11, 12. ‘ That is why God uses Satan as His instrument in punishing them, visiting them with a fatal delusion in believing this (great) Lie. False belief becomes thus the proof of falseness, and sentence is passed upon all who refused to believe the truth, and made evil their good.’ 11. πέμπει] pointing not merely to the permissive will of God , but to the definite judicial act by which, according to the constant teaching of Scripture, God gives the wicked over to the evil which they have deliberately chosen, cf. Psalms 80. (81.) 12 f., Romans 1:24; Romans 1:26; Romans 1:28, and for similar teaching in Gk. drama see Aesch. Pers. 738 ἀλλʼ ὅτανσπεύδῃτιςαὐτός, χὠθεὸςσυνάπτεται, Fragm. 294 (ed. Nauck) ἀπάτηςδικαίαςοὐκἀποστετεῖθεός. εἰςτὸπιστεῦσαιτῷψεύδει] ‘ to the end that they should believe the lie’— the thought of purpose, and not mere result (1 Thessalonians 2:12 note) being undoubtedly uppermost here in accordance with the leading thought of the main sentence. For τῷψεύδει ‘ the lie’ as contrasted with τὴνἀληθείαν (v. 10) cf. Romans 1:25 οἵτινεςμετήλλαξαντὴνἀληθείαντοῦθεοῦἐντῷψεύδει. ‘ Among the Persians “ the Lie” (Drauga, akin to the A vestan demon Druj) is a comprehensive term for all evil’ (Moulton Exp. T. 18. p. 537).