Text -- 1 Thessalonians 3:1-7 (NET)

3:1 So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens alone. 3:2 We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith, 3:3 so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 3:4 For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know. 3:5 So when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless. 3:6 But now Timothy has come to us from you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you always think of us with affection and long to see us just as we also long to see you! 3:7 So in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters, through your faith.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 1Th 3:1

When we could no longer forbear ( mēketi stegontes ).

Stegō is old verb to cover from stegē , roof (Mar 2:4), to cover with silence, to conceal, to keep off, to endure as here and 1Co 9:12; 1Co 13:7. In the papyri in this sense (Moulton and Milligan’ s Vocabulary ). Mēketi usual negative with participle in the Koiné[28928]š rather than ouketi .

Robertson: 1Th 3:1

We thought it good ( ēudokēsamen ).

Either literary plural as in 1Th 2:18 or Paul and Silas as more likely. If so, both Timothy and Silas came to Athens (Act 17:15.), but Timothy was sent ( we sent , epempsamen , 1Th 3:2) right back to Thessalonica and later Paul sent Silas on to Beroea or Thessalonica (1Th 2:5, I sent , epempsa ). Then both Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia to Corinth (Act 18:5).

Robertson: 1Th 3:1

Alone ( monoi ).

Including Silas.

Robertson: 1Th 3:2

God’ s minister ( diakonon tou theou ).

See note on Mat 20:26 for this interesting word, here in general sense not technical sense of deacon. Some MSS. have fellow-worker (sunergon ). Already apostle in 1Th 2:7 and now brother, minister (and possibly fellow-worker ).

Robertson: 1Th 3:3

That no man be moved ( to mēdena sainesthai ).

Epexegetical articular infinitive in accusative case of general reference. Sainō is old word to wag the tail, to flatter, beguile and this sense suits here (only N.T. example). The sense of "moved"or troubled or disheartened is from siainesthai the reading of F G and found in the papyri.

Robertson: 1Th 3:3

We are appointed ( keimetha ).

Present middle, used here as passive of tithēmi . We Christians are set hereunto (eis touto ) to be beguiled by tribulations. We must resist.

Robertson: 1Th 3:4

We told you beforehand ( proelegomen humin ).

Imperfect active, we used to tell you beforehand. Old verb, rare in N.T. (only in Paul).

Robertson: 1Th 3:4

That we are to suffer persecution ( hoti mellomen thlibesthai ).

Mellō and present passive infinitive. Not mere prediction, but God’ s appointed will as it turned out in Thessalonica.

Robertson: 1Th 3:5

That I might know ( eis to gnōnai ).

Paul’ s common idiom (1Th 3:2), eis to and the infinitive of purpose (second aorist ingressive active of ginōskō , come to know).

Robertson: 1Th 3:5

Lest by any means the tempter had tempted you ( mē pōs epeirasen humās ho peirazōn ).

Findlay takes this as a question with negative answer, but most likely negative final clause with mē pōs about a past action with aorist indicative according to the classic idiom as in Gal 2:2 (mē pōṡ̇edramon ) and Gal 4:11 after verb of fearing (Robertson, Grammar , p. 988). It is a fear that the thing may turn out to be so about the past.

Robertson: 1Th 3:5

Should be ( genētai ).

Here the usual construction appears (aorist subjunctive with mē pōs ) about the future.

Robertson: 1Th 3:6

Even now ( arti ).

Just now, Timothy having come (elthontos Timotheou , genitive absolute). Why Silas is not named is not clear, unless he had come from Beroea or elsewhere in Macedonia.

Robertson: 1Th 3:6

Glad tidings of ( euaggelisamenou ).

First aorist middle participle of the verb for evangelizing (gospelizing).

Robertson: 1Th 3:6

Good remembrance ( mneian ).

Same word used by Paul 1Th 1:2.

Robertson: 1Th 3:6

Longing to see us ( epipothountes hēmās idein ).

Old and strong verb, epi̇ , directive, to long after. Mutual longing that pleased Paul ("we also you").

Robertson: 1Th 3:7

Over you ( Ephesians' humin ).

Epi with the locative, the basis on which the "comfort"rests.

Robertson: 1Th 3:7

In ( epi ).

Locative case again with epi .

Robertson: 1Th 3:7

Distress ( anagkēi ).

Robertson: 1Th 3:7

Physical necessity

, common sense in late Greek, choking (agchō , angor ), and crushing trouble (thlipsis , thlibō ).

Vincent: 1Th 3:1

Forbear ( στέγοντες )

Lit. no longer forbearing . See on 1Co 9:12 : lxx, Sir. 8:17. For Class. parall. Soph. O . C . 15; Elec . 1118; Eurip. Hippol . 844; Ion 1412. He means that his longing for some personal communication from the Thessalonians became intolerable.

Vincent: 1Th 3:1

To be left - alone ( καταλειφθῆναι - μόνοι )

Implying, as we sent (1Th 3:2) and I sent (1Th 3:5), the previous presence of Timothy with him at Athens.

Vincent: 1Th 3:2

Our brother

Comp. 2Co 1:1; Col 1:1; Phm 1:1; Rom 16:23; 1Co 1:1; 1Co 16:12.

Vincent: 1Th 3:2

Minister ( διάκονον )

See on Mat 20:26; see on Mar 9:35. Not in the official sense of deacon which occurs only in the Pastorals. Διάκονος minister and διακονία ministry or service are common expressions of service to Christ or to men. Paul habitually uses them in this way. See Act 1:25; Act 6:4. Διάκονοι is used of ministers of Satan, 2Co 11:15, and διάκονος of the civil magistrate, Rom 13:4. See Introduction to the Pastoral Epistles.

Vincent: 1Th 3:2

Fellow laborer

Omit from text.

Vincent: 1Th 3:2

To establish ( στηρίξαι )

See on Luk 22:32; Introd. to Catholic Epistles, Vol. 1, p. 625; see on 1Pe 5:10; see on 2Pe 1:12.

Vincent: 1Th 3:3

Moved ( σαίνεσθαι )

N.T.o o lxx. In Class., as early as Homer, of dogs; to wag the tail , fawn (Hom. Od . x. 217; xvi. 6). Hence of persons, to fawn or cringe . The word is apparently used here in the original sense, to be shaken .

Vincent: 1Th 3:3

We are appointed ( κείμεθα )

As Luk 2:34 (see note); Phi 1:17. Comp. Act 14:22, in which occur four of the words used here. For the thought, see Mat 5:10; Mat 10:17; Mat 16:24; 1Pe 2:21 ff.; 1Pe 4:12; 2Ti 3:12.

Vincent: 1Th 3:5

The tempter ( ὁ πειράζων )

Only here and Mat 4:3. lxx. See on Mat 6:13.

Vincent: 1Th 3:5

In vain ( εἰς κενον )

The phrase only in Paul. See 2Co 6:1; Gal 2:2; Phi 2:16. The force of the preposition is fairly represented by to in the phrase to no purpose . lxx has εἰς κενὸν, εἰς τὸ κενὸν , and εἰς κενὰ .

Vincent: 1Th 3:6

Now ( ἄρτι )

See on Joh 13:33. Const. with we were comforted (1Th 3:7), not with came .

Vincent: 1Th 3:6

Good remembrance ( μνείαν ἀγαθὴν )

Better kindly remembrance. Comp. Rom 5:7 (see note); Rom 7:12; Tit 2:6; 1Pe 2:18. See on 1Th 1:3.

Vincent: 1Th 3:7

Affliction ( ἀνάγκῃ )

Rev. distress . The derivation from ἄγξειν to press tightly , to choke (Lightfoot, Ellicott) is doubtful. In the sense of urgency , distress , seldom in Class. See 1Co 7:26; 2Co 6:4; 2Co 12:10; Luk 21:23.

Wesley: 1Th 3:1

Paul and Silvanus.

Wesley: 1Th 3:1

Our desire and fear for you.

Wesley: 1Th 3:3

Are in every respect laid in a fit posture for it, by the very design and contrivance of God himself for the trial and increase of our faith and all other graces. He gives riches to the world; but stores up his treasure of wholesome afflictions for his children.

Wesley: 1Th 3:6

Immediately after his return, St. Paul wrote; while his joy was fresh, and his tenderness at the height.

JFB: 1Th 3:1

Because of our earnest love to you (1Th 2:17-20).

JFB: 1Th 3:1

"endure" the suspense. The Greek is literally applied to a watertight vessel. When we could no longer contain ourselves in our yearning desire for you.

JFB: 1Th 3:1

See my Introduction. This implies that he sent Timothy from Athens, whither the latter had followed him. However, the "we" favors ALFORD'S view that the determination to send Timothy was formed during the hasty consultation of Paul, Silas, and Timothy, previous to his departure from Berea, and that then he with them "resolved" to be "left alone" at Athens, when he should arrive there: Timothy and Silas not accompanying him, but remaining at Berea. Thus the "I," 1Th 3:5, will express that the act of sending Timothy, when he arrived at Athens, was Paul's, while the determination that Paul should be left alone at Athens, was that of the brethren as well as himself, at Berea, whence he uses, 1Th 3:1, "we." The non-mention of Silas at Athens implies that he did not follow Paul to Athens as was at first intended; but Timothy did. Thus the history, Act 17:14-15, accords with the Epistle. The word "left behind" (Greek) implies that Timothy had been with him at Athens. It was an act of self-denial for their sakes that Paul deprived himself of the presence of Timothy at Athens, which would have been so cheering to him in the midst of philosophic cavillers; but from love to the Thessalonians, he is well content to be left all "alone" in the great city.

JFB: 1Th 3:2

Some oldest manuscripts read, "fellow workman with God"; others, "minister of God." The former is probably genuine, as copyists probably altered it to the latter to avoid the bold phrase, which, however, is sanctioned by 1Co 3:9; 2Co 6:1. The English Version reading is not well supported, and is plainly compounded out of the two other readings. Paul calls Timothy "our brother" here; but in 1Co 4:17, "my son." He speaks thus highly of one so lately ordained, both to impress the Thessalonians with a high respect for the delegate sent to them, and to encourage Timothy, who seems to have been of a timid character (1Ti 4:12; 1Ti 5:23). "Gospel ministers do the work of God with Him, for Him, and under Him" [EDMUNDS].

JFB: 1Th 3:2

Greek, "confirm." In 2Th 3:3, GOD is said to "stablish": He is the true establisher: ministers are His "instruments."

JFB: 1Th 3:2

Greek, "in behalf of," that is, for the furtherance of your faith. The Greek for "comfort" includes also the idea, "exhort." The Thessalonians in their trials needed both (1Th 3:3; compare Act 14:22).

JFB: 1Th 3:3

"shaken," "disturbed." The Greek is literally said of dogs wagging the tail in fawning on one. Therefore TITTMANN explains it, "That no man should, amidst his calamities, be allured by the flattering hope of a more pleasant life to abandon his duty." So ELSNER and BENGEL, "cajoled out of his faith." In afflictions, relatives and opponents combine with the ease-loving heart itself in flatteries, which it needs strong faith to overcome.

JFB: 1Th 3:3

We always candidly told you so (1Th 3:4; Act 14:22). None but a religion from God would have held out such a trying prospect to those who should embrace it, and yet succeed in winning converts.

JFB: 1Th 3:3

Christians.

JFB: 1Th 3:3

By God's counsel (1Th 5:9).

JFB: 1Th 3:4

Greek, "that we are about (we are sure) to suffer" according to the appointment of God (1Th 3:3).

JFB: 1Th 3:4

"even (exactly) as it both came to pass and ye know"; ye know both that it came to pass, and that we foretold it (compare Joh 13:19). The correspondence of the event to the prediction powerfully confirms faith: "Forewarned, forearmed" [EDMUNDS]. The repetition of "ye know," so frequently, is designed as an argument, that being forewarned of coming affliction, they should be less readily "moved" by it.

JFB: 1Th 3:5

Because I know of your "tribulation" having actually begun (1Th 3:4).

JFB: 1Th 3:5

Greek, "when I also (as well as Timothy, who, Paul delicately implies, was equally anxious respecting them, compare "we," 1Th 3:1), could no longer contain myself (endure the suspense)."

JFB: 1Th 3:5

Paul was the actual sender; hence the "I" here: Paul, Silas, and Timothy himself had agreed on the mission already, before Paul went to Athens: hence the "we," (see on 1Th 3:1).

JFB: 1Th 3:5

To learn the state of your faith, whether it stood the trial (Col 4:8).

JFB: 1Th 3:5

The indicative is used in the former sentence, the subjunctive in the latter. Translate therefore, "To know . . . whether haply the tempter have tempted you (the indicative implying that he supposed such was the case), and lest (in that case) our labor may prove to be in vain" (compare Gal 4:11). Our labor in preaching would in that case be vain, so far as ye are concerned, but not as concerns us in so far as we have sincerely labored (Isa 49:4; 1Co 3:8).

JFB: 1Th 3:6

Join "now" with "come"; "But Timotheus having just now come from you unto us" [ALFORD]. Thus it appears (compare Act 18:5) Paul is writing from Corinth.

JFB: 1Th 3:6

(1Th 1:3; compare 2Th 1:3, whence it seems their faith subsequently increased still more). Faith was the solid foundation: charity the cement which held together the superstructure of their practice on that foundation. In that charity was included their "good (kindly) remembrance" of their teachers.

JFB: 1Th 3:6

Greek, "having a yearning desire for."

JFB: 1Th 3:6

The desires of loving friends for one another's presence are reciprocal.

JFB: 1Th 3:7

In respect to you.

JFB: 1Th 3:7

In the midst of: notwithstanding "all our distress (Greek, 'necessity') and affliction," namely, external trials at Corinth, whence Paul writes (compare 1Th 3:6, with Act 18:5-10).

Clarke: 1Th 3:1

Wherefore, when we could no longer, etc. - The apostle was anxious to hear of their state, and as he could obtain no information without sending a messenger express, he therefore sent Timothy from Athens; choosing rather to be left alone, than to continue any longer in uncertainty relative to their state.

Clarke: 1Th 3:2

Timotheus, our brother - It appears that Timothy was but a youth when converted to God; he had now however been some years in the work of God; Paul therefore calls him his brother, being one of the same Christian family, a son of God by adoption: elsewhere he calls him his own son, 1Ti 1:2; and his dearly beloved son, 2Ti 1:2; because he was brought to the knowledge of the true God, and to salvation by Christ, through the apostle’ s instrumentality. See the preface to the First Epistle to Timothy

Clarke: 1Th 3:2

Minister of God - Employed by God to preach the Gospel; this was God’ s work, and he had appointed Timothy to do it, and to do it at this time in conjunction with St. Paul; and therefore he calls him his fellow laborer. There were no sinecures then; preaching the Gospel was God’ s work; the primitive preachers were his workmen, and labored in this calling. It is the same still, but who works?

Clarke: 1Th 3:3

That no man should be moved - That is, caused to apostatize from Christianity

Clarke: 1Th 3:3

We are appointed thereunto - Εις τουτο κειμεθα· We are exposed to this, we lie open to such, they are unavoidable in the present state of things; as the Latins say, sic est sors nostra , "this is our lot."God appoints nothing of this kind, but he permits it: for he has made man a free agent.

Clarke: 1Th 3:4

That we should suffer tribulation - I prepared you for it, because I knew that it was according to their nature for wicked men to persecute the followers of God.

Clarke: 1Th 3:5

For this cause - Knowing that you would be persecuted, and knowing that your apostasy was possible, I sent to know your faith - whether you continued steadfast in the truth, lest you might have been tempted by Satan to consult your present ease, and abandon the Gospel, for which you suffered persecution.

Clarke: 1Th 3:6

When Timotheus came - We have already seen that he and Silas stayed behind at Thessalonica, when Paul was obliged to leave it; for the persecution seems to have been principally directed against him. When Paul came to Athens, he sent pressingly to him and Silas to come to him with all speed to that city. We are not informed that they did come, but it is most likely that they did, and that Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to comfort and build up these new converts. After Paul had sent away Timothy, it is likely he went himself straight to Corinth, and there Timothy soon after met him, with the good news of the steadiness of the Thessalonian Church

Clarke: 1Th 3:6

Your faith and charity - The good tidings which Timothy brought from Thessalonica consisted of three particulars

1.    Their faith; they continued steadfast in their belief of the Gospel

2.    Their charity; they loved one another, and lived in unity and harmony

3.    They were affectionately attached to the apostle; they had good remembrance of him, and desired earnestly to see him.

Clarke: 1Th 3:7

Therefore - we were comforted - My afflictions and persecutions seemed trifles when I heard of your perseverance in the faith.

Calvin: 1Th 3:1

1.Wherefore, when we could no longer endure. By the detail which follows, he assures them of the desire of which he had spoken. For if, on being detained elsewhere, he had sent no other to Thessalonica in his place, it might have seemed as though he were not so much concerned in regard to them; but when he substitutes Timothy in his place, he removes that suspicion, more especially when he prefers them before himself. Now that he esteemed them above himself, he shews from this, that he chose rather to be left alone than that they should be deserted: for these words, we judged it good to be left alone, are emphatic. Timothy was a most faithful companion to him: he had at that time no others with him; hence it was inconvenient and distressing for him to be without him. It is therefore a token of rare affection and anxious desire that he does not refuse to deprive himself of all comfort, with the view of relieving the Thessalonians. To the same effect is the word εὐδοκήσαμεν, which expresses a prompt inclination of the mind. ⁵⁵⁴

Calvin: 1Th 3:2

2.Our brother. He assigns to him these marks of commendation, that he may shew the more clearly how much inclined he was to consult their welfare: for if he had sent them some common person, it could not have afforded them much assistance; and inasmuch as Paul would have done this without inconvenience to himself, he would have given no remarkable proof of his fatherly concern in regard to them. It is, on the other hand, a great thing that he deprives himself of a brother and fellow-laborer, and one to whom, as he declares in Phi 2:20, he found no equal, inasmuch as all aimed at the promotion of their own interests. In the mean time, ⁵⁵⁵ he procures authority for the doctrine which they had received from Timothy, that it may remain the more deeply impressed upon their memory.

It is, however, with good reason that he says that he had sent Timothy with this view — that they might receive a confirmation of their faith from his example. They might be intimidated by unpleasant reports as to persecutions; but Paul’s undaunted constancy was fitted so much the more to animate them, so as to keep them from giving way. And, assuredly, the fellowship which ought to subsist between the saints and members of Christ extends even thus far — that the faith of one is the consolation of others. Thus, when the Thessalonians heard that Paul was going on with indefatigable zeal, and was by strength of faith surmounting all dangers and all difficulties, and that his faith continued everywhere victorious against Satan and the world, this brought them no small consolation. More especially we are, or at least ought to be, stimulated by the examples of those by whom we were instructed in the faith, as is stated in the end of the Epistle to the Hebrews. (Heb 13:7) Paul, accordingly, means that they ought to be fortified by his example, so as not to give way under their afflictions. As, however, they might have been offended if Paul had entertained a fear lest they should all give way under persecutions, (inasmuch as this would have been an evidence of excessive distrust,) he mitigates this harshness by saying — lest any one, or, that no one. There was, however, good reason to fear this, as there are always some weak persons in every society.

