Fathers

2 Thessalonians 1

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Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another abounds, so that we ourselves boast about you in the assemblies of God for your perseverance and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure. This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God’s Kingdom, for which you also suffer. Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus, who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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What the Fathers say

2 Thessalonians 1:9

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"Who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His might, when He shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed." There are many men, who form good hopes not by abstaining from their sins, but by thinking that hell is not so terrible as it is said to be, but milder than what is threatened, and temporary, not eternal; and about this they philosophize much. …

Homily on 2 Thessalonians 3 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

So then, where are the Origenists, who fabulously teach about the finality of punishments? This, that is punishment, Paul called eternal. In what way then can the eternal be temporal according to you? Here the apostle shows the ease with which this will be accomplished. For this, he says, no efforts of any kind are needed, but it is sufficient for God to appear — and punishment will overtake all the disobedient. His very sight and coming will be light for some, and punishment for others. …

Commentary on 2 Thessalonians ↗

Irenaeus

...And as the wrath of God did then descend upon the unrighteous, here also does the apostle likewise say: "For the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those men who hold back the truth in unrighteousness." And as, in those times, vengeance came from God upon the Egyptians who were subjecting Israel to unjust punishment, so is it now, the Lord truly declaring, "And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him? …

Against Heresies Book 4 ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

The punishment is likewise long lasting, for they "shall suffer eternal punishment in destruction." And this can be read in two ways, because there are two kinds of punishment, namely, that of the sense and that of the condemned. This is how it can be understood as about the punishment of the sense: "They shall suffer," i.e., they shall endure eternal punishments, never to end, and this "in destruction," because they shall be ever dying. …

Commentary on 2 Thessalonians ↗