educative measure designed to correct the sinners. The positive thrust of the action is apparent (2 Tim 2:25), as is the way Paul subtly distances himself from the process. The passive form of the verb, “be instructed,” either locates the remedial education in God (who never loses control over Satan) or more blandly locates it in the whole process. The categorization of their sin, which must have included false teaching and rejection of Paul’s authority, in terms of “blasphemy” (see discussion at
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