Calvin: 1Th 3:3

3.For ye yourselves know. As all would gladly exempt themselves from the necessity of bearing the cross, Paul teaches that there is no reason why believers should feel dismayed on occasion of persecutions, as though it were a thing that was new and unusual, inasmuch as this is our condition, which the Lord has assigned to us. For this manner of expression — we are appointed to it — is as though he had said, that we are Christians on this condition. He says, however, that they know it, because it became them to fight the more bravely, ⁵⁵⁶ inasmuch as they had been forewarned in time. In addition to this, incessant afflictions made Paul contemptible among rude and ignorant persons. On this account he states that nothing had befallen him but what he had long before, in the manner of a prophet, foretold.

Calvin: 1Th 3:5

5.Lest perhaps the tempter has tempted you. By this term he teaches us that temptations are always to be dreaded, because it is the proper office of Satan to tempt. As, however, he never ceases to place ambushes for us on all sides, and to lay snares for us all around, so we must be on our watch, eagerly taking heed. And now he says openly what in the outset he had avoided saying, as being too harsh — that he had felt concerned lest his labors should be vain, if, peradventure, Satan should prevail. And this he does that they may be carefully upon their watch, and may stir themselves up the more vigorously to resistance.

Calvin: 1Th 3:6

He shews here, by another argument, by what an extraordinary affection he was actuated towards them, inasmuch as he was transported almost out of his senses by the joyful intelligence of their being in a prosperous condition. For we must take notice of the circumstances which he relates. He was in affliction and necessity: there might have seemed, therefore, no room for cheerfulness. But when he hears what was much desired by him respecting the Thessalonians, as though all feeling of his distresses had been extinguished, he is carried forward to joy and congratulation. At the same time he proceeds, by degrees, in expressing the greatness of his joy, for he says, in the first place, we received consolation: afterwards he speaks of a joy that was plentifully poured forth. ⁵⁵⁷ This congratulation, ⁵⁵⁸ however, has the force of an exhortation; and Paul’s intention was to stir up the Thessalonians to perseverance. And, assuredly, this must have been a most powerful excitement, when they learned that the holy Apostle felt so great consolation and joy from the advancement of their piety.

6.Faith and love. This form of expression should be the more carefully observed by us in proportion to the frequency with which it is made use of by Paul, for in these two words he comprehends briefly the entire sum of true piety. Hence all that aim at this twofold mark during their whole life are beyond all risk of erring: all others, however much they may torture themselves, wander miserably. The third thing that he adds as to their good remembrance of him, refers to respect entertained for the Gospel. For it was on no other account that they held Paul in such affection and esteem.

Defender: 1Th 3:6

This special commission, sending Timothy to Thessalonica to teach the believers there and to return with a report on their state, may be mentioned in Act 18:5."

TSK: 1Th 3:1

when : 1Th 3:5, 1Th 2:17; Jer 20:9, Jer 44:22; 2Co 2:13, 2Co 11:29, 2Co 11:30

we thought : Act 17:15

TSK: 1Th 3:2

Timotheus : Act 16:1, Act 17:14, Act 17:15, Act 18:5

our brother : Rom 16:21; 1Co 4:17, 1Co 16:10,1Co 16:11, 1Co 16:12; 2Co 1:19, 2Co 2:13, 2Co 8:23; Eph 6:21; Phi 2:19-25; Col 1:7, Col 4:9, Col 4:12

to establish : 1Th 3:13; Act 14:22, Act 14:23, Act 16:5; Eph 6:22; Phi 1:25

TSK: 1Th 3:3

moved : Psa 112:6; Act 2:25, Act 20:24, Act 21:13; Rom 5:3; 1Co 15:58; Eph 3:13; Phi 1:28; Col 1:23; 2Th 1:4; 2Ti 1:8; 1Pe 4:12-14; Rev 2:10,Rev 2:13

we are : 1Th 5:9; Mat 10:16-18, Mat 24:9, Mat 24:10; Luk 21:12; Joh 15:19-21, Joh 16:2, Joh 16:33; Act 9:16; Act 14:22, Act 20:23, Act 21:11, Act 21:13; Rom 8:35-37; 1Co 4:9; 2Ti 3:11, 2Ti 3:12; 1Pe 2:21, 1Pe 4:12

TSK: 1Th 3:4

we told : Joh 16:1-3; Act 20:24

even : 1Th 2:2, 1Th 2:14; Act 17:1, Act 17:5-9, Act 17:13; 2Co 8:1, 2Co 8:2; 2Th 1:4-6

TSK: 1Th 3:5

when : 1Th 3:1

I sent : 1Th 3:2, 1Th 3:6; Act 15:36; 2Co 7:5-7

lest : Mat 4:3; 1Co 7:5; 2Co 2:11, 2Co 11:2, 2Co 11:3, 2Co 11:13-15; Gal 1:6-9; Eph 4:14; Jam 1:13, Jam 1:14

and our : 1Th 2:1; Isa 49:4; Gal 2:2, Gal 4:11; Phi 2:16

TSK: 1Th 3:6

when : Act 18:1, Act 18:5

and brought : Pro 25:25; Isa 52:7; 2Co 7:5-7

faith : 1Co 13:13; Gal 5:6; Col 1:4; 2Th 1:3; 1Ti 1:5; Phm 1:5; 1Jo 3:23

and that : 1Th 1:3, 1Th 2:9; 1Co 11:2; Col 4:18; 2Ti 1:3; Heb 13:3, Heb 13:7

desiring : 1Th 3:9, 1Th 3:10, 1Th 2:17; Phi 1:8

TSK: 1Th 3:7

we were : 1Th 3:8, 1Th 3:9; 2Co 1:4, 2Co 7:6, 2Co 7:7, 2Co 7:13; 2Jo 1:4

in all : Act 17:4-10; 1Co 4:9-13; 2Co 11:23-28; 2Ti 3:10-12

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 1Th 3:1

Wherefore - See 1Th 2:18. This particle ( διὸ dio ) is designed here to refer to another proof of his affection for them. One evidence had been referred to in his strong desire to visit them, which he had been unable to accomplish 1Th 2:18, and he here refers to another - to wit, the fact that he had sent Timothy to them.

We could no longer forbear - That is, when I could not 1Th 3:5, for there is every evidence that Paul refers to himself only though he uses the plural form of the word. There was no one with him at Athens after he had sent Timothy away Act 17:15; Act 18:5, and this shows that when, in 1Th 2:6, he uses the term apostles in the plural number, he refers to himself only, and does not mean to give the name to Timothy and Silas. If this be so, Timothy and Silas are nowhere called "apostles"in the New Testament. The word rendered here "could forbear"( στέγοντες stegontes ), means, properly, "to cover, to conceal;"and then to hide or conceal anger, impatience, weariness, etc.; that is, to hold out as to anything, to bear with, to endure. It is rendered suffer in 1Co 9:12; beareth, 1Co 13:7; and forbear, 1Th 3:1, 1Th 3:5. It is not elsewhere used in the New Testament. It means that he could no longer bear up under, hide, or suppress his impatience in regard to them - his painful emotions - his wish to know of their state; and he therefore sent Timothy to them.

We thought it good - I was willing to suffer the inconvenience of parting with him in order to show my concern for you.

To be left at Athens alone - Paul had been conducted to Athens from Berea, where he remained until Silas and Timothy could come to him; Act 17:15. It appears from the statement here that Timothy had joined him there, but such was his solicitude for the church at Thessalonica, that he very soon after sent him there, and chose to remain himself alone at Athens. Why he did not himself return to Thessalonica, is not stated. It is evidently implied here that it was a great personal inconvenience for him thus to part with Timothy, and to remain alone at Athens, and that he evinced the strong love which he had for the church at Thessalonica by being willing to submit to it. What that inconvenience consisted in, he has not stated, but it is not difficult to understand,

\caps1 (1) h\caps0 e was among total strangers, and, when Timothy was gone, without an acquaintance or friend.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 he aid of Timothy was needed in order to prosecute the work which he contemplated. He had requested that Timothy should join him as soon as possible when he left Berea Act 17:15, and he evidently felt it desirable that in preaching the gospel in that city he should have all the assistance he could obtain. Yet he was willing to forego those comforts and advantages in order to promote the edification of the church at Thessalonica.

Barnes: 1Th 3:2

And sent Timotheus - That is, evidently, he sent him from Athens - for this is the fair construction of the passage. But in the history Acts 17 there is no mention that Timothy came to Athens at all, and it may be asked how this statement is reconcilable with the record in the Acts ? It is mentioned there that "the brethren sent away Paul (from Berea) to go, as it were, to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. And they that conducted Paul brought him to Athens;"Act 17:14-15. The history further states, that after Paul had remained some time at Athens, he went to Corinth, where he was joined by Timothy and Silas, who came to him "from Macedonia;"Act 18:5. But in order to reconcile the account in the Acts with the statement before us in the Epistle, it is necessary to suppose that Timothy had come to Athens. In reconciling these accounts, we may observe, that though the history does not expressly mention the arrival of Timothy at Athens, yet there are circumstances mentioned which render this extremely probable.

First, as soon as Paul reached Athens, he sent a message back to Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, and there is every probability that this request would be obeyed; Act 17:15. Secondly, his stay at Athens was on purpose that they might join him there. "Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred within him;"Act 17:16. Thirdly, his departure from Athens does not appear to have been in any sort hastened or abrupt. He had an opportunity of seeing the city Act 17:23; he disputed in the synagogue and in the market "daily"Act 17:17; he held a controversy with the philosophers Act 17:18-22; he made converts there Act 17:24, and "after these things"he calmly went to Corinth. There was no tumult or excitement, and it is not suggested that he was driven away, as in other places, because his life was in danger. There was, therefore, ample time for Timothy to come to him there - for Paul was at liberty to remain as long as he pleased, and as he stayed there for the express purpose of having Timothy and Silas meet him, it is to be presumed that his wish was in this respect accomplished.

Fourthly, the sending back of Timothy to Macedonia, as mentioned in the Epistle, is a circumstance which will account for the fact mentioned in Act 18:5, that Timothy came to him "at Corinth,"instead of at Athens. He had given directions for him to meet him at Athens Act 17:15, but the history mentions only that he met him, after a long delay, at Corinth. This delay, and this change of place, when they rejoined each other for the purpose of laboring together, can only be accounted for by the supposition that Timothy had come to him at Athens, and had been immediately sent back to Macedonia, with instructions to join him again at Corinth. This is one of the "undesigned coincidences"between the history in the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles of Paul, of which Paley (Hor. Paul.) has made so good use in demonstrating the genuineness of both. "The epistle discloses a fact which is not preserved in the history; but which makes what is said in the history more significant, probable, and consistent. The history bears marks of an omission; the epistle furnishes a circumstance which supplies that omission."

Our brother - See the notes at Col 1:1. The mention of his being a "brother"is designed to show his interest in the church there. He did not send one whose absence would be no inconvenience to him, or for whom he had no regard. He sent one who was as dear to him as a brother.

And minister of God - Another circumstance showing his affection for them. He did not send a layman, or one who could not be useful with him or to them, but he sent one fully qualified to preach to them, and to break to them the bread of life. One of the richest tokens of affection which can be shown to any people, is to send to them a faithful minister of God.

And our fellow-labourer in the gospel of Christ - A third token of affectionate interest in their welfare. The meaning is, "I did not send one whom I did not want, or who could be of no use here, but one who was a fellow-laborer with me, and whose aid would have been of essential service to me. In parting with him, therefore, for your welfare I showed a strong attachment for you. I was willing to endure personal inconvenience, and additional toil, in order to promote your welfare."

To establish you - To strengthen you; to make you firm - στηρίξαι stērixai This was to be done by presenting such considerations as would enable them to maintain their faith steadfastly in their trials.

And to comfort you concerning your faith - It is evident that they were suffering persecution on account of their faith in the Lord Jesus; that is, for their belief in him as a Saviour. The object of sending Timothy was to suggest such topics of consolation as would sustain them in their trials - that is, that he was the Son of God; that the people of God had been persecuted in all ages; that God was able to support them, etc.

Barnes: 1Th 3:3

That no man should be moved - The word rendered "moved"( σαίνω sainō ) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly means to wag, to move to and fro, as of dogs which wag their tails in fondness (Hom. Od. K. 216. AEl. A. N. 10:7. Ovid. 14:258); then to caress, to fawn upon, to flatter; then to move or waver in mind - as from fear; to dread, to tremble. See Passow and Wetstein. Here the sense is, to be so moved or agitated by fear, or by the terror of persecution, as to forsake their religion. The object of sending Timothy was, that they might not be thus moved, but that amidst all opposition they might adhere steadfastly to their religion.

These afflictions - See the notes at 1Th 2:14.

For yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto - It is not quite certain whether by the word "we"here the apostle refers to himself; or to himself and the Thessalonians; or to Christians in general. On either supposition what he says is true, and either would meet the case. It would be most to the purpose, however, to suppose that he means to state the general idea that all Christians are exposed to persecution and could not hope to avoid it. It would then appear that the Thessalonians had partaken only of the common lot. Still there may have been a special reference to the fact that Paul and his fellow-laborers there were subjected to trials; and if this be the reference, then the idea is, that the Thessalonians should not be "moved"by their trials, for even their teachers were not exempt. Even their enemies could not say that the apostle and his co-workers were impostors, for they had persevered in preaching the gospel when they knew that these trials were coming upon them. The phrase, "we are appointed thereunto,"means that such was the divine arrangement. No one who professed Christianity could hope to be exempted from trial, for it was the common lot of all believers; compare 1Co 4:9 note; 2Ti 3:12 note.

Barnes: 1Th 3:4

For verily, when we were with you, we told you before ... - It is not mentioned in the history Acts 17 that Paul thus predicted that special trials would come upon them, but there is no improbability in what is here said. He was with them long enough to discourse to them on a great variety of topics, and nothing can be more probable, than that in their circumstances, the subjects of persecution and affliction would be prominent topics of discourse. There was every reason to apprehend that they would meet with opposition on account of their religion, and nothing was more natural than that Paul should endearour to prepare their minds for it beforehand,

That we should suffer tribulation - We who preached to you; perhaps also including those to whom they preached.

Even as it came to pass, and ye know - When Paul, Silas, and Timothy were driven away, and when the church was so much agitated, by the opposition of the Jews; Act 17:5-8.

Barnes: 1Th 3:5

For this cause - Since I knew that you were so liable to be persecuted, and since I feared that some might be turned from the truth by this opposition.

When I could no longer forbear - See the notes at 1Th 3:1.

I sent to know your faith - That is, your fidelity. or your steadfastness in the gospel.

Lest by some means - Either by allurements to apostasy, set before you by your former pagan friends; or by the arts of false teachers; or by the severity of suffering. Satan has many methods of seducing people from the truth, and Paul was fearful that by some of his arts he might be successful there.

The tempter - Satan; for though the Jews were the immediate actors in those transactions, yet the apostle regarded them as being under the direction of Satan, and as accomplishing his purposes. He was, therefore, the real author of the persecutions which had been excited. He is here called the "Tempter,"as he is often (compare Matt. iv.), and the truths taught are:

\caps1 (1) t\caps0 hat Satan is the great author of persecution; and,

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 hat in a time of persecution - or of trial of any kind - he endeavors to tempt people to swerve from the truth, and to abandon their religion. In persecution, people are tempted to apostatize from God, in order to avoid suffering. In afflictions of other kinds, Satan often tempts the sufferer to murmur and complain; to charge God with harshness, partiality, and severity, and to give vent to expressions that will show that religion has none of its boasted power to support the soul in the day of trial; compare Job 1:9-11. In all times of affliction, as well as in prosperity, we may be sure that "the Tempter"is not far off, and should be on our guard against his wiles.

And our labour be in vain - By your being turned from the faith; notes, Gal 4:11.

Barnes: 1Th 3:6

But now when Timotheus came from you unto us - To Corinth, after he had been sent to Thessalonica; Act 18:5; compare notes on 1Th 3:2.

And brought us good tidings - A cheerful or favorable account. Greek "evangelizing;"that is, bringing good news.

Of your faith - Of your faithfulness or fidelity. Amidst all their trials they evinced fidelity to the Christian cause.

And charity - Love; notes, 1Co 13:1.

And that ye have good remembrance of us always - That is, probably, they showed their remembrance of Paul by obeying his precepts, and by cherishing an affectionate regard for him, notwithstanding all the efforts which had been made to alienate their affections from him.

Desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you - There was no disposition to blame him for having left them, or because he did not return to them. They would have welcomed him again as their teacher and friend. The meaning of this is, that there was between him and them a strong mutual attachment.

Barnes: 1Th 3:7

We were comforted over you - See the notes, 2Co 1:3-7; 2Co 7:6-7. The sense here is, that their steadfastness was a great source of comfort to him in his trials. It was an instance where the holy lives and the fidelity of a people did much, as will always be the case, to lighten the burdens and cheer the heart of a minister of the gospel. In the inevitable trials of the ministerial office there is no source of comfort more rich and pure than this.

Poole: 1Th 3:1

1Th 3:1-5 The apostle showeth that out of his great care for

the Thessalonians he had sent Timothy to comfort and

strengthen them in the faith,

1Th 3:6-8 whose good report of them had been a great

consolation to him in his distresses.

1Th 3:8-10 He testifieth his thankfulness to God, and

earnest desire to see them,

1Th 3:11-13 praying God to guide him to them, and for their

increase in love and holiness unto the end.

The apostle proceeds upon the same argument to confirm his love to them, and care of them, that they might not doubt of it because of his long absence from them. Therefore he tells them, that though he could not come himself, yet he sent Timothy to them from Athens; which we find not mentioned in the Acts by Luke: and his love herein is commended the more:

1. Because he sent him out of a strong impulse of affection, he could not forbear any longer, or bear, it was a heavy burden to him till he had done it, as the word imports.

2. He was content to be left at Athens alone by parting with Timothy, though his company was so desirable and useful to him at that time. And he was well pleased so to do for their sakes; eudokhsamen , he had a complacence of mind in so doing, so much he preferred their good before his own contentment.

(To see numbers 3 and 4: See Poole on "1Th 3:2" .)

Poole: 1Th 3:2

(To see numbers 1 and 2: See Poole on "1Th 3:1" .)

3. By the description he gives of him in the text: a man dear to him, and as his right hand in the service of the gospel. And his care of them is commended the more by sending so eminent a person to them.

4. From his end in sending him; which was to establish them, that through the fear of suffering, or any temptations, they might not forsake the faith they had received; and to comfort them concerning their faith: the word sometimes signifies to exhort, and the sense is good if we so read it; but because the faith they had embraced presented much matter of comfort to them, therefore our translation; well renders the word.

Poole: 1Th 3:3

The apostle had mentioned before his great afflictions, and they knew well what he himself had suffered both at Thessalonica and Berea, Act 17:1-34 , and therefore might fear they might hereupon be shaken in their faith. And Timothy therefore was sent to comfort and establish them: God could do this without him, but the ministry is his ordinance he works by. And when he saith,

that no man should be moved it shows what is a Christian’ s duty, to be unmoved by sufferings for the gospel. The word here used by the apostle answers another word, used 2Th 2:2 , which alludes to the waves of the sea shaken by the winds. Fears, and doubts, or hesitations of mind, do move and shake it, which the apostle sent Timothy to prevent, or remove. And besides, he addeth an argument of his own to confirm them, when he tells them, ye

know that we are appointed thereunto The word is used Luk 2:34 1Ti 1:9 . But he means, we suffer afflictions according to the purpose and intention of God; they come not by chance, or merely from men’ s wrath and enmity, but from the appointment of God. And whether the apostle speaks only of his own sufferings, and other ministers of the gospel, or of all saints in general, as Act 14:22 Rom 8:17,36 2Ti 3:12 , is uncertain; we may well understand it of both; so that he would not have these Thessalonians think it strange, as if some strange thing happened to them, 1Pe 4:12 , whereby to be shaken in their minds.

