1. 1 Thessalonians 2:16 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Can this wrath refer to something different than the wrath of God?

1 Thessalonians 2:16 (ESV)

16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!

The Greek text of the phrase, the wrath of God does not include of God. Although some commentators claim that it may be misleading to add of God,1 the ESV and NIV almost certainly represent Paul’s meaning correctly. In the New Testament, wrath in the sense of judgment is always God’s wrath (Romans 1:18; Romans 5:9; Romans 12:19; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:6; John 3:36; Revelation 14:19; Revelation 15:1, Revelation 15:7; Revelation 19:15).2