2 Thessalonians 2:6
“And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Paul says the believers already know what is presently restraining the man of sin, so that he will only be revealed at the proper time.
What Does 2 Thessalonians 2:6 Mean?
Paul refers to a restraining force the readers already understood from his earlier teaching: "ye know what withholdeth." Something is holding the man of sin back, preventing his appearance until the appointed moment. The man of sin will be "revealed in his time," that is, only when God permits, not before.
Because Paul speaks from a shared earlier conversation, he does not spell out what the restrainer is, and readers across the centuries have proposed different answers. Rather than guessing, we can rest in the clear truth the verse asserts: evil is not loose to do as it pleases. There is a restraint, and behind that restraint is the sovereign timing of God. Wickedness operates only within limits God has set. For a frightened church, that is the steadying point: history is not careening out of control but is held within God's appointed seasons.
In the Original Language
katecho (κατέχω), behind "withholdeth" — to hold back, hold down, or restrain something from acting.