Poole: 1Th 3:4

The apostle having said that they knew they were appointed to sufferings, tells them here they knew it because he had told them of it. Paul, by some extraordinary instinct or revelation, often foresaw his sufferings, and God more generally told him of them at his first conversion, Act 9:16 ; and he told them of them that they might reckon upon sufferings. A faithful minister will not only tell the people of the crown, but of the cross of Christ. And what he foretold of his sufferings, he tells them

came to pass whereby they might be strengthened further in their faith about the gospel he had preached to them, and not be offended at his sufferings, being foretold to them, as well as appointed of God.

Poole: 1Th 3:5

The apostle here gives a further account of the reason why he sent Timothy to them, which was to know their faith whether it continued stedfast under all their sufferings and temptations. He feared Satan, whom he calls

the tempter might have some way or other tempted them, either by false teachers to seduce them, or by sufferings to affright them. He was more concerned about the inward state of their souls, than their outward condition; and commonly temptations go along with persecutions. And the apostle, having bestowed great labour upon them, feared lest it might

be in vain that the tempter had prevailed. Satan’ s first work is to keep men from believing, his next is to destroy their faith: young converts are commonly most assaulted. Paul’ s heart was therefore very solicitous for them, so that (as he said before) he could not any longer forbear sending to know how it was with them.

Poole: 1Th 3:6

We had bfore an account of Timothy’ s sending, now of his return, wherein we have the message he brought, and the effect thereof upon the apostle. The message may be considered:

1. As to its new coming:

But now when Timotheus came & c.; so that this Epistle seems to be written presently upon his return.

2. As to the good account it brought of them: it brought good tidings (the same word is here used that expresseth in the Greek the glad tidings of the gospel) of their faith, that it continued still stedfast; and of their charity, or love, that they had love joined with their faith, and their faith working by love, which showed it was living, and of a right kind.

And that ye have good remembrance of us always they forgot him not, though absent some length of time from them; and it was a good remembrance, joined with love and esteem of his person, and of his ministry amongst them; and it was always, which implies the constancy of it.

Desiring greatly to see us and not satisfied with this good remembrance of him being absent, they greatly desired his presence, to see him and his fellow labourers. And to answer their love on his part, he addeth,

as we also to see you By all which he seeks to satisfy them of his continued care and remembrance of them, which was the effect of this message.

Poole: 1Th 3:7

He was comforted by this faith of theirs in all his own affliction and distress The faithfulness and constancy of a people is the great comfort of their teachers. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth 3Jo 1:4 .

Haydock: 1Th 3:1

Forbearing no longer. That is, not being able to be at rest, for not seeing you, nor hearing concerning you. (Witham) ---

Not bearing to be any longer uncertain and uninformed of your constancy, amidst the tribulations you had to endure, I sent Timothy to strengthen you, that you might not be moved in the difficulties to which we are destined, and which it is appointed for us to undergo. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Th 3:3

That we are appointed thereunto. That is, meet with trials and troubles in this world, as our Saviour Christ foretold. (Witham)

Gill: 1Th 3:1

Wherefore when we could no longer forbear,.... Or "bear", as the word properly signifies; or "bear that", as the Ethiopic version reads; that is, "that desire", as the Arabic version renders it; that ardent and longing desire of seeing them again, expressed in the latter part of the preceding chapter; which was as fire in their bones, and was retained with great pain and uneasiness; but now they could hold it no longer, and like Jeremiah, Jer 20:9 were weary with forbearing, and could not stay; or it was like a burden, which they stood up under as long as they could, even Paul, Silas, and Timothy, but now it became insupportable:

we thought it good to be left at Athens alone: that is, Paul and Silas, or Paul only, speaking of himself in the plural number; for he seems to have been alone at Athens, at least at last; he considering everything, thought it most fit and advisable when at Athens, where he waited for Silas and Timothy, having ordered them to come thither to him from Berea, Act 17:14 either to send orders to Berea for Timothy to go from thence to Thessalonica, to know the state of affairs there, and Silas elsewhere; or if they came to him to Athens, of which Luke gives no account, he immediately dispatched Timothy to Thessalonica, and Silas to some other part of Macedonia, for from thence they came to him at Corinth, Act 18:5 such was his desire of knowing how things were at Thessalonica, that he chose rather to be left alone at Athens, disputing with the unbelieving Jews, and Heathen philosophers of the Epicurean and Stoic sects, sustaining all their scoffs and jeers alone; and was content to be without his useful companions, Silas and Timothy, who might have been assisting to him at Athens, in hope of hearing of his dear friends at Thessalonica.

Gill: 1Th 3:2

And sent Timotheus our brother,.... In a spiritual relation, having the same heavenly Father, and belonging to the same Jerusalem, which is free, and the mother of us all; of the same household and in the same relation to Christ, the firstborn among many brethren; or their brother in the ministry, who was employed in the same business, and did the same work they did; or he is so called, on account of that strict and intimate friendship which subsisted between them, by virtue of which they stuck as close as brethren, or closer to one another than brethren usually do:

and minister of God; of his making, and not man's; of his calling and sending, and of his blessing and succeeding; and who was a minister of the things of God, of the mysteries of God, of the truths of his Gospel; and who ministered according to the ability God gave him, and was faithful to him:

and our fellow labourer in the Gospel of Christ; he was a labourer, and not a loiterer in the Lord's vineyard; one that laboured in the word and doctrine, that studied to show himself a workman, that gave himself wholly to meditation, reading, exhortation, and doctrine, and preached the word in season and out of season and was a fellow labourer with him who laboured more abundantly than any of the apostles; and not in the law, but in the Gospel, even in the Gospel of Christ, of which he is the sum and substance, author and preacher. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions leave out these words, and so do Beza's ancient copy and the Alexandrian manuscript, "and our fellow labourers", reading the latter part of the clause in connection with the former thus, "a minister of God in the Gospel of Christ", as the former of these versions, "in the doctrine of Christ", as the latter. These characters are given of Timothy, partly to show what honour was done the Thessalonians, in sending such a messenger to them; and partly that they might receive him with the greater respect, and treat him according to his character, office, and dignity; and chiefly to observe to them the apostle's great affection for them, in parting with so dear and useful a minister for their good and advantage, as follows:

to establish you; which though the work of God, it is usually done by the ministry of the word; and then is the end of the Gospel ministration answered to the churches, when they are established by it; for notwithstanding the saints are in a stable condition, as in the arms of love, and in the hands of Christ, and in the covenant of grace, and upon the rock of ages, and in a state of regeneration, justification, and adoption, from whence they can never fall totally and finally; yet they are often very unstable in their hearts and frames, in the exercise of grace, and discharge of duty, and in their adherence to the cause and interest, Gospel and ordinances of Christ, through the prevalence of corruption, the temptations of Satan, and the reproaches and persecutions of men: and these Thessalonians were young converts, and just planted together as a church; and at their first setting out, sustained a considerable shock of afflictions, which made the apostle concerned for their establishment in the faith which they had received:

and to comfort you concerning your faith. This is another end of the Gospel ministry, to comfort afflicted minds, and distressed consciences; it is the will of God that his people should be spoke comfortably to; the doctrines of the Gospel are calculated for that purpose, and the ministers of it should be Barnabases, sons of consolation. These saints might be in some doubt about the grace of faith, whether it was right or not, or about the doctrine of faith they had received; and therefore Timothy is sent to comfort them under their afflictions, which might have created these doubts, and to remove them, by showing them that their faith was like precious faith with the apostles; and that the doctrine of faith they embraced was the faith once delivered to the saints, and was the true faith of Christ: the words will bear to be rendered, "to exhort you concerning your faith", as the Vulgate Latin version renders them; that is, to exhort you to continue in the faith, to stand fast in it, in the exercise of the grace of faith, and in the doctrine of faith, and in the profession of both. The Syriac version renders it, "to ask", or inquire of you concerning your faith, being willing to know how it stood, since they left them, as in 1Th 3:5.

Gill: 1Th 3:3

That no man should be moved by these afflictions,.... Which the apostle endured for the sake of preaching the Gospel among them, and which he feared might be a means of troubling their minds, of shaking their faith, and moving them from the hope of the Gospel; for though none of these things moved him, who was an old soldier of Christ, and used to hardness, and an apostle of Christ; yet these were young converts, and not used to such things, and therefore might be staggered at them, and be offended, as stony ground hearers are; and though the apostle hoped better things of them, yet was he concerned for them, that no one among them might be unhinged by them, or succumb under them:

for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto; by the immutable decree of God: afflictions, as to their nature, measure, and duration, are appointed for the people of God, and they are appointed for them; this is the case of all who will live godly in Christ Jesus, and especially of Gospel ministers; of which these saints had been apprized by the apostle, and therefore was nothing new, unheard of, and unexpected, or to be looked upon as a strange thing; and seeing this was the appointment of heaven, and the will of God, they should be patiently endured, and quietly submitted to.

Gill: 1Th 3:4

For, verily, when we were with you,.... In presence, in person, as they then were in heart and affection; when they were first among them, and preached the Gospel to them:

we told you before; before it came to pass;

that we should suffer tribulation: which they might say by virtue of Christ's prediction to all his disciples, that they should have tribulation in the world; and upon its being the common case of God's people, and the usual way through which they enter the kingdom; and the Apostle Paul might foretell this, upon the discovery that was made to him how many things he should suffer for the sake of Christ, and which therefore he always, and in every place expected; and he might have a particular revelation of the disturbance and opposition he was to meet with at Thessalonica:

even as it came to pass, and ye know; referring to the tumult and uproar in Act 17:5, and which should be considered so far from being a discouragement, that it was a great confirmation of the truth of their mission and ministry; nor could it be so surprising to them as it might have been had they had no previous taste of it.

Gill: 1Th 3:5

For this cause, when I could no longer forbear,.... Or "bear" the above vehement desire of seeing them, or of hearing from them. Here the apostle speaks in the singular number, and seems to intimate, as if what was said before of the like kind is to be understood singly of him; for these words are a repetition and summary of the foregoing, with some diversity:

I sent to know your faith; how it stood, whether it was staggering through these afflictions, or firm; whether it was weak or strong, what was wanting in it; and whether it grew and increased. The Arabic version adds, "and charity"; for of this, as well as of faith, Timothy brought an account, as appears from the following verse.

Lest by some means the tempter; Satan, so called from his common and constant employ in tempting men to sin; see Mat 4:3

have tempted you with success, and got an advantage over them, improving these afflictions to such a purpose as to move them from the hope of the Gospel, and relinquish the profession of it; for otherwise there was no question to be made but he had tempted them, or solicited them to it; for none of the saints are free from his temptations; the apostle himself was not, nor indeed our Lord Jesus Christ: but the apostle's fears were, lest he should so have tempted them as to have gained upon them, and have persuaded them to have turned their backs upon the Gospel, and not expose their name and credit, and hazard the toss of worldly substance, and even life itself, for the sake of it.

And our labour be in vain: in preaching the Gospel among them; not with respect to God, to whom the word never returns void and empty; nor with regard to the apostles, whose judgment was with the Lord, and their work with their God, who will of his own grace reward them; but with respect to the Thessalonians, to whom, should Satan gain his point, it would be of no use and service, for which the concern was. The Ethiopic version reads, "and your labour be in vain": in receiving the apostles, embracing and professing the Gospel, and suffering for it; see Gal 3:4 but the common reading is best, and agrees with what the apostle elsewhere says, Gal 4:11.

Gill: 1Th 3:6

But now when Timotheus came from you unto us,.... At Corinth, as appears from Act 18:5 which shows that this epistle was not written from Athens, as the subscription to it asserts, but from Corinth; for as soon as ever Timothy came from Thessalonica, to the apostle at Corinth, and made the report to him, he immediately sent them this epistle which is here suggested: "but, now", &c. just now; "lately", as the Syriac version renders it, a very little while ago, Timothy was just come:

and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity; of their faith, the grace of faith, that it was of the right kind; as far as could be judged, it was the faith of God's elect, like precious faith with theirs; an unfeigned one, strong and lively, operative and growing: or of the doctrine of faith, as received and embraced by them; as that they were greatly led, and had much light into it, and had, for the time, made considerable proficiency in it; that they held it fast, and stood fast in it, and contended for it, notwithstanding all the afflictions, reproaches, and persecutions which they either saw in the apostles, or endured themselves for the sake of it; and likewise of the profession of both the grace and doctrine of faith, which they held fast, and without wavering, and that in a pure conscience, which was good news indeed. Timothy also brought an account of their "charity", or love, which faith works by; these two graces are always found together; they are wrought in the soul by one, and the same hand, and at the same time; where the one is, the other is; and as the one flourishes and increases, so does the other. And by this grace is meant love to God, to Christ, to his truths, ordinances, ways, and worship, and to one another, and even to all men; and which was without dissimulation, in sincerity, in deed, and in truth, and was constant and fervent: and this was not the whole of the report, for it follows,

and that ye have a remembrance of us always they bore in memory the persons of the apostles; and when they made mention of their names, it was with the greatest respect and reverence; nor were they forgetful hearers of the word, but remembered with great affection and pleasure the truths, the doctrines, and exhortations they delivered to them, so as to put them in practice, and longed for another visit from them, to have their memories refreshed by them:

desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you, they had an equal desire to see their spiritual fathers, as they had to see their spiritual children. Now such a report as this concerning their steady faith in Christ, their fervent love to one another, and their affectionate regard to the ministers of the word, was a sort of a Gospel, as the word used signifies; or it was good news and glad tidings to the apostle, and those that were with him.

Gill: 1Th 3:7

Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over, you,.... Or "in you", as the Vulgate Latin version; or "from you", as the Arabic; or "by you", as the Syriac; or "for you", as the Ethiopic; that is, on account of them, either by what they had heard was in them, or had heard from them. This gave abundant consolation

in all our affliction and distress: which they met with at Corinth, where the apostle laboured with his own hands, and ministered to his own, and the necessities of others, and was greatly opposed, reproached, and persecuted; see Act 18:3, but the news of the good estate and condition the Thessalonians were in, was a great relief and comfort to him, particularly their faith:

by your faith: by the report of it, that it grew exceedingly, and that they walked in the truth; see 1Jo 5:4. The Alexandrian copy reads, "in all your distress and affliction, and by your faith."

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Th 3:1

¹ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

NET Notes: 1Th 3:2

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tc A variety of readings occurs in this verse. Instead of “and fellow worker for God” (καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, kai sunergon tou qeou), B has “and fellow worker” (καὶ συνεργόν); א A P Ψ 0278 6 81 629* 1241 1739 1881 2464 lat co read “and servant of God” (καὶ διάκονον τοῦ θεοῦ, kai diakonon tou qeou); D² Ï and a few versional witnesses read “and a servant of God and our fellow worker” (καὶ διάκονον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ συνεργὸν ἡμῶν); and F G have “servant and fellow worker for God” (διάκονον καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ). The reading of the text (καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ) is found in D* 33 b {d m o} Ambst {Pel}. It may be argued that all readings that do not collocate συνεργόν with θεοῦ are secondary, as this is certainly the harder reading. Indeed, in only one other place in the NT are human beings said to be συνεργοὶ θεοῦ (sunergoi qeou; 1 Cor 3:9), and the simplest (though by no means the only) interpretation is that the genitive should be taken associatively (“a fellow worker in association with God”). It is difficult to account for συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ here unless it is authentic because of the theological difficulty that would be easily seen in this wording. A genealogy of the readings suggests that various scribes may have deleted τοῦ θεοῦ or swapped διάκονον for συνεργόν to remove the offense. The readings of the Byzantine text and two Western mss (F G) appear to be conflations of earlier readings, but the reading of F G nevertheless indirectly supports καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ since it does not remove the offense. Although the witnesses for καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ are minimal, the internal evidence is quite strong in favor of this reading. With hesitation, it is adopted as authentic.

tn Although 1 Thess 3:2 is frequently understood to mean that Timothy is “God’s fellow worker,” such a view assumes that the genitive θεοῦ (qeou) is associative for it is related to συνεργόν (sunergon). However, a genitive of association is not required by the syntax (cf. ExSyn 130).

NET Notes: 1Th 3:4

¹ tn Grk “just as it also occurred and you know.”

NET Notes: 1Th 3:5

¹ tn Or “for this reason.”

NET Notes: 1Th 3:6

¹ tn Grk “but now Timothy having come,” a subordinate clause leading to the main clause of v. 7.

² tn Grk “you have a good remembrance of us always.”

³ tn Grk “just as also we you.”

NET Notes: 1Th 3:7

¹ tn Or “for this reason.”

² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.

Geneva Bible: 1Th 3:3

That no man should be moved by these afflictions: ^{( 1 )} for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.

^{( 1 )} The will of God, who calls his own on this condition, to bring them to glory by affliction, is a most sure remedy against all afflictions.

Geneva Bible: 1Th 3:6

^{( 2 )} But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also [to see] you:

^{( 2 )} Because they have to this point gone so well forward, he exhorts them again to make an end of the rest of the journey, seeing that in doing so they will do him their apostle a great pleasure.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 1Th 3:1-13

1 Saint Paul testifies his great love to the Thessalonians, partly by sending Timothy unto them to strengthen and comfort them; partly by rejoicing in their well-doing;

10 and partly by praying for them, and desiring a safe coming unto them.

MHCC: 1Th 3:1-5

The more we find pleasure in the ways of God, the more we shall desire to persevere therein. The apostle's design was to establish and comfort the Thessalonians as to the object of their faith, that Jesus Christ was the Saviour of the world; and as to the recompence of faith, which was more than enough to make up all their losses, and to reward all their labours. But he feared his labours would be in vain. If the devil cannot hinder ministers from labouring in the word and doctrine, he will, if possible, hinder the success of their labours. No one would willingly labour in vain. It is the will and purpose of God, that we enter into his kingdom through many afflictions. And the apostles, far from flattering people with the expectation of worldly prosperity in religion, told them plainly they must count upon trouble in the flesh. Herein they followed the example of their great Master, the Author of our faith. Christians were in danger, and they should be forewarned; they will thus be kept from being improved by any devices of the tempter.

MHCC: 1Th 3:6-10

Thankfulness to God is very imperfect in the present state; but one great end of the ministry of the word is to help faith forward. That which was the instrument to obtain faith, is also the means of increasing and confirming it, namely, the ordinances of God; and as faith cometh by hearing, so it is confirmed by hearing also.

