests concerning orthodoxy take other words
21 apart from a direct combination of ἐρωτῶ and παρακαλῶ with καί, the sequence
ἐρωτῶ—παρακαλῶ can be found in documentary papyri in the private letters sB VI 9122
(I ce) with ἐρωτ[ῶ] in l. 3 and παρακαλῶ in l. 9 and p.würzb. 21 (II ce) with the form ἐροτο�
(l. ἐρωτῶ) in ll. 11–12 and the combination ἐρωτῶ καὶ παρακαλῶ in ll. 18–19. p.stras. V 334a
(I–II ce) is too fragmentary to be absolutely sure about the sequence.
22 cf. for example wolfgang Trilling, Der zweite Brief an die Thessalonicher (ekk XIV;
Zürich: Benzinger Verlag; neukirchen-Vluyn: neukirchener Verlag, 1980), 26–27 and 88;
paul metzger, Katechon: II Thess 2,1–12 im Horizont apokalyptischen Denkens (BZnw 135;
Berlin: de gruyter, 2005), 81–86.