Matthew Henry: 1Th 3:1-5

In these words the apostle gives an account of his sending Timothy to the Thessalonians. Though he was hindered from going to them himself, yet his love was such that he could not forbear sending Timothy to them. Though Timothy was very useful to him, and he could not well spare him, yet Paul was content, for their good, to be left alone at Athens. Note, Those ministers do not duly value the establishment and welfare of their people who cannot deny themselves in many things for that end. Observe,

I. The character he gives of Timothy (1Th 3:2): We sent Timotheus, our brother. Elsewhere he calls him his son; here he calls him brother. Timothy was Paul's junior in age, his inferior in gifts and graces, and of a lower rank in the ministry: for Paul was an apostle, and Timothy but an evangelist; yet Paul calls him brother. This was an instance of the apostle's humility, and showed his desire to put honour upon Timothy and to recommend him to the esteem of the churches. He calls him also a minister of God. Note, Ministers of the gospel of Christ are ministers of God, to promote the kingdom of God among men. He calls him also his fellow-labourer in the gospel of Christ. Note, Ministers of the gospel must look upon themselves as labourers in the Lord's vineyard; they have an honourable office and hard work, yet a good work. This is a true saying, If any man desire the office of a bishop, he desires a good work, 1Ti 3:1. And ministers should look upon one another, and strengthen one another's hands, not strive and contend one with another (which will hinder their work), but strive together to carry on the great work they are engaged in, namely, to preach and publish the gospel of Christ, and to persuade people to embrace and entertain it and live suitably thereto.

II. The end and design why Paul sent Timothy: To establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith, 1Th 3:2. Paul had converted them to the Christian faith, and now he was desirous that they might be confirmed and comforted, that they might confirmed in the choice they had made of the Christian religion, and comforted in the profession and practice of it. Note, The more we are comforted, the more we shall be confirmed, because, when we find pleasure in the ways of God, we shall thereby be engaged to continue and persevere therein. The apostle's design was to establish and comfort the Thessalonians concerning their faith, - concerning the object of their faith, namely, the truths of the gospel, and particularly that Jesus Christ was the Saviour of the world, and so wise and good, so powerful and faithful, that they might rely upon him, - concerning the recompence of faith, which was more than sufficient to balance all their losses and reward all their labours.

III. The motive inducing Paul to send Timothy for this end, namely, a godly fear or jealousy, lest they should be moved from the faith of Christ, 1Th 3:3. He was desirous that no man, no one among them, should be moved or shaken in mind, that they should not apostatize or waver in the faith. And yet,

1. He apprehended there was danger, and feared the consequence.

(1.) There was danger, [1.] By reason of affliction and persecution for the sake of the gospel, 1Th 3:3. These Thessalonians could not but perceive what afflictions the apostles and preachers of the gospel met with, and this might possibly stumble them; and also those who made profession of the gospel were persecuted, and without doubt these Thessalonians themselves were afflicted. [2.] By reason of the tempter's subtlety and malice. The apostle was afraid lest by any means the tempter had tempted them, 1Th 3:5. The devil is a subtle and unwearied tempter, who seeks an opportunity to beguile and destroy us, and takes all advantages against us, both in a time of prosperity and adversity; and he has often been successful in his attacks upon persons under afflictions. He has often prejudiced the minds of men against religion on account of the sufferings its professors are exposed to. We have reason therefore to be jealous over ourselves and others, lest we be ensnared by him.

(2.) The consequence the apostle feared was lest his labour should be in vain. And thus it would have been, if the tempter had tempted them, and prevailed against them, to move them from the faith. They would have lost what they had wrought, and the apostle would have lost what he laboured for. Note, It is the devil's design to hinder the good fruit and effect of the preaching of the gospel. If he cannot hinder ministers from labouring in the word and doctrine, he will, if he be able, hinder them of the success of their labours. Note also, Faithful ministers are much concerned about the success of their labours. No one would willingly labour in vain; and ministers are loth to spend their strength, and pains, and time, for nought.

2. To prevent this danger, with its bad consequence, the apostle tells them what care he took in sending Timothy, (1.) To put them in mind of what he had told them before concerning suffering tribulation (1Th 3:4), he says (1Th 3:3), We are appointed thereunto, that is, unto afflictions. So is the will and purpose of God that through many afflictions we must enter into his kingdom. Their troubles and persecutions did not come by chance, not merely from the wrath and malice of the enemies of religion, but by the appointment of God. The event only came to pass according as God had determined, and they knew he had told them before it would be; so that they should not think it strange, and, being fore-warned, they should be fore-armed. Note, The apostles were so far from flattering people with an expectation of worldly prosperity in religion that, on the contrary, they told them plainly they must count upon trouble in the flesh. And herein they followed the example of their great Master, the author or our faith. Besides, it might prove a confirmation of their faith, when they perceived that it only happened to them as was predicted before. (2.) To know their faith, that so he might inform the apostles whether they remained stedfast under all their sufferings, whether their faith failed or not, because, if their faith did not fail, they would be able to stand their ground against the tempter and all his temptations: their faith would be a shield, to defend them against all the fiery darts of the wicked, Eph 6:16.

Matthew Henry: 1Th 3:6-10

Here we have Paul's great satisfaction upon the return of Timothy with good tidings from the Thessalonians, in which we may observe,

I. The good report Timothy made concerning them, 1Th 3:6. Without question, he was a willing messenger of these good tidings. Concerning their faith, that is, concerning their stedfastness in the faith, that they were not shaken in mind, nor turned aside form the profession of the gospel. Their love also continued; their love to the gospel, and the ministers of the gospel. For they had a good and a kind remembrance of the apostles, and that constantly, or always. The names of the apostles were very dear to them, and the thoughts of them, and what they themselves had received from them, were very precious, insomuch that they desired greatly to see them again, and receive some spiritual gift from them; and there was no love lost, for the apostle was as desirous to see them. It is happy where there is such mutual love between minister and people. This tends to promote religion, and the success of the gospel. The world hates them, and therefore they should love one another.

II. The great comfort and satisfaction the apostle had in this good report concerning them (1Th 3:7, 1Th 3:8): Therefore, brethren, we were comforted in all our affliction and distress. The apostle thought this good news of them was sufficient to balance all the troubles he met with. It was easy to him to bear affliction, or persecution, or fightings from without, when he found the good success of his ministry and the constancy of the converts he had made to Christianity; and his distress of mind on account of his fears within, lest he had laboured in vain, was now in a good measure over, when he understood their faith and the perseverance of it. This put new life and spirit into the apostle and made him vigorous and active in the work of the Lord. Thus he was not only comforted, but greatly rejoiced also: Now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord, 1Th 3:8. It would have been a killing thing to the apostles if the professors of religion had been unsteady, or proved apostates; whereas nothing was more encouraging than their constancy.

III. The effects of this were thankfulness and prayer to God on their behalf. Observe, 1. How thankful the apostle was, 1Th 3:9. He was full of joy, and full of praise and thanksgiving. When we are most cheerful we should be most thankful. What we rejoice in we should give thanks for. This is to rejoice before our God, to spiritualize our joy. Paul speaks as if he could not tell how to express his thankfulness to God, or his joy and rejoicing for their sakes. But he was careful God should not lose the glory of the comfort he received in the welfare of his friends. His heart was enlarged with love to them and with thanksgiving to God. He was willing to express the one and the other as well as he could. As to thankfulness to God, this especially is very imperfect in the present state; but, when we come to heaven, we shall do this work better than now we can. 2. He prayed for them night and day (1Th 3:10), evening and morning, or very frequently, in the midst of the business of the day or slumber of the night lifting up his heart to God in prayer. Thus we should pray always. And Paul's prayer was fervent prayer. He prayed exceedingly, and was earnest in his supplication. Note, When we are most thankful we should always give ourselves to prayer; and those we give thanks for have yet need to be prayed for. Those whom we most rejoice in, and who are our greatest comforts, must be our constant care, while in this world of temptation and imperfection. There was something still lacking in their faith; Paul desired that this might be perfected, and to see their face in order thereunto. Note, (1.) The best of men have something wanting in their faith, if not as to the matter of it, there being some mysteries or doctrines not sufficiently known or believed by them, yet as to the clearness and certainty of their faith, there being some remaining darkness and doubtings, or at least as to the effects and operations of it, these being not so conspicuous and perfect as they should be. And, (2.) The ministry of the word and ordinances is helpful, and to be desired and used for the perfecting of that which is lacking in our faith.

Barclay: 1Th 3:1-10

In this passage there breathes the very essence of the spirit of the pastor.

(i) There is affection. We can never affect or win people unless we begin, quite simply, by liking them. It was Carlyle who said of London, "There are three and a half million people in this city--mostly fools!" The man who begins by despising men or by disliking them can never go on to save them.

(ii) There is anxiety. When a man has put the best of himself into anything, when he has launched anything from a liner to a pamphlet, he is anxious until he knows how the work of his hands and of his brain will weather the storms. If that is true of things, it is still more poignantly true of people. When a parent has trained a child with love and sacrifice, he is anxious when that child is launched out on the difficulties and dangers of life in the world. When a teacher has taught a child and put something of himself into that teaching, he is anxious to see how that training will stand the test of life. When a minister has received a young person into the Church, after years of training in Sunday School and in Bible Class and latterly in the First Communicants' Class, in confirmation class, he is anxious to know how he will fulfil the duties and the obligations of Church membership. Supremely it is so with Jesus Christ. He staked so much on men and loved them with such a sacrificial love that he anxiously watches and waits to see how they will use that love. A man must stand awed and humbled when he remembers how in earth and in heaven there are those who are bearing him on their hearts and watching how he fares.

(iii) There is help. When Paul sent Timothy to Thessalonica it was not nearly so much to inspect the Church there as it was to help it. It should be the great aim of every parent, every teacher and every preacher, not so much to criticize and condemn those in his charge for their faults and mistakes but to save them from these faults and mistakes. The Christian attitude to the sinner and the struggler must never be that of condemnation but always that of help.

(iv) There is joy. Paul was glad that his converts were standing fast. He had the joy of one who had created something which would stand the tests of time. There is no joy like that of the parent who can point to a child who has done well.

(v) There is prayer. Paul carried his people on his heart to God's mercy seat. We will never know from how much sin we have been saved and how much temptation we have conquered all because someone prayed for us. It is told that once a servant-girl became a member of a Church. She was asked what Christian work she did. She said that she had not the opportunity to do much because her duties were so constant but, she said, "When I go to bed I take the morning newspaper to my bed with me; and I read the notices of the births and I pray for all the little babies; and I read the notices of marriage and I pray that those who have been married may be happy; and I read the announcements of death and I pray that the sorrowing may be comforted." No man can ever tell what tides of grace flowed from her attic bedroom. When we can serve people no other way, when, like Paul, we are unwillingly separated from them, there is one thing we can still do--we can pray for them.

Constable: 1Th 2:17--3:6

1. Desire to see them again 2:17-3:5

In this pericope Paul expressed his sincere desire to return to Thessalonica. He did so to help his readers appreciate how much they meant to him to encourage them to reject any suggestion that his interest in them was selfish.

Constable: 1Th 3:1-5

Timothy's visit 3:1-5

3:1-2 Paul returned to the report of his plans (2:17-18). He explained that by the time he, Silas, and Timothy had reached Athens they felt they could not stay away from their young converts in Thessalonica any longer. They decided that Timothy should return. Silas evidently went back to Philippi and or Berea (Acts 18:5). Paul may have described Timothy as he did here to give this young brother more stature in the eyes of the Thessalonians. Timothy's mission was to strengthen and encourage the new Christians in their faith so the persecution they were experiencing would not discourage them excessively.

Paul may have chosen to send Timothy rather than to return personally for any number of reasons. Timothy was the junior member of the missionary team, and Paul and Silvanus were the senior members. Timothy had a Greek father and probably looked Greek. He would, therefore, have attracted no special interest in a Greek city whereas Paul was immediately recognizable as a Jew (cf. Acts 16:20).⁶⁰

3:3-5 Often new believers, and even older believers, interpret difficulty as a sign that they need to change something. Timothy reminded them that persecution is a normal experience for the Christian (cf. Matt. 5:11-12; 10:16-28; 20:22-23; 24:9-10; et al.), just as Paul had previously instructed them. Had the Thessalonians fallen before this temptation they would have been in danger of becoming like rocky soil in which the seed of the gospel does not root firmly. Thus the ministry expended on them would have been in vain in the sense that it would not have resulted in substantial growth and fruit.

Constable: 1Th 3:6-13

2. Joy on hearing about them 3:6-13

Paul rejoiced when he heard that the Thessalonians were withstanding persecution. He shared his reaction to this news with them to encourage them to persevere as their afflictions continued.

Constable: 1Th 3:6-10

Timothy's report 3:6-10

3:6-7 Timothy had evidently rejoined Paul in Corinth (v. 16; cf. Acts 18:1). He brought good news that the Thessalonians were holding up well against the winds of persecution. They continued to trust in God and to love others as well as to remember Paul fondly and to desire to see him again (cf. Phile. 5). This news comforted Paul who felt distress because of his concern for all the churches and because of other external afflictions.

3:8-10 Things could not have been better for Paul, however, so long as his readers were standing their ground. God was enabling them to stand firm, and for this Paul gave thanks.⁶¹ The apostle and his companions kept praying earnestly by night and by day that God would give them the opportunity to return to Thessalonica. They desired to return so they could minister to the continuing needs of their spiritual children. These Christians were doing well, but they needed to grow more. They were only baby Christians at this time. They lacked maturity.

"Contemporary Christians can learn from Paul's missionary practice by recognizing that meaningful evangelism must aim for more than acceptance of Christian beliefs by converts. Evangelical Christianity needs to strive to create a social context or community in which converts may be resocialized into a new and distinctively Christian pattern of behavior and practice."⁶²

College: 1Th 3:1-13

1 THESSALONIANS 3

2. Timothy's Visit on Paul's Behalf (3:1-5)

¹ So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. ² We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker ^a in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, ³ so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. ⁴ In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. ⁵ For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.

^a 2 Some manuscripts brother and fellow worker ; other manuscripts brother and God's servant

The break between chapters 2 and 3 interrupts the flow of Paul's argument. Here, as indicated by the NIV's thematic headings, Paul continues his account of his absence from the Thessalonian church during their persecution. The specific subject to which Paul returns is an explanation of Timothy's visit to the Thessalonians as a substitute for his own presence. This, he says, was intended to strengthen them to remain faithful in persecutions which they suffered as an essential part of their experience as Christians.

3:1 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens.

Paul's concern for the Thessalonians in his absence motivated him to take a specific and personally costly step. To be left alone in Athens would take a practical toll as Paul was left by himself to do his missionary work as well as the ordinary, day-to-day tasks which he shared with his colleagues. More important, however, is the toll of loneliness, undoubtedly a high one for a man like Paul who treasured his relationship with fellow Christians, especially as he has expressed their importance to him in this context. "Alone" is therefore emphasized in the Greek sentence structure, movnoi ( monoi ) appearing last in the clause. Only a powerful catalyst, a concern for the Thessalonians so great that Paul could no longer bear his uncertainty, brought about this decision to send his colleague to Thessalonica.

Several incidental points are worth noting here. One is the fact that in this instance, Paul's use of the plural "we" is a stylistic device referring to Paul alone. Secondly, the language here points toward what has been the traditional understanding of the place of writing of this letter. Since Paul refers to "Athens" rather than "here," we can assume that he has since moved on to another city, presumably Corinth, from which he writes. Thirdly, Paul's point here and in v. 2 appears to be that he made the decision not to return to Thessalonica but instead to leave Timothy and Silas in Macedonia, specifically sending Timothy to Thessalonica, and to go by himself to Athens, where he would remain alone. In this respect the account here is very much in accord with the description of Paul's movements in Acts 17:14-15; Luke simply focuses on Paul and is less specific about his associates' journeys.

3:2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker

A difficult textual variation occurs in manuscripts at this verse. The reading followed in the main body of the NIV includes an unusual expression for Paul, who usually refers to his associates as his own fellow workers (sunergov", synergos ; cf. Rom 16:3, 9, 21; Phil 2:25; 4:3; Col 4:11; Phlm 1, 24), not as God's (1 Cor 3:9 is an important exception). This reading is represented only in a few, relatively late manuscripts. A few other manuscripts omit "God's" (tou' qeou', tou theou ), so that Timothy is referred to as Paul's fellow worker, consistent with Paul's normal usage.

Several manuscripts, some early and important, have "servant" (diavkono", diakonos ), in place of "fellow worker," producing a phrase which is also more consistent with Paul's language elsewhere. Still others, no doubt reflecting the variations in the copies on which they relied, combine the two, referring to Timothy as "our brother and God's servant and our fellow worker," or "our brother, God's servant and fellow worker." These last two can be dismissed easily because they are clearly the result of copyists combining variants which already existed; no plausible explanation can be offered for how these longer texts would have come to be shortened.

This leaves the choice between the readings found in the NIV's text and footnote. Here the decision depends on determining which reading, if original, would explain how the others arose. Because it is difficult to establish how a scribe would have mistakenly written the unusual expression "God's fellow worker" instead of one of the other texts, while it is much easier to account for an alteration to a more common expression, the NIV translators have with good reason followed this reading even though it is not found in what are generally regarded as the most reliable manuscripts. The principle that the more difficult reading is usually the original is decisive here.

in spreading the gospel of Christ,

The strength of this expression appears, then, to have been deliberate on Paul's part. Stressing that despite his absence he did what was best for the Thessalonians, he describes Timothy in striking terms. He is not only "our brother," and so one to whom the Thessalonians were bound in Christ, but also "God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ," one dedicated to labor in the pivotal work of God himself, working with God and through his power. In this respect, then, Timothy is as important a visitor as Paul himself. No one should mistake Timothy's visit, therefore, as a sign of Paul's neglect. And it was apparently an effective visit as well: later epistles show that Paul continued to send Timothy to churches as his representative in his absence (1 Cor 4:17; 16:10; Phil 2:19-24).

to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,

The purpose of Timothy's visit is indicated with two expressions. He comes to "strengthen" the Thessalonians; here Paul uses sthrivzw (stçrizô), an expression which implies making the believers firm or unchanging in belief despite difficulty. The second term, "to encourage," is parakalevw (parakaleô), the same expression which Paul used to describe his own work "as a father with his own children" in 2:11-12 (see comments there). Here the encouragement is particularly on behalf of the Thessalonians' faith, specifically so that instead of abandoning their faith in persecution, they will grow stronger (cf. Rom 5:3-5). Paul has already indicated that the Thessalonians have proved their faith in persecution (1:6-8), but there the focus was on their initial conversion more than their ongoing faithfulness. Acutely aware of the difficulties faced by new converts in adopting and maintaining Christian belief and behavior in a hostile environment, Paul knows that a hard-won faith can be still be lost. Therefore, this concern for strength and encouragement is always relevant, and so Paul will repeat these two verbs in 2 Thess 2:17 as his ongoing prayer for the Thessalonians.

3:3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.

The division of verses comes at an unfortunate point here, separating the statement of Timothy's mission from its purpose. The NIV's punctuation makes the connection clear, however. Timothy's mission was to prevent the persecution of the Thessalonian Christians from harming their faith. Such harm could come in several ways. One, of course, is the pressure to disavow one's faith and so avoid the persecution that comes because of it. More complex - and the issue which is perhaps more at hand as Paul discusses the problem - is the challenge that suffering creates for the very core of Christian faith. If one believes that Jesus Christ has established the rule of God among his people, that one is reconciled to God and receives the fullness of God's blessings in Christ, then persecution and suffering are difficult to understand. The suffering believer is tempted to conclude that God has abandoned him or her, or that the gospel was false from the start - that in fact it does nothing to change the basic human condition. Such doubts may have arisen in the Thessalonian church, prompting Paul's discussion here.

You know quite well that we were destined for them.

Paul's approach to that question here is to assert what he says the readers already know from their previous instruction: suffering is the predictable lot of Christians in this age (the second "we" clearly includes the readers). In fact, Paul uses language here that implies that God has foreordained that his people should suffer. "Destined" in v. 3 translates kei'mai ( keimai ), a verb used occasionally in the New Testament to refer to God's "placing" of something for a particular purpose (cf. Phil 1:16; Luke 2:34).

3:4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.

The phrase translated "we would be persecuted" is mevllomen qlivbesqai ( mellomen thlibesthai ). The verb mevllw (mellô) is often used by Paul to indicate something that is about to happen because of God's action (cf. Gal 3:23); the present infinitive thlibesthai indicates that the persecution is a continuing action, the common experience of believers at all times. The effect of this language is to assure the readers that God is still in control of their lives when they are persecuted; in fact, the persecution is part of his larger purpose for them.

The larger reasons that "everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Tim 3:12) are multifaceted but interrelated. One is the fact that suffering has been the experience of God's people in every age. This is the implication made earlier in 2:15, where Paul compared the suffering of the Judean Christians to that of the prophets (see comments there; cf. Matt 5:10-12). If the righteous of ages past have suffered, those in the present should expect the same. In particular and most crucially, Jesus himself suffered, and so those who are "in Christ" should expect to share in his sufferings as well as in his blessings (Col 1:24; Mark 10:30; John 15:18-21; Rev 7:14). For this reason, as Paul will write later in 2 Thessalonians, suffering is a cause for rejoicing, not simply because it produces character (Rom 5:3-5), but because it is a sign that one truly belongs to the kingdom of the suffering Christ (2 Thess 1:4-5; cf. Acts 5:41).

Another reason that believers will inevitably suffer is the ongoing activity of Satan in the world. Paul has alluded to this fact in 2:18, and he will point out again in v. 5 that the Thessalonians' persecution is in one respect a temptation from Satan to depart from the faith. This perspective gives the readers a specific motivation to endure with faithfulness so that they do not succumb to the trials of the tempter.

Why, though, do Christians experience both blessing and suffering at the same time? Why is Satan still active if he has indeed been defeated by Christ? To answer this question, we must remember that the basic structure of Paul's gospel - indeed, of the theology of the entire New Testament - is that while God has by Christ's death and resurrection inaugurated the fulfillment of his promises of the end time, the climax of that fulfillment awaits Christ's return. This perspective has its roots, naturally enough, in the teaching of Jesus.

The theme is particularly clear in Jesus' warning to his disciples about the trials to come to them prior to his return. Matt 24:21 is an excellent example of this kind of teaching. There describing suffering associated with the coming destruction of Jerusalem but typical of what his followers will experience at all times after his death (cf. Matt 24:9), Jesus draws upon the imagery of Daniel 12:1-2, a text which associates great tribulation with the deliverance of God's people, the resurrection and the final judgment. The warning for the disciples is that they must expect to suffer because they will live in the age of fulfillment, when the final tribulation of the righteous and the judgment of the wicked have already begun. Paul assumes this point as well: the suffering of God's people is a sign that the final act of God's great plan of salvation is underway (cf. 1 Pet 4:17). The final separation of the righteous and wicked (Matt 13:24-30, 36-43), the final revelation and destruction of the Evil One at the root of all persecution (2 Thess 2:8; see comments below), comes only when Christ returns in glory. Therefore, because they live in the age just before the Lord's return (1 Thess 5:1-11), believers should expect tribulation at any time, not merely in some special period which has not yet arrived. For all these reasons, the Thessalonians should be assured that persecution and suffering, far from being signs of the gospel's failure, are the expected and inevitable experience of God's people until Christ returns, but one in which they can stand firm with utter confidence (cf. John 16:33; Rom 8:17, 36-39; 2 Cor 4:7-18; Col 1:24; 2 Tim 2:11-13).

Several details of these verses underline these points. The verb translated in the NIV as "be unsettled," saivnw (sainô) appears only here in the New Testament. Literally the word was used of the wagging of a dog's tail, but more commonly in the New Testament period it was used to mean "fawn upon" or "flatter." If it has that meaning here, the specific sense would be "to be deceived." However, ancient translations and Greek commentators took a different metaphorical sense from its literal meaning, the one followed in the NIV's translation, which uses the wagging action as an image of instability or wavering.

This latter interpretation, which takes the verb in a sense attested in some ancient texts, appears to be more consistent with the context, since deception by flattery does not appear likely in a setting of persecution. The Thessalonians' prior instruction about suffering is emphasized variously. In v. 3 "quite well" is the dynamic equivalent of the emphatic subject aujtoiv ( autoi ); literally the clause reads, "you yourselves know." Paul's prior instruction of the Thessalonians is expressed in v. 4 with a verb in the imperfect tense, proelevgomen ( proelegomen ), indicating a continuing or repeated part of Paul's instruction. The last sentence of v. 4 in the NIV translates a clause in which Paul emphasizes the correspondence between what has happened (egevneto, egeneto ) with what the readers know (oi[date, oidate ) with a terse comparison in which kaiv ( kai ), used adverbially, emphasizes both verbs. Overall, the very repetitiveness of these verses is a method of emphasizing that the Thessalonians have been taught since their conversion to expect suffering (cf. Acts 14:22). Having been so instructed, they should therefore be confident that God's will is at work in their lives even in times of difficulty.

3:5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith.

Paul picks up the thread of v. 1, repeating the statement, this time in the singular, that he sent Timothy only when he could no longer stand the uncertainty about the Thessalonian Christians' condition. In particular he is concerned about their faith - whether because of the persecution they have abandoned their faith in Jesus. Here, as in many cases, the complementary concepts of faith as belief and as faithfulness are inseparable.

I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you

Paul's fear is that as Satan had successfully prevented Paul from visiting the Thessalonians, he may also have succeeded through the persecution ("for this reason") in tempting them to abandon their faith. The repetitive translation "the tempter might have tempted" captures the repetition of the Greek text, which emphasizes through that repetition Satan's malignant work in temptation. peiravzw (peirazô), "to tempt," can refer to tests and trials of all kinds, but here it is used specifically in the sense of a burden or challenge to one's faithfulness. Because this is a temptation for the Thessalonians to be unfaithful, it is somewhat parallel to Jesus' own temptation (Matt 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-11), which has as its object Jesus' abandonment of his true messianic mission of self-sacrifice. Such opposition to the saving work of God through Christ and the gospel - by blinding the world, dividing the church, drawing believers into immorality, or counterfeiting the gospel - is what Paul consistently sets forth as the work of Satan (cf. 1 Cor 7:5; 2 Cor 2:10-11; 4:4; 11:13-15; 2 Thess 2:9-12).

and our efforts might have been useless.

If such a temptation were successful, Paul's efforts would be kevno" ( kenos ), "useless" or "a failure" as in 2:1 (see comments there). Here the parallel to Paul's remarks in 1 Cor 3:10-15 and Phil 2:14-16 is clear. In all these cases Paul's implicit challenge is for the readers to remain faithful to the gospel so that they do not lose what they have received in Christ and so leave Paul's labors without results.

3. Timothy's Report and Paul's Response (3:6-10)

⁶ But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. ⁷ Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. ⁸ For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. ⁹ How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? ¹⁰ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

Paul indicates in this section that his hopes rather than his fears for the Thessalonians were met when Timothy returned to recount their steadfastness. The language here is based on Paul's earlier statements: it focuses on the Thessalonians as his source of joy before the Lord because they represent the fulfillment of his divine commission. Implicitly Paul continues to drive home how important it is that they remain firm in their faith. This section also begins the transition to the later section of the letter. Up to this point, Paul has focused primarily on the past, but with the prayer of v. 10, the focus shifts to the future, where it will remain for the rest of the letter.

3:6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.

In the Greek text this verse is an extended genitive absolute, grammatically subordinate to the statement "we were encouraged" in v. 7. The structure makes Paul's statement in v. 7 the climax of the sentence, though the length and complexity of v. 6 give it a particular emphasis as well. "Just now" represents a[rti ( arti ), which, when used as it is here to refer to an event of the past, indicates the immediate past. "Brought good news" translates the verb eujaggelivzomai ( euangelizomai ), which Paul normally uses of the preaching of the gospel (Rom 1:15; 10:15; 15:20; 1 Cor 1:17; 9:16, 18; 15:1, 2; 2 Cor 10:16; 11:7; Gal 1:8, 9, 11, 16, 23; 4:13; Eph 2:17; 3:8). If the use of the verb here, the only one in the Thessalonian letters (the corresponding noun occurs in 1 Thess 1:5; 2:2, 4, 8, 9; 3:2; 2 Thess 1:8; 2:14), is a deliberate play on words on Paul's part, it implies that the reports about the faith of Christians constitute a part of the "gospel," a consequence of God's great act of salvation in Christ. In this case, Timothy's report amounts to a reciprocation of Paul's bringing the good news to the Thessalonians; in effect, news of their steadfast faith is an announcement of God's good news to Paul just as his preaching Jesus to them was the same. That reports of the faith of young churches were commonly circulated among early Christians is clear from this remark, as it is in 1:8 (see comments there).

The specific content of this good news is essentially twofold as the sentence is constructed. First is the Thessalonians' faith and love. These cardinal virtues are here repeated from 1:3 (see comments there), but the fact that they are so central to all Christian identity probably explains their presence here more than a deliberate allusion to that earlier statement. The second element is the Thessalonians' attitude toward Paul. They reciprocate his positive memories and desire to be reunited. This idea is emphasized not only by the fact that the statement parallels what Paul has said about himself in the preceding context but also by an emphatic statement of comparison, "just as we also . . . you." To "have pleasant memories" here implies more than mere nostalgia: because Paul has been their teacher in the gospel, remembering him well means that the Thessalonians follow his teaching. Paul's concerns about them - whether prompted by his hasty departure, their persecution or his enforced absence - have be assuaged.

3:7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.

Though this verse in Greek constitutes the main clause for which v. 6 prepared, the length of the preliminary clauses led Paul to introduce diaÉ tou'to ( dia touto , "therefore"), a grammatically redundant element, to make clear that the report of the Thessalonians' faithfulness (the emphasis of pivsti" [ pistis ], "faith," here) is his source of encouragement. Throughout this verse, as with the preceding one, Paul uses language which reverses the flow of the preceding discussion. Now he emphasizes that he himself has been "encouraged," repeating parakalevw (parakaleô) from v. 2. Likewise, he suffers as do all Christians (cf. vv. 3-4). In addition to qlivyi" ( thlipsis , "persecution"), which Paul used in v. 3, he refers to his experience as ajnavgkh (anankç, "distress"), a general term for trouble. So, as the Thessalonians needed the visit of Timothy for their encouragement in suffering, so now Paul receives the same encouragement in suffering as Timothy returns from them with a favorable report. Whether the suffering consisted of external factors or Paul's "concern for all the churches" (2 Cor 11:28) is a moot point, since all flows from his commitment to the gospel. Timothy's report, then, shows that Paul's labors, the source of his difficulties, have certainly not been "useless" (v. 5).

3:8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.

Introduced by o{ti ( hoti , "for" in the NIV), this verse further elaborates the cause of Paul's encouragement in v. 7. The expression "we really live" may seem extreme unless we understand the concept of life and death from which Paul makes it. For Paul, to suffer in this present age means to be under the sentence of death, especially as the Christian suffers on behalf of the gospel.

All such suffering is ultimately a consequence of the universal presence of sin in the world (cf. Rom 5:12-19). But because of the resurrection, death is never the only tale to tell for the Christian; the life of the Lord is at work in the believer at the same time (2 Cor 1:9; 4:10-12, cf. vv. 13-18). And so it is here. The burden Paul felt for the Thessalonians is an aspect of the "death" principle at work, but the Lord has overcome this burden with "life" through the Thessalonians' steadfastness. In this respect the joy that Paul feels because of Timothy's report is a glimpse of the joy of eternity, when "life" in Christ reaches its fulfillment (cf. 2 Cor 4:17).

Thus, Paul writes often of the strength which he received from the steadfastness and growth of his converts (Rom 15:32; 1 Cor 16:18; 2 Cor 7:3, 13; Phlm 7, 20). Here Paul receives life because the Thessalonians "are standing firm"; the present-tense verb indicates their continuing action. The statement that their firmness is "in the Lord" appears to be deliberate, since "Lord" evokes Christ's authority over every aspect of their lives. The Greek particle ejavn ( ean ), here translated "since," does not in this case indicate anything less than full certainty about the clause which it introduces, as it could if the verb in its clause were in the subjunctive mood. But while it does not cast doubt on the steadfastness of the readers, with the verb's emphasis on continuing action it probably does imply an exhortation that they be sure to remain firm.

3:9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have

Here Paul launches a lengthy rhetorical question, expressing in characteristic Pauline fashion his inability to respond with any measure of adequacy to the blessings of God's grace. "In return" reflects ajntapodivdwmi (antapodidômi), literally "to pay back," the same verb that appears in Paul's quotation of Job 41:11 in Rom 11:35, an elaborate rhetorical question expressing the same concept as this text. For Paul all human effort is inadequate as a response to any of God's initiatives to save and bless his people, and so his joy over the Thessalonians' faith, though it might seem to others to be relatively insignificant, is for him another example of the overwhelming grace of the Almighty.

in the presence of our God because of you?

This joy is a species of the eschatological joy (cf. 2:20 and comments above). This idea is stressed here with the phrase emphasized at the end of the clause, "in the presence of our God," language that suggests the present reality of the end-time appearance of God's people before him. Though in one sense absent from the Lord in this age (2 Cor 5:6), Paul could nevertheless speak as he does here of being already in his presence as the blessings of the future are already a reality in part, particularly through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:1-27, especially vv. 15-17, 26-27). The intensity of this joy is emphasized not only with the adjective "all" but also with the use of the cognates carav ( chara , "joy") and caivrw (chairô, "rejoice"), literally, "all the joy with which I rejoiced."

3:10 Night and day we pray most earnestly

This sentence in the NIV translates what is actually another genitive absolute in the Greek text, an element grammatically subordinate to the rhetorical question of v. 9. This syntactical connection helps the reader see a crucial connection between these two verses. Though Paul has been blessed by the Thessalonians' steadfastness with joy that belongs to eternity, the final fulfillment of God's purpose for the Thessalonians has yet to be realized. Therefore, their growth and faithfulness must continue until God's work reaches its climax at Christ's return (v. 13).

"Night and day" connects this statement to Paul's earlier one about his labor while he was with the Thessalonians (2:9). Both statements speak of actions taken on their behalf, in effect of time used for the sake of eternity. The terms in Greek are in the genitive, indicating prayer during both night and day, though not necessarily constantly. "Pray" translates devomai ( deomai ), a term which particularly emphasizes requests or petitions made with urgency on behalf of oneself or someone else. Intensifying this term further, Paul uses the adverb uJperekperissou' ( hyperekperissou , "exceedingly"), a word whose length matches its sense; "most earnestly" is the NIV's contextually appropriate rendering.

that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

The objects of Paul's prayer are a resumption of his earlier concerns. He wants to see the Thessalonians again personally (provswpon, prosôpon, is untranslated in the NIV but carries this force as it did in 2:17), clearly not only for himself but also for their encouragement (cf. vv. 1-5). That encouragement is aimed at the second object of the prayer, provision for what is lacking in their faith. Having just spoken of the strength of their faith (v. 6), Paul apparently does not imply here that their faith is somehow defective. But strong as it has proved to be, it has not yet achieved the dimensions which God intends for them; in fact, faith cannot achieve its full dimensions in this present age (cf. 1 Cor 13:8-13).

To supply what is lacking in it, then, implies God's furnishing them with the ongoing instruction and encouragement that they need to endure to the end. The verb translated as "supply" in the NIV, katartivzw (katartizô), particularly indicates completion, suggesting that the development of their faith is a process with a particular objective. This very process has been the purpose of Timothy's visit and of Paul's letter, especially of the direct ethical instruction of ch. 4-5; it is the object of Paul's prayers for them (vv. 12-13); and it will also be the purpose of Paul's planned return to Thessalonica (v. 11).

D. PAUL'S PRAYER FOR THE THESSALONIANS (3:11-13)

¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. ¹² May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. ¹³ May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Closing this major section of the epistle is a summary of Paul's prayer for himself and the readers. Formally this section has been classified as a wish-prayer, in which God is referred to in the third person and the verbs appear in the Greek optative mood (as here) or the future indicative (cf. 1 Thess 5:23-24; 2 Thess 2:16-17; 3:5, 15; Gal 6:16; Rom 15:5-6, 13, 33; 16:20, 22; 1 Cor 1:8-9; 2 Cor 13:14; Phil 4:19; 2 Tim 1:16, 18; 2:25; 4:16b). In terms of content Paul reiterates several themes of the preceding discussion, implying that the work of God in the lives of the Thessalonians will continue to its completion. This theme prepares for the ethical instruction that will follow in 4:1-12. Also, as with other major sections of the letter, this one closes with the mention of Christ's return (cf. 1:10; 5:23), preparing for the extended discussion of that subject in 4:13-5:11.

1. That He Might Return to Them (3:11)

3:11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.

This first part of the prayer brings to a satisfactory close Paul's earlier remarks about his inability to return to Thessalonica (2:17-18). There Paul said that Satan prevented him, but here he offers a confident solution to that problem, for God's power is greater than the adversary's. For this reason Paul emphasizes the role of God in bringing him successfully to Thessalonica: "himself" translates the emphatic personal pronoun aujtov" ( autos ). The implication is that no less powerful a being than God himself will ensure Paul's return. God's role as Father is also appropriate here (cf. 1:1), since God's care for his children is the basis for Paul's confidence that God will enable Paul to visit Thessalonica again. The fact that Paul easily and naturally refers to God the Father and the Lord Jesus in the context of prayer, ascribing the same actions to both, is indicative of Paul's clear concept of Christ's divinity. Bruce clarifies the impact of this statement:

The unobtrusive spontaneity with which such language is applied to Jesus by more NT writers than one is more eloquent than any formal creedal statement could be. We cannot miss the startling implications of the use of such language by one with Paul's Pharisaic upbringing. His reassessment of Christ, by contrast with his former estimate of him before the Damascus road confrontation, had been revolutionary indeed.

The verb translated "clear," kateuquvnw ( kateuthynô), may mean "straighten" or "direct," but in either case the concept is the same - that God will reunite Paul with the readers. Acts 19:21; 20:1-2, consistent with Paul's letters (1 Cor 16:5; 2 Cor 2:13), indicates that Paul did return to Thessalonica, but only after spending considerable time in Ephesus on his third missionary journey.

2. That They Might Abound in Love, and

Be Blameless at the Lord's Return (3:12-13)

3:12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.

The mention of "you" at the end of v. 11 prepares for the shift in subject matter in v. 12; Paul makes the shift by placing uJma'" ( hymas , "you") in the emphatic position at the beginning of this sentence. The Thessalonians have already been commended for their "labor prompted by love" (1:3), so we can assume that the prayer here is for greater abundance in that love. Two verbs with similar meaning, pleonavzw (pleonazô, "increase") and perisseuvw (perisseuô, "overflow") are put to use here to stress the scale which their love should take (cf. 4:9).

That Christians can indeed have such an abundance of love is made clear by the statement that the Lord causes the abundance (cf. Eph 3:16-19). Grounded in the grace-full love of God which climaxes in the cross (cf. Rom 5:6-8; 2 Cor 5:14-15) and empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22; Rom 5:5), the Christians' love for one another is in all respects a response to and consequence of God's work. Here also Paul brings home the implicit point in the preceding discussion of his relationship to the Thessalonians: his love for them is to provide the model for their love for one another. It may well be that Paul's concern for their mutual love is in part prompted by the persecution faced by the church, an experience which had the potential to strain their commitment to each other (cf. Phil 1:27-2:4).

3:13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy

Though in the NIV it appears as a separate sentence, this verse is in fact subordinate to the prayer of v. 12, indicating that the result of their abounding love will be the status indicated here. The strengthening (sthrivzw, stçrizô) of the Thessalonians was the purpose of Timothy's trip in 3:2; that strengthening will continue through God's work augmenting their love for one another. Paul's wish for the Thessalonians' strengthening is clearly important to him, as seen by its repetition in 2 Thess 2:17 and 3:3; the threat of persecution may prompt this emphasis. The object of the strengthening is the heart (cf. 2:4, 17), signifying here as it does commonly in the New Testament the inner person, including such attributes as understanding and will. Strengthening the heart will therefore not necessarily imply escape from the difficulties of the outer person, but more significantly it does ensure the ability to withstand whatever pressures one experiences.

The strengthening is for the specific outcome of blamelessness (a[mempto", amemptos ). Again, Paul's example comes into play here, for he referred to his own life as having this quality in 2:10 (see comments there); in 5:23 he will once more pray for it for the Thessalonians. Here the standard of blamelessness is established by God alone: the NIV's "and holy" is literally "in holiness," indicating either the means by which the strengthening occurs (as the NRSV translates it) or, as the order of the Greek text implies, the standard by which their blamelessness will be determined. If this latter sense is correct, the emphasis of holiness here is conformity to the character of the holy God himself, who is distinguished from all others in his absolute purity (cf. Lev 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7, 26).

in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes

Such a focus is appropriate for the close of the verse: the objective of the strengthening is the believers' appearance before God in judgment at the return of Jesus. In Paul's letters two concepts about judgment are held together. One is that for believers justification by faith means that they have already received through Christ the verdict of innocence (Rom 3:21-26; 5:1; 8:1). That confidence is implicit here as Paul again refers to God as "Father." The other concept is that because a genuine relationship with God through faith always bears fruit, believers will stand before the Lord in judgment, where the reality of their faith will be demonstrated (Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10). Together these perspectives create a powerful sense of responsibility for Christians, free from the fear of condemnation, to put their faith into practice so that in judgment they will prove pleasing to the God who has saved them by his grace.

The reference to the parousiva ( parousia , see comments on 2:19) of Jesus rounds out the section, as it does in 1:10, and again focuses the readers on the central subject matter of 4:13-5:11. That believers should stand before God the Father at the return of the Lord Jesus is not surprising, since for Paul the final judgment of God (Rom 14:10) is also the final judgment of Christ (2 Cor 5:10).

with all his holy ones.

The expression "with all his holy ones" is somewhat ambiguous in this context, since it can refer either to angels or to Christians. In favor of the former is the fact that a{gioi ( hagioi ), "holy ones," is used often in the Old Testament and Jewish apocalyptic literature to refer to angels (Job 5:1; 15:15; Ps. 89:7-8; Dan 4:34; 7:18; 8:13; Zech 14:5; Tob 11:14; 12:15; 1 Enoch 1:6-9). Likewise, the Lord's return is commonly associated with angels elsewhere in the New Testament (e.g., Matt 24:31; 25:31). Against it is the fact that hagioi is normally used by Paul to refer to Christians (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1; Phil 1:1; Col 3:12). In fact, in 2 Thess 1:10, a passage markedly similar to this one, Christians are the clear referent of "holy ones."

Besides this point, the reference to Christians is supported by the fact that 4:13-18 emphasizes the Lord's association with his people at his return, though they rise to meet him rather than coming "with" him. However, the difference between accompanying and meeting should probably not be pressed for at least two reasons. One is that parousia , translated as "comes" in the NIV, signifies presence or visitation more than the action of coming; consequently, the image is probably more of Christ's being immediately present with his "holy ones" rather than their accompanying him from heaven to earth. Secondly, all language referring to the Lord's return, though intended to refer to an actual event yet to come, is by nature figurative; therefore, an image of the Lord meeting his people (4:16-17) can be compatible with an image of coming with them.

The final decision about the meaning of "holy ones" must therefore be made on the basis of the larger context of the statement. Though angels are perfectly intelligible in this setting, and though the term could refer to both angels and Christians together, a specific reference to Christians is closely coherent with the larger discussion in several ways. It would look forward, of course, to 4:13-18, where the reunion of the living and dead in Christ at his coming is emphasized. In the immediate context of judgment, the statement that "all" of these will be with the Lord is consistent with Paul's teaching that all Christians have the responsibility which comes with appearing before the Lord at the end of history (Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10).

Referring to the Lord's people as hagioi also would stress that they have been set apart to belong to him and that by implication they live in imitation of their Lord's holiness (cf. 4:3-4). That they should prove "blameless in holiness" then is part and parcel with their identity as the Lord's holy people. Finally, the image of Jesus being present with all of his people points to the notion of shared triumph, signaling the Lord's final deliverance of those whom he has strengthened though every manifestation of hostility experienced in this age (cf. 2 Thess 1:10).

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

McGarvey: 1Th 3:1

Wherefore when we [by this plural Paul means himself only] could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left behind at Athens alone ;

McGarvey: 1Th 3:2

and sent Timothy, our brother and God's minister in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith [fearful lest the infant church should succumb to temptation or to persecution, and unable longer to endure his want of information concerning it, Paul had sent Timothy, from Athens, that he might visit the Thessalonians, and bring him word as to their spiritual condition; though in so doing he had deprived himself of all brotherly fellowship and ministerial assistance in Athens, the seat of idolatry and vain philosophy];

McGarvey: 1Th 3:3

that no man [of you] be moved by these afflictions; for yourselves know that hereunto we are appointed . ["We" refers to all Christians, and Theophylact sagely remarks, "Let all Christians hear this." As to the doctrine, see Mat 13:21 ; Mar 10:30 ; Joh 15:18 ; Joh 16:33 ; Act 4:22]

McGarvey: 1Th 3:4

For verily, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction; even as it came to pass, and ye know . [As to the affliction which Paul foretold and which came upon them, see Act 17:5-9]

McGarvey: 1Th 3:5

For this cause [because he feared that persecution might cause them to apostatize] I also, when I could no longer forbear [resuming the thought of verse 1], sent that I might know your faith, lest by any means [and Satan has many] the tempter had tempted you, and our labor should be in vain . [It is sad to lose spiritual labor, but sadder still to lose the souls which are the results of it. But we should not leave this passage without observing that if Paul had had Calvinism in mind, and had wished to assert that the elect might fall from grace and be lost despite their election, he could hardly have stated his point more clearly, for these words are addressed to those whom he has just pronounced elect.]

McGarvey: 1Th 3:6

But when Timothy came even now [suggesting that Paul wrote on the day of Timothy's arrival, or very soon after] unto us from you, and brought us glad tidings of your faith and love, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, longing to see us, even as we, also to see you ;

McGarvey: 1Th 3:7

for this cause, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our distress and affliction through your faith [Since Paul would be comforted as to the Thessalonians by the good news of their condition brought by Timothy, the "distress and affliction" must have referred to other matters which disturbed the apostle's rest. These were doubtless the failure at Athens, and the troubles which he had at Corinth before the negative protection afforded him by Gallio, when that official refused to interfere, either to aid or hinder him (Act 18:6-12). Thus the good news from Thessalonica lightened the apostle's burdens at Corinth]:

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

First Thessalonians

From Corinth a.d. 50-51

By Way of Introduction

We cannot say that this is Paul’s first letter to a church, for in 2Th_2:2 he speaks of some as palming off letters as his and in 2Th_3:17 he says that he appends his own signature to every letter after dictating it to an amanuensis (Rom_16:22). We know of one lost letter (1Co_5:11) and perhaps another (2Co_2:3). But this is the earliest one that has come down to us and it may even be the earliest New Testament book, unless the Epistle of James antedates it or even Mark’s Gospel. We know, as already shown, that Paul was in Corinth and that Timothy and Silas had just arrived from Thessalonica (1Th_3:6; Act_18:5). They had brought supplies from the Macedonian churches to supply Paul’s need (2Co_11:9), as the church in Philippi did once and again while Paul was in Thessalonica (Phi_4:15.). Before Timothy and Silas came to Corinth Paul had to work steadily at his trade as tent-maker with Aquila and Priscilla (Act_18:3) and could only preach in the synagogue on sabbaths, but the rich stores from Macedonia released his hands and " Paul devoted himself to the word" ( suneicheto tōi logōi Paulos ). He gave himself wholly to preaching now. But Timothy and Silas brought news of serious trouble in the church in Thessalonica. Some of the disciples there had misunderstood Paul’s preaching about the second coming of Christ and had quit work and were making a decided disturbance on the subject. Undoubtedly Paul had touched upon eschatological matters while in Thessalonica. The Jewish leaders at Thessalonica charged it against Paul and Silas to the politarchs that they had preached another king, Jesus, in place of Caesar. Paul had preached Jesus as King of the spiritual kingdom which the Jews misrepresented to the politarchs as treason against Caesar as the Sanhedrin had done to Pilate about Jesus. Clearly Paul had said also that Jesus was going to come again according to his own promise before his ascension. Some asserted that Paul said Jesus was going to come right away and drew their own inferences for idleness and fanaticism as some do today. Strange as it may seem, there are scholars today who say that Paul did believe and say that Jesus was going to come back right away. They say this in spite of 2Th_2:1. where Paul denies having ever said it. Undoubtedly Paul hoped for the early return of Jesus as most of the early Christians did, but that is a very different thing from setting a time for his coming. It is open to us all to hope for the speedy return of Christ, but times and seasons are with God and not with us. It is not open to us to excuse our negligence and idleness as Christians because of such a hope. That hope should serve as a spur to increased activity for Christ in order to hasten his coming. So Paul writes this group of Epistles to correct gross misapprehension and misrepresentation of his preaching about last things (eschatology). It is a rare preacher who has never been misunderstood or misrepresented.

JFB: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

The AUTHENTICITY of this Epistle is attested by IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 5.6.1], quoting 1Th 5:23; CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [The Instructor, 1.88], quoting 1Th 2:7; TERTULLIAN [On the Resurrection of the Flesh, 24], quoting 1Th 5:1; CAIUS in EUSEBIUS' Ecclesiastical History [6.20]; ORIGEN [Against Celsus, 3].

The OBJECT OF THE EPISTLE.--Thessalonica was at this time capital of the Roman second district of Macedonia [LIVY, Histories, 45.29]. It lay on the bay of Therme, and has always been, and still is, under its modern name Saloniki, a place of considerable commerce. After his imprisonment and scourging at Philippi, Paul (1Th 2:2) passed on to Thessalonica; and in company with Silas (Act 17:1-9) and Timotheus (Act 16:3; Act 17:14, compare with 1Th 1:1; 1Th 3:1-6; 2Th 1:1) founded the Church there. The Jews, as a body, rejected the Gospel when preached for three successive sabbaths (Act 17:2); but some few "believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout (that is, proselytes to Judaism) Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few." The believers received the word joyfully, notwithstanding trials and persecutions (1Th 1:6; 1Th 2:13) from their own countrymen and from the Jews (1Th 2:14-16). His stay at Thessalonica was doubtless not limited to the three weeks in which were the three sabbaths specified in Act 17:2; for his laboring there with his hands for his support (1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8), his receiving supplies there more than once from Philippi (Phi 4:16), his making many converts from the Gentiles (1Th 1:9; and as two oldest manuscripts read, Act 17:4, "of the devout and of the Greeks a great multitude," Act 17:4), and his appointing ministers--all imply a longer residence. Probably as at Pisidian Antioch (Act 13:46), at Corinth (Act 18:6-7), and at Ephesus (Act 19:8-9), having preached the Gospel to the Jews, when they rejected it, he turned to the Gentiles. He probably thenceforth held the Christian meetings in the house of Jason (Act 17:5), perhaps "the kinsman" of Paul mentioned in Rom 16:21. His great subject of teaching to them seems to have been the coming and kingdom of Christ, as we may infer from 1Th 1:10; 1Th 2:12, 1Th 2:19; 1Th 3:13; 1Th 4:13-18; 1Th 5:1-11, 1Th 5:23-24; and that they should walk worthy of it (1Th 2:12; 1Th 4:1). And it is an undesigned coincidence between the two Epistles and Act 17:5, Act 17:9, that the very charge which the assailants of Jason's house brought against him and other brethren was, "These do contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus." As in the case of the Lord Jesus Himself (Joh 18:33-37; Joh 19:12; compare Mat 26:64), they perverted the doctrine of the coming kingdom of Christ into a ground for the charge of treason against Cæsar. The result was, Paul and Silas were obliged to flee under the cover of night to Berea; Timothy had probably preceded him (Act 17:10, Act 17:14). But the Church had been planted, and ministers appointed; nay, more, they virtually became missionaries themselves for which they possessed facilities in the extensive commerce of their city, and both by word and example were extending the Gospel in Macedonia, Achaia, and elsewhere (1Th 1:7-8). From Berea, also. Paul, after having planted a Scripture-loving Church, was obliged to flee by the Thessalonian Jews who followed him thither. Timothy (who seems to have come to Berea separately from Paul and Silas, compare Act 17:10, with Act 17:14) and Silas remained there still, when Paul proceeded by sea to Athens. While there he more than once longed to visit the Thessalonians again, and see personally their spiritual state, and "perfect that which was lacking in their faith" (1Th 3:10); but (probably using the Thessalonian Jews as his instruments, Joh 13:27) "Satan hindered" him (1Th 2:18; compare Act 17:13). He therefore sent Timotheus, who seems to have followed him to Athens from Berea (Act 17:15), immediately on his arrival to Thessalonica (1Th 3:1); glad as he would have been of Timothy's help in the midst of the cavils of Athenian opponents, he felt he must forego that help for the sake of the Thessalonian Church. Silas does not seem to have come to Paul at Athens at all, though Paul had desired him and Timothy to "come to him with all speed" (Act 17:15); but seems with Timothy (who from Thessalonica called for him at Berea) to have joined Paul at Corinth first; compare Act 18:1, Act 18:5, "When Silas and Timothy were come from Macedonia." The Epistle makes no mention of Silas at Athens, as it does of Timothy (1Th 3:1).

Timothy's account of the Thessalonian Church was highly favorable. They abounded in faith and charity and reciprocated his desire to see them (1Th 3:6-10). Still, as nothing human on earth is perfect, there were some defects. Some had too exclusively dwelt on the doctrine of Christ's coming kingdom, so as to neglect the sober-minded discharge of present duties (1Th 4:11-12). Some who had lost relatives by death, needed comfort and instruction in their doubts as to whether they who died before Christ's coming would have a share with those found alive in His kingdom then to be revealed. Moreover, also, there had been committed among them sins against chastity and sobriety (1Th 5:5-7), as also against charity (1Th 4:3-10; 1Th 5:13, 1Th 5:15). There were, too, symptoms in some of want of respectful love and subordination to their ministers; others treated slightingly the manifestations of the Spirit in those possessing His gifts (1Th 5:19). To give spiritual admonition on these subjects, and at the same time commend what deserved commendation, and to testify his love to them, was the object of the Epistle.

The PLACE OF WRITING IT was doubtless Corinth, where Timothy and Silas rejoined him (Act 18:5) soon after he arrived there (compare 1Th 2:17) in the autumn of A.D. 52.

The TIME OF WRITING was evidently immediately after having received from Timothy the tidings of their state (1Th 3:6) in the winter of A.D. 52, or early in 53. For it was written not long after the conversion of the Thessalonians (1Th 1:8-9), while Paul could speak of himself as only taken from them for a short season (1Th 2:17). Thus this Epistle was first in date of all Paul's extant Epistles. The Epistle is written in the joint names of Paul, Silas, and Timothy, the three founders of the Thessalonian Church. The plural first person "we," is used everywhere, except in 1Th 2:18; 1Th 3:5; 1Th 5:27. "We" is the true reading, 1Th 4:13. The English Version "I," in 1Th 4:9 1Th 5:1, 1Th 5:23, is not supported by the original [EDMUNDS].

The STYLE is calm and equable, in accordance with the subject matter, which deals only with Christian duties in general, taking for granted the great doctrinal truths which were not as yet disputed. There was no deadly error as yet to call forth his more vehement bursts of feeling and impassioned argument. The earlier Epistles, as we should expect, are moral and practical. It was not until Judaistic and legalizing errors arose at a later period that he wrote those Epistles (for example, Romans and Galatians) which unfold the cardinal doctrines of grace and justification by faith. Still, later the Epistles from his Roman prison confirm the same truths. And last of all, the Pastoral Epistles are suited to the more developed ecclesiastical constitution of the Church, and give directions as to bishops and deacons, and correct abuses and errors of later growth.

The prevalence of the Gentile element in this Church is shown by the fact that these two Epistles are among the very few of Paul's writings in which no quotation occurs from the Old Testament.

JFB: 1 Thessalonians (Outline)

• ADDRESS: SALUTATION: HIS PRAYERFUL THANKSGIVING FOR THEIR FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE. THEIR FIRST RECEPTION OF THE GOSPEL, AND THEIR GOOD INFLUENCE ON ALL AROUND. (1Th 1:1-10)
• HIS MANNER OF PREACHING, AND THEIRS OF RECEIVING, THE GOSPEL; HIS DESIRE TO HAVE REVISITED THEM FRUSTRATED BY SATAN. (1Th. 2:1-20)
• PROOF OF HIS DESIRE AFTER THEM IN HIS HAVING SENT TIMOTHY: HIS JOY AT THE TIDINGS BROUGHT BACK CONCERNING THEIR FAITH AND CHARITY: PRAYERS FOR THEM. (1Th 3:1-13)
• EXHORTATIONS TO CHASTITY; BROTHERLY LOVE; QUIET INDUSTRY; ABSTINENCE FROM UNDUE SORROW FOR DEPARTED FRIENDS, FOR AT CHRIST'S COMING ALL HIS SAINTS SHALL BE GLORIFIED. (1Th. 4:1-18)
• THE SUDDENNESS OF CHRIST'S COMING A MOTIVE FOR WATCHFULNESS; VARIOUS PRECEPTS: PRAYER FOR THEIR BEING FOUND BLAMELESS, BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT, AT CHRIST'S COMING: CONCLUSION. (1Th. 5:1-28)

TSK: 1 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

1Th 3:1, Saint Paul testifies his great love to the Thessalonians, partly by sending Timothy unto them to strengthen and comfort them; partly by rejoicing in their well-doing; 1Th 3:10, and partly by praying for them, and desiring a safe coming unto them.

Poole: 1 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 3

MHCC: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

This epistle is generally considered to have been the first of those written by St. Paul. The occasion seems to have been the good report of the stedfastness of the church at Thessalonica in the faith of the gospel. It is full of affection and confidence, and more consolatory and practical, and less doctrinal, than some of the other epistles.

MHCC: 1 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

(1Th 3:1-5) The apostle sent Timothy to establish and comfort the Thessalonian.

(1Th 3:6-10) He rejoiced at the good tidings of their faith and love.

(1Th 3:11-13) And for their increase in grace.

Matthew Henry: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The First Epistle of st. Paul to the Thessalonians

Thessalonica was formerly the metropolis of Macedonia; it is now called Salonichi, and is the best peopled, and one of the best towns for commerce, in the Levant. The apostle Paul, being diverted from his design of going into the provinces of Asia, properly so called, and directed after an extraordinary manner to preach the gospel in Macedonia (Act 16:9, Act 16:10), in obedience to the call of God went from Troas to Samothracia, thence to Neapolis, and thence to Philippi, where he had good success in his ministry, but met with hard usage, being cast into prison with Silas his companion in travel and labour, from which being wonderfully delivered, they comforted the brethren there, and departed. Passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where the apostle planted a church that consisted of some believing Jews and many converted Gentiles, Act 17:1-4. But a tumult being raised in the city by the unbelieving Jews, and the lewd and baser sort of the inhabitants, Paul and Silas, for their safety, were sent away by night unto Berea, and afterwards Paul was conducted to Athens, leaving Silas and Timotheus behind him, but sent directions that they should come to him with all speed. When they came, Timotheus was sent to Thessalonica, to enquire after their welfare and to establish them in the faith (1Th 3:2), and, returning to Paul while he tarried at Athens, was sent again, together with Silas, to visit the churches in Macedonia. So that Paul, being left at Athens alone (1Th 3:1), departed thence to Corinth, where he continued a year and a half, in which time Silas and Timotheus returned to him from Macedonia (Act 18:5), and then he wrote this epistle to the church of Christ at Thessalonica, which, though it is placed after the other epistles of this apostle, is supposed to be first in time of all Paul's epistles, and to be written about a.d. 51. The main scope of it is to express the thankfulness of this apostle for the good success his preaching had among them, to establish them in the faith, and persuade them to a holy conversation.

Matthew Henry: 1 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter the apostle gives further evidence of his love to the Thessalonians, reminding them of his sending Timothy to them, with the mention of his design therein and his inducements so to do (1Th 3:1-5). He acquaints them also with his great satisfaction at the return of Timothy, with good tidings concerning them (1Th 3:6-10). And concludes with fervent prayer for them (1Th 3:11 to the end).

Barclay: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS OF PAUL

The Letters Of Paul

There is no more interesting body of documents in the New Testament than the letters of Paul. That is because of all forms of literature a letter is most personal. Demetrius, one of the old Greek literary critics, once wrote, "Every one reveals his own soul in his letters. In every other form of composition it is possible to discern the writercharacter, but in none so clearly as the epistolary." (Demetrius, On Style, 227). It is just because he left us so many letters that we feel we know Paul so well. In them he opened his mind and heart to the folk he loved so much; and in them, to this day, we can see that great mind grappling with the problems of the early church, and feel that great heart throbbing with love for men, even when they were misguided and mistaken.

The Difficulty Of Letters

At the same time, there is often nothing so difficult to understand as a letter. Demetrius (On Style, 223) quotes a saying of Artemon, who edited the letters of Aristotle. Artemon said that a letter ought to be written in the same manner as a dialogue, because it was one of the two sides of a dialogue. In other words, to read a letter is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. So when we read the letters of Paul we are often in a difficulty. We do not possess the letter which he was answering; we do not fully know the circumstances with which he was dealing; it is only from the letter itself that we can deduce the situation which prompted it. Before we can hope to understand fully any letter Paul wrote, we must try to reconstruct the situation which produced it.

The Ancient Letters

It is a great pity that Paulletters were ever called epistles. They are in the most literal sense letters. One of the great lights shed on the interpretation of the New Testament has been the discovery and the publication of the papyri. In the ancient world, papyrus was the substance on which most documents were written. It was composed of strips of the pith of a certain bulrush that grew on the banks of the Nile. These strips were laid one on top of the other to form a substance very like brown paper. The sands of the Egyptian desert were ideal for preservation, for papyrus, although very brittle, will last forever so long as moisture does not get at it. As a result, from the Egyptian rubbish heaps, archaeologists have rescued hundreds of documents, marriage contracts, legal agreements, government forms, and, most interesting of all, private letters. When we read these private letters we find that there was a pattern to which nearly all conformed; and we find that Paulletters reproduce exactly that pattern. Here is one of these ancient letters. It is from a soldier, called Apion, to his father Epimachus. He is writing from Misenum to tell his father that he has arrived safely after a stormy passage.

"Apion sends heartiest greetings to his father and lord Epimachus.

I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are

going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.

I thank my Lord Serapis [his god] that he kept me safe when I was

in peril on the sea. As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey

money from Caesar--three gold pieces. And things are going fine

with me. So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to let

me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly, that

I may kiss your hand, because you brought me up well, and because

of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted. Give Capito my

heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and my friends.

I sent you a little picture of myself painted by Euctemon. My

military name is Antonius Maximus. I pray for your good health.

Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimonboy, and Turbo,

Galloniuson." (G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri,

36.)

Little did Apion think that we would be reading his letter to his father 1800 years after he had written it. It shows how little human nature changes. The lad is hoping for promotion quickly. Who would Serenilla be but the girl he left behind him? He sends the ancient equivalent of a photograph to the folk at home. Now that letter falls into certain sections. (i) There is a greeting. (ii) There is a prayer for the health of the recipients. (iii) There is a thanksgiving to the gods. (iv) There are the special contents. (v) Finally, there are the special salutations and the personal greetings. Practically every one of Paulletters shows exactly the same sections, as we now demonstrate.

(i) The Greeting: Rom_1:1 ; 1Co_1:1 ; 2Co_1:1 ; Gal_1:1 ; Eph_1:1 ; Phi_1:1 ; Col_1:1-2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:1 .

(ii) The Prayer: in every case Paul prays for the grace of God on the people to whom he writes: Rom_1:7 ; 1Co_1:3 ; 2Co_1:2 ; Gal_1:3 ; Eph_1:2 ; Phi_1:3 ; Col_1:2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:2 .

(iii) The Thanksgiving: Rom_1:8 ; 1Co_1:4 ; 2Co_1:3 ; Eph_1:3 ; Phi_1:3 ; 1Th_1:3 ; 2Th_1:3 .

(iv) The Special Contents: the main body of the letters.

(v) Special Salutations and Personal Greetings: Rom 16 ; 1Co_16:19 ; 2Co_13:13 ; Phi_4:21-22 ; Col_4:12-15 ; 1Th_5:26 .

When Paul wrote letters, he wrote them on the pattern which everyone used. Deissmann says of them, "They differ from the messages of the homely papyrus leaves of Egypt, not as letters but only as the letters of Paul." When we read Paulletters we are not reading things which were meant to be academic exercises and theological treatises, but human documents written by a friend to his friends.

The Immediate Situation

With a very few exceptions, all Paulletters were written to meet an immediate situation and not treatises which he sat down to write in the peace and silence of his study. There was some threatening situation in Corinth, or Galatia, or Philippi, or Thessalonica, and he wrote a letter to meet it. He was not in the least thinking of us when he wrote, but solely of the people to whom he was writing. Deissmann writes, "Paul had no thought of adding a few fresh compositions to the already extant Jewish epistles; still less of enriching the sacred literature of his nation.... He had no presentiment of the place his words would occupy in universal history; not so much that they would be in existence in the next generation, far less that one day people would look at them as Holy Scripture." We must always remember that a thing need not be transient because it was written to meet an immediate situation. All the great love songs of the world were written for one person, but they live on for the whole of mankind. It is just because Paulletters were written to meet a threatening danger or a clamant need that they still throb with life. And it is because human need and the human situation do not change that God speaks to us through them today.

The Spoken Word

One other thing we must note about these letters. Paul did what most people did in his day. He did not normally pen his own letters but dictated them to a secretary, and then added Ws own authenticating signature. (We actually know the name of one of the people who did the writing for him. In Rom_16:22 Tertius, the secretary, slips in his own greeting before the letter draws to an end). In 1Co_16:21 Paul says, "This is my own signature, my autograph, so that you can be sure this letter comes from me." (compare Col_4:18 ; 2Th_3:17 .)

This explains a great deal. Sometimes Paul is hard to understand, because his sentences begin and never finish; his grammar breaks down and the construction becomes involved. We must not think of him sitting quietly at a desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he writes. We must think of him striding up and down some little room, pouring out a torrent of words, while his secretary races to get them down. When Paul composed his letters, he had in his mindeye a vision of the folk to whom he was writing, and he was pouring out his heart to them in words that fell over each other in his eagerness to help.

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS

Paul Comes To Macedonia

For anyone who can read between the lines the story of Paulcoming to Macedonia is one of the most dramatic in the book of Acts. Luke, with supreme economy of words, tells it in Act_16:6-10 . Short as that narrative is, it gives the impression of a chain of circumstances inescapably culminating in one supreme event. Paul had passed through Phrygia and Galatia and ahead of him lay the Hellespont. To the left lay the teeming province of Asia, to the right stretched the great province of Bithynia; but the Spirit would allow him to enter neither. There was something driving him relentlessly on to the Aegean Sea. So he came to Alexandrian Troas, still uncertain where he ought to go; and then there came to him a vision in the night of a man who cried, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." Paul set sail, and for the first time the gospel came to Europe.

One World

At that moment Paul must have seen much more than a continent for Christ. It was in Macedonia that he landed; and Macedonia was the kingdom of Alexander the Great, who had conquered the world and wept because there were no more worlds left to conquer. But Alexander was much more than a military conqueror. He was almost the first universalist. He was more a missionary than a soldier; and he dreamed of one world dominated and enlightened by the culture of Greece. Even so great a thinker as Aristotle had said that it was a plain duty to treat Greeks as free men and orientals as slaves; but Alexander declared that he had been sent by God "to unite, to pacify and to reconcile the whole world." Deliberately he had said that it was his aim "to marry the East to the West." He had dreamed of an Empire in which there was neither Greek nor Jew, barbarian or Scythian, bond or free (Col_3:11 ). It is hard to see how Alexander could have failed to be in Paulthoughts. Paul left from Alexandrian Troas which was called after Alexander; he came to Macedonia which was Alexanderoriginal kingdom; he worked at Philippi which was called after Philip, Alexanderfather; he went on to Thessalonica which was called after Alexanderhalf-sister. The whole territory was saturated with memories of Alexander; and Paul must surely have thought, not of a country nor of a continent, but of a world for Christ.

Paul Comes To Thessalonica

This sense of the wide-stretching arms of Christianity must have been accentuated when Paul came to Thessalonica. It was a great city. Its original name was Thermal, which means The Hot Springs, and it gave its name to the Thermaic Gulf on which it stood. Six hundred years ago Herodotus had described it as a great city. It has always been a famous harbour. It was there that Xerxes the Persian had his naval base when he invaded Europe; and even in Roman times it was one of the worldgreat dockyards. In 315 B.C. Cassander had rebuilt the city and renamed it Thessalonica, the name of his wife, who was a daughter of Philip of Macedon and a half-sister of Alexander the Great. It was a free city; that is to say it had never suffered the indignity of having Roman troops quartered within it. It had its own popular assembly and its own magistrates. Its population rose to 200,000 and for a time it was a question whether it or Constantinople would be recognized as the capital of the world. Even today, under the name Salonika, it has 70,000 inhabitants.

But the supreme importance of Thessalonica lay in this--it straddled the Via Egnatia, the Egnatian Road, which stretched from Dyrrachium on the Adriatic to Constantinople on the Bosphorus and thence away to Asia Minor and the East. Its main street was part of the very road which linked Rome with the East. East and West converged on Thessalonica; it was said to be "in the lap of the Roman Empire." Trade poured into her from East and West, so that it was said, "So long as nature does not change, Thessalonica will remain wealthy and prosperous."

It is impossible to overstress the importance of the arrival of Christianity in Thessalonica. If Christianity was settled there, it was bound to spread East along the Egnatian Road until all Asia was conquered and West until it stormed even the city of Rome. The coming of Christianity to Thessalonica was crucial in the making of it into a world religion.

PaulStay At Thessalonica

The story of Paulstay at Thessalonica is in Act_17:1-10 . Now, for Paul, what happened at Thessalonica was of supreme importance. He preached in the synagogue for three Sabbaths (Act_17:2 ) which means that his stay there could not have been much more than three weeks in length. He had such tremendous success that the Jews were enraged and raised so much trouble that Paul had to be smuggled out, in peril of his life, to Beroea. The same thing happened in Beroea (Act_17:10-12 ) and Paul had to leave Timothy and Silas behind and make his escape to Athens. What exercised his mind was this. He had been in Thessalonica only three weeks. Was it possible to make such an impression on a place in three weeksime that Christianity was planted so deeply that it could never again be uprooted? If so, it was by no means an idle dream that the Roman Empire might yet be won for Christ. Or was it necessary to settle down and work for months, even years, before an impression could be made? In that event, no man could even dimly foresee when Christianity would penetrate all over the world. Thessalonica was a test case; and Paul was torn with anxiety to know how it would turn out.

News From Thessalonica

So anxious was Paul that, when Timothy joined him at Athens, he sent him back to Thessalonica to get the information without which he could not rest (1Th_3:1-2 , 1Th_3:5 ; 1Th_2:17 ). What news did Timothy bring back? There was good news. The affection of the Thessalonians for Paul was as strong as ever; and they were standing fast in the faith (1Th_2:14 ; 1Th_3:4-6 ; 1Th_4:9-10 ). They were indeed "his glory and Ws joy" (1Th_2:20 ). But there was worrying news.

(i) The preaching of the Second Coming had produced an unhealthy situation in which people had stopped working and had abandoned all ordinary pursuits to await the Second Coming with a kind of hysterical expectancy. So Paul tells them to be quiet and to get on with their work (1Th_4:11 ).

(ii) They were worried about what was to happen to those who died before the Second Coming arrived. Paul explains that those who fall asleep in Jesus will miss none of the glory (1Th_4:13-18 ).

(iii) There was a tendency to despise all lawful authority; the argumentative Greek was always in danger of producing a democracy run mad (1Th_5:12-14 ).

(iv) There was the ever-present danger that they would relapse into immorality. It was hard to unlearn the point of view of generations and to escape the contagion of the heathen world (1Th_4:3-8 ).

(v) There was at least a section who slandered Paul. They hinted that he preached the gospel for what he could get out of it (1Th_2:5 , 1Th_2:9 ); and that he was something of a dictator (1Th_2:6-7 , 1Th_2:11 ).

(vi) There was a certain amount of division in the Church (1Th_4:9 ; 1Th_5:13 ).

These were the problems with which Paul had to deal; and they show that human nature has not changed so very much.

Why Two Letters?

We must ask why there are two letters. They art, very much alike and they must have been written within weeks, perhaps days of each other. The second letter was written mainly to clear up a misconception about the Second Coming. The first letter insists that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, and urges watchfulness (1Th_5:2 ; 1Th_5:6 ). But this produced the unhealthy situation where men did nothing but watch and wait; and in the second letter Paul explains what signs must come first before the Second Coming should come (2Th_2:3-12 ). The Thessalonians had got their ideas about the Second Coming out of proportion. As so often happens to a preacher, Paulpreaching had been misunderstood, and certain phrases had been taken out of context and over-emphasized; and the second letter seeks to put things back in their proper balance and to correct the thoughts of the excited Thessalonians regarding the Second Coming. Of course, Paul takes occasion in the second letter to repeat and to stress much of the good advice and rebuke he had given in the first, but its main aim is to tell them certain things which will calm their hysteria and make them wait, not in excited idleness, but in patient and diligent attendance to the daywork. In these two letters we see Paul solving the day to day problems which arose in the expanding Church.

FURTHER READINGS

Thessalonians

J. E. Frame, Thessalonians (ICC; G)

G. Milligan, St. PaulEpistles to the Thessalonians (MmC; G)

W. Neil, The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians (MC; E)

Abbreviations

CGT: Cambridge Greek Testament

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

MmC: Macmillan Commentary

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: 1 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

The Pastor And His Flock (1Th_3:1-10)

All Is Of God (1Th_3:11-13)

Constable: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical background

Thessalonica was an important city. Cassander, the Macedonian king, founded it in 315 B.C. and named it for his wife, who was a half-sister of Alexander the Great. It was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia, and it stood on the Via Egnatia, the Roman highway to the East. It was a self-governing community with enough Jews in residence to warrant a synagogue (Acts 17:1).

Paul first visited Thessalonica during his second missionary journey with Silas and Timothy. They had just left prison in Philippi and made their way southward to Thessalonica. For at least three Sabbath days Paul reasoned in the synagogue with those present, and many believed the gospel (Acts 17:2). However, he probably ministered in Thessalonica for a longer time than just three weeks in view of what he wrote that he had done there (e.g., 1 Thess. 2:9; cf. Phil. 4:15-16).¹ Those who responded to the message of Christ's sufferings and resurrection (Acts 17:3, 7) were Jews (Acts 17:4) and God-fearing proselytes to Judaism. There were also some leading women of the city and many idol-worshipping pagans (Acts 17:4-5).

"If Macedonia produced perhaps the most competent group of men the world had yet seen, the women were in all respects the men's counterparts; they played a large part in affairs, received envoys and obtained concessions from them for their husbands, built temples, founded cities, engaged mercenaries, commanded armies, held fortresses, and acted on occasion as regents or even co-rulers."²

When the unbelieving Jews heard of the conversion of the proselytes, whom they were discipling, they stirred up a gang of roughnecks who attacked the house of Jason. Paul had been staying with him. Unable to find the missionaries the mob dragged Jason before the magistrates who simply charged him to keep the peace. Convinced of the danger for Paul and Jason the Christians sent Paul and Silas away from the city by night to Berea (Acts 17:10).

Paul and his party began their evangelistic work in Berea in the synagogue, as was their custom. However when many Jews there believed, the Thessalonian Jews came down to Berea and stirred up more trouble (Acts 17:10-13). The Berean Christians sent Paul away to Athens, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea (Acts 17:14). Having been sent for by Paul, Silas and Timothy joined Paul in Athens, but he soon sent Silas back to Philippi and or Berea, and Timothy back to Thessalonica (1 Thess. 3:1-3; Acts 17:15). Later both men returned to Paul while he was practicing his trade in Corinth (Acts 18:3, 5) with a gift from the Christians in those Macedonian towns (2 Cor. 11:9; cf. Phil. 4:15).

Timothy's report of conditions in the Thessalonian church led Paul to write this epistle. Some of the Thessalonians apparently believed that Jesus Christ was about to return momentarily and had consequently given up their jobs and had become disorderly (cf. 1 Thess. 4:11; 5:14). Some worried about what had happened to their loved ones who had died before the Lord had returned (4:13, 18). Persecution from the Gentiles as well as the Jews still oppressed the believers (2:17-3:10) who were nevertheless holding fast to the truth and eager to see Paul again (3:6-8). Some outside the church, however, remained hostile to Paul (2:1-12). There appears to have been some misuse of spiritual gifts in the assembly as well as an unfortunate tendency on the part of some to return to their former habits involving sexual impurity (4:1-8; 5:19-21).

It seems clear that Paul wrote this epistle shortly after he arrived in Corinth (1:7-9; 2:17; 3:1, 6; Acts 18:5, 12), about 51 A.D. If one follows the early dating of Galatians, as I have suggested, this epistle would have been Paul's second inspired writing. If Paul penned Galatians after the second missionary journey, 1 Thessalonians could have been his first inspired epistle.³ However the first option seems more probable.⁴

A few scholars have suggested that Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians before he wrote 1 Thessalonians.⁵ This is not as improbable as may appear at first since the traditional sequence of Pauline letters to churches rests on length rather than date. Nonetheless this theory has not convinced most scholars.⁶

Purpose

In view of this epistle's contents, Paul had at least three purposes in mind when he wrote it. First, he wanted to encourage the Christians in Thessalonica who were making good progress in their new faith (1:2-10). Second, he desired to correct misinformation about himself and his fellow missionaries that some of his critics in Thessalonica were circulating (2:1-3:13). Third, he wrote to give additional instruction that would contribute to the Thessalonians' spiritual growth (4:1-5:24).

"Far and away the largest theological contribution of the Epistles [1 and 2 Thessalonians] lies in what they say about eschatology."⁷

". . . over a quarter of 1 Thessalonians and nearly half of 2 Thessalonians deal with problems and issues regarding the parousia or coming of Christ from heaven."⁸

"The Thessalonian letters present the first literary evidence for the use of parousia . . . in the sense of the future Advent of Christ: it occurs in this sense six times in the two letters. The event is depicted repeatedly in language borrowed from portrayals of OT theophanies. But it is the ethical implications that are chiefly stressed: the writers look forward to the Parousia especially as the time when their service will be reviewed and rewarded by the Lord who commissioned them, and they will be content, they say, to have it assessed by the quality of their converts."⁹

Message¹⁰

In this epistle there is evidence that Paul had conflicting emotions regarding the new church in Thessalonica. On the one hand he was joyful and satisfied with what God had accomplished. On the other hand he felt concern about the perils in which the new Christians lived.

This letter differs from most of Paul's others in that it does not deal primarily with a doctrinal issue or a departure in belief or behavior. While the teaching on the Rapture of the church is definitely a doctrinal contribution, Paul did not write primarily to expound that truth or to defend it. He simply clarified the events he had previously taught them. The new revelation is in a sense secondary to Paul's argument. Nevertheless it is obvious that the Lord's return was prominent in Paul's mind from beginning to end of this letter. He referred to it in every chapter.

Paul wrote this epistle primarily to comfort and to encourage those who were suffering for their Lord. Their hope was an essential emphasis in view of this purpose (cf. 1 Pet.).

The epistle deals with the hope of the Lord's return as this relates to Christian experience.

Paul took the fact of the Lord's return for granted. He did not feel compelled to try to prove it. His belief that Jesus would return for His own is obvious to anyone who reads this letter regardless of his or her eschatology. Paul believed in a real return of the same Jesus who had lived on the earth, died, was buried, arose from the dead, and ascended into heaven (cf. 4:16). First Thessalonians deals with when the Lord will return. The larger emphasis in 1 Thessalonians, however, is that He will return.

In relation to Christian experience the return of Christ is the final argument that produces faith. When Paul preached the gospel in Thessalonica, he proclaimed that the Christ who had come would come again (1:9-10). His converts were to wait for Him. They had turned from belief in visible idols to an invisible God. Paul urged them to wait with the assurance that they would see their God visibly soon. They turned from disorder to the hope of divine rule, from spiritual anarchy to the hope of an orderly kingdom. Christians trust in Christ's first coming and wait for His return. Without the hope of Christ's vindication the message of His death is incomplete. I do not mean that the return of Christ is part of the gospel message. However without the hope of Christ's return the gospel message is harder to accept. The return of Christ is the final argument that produces faith in this sense. It is an apologetic for Christianity.

In relation to Christian experience the return of Christ is, second, the abiding confidence that inspires labor (1:9). The Thessalonians turned from idols to serve the living God. Their reward for service would come at His return. That would be their payday. Paul referred to his readers as his own reward for service at Christ's return (2:19-20). A little of our reward comes to us here and now, but the great bulk of it awaits the judgment seat of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 15:58). When those we have led to Christ and discipled experience glorification, our reward will be full. This prospect is what so forcefully motivated Paul in his tireless missionary service.

Third, in relation to Christian experience the return of Christ is the ultimate victory that creates patience (3:13). The conviction that we will experience ultimate victory at the Rapture produces patience in the believer (cf. 5:14b). We can be patient about our own slow growth knowing that eventual glorification will take place. Furthermore we can be patient with God knowing that God will balance the scales of justice and vindicate Himself. One day Christ will return just as one day He was born. Both events are crises in history. They are high points not built up to gradually but introduced as cataclysms.

Thus the return of Christ is the final argument producing faith, the abiding confidence inspiring labor, and the ultimate victory creating patience. In the introduction to this epistle Paul said he remembered his readers' work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope (1:3). Faith, hope, and love are the three greatest attributes of the Christian life, and they are possible because Christ will return.

This epistle also helps us understand how we should respond to the truth that Christ will return.

First, in our own life we should respond with godly behavior: personal purity, love for the brethren, and honesty in the world. Christ's return should have a purifying effect in every one of these areas of our life (ch. 4).

Second, in the face of death there is a two-fold response. There is comfort for the bereaved in particular (4:14).

Also there is comfort for all the living (4:18).

Third, in view of judgment to come our response should be confidence. We will not experience God's wrath, but He will deliver us from it in all its manifestations.

Failure to accept the truth of the Lord's return results in unbelief and a return to idols.

It results in indolence that leads to strife.

Furthermore it results in impatience that leads to sin. These are the very opposite of the work of faith, the labor of love, and the patience of hope.

The light of this great doctrine underwent an eclipse during the history of the church. It only came out into prominence again in the nineteenth century. We at Dallas Seminary follow in the train of those dispensational writers and teachers who through careful study of the whole Word of God have brought this doctrine back out into public view. Satan would like to silence this emphasis because the hope of Christ's return is one of the greatest motivations for Christian service and sacrifice. The sanctification of the whole person (spirit, soul, and body) consists in active waiting for Jesus to return (5:23). I pray that as a result of this study of 1 Thessalonians we may all live with a greater conscious awareness of Christ's return.

Outline¹¹

I. Salutation and greeting 1:1

II. Personal commendations and explanations 1:2-3:13

A. Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians 1:2-10

1. Summary statement 1:2-3

2. Specific reasons 1:4-10

B. Reminders for the Thessalonians 2:1-16

1. How the gospel was delivered 2:1-12

2. How the gospel was received 2:13-16

C. Concerns for the Thessalonians 2:17-3:13

1. Desires to see them again 2:17-3:5

2. Joy on hearing about them 3:6-13

III. Practical instructions and exhortations 4:1-5:24

A. Christian living 4:1-12

1. Continued growth 4:1-2

2. Sexual purity 4:3-8

3. Brotherly love 4:9-12

B. The Rapture 4:13-18

C. Personal watchfulness 5:1-11

D. Church life 5:12-15

1. Attitudes toward leaders 5:12-13

2. Relationships among themselves 5:14-15

E. Individual behavior 5:16-24

1. Personal actions and attitudes 5:16-18

2. Actions and attitudes in corporate living 5:19-22

3. Divine enablement 5:23-24

IV. Conclusion 5:25-28

Constable: 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO THE THESSALONIANS.

INTRODUCTION.

St. Paul having preached with success at Thessalonica, the chief city of Macedonia, wrote to the this letter, to confirm them in the Christian faith and in the practice of virtue. This, in order, is the first epistle of St. Paul. He wrote it about the year fifty-two, as it is thought, from Corinth. (Witham) --- St. Paul having preached the gospel in this place, converted some Jews and a great number of Gentiles; but the unbelieving Jews, envying his success, raised such a commotion against him, that he and his companion Silvanus were obliged to quit the city. Afterwards he went to Athens, where he had heard that the converts in Thessalonica were under severe persecution ever since his departure; and lest they should lose their fortitude, he sent Timothy to strengthen and comfort them in their sufferings. In the mean time St. Paul came to Corinth, where he wrote this first epistle and also the second to the Thessalonians, both in the same year, being the nineteenth after our Lord's ascension. (Challoner) --- St. Paul preached the faith in this city, assisted by Silas and Silvanus, whose name is joined with the apostle's in this letter. See Acts xvii. Being driven away from this city by the violence of the Jews, he left Timothy and Silas in Macedonia, to confirm the new converts in their faith. But having afterwards called them to him, and hearing of their constancy and perseverance, he writes this epistle to encourage them and praise them. It is the first in time of all St. Paul's epistles, and filled with the most affectionate expressions of love and tenderness for his spiritual children in Jesus Christ. In the latter part of the epistle, he gives some short instructions concerning the state of souls after death, and the coming of the last day; as his companions had informed him that strange reports concerning these two articles were in circulation at Thessalonica, to the disturbance of the faithful. (Calmet, Estius, and others.) --- The first three chapters are to confirm and comfort the Thessalonians against the temptations of persecution; the other two are to exhort them to live up to the precepts he delivers them.

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Gill: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 THESSALONIANS

Thessalonica was a very large, populous, and flourishing city, it was "liberae conditionis", as Pliny says ^a, a free city, and the metropolis of Macedonia; it was formerly called Halis ^b, and had the name of Thessalonica given it by Philip king of Macedon, on account of his conquest of Thessalia, which this name signifies; and some say he gave this name to a daughter of his on that occasion, who was afterwards the wife of Cassander; who, others say, called this place by his wife's name ^c, which before was Therme: its name with the Italians is Salonichi, and is now in the hands of the Turks, as all Greece is: here the Apostle Paul came after he had been at Philippi, and stayed about three weeks, and preached every sabbath day, and his ministry was blessed to the conversion of some Jews, a multitude of devout Greeks, and many of the chief women of the place, which laid the foundation of a Gospel church; to which the apostle wrote this epistle, and is the first of all the epistles he wrote: the occasion of it was this; the unbelieving Jews, vexed to see the apostle's success, raised a mob of the baser sort of people, and assaulted the house of Jason, where the apostle and his companions were; but Paul and Silas were sent away by night to Berea, which the rabble understanding, followed them thither; when Paul was sent as if he was going to the sea, but was conducted by the brethren to Athens, who gave orders that Silas and Timothy should come to him with all speed, as they did; and Timothy was sent back to Thessalonica to establish and comfort the young converts there; and returning with good news of their faith, and charity, to the apostle at Corinth, he sent them from thence this epistle, and not from Athens, as some have thought: the design of which is to encourage them under their afflictions and sufferings; to exhort them to stand fast in the Lord, to abide by his truths and ordinances, and to live an holy life and conversation, and to regard the several duties of religion, towards God and one another, and those that were set over them; and in it he instructs them concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the coming of Christ, articles of very great importance and concern: the writing of this epistle is placed by Dr. Lightfoot in the 51st year of Christ, and in the 11th of Claudius Caesar.

Gill: 1 Thessalonians 3 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 THESSALONIANS 3

In this chapter the apostle expresses his great love to the Thessalonians, by sending Timothy to then, to establish and comfort them; and declares his satisfaction with the things he brought of them, and concludes the chapter with fervent prayers for them: such was his affection for them, that he chose rather to be left alone at Athens, and send Timothy to them, though so very dear and useful to him, as his characters show, to the end that they might be established and comforted, 1Th 3:2 and not be shaken with the afflictions the apostles met with, seeing these were no other than what God had appointed them to; and besides, they had been apprized of them before hand by the apostle, 1Th 3:3 but however, lest Satan should get an advantage of them, the apostle could not be easy without sending to know how things stood with them, 1Th 3:5 next he proceeds to give an account of the success of this mission, and the satisfaction it gave him and his fellow ministers to hear of their faith and charity, their remembrance of them, and desire to see them, 1Th 3:6 which comforted them under their afflictions, made them lively and cheerful, filled them with joy and thankfulness, and put them upon praying to God to see their face, and perfect what was lacking in their faith, 1Th 3:7 and then follow the petitions themselves, which are made both to God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that their way might be directed to them, that they might increase and abound in love to one another, and to all men, as they did to them, and that God would establish them in holiness in his sight, at the coming of Christ, 1Th 3:11.

College: 1 Thessalonians (Book Introduction)

FOREWORD

This commentary has been produced through a full schedule of college and seminary teaching and church-based ministry. In the current climate of biblical studies, that schedule has necessitated some compromises. Journal articles, scholarly monographs and commentaries are today so numerous that the person who wants to keep current in the study of a biblical book must have the leisure to devote almost full time to the task. Therefore, I have not been able to consider all the issues as thoroughly as I might have liked. For most readers, however, this is probably a relief. I have tried to discuss only those matters which significantly affect our understanding of the text and have sufficient supporting evidence to warrant a hearing. So to those who find that an issue has been ignored, too briefly summarized, or too fully discussed, I offer my apologies. It is my hope that the setting in which I have written the book, having taught and preached on it in churches and a church-based college and seminary, will ensure a greater degree of relevance than might be found in some scholarly works and a greater degree of accuracy than in some popular ones.

Thanks for assistance with this project go to several people. I am grateful to the publishers and editors of the series for their invaluable help in bringing this work to publication. To my former professor and present colleague Dr. Jack Cottrell, who first offered the invitation, and to Mr. John Hunter of College Press, who graciously worked with me for its completion, I give special thanks. Another former professor and present colleague, Mr. Tom Friskney, first stimulated my study of the Thessalonian letters. His influence is felt on every page, but he should not be blamed for my mistakes. In particular I thank my family - my wife, Tammie, and our children, Cale and Allison - for their patience with me as I spent too many evenings, weekends and vacation times working on this project.

My parents, Chet and Millie Weatherly, more than anyone have provided the example for me of the integrity, love, discipline, hard work, generosity, endurance and expectancy which these letters teach. I dedicate this book to them with heartfelt gratitude.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

INTRODUCTION

Though it is a relatively brief letter, 1 Thessalonians provides the modern Christian with a challenging glimpse into the life and thought of the first generation of Christianity. Its presentation of the ministry of Paul, the trials of the persecuted church, the ethical demands of the new life in Christ, and especially of the vivid expectation of Christ's return provides some of the foundational elements for genuine Christian experience in every era.

Major critical problems with 1 Thessalonians are fewer than with some other Pauline letters; the bulk of modern scholarship is largely agreed about the general circumstances under which the letter was written. But knowing those circumstances provides a necessary touchstone for the interpretation of the letter, so they will be briefly summarized below.

THE CITY OF THESSALONICA

Founded by Cassander, a general of Alexander the Great, around 315 B.C., Thessalonica was a city of size and influence. Located at the head of the Thermatic Gulf, now called the Gulf of Salonika, a natural harbor on the Aegean coast of Macedonia, the northern part of the Greece, it was an important port city, providing a gateway to the Macedonian interior. Its prominence as a transportation center was augmented when the Romans constructed the Via Egnatia or Egnatian Way, a highway crossing the Greek peninsula from east to west and ultimately connecting Asia in the east with Italy and Rome in the west. Inland from Thessalonica lay a fertile plain, which provided abundant agricultural resources for the city and the region.

It is little wonder, then, that in 146 B.C. the Romans designated Thessalonica as the capital of the province of Macedonia. The city itself had an independent government with magistrates known as "politarchs" (Acts 17:6, 8), providing a degree of autonomy from the imperial government and its taxes. The religious climate was dominated by paganism; the cults of Dionysus and the Cabirus appear to have been especially prominent. According to Acts 17:1 there was also a colony of Jews large enough to constitute at least one synagogue.

Altogether, then, Thessalonica appears to us as a busy, prosperous, cosmopolitan city, a place where the gospel could readily take root but also meet significant resistance. That image is confirmed to us by the description of Paul's mission in Acts and the corresponding elements of 1 Thessalonians.

PAUL'S MINISTRY IN THESSALONICA

AND THE WRITING OF 1 THESSALONIANS

According to Acts, Paul visited Thessalonica with Timothy and Silas on what we call his second missionary journey (17:1). Having left Philippi after being jailed overnight, Paul traveled to the neighboring city on the Egnatian Way, perhaps pursuing a strategy of planting churches in cities on major transportation arteries so that the gospel could spread out from those centers. There, as was his custom, Paul preached in the synagogue as long as he was able (17:2-3). Acts indicates that his converts included Jews, God-fearers (Gentiles who acknowledged the God of Israel but had not converted fully to Judaism), and some of the principal women (17:4). According to Acts these conversions prompted a jealous response from non-Christian Jews, presumably synagogue leaders, who incited a mob against the Christians (17:5-7). The magistrates appear to have recognized that the mob's anger was not prompted by any offense against the civil order and required only that Jason, apparently a prominent Christian convert, post a bond pledging no further trouble (17:8-9). The violence did, however, prompt Paul to leave the city, perhaps sooner than he had planned (17:10).

From Thessalonica Paul went to Berea. But the fervor of his Thessalonian opponents was intense, for they followed him there and incited similar opposition (17:13). Paul then went on alone to Athens, leaving Silas and Timothy behind (17:14-15). After Paul had preached in Athens with mixed results (17:16-34), he went on to Corinth (18:1). There Silas and Timothy rejoined him (18:5).

The text of 1 Thessalonians confirms and supplements this outline. Though Paul focuses on the conversion of Gentiles in 1:9 (see comments below), says little about the conversion of Jews, and does not quote the Old Testament, themes from the Jewish Scriptures and Judaism appear throughout the letter (cf. 1:4, 6, 10; 2:4, 10, 12, 15-16, 18; 3:3, 5; 4:3, 5-8, 16; 5:3, 5, 8-9, 23-24), implying an audience familiar with them. The letter acknowledges the opposition to Paul (2:2) and the ongoing problem of persecution in Thessalonica (1:6; 2:14; 3:3-4), elements entirely consistent with the anti-Christian violence which Acts depicts. It indicates that Paul left the city prematurely and under duress (2:17) and was prevented from returning (2:18). In particular it makes clear that from Athens Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica as a substitute for his own presence (3:1-3; see comments below) to strengthen the church and report about its progress to Paul. Timothy's return and report are recounted also (3:6).

It appears, then, that Timothy's report prompts the writing of this first letter. We can infer from the letter's contents that the report was mostly positive but did note some areas of serious concern. The letter serves to reassure the readers about their status as Christians (1:3-10; 3:11-13) and about Paul's concern for them despite his absence (2:1-12; 2:17-3:10), to strengthen them in the persecution which they endure (2:13-16; 3:4-5), and to reiterate instruction which they had already received about the standards by which they are to live as people in Christ surrounded by an immoral pagan culture (4:1-12). In particular Paul is concerned about their misunderstanding of the significance of Christ's return, especially regarding the status of those who have died as Christians (4:13-18), but also more generally (5:1-11). He also expresses specific concern about the need for Christians to support themselves responsibly (4:11-12; 5:14; cf. 2:6b-9), and to have proper respect for leaders (5:12) and for the spiritual gift of prophecy (5:19-22). In essence, then, this letter is a substitute for Paul's actual presence, containing the teaching which he would have delivered had it been possible for him to return to Thessalonica immediately. While a couple of specific problems had arisen, Paul's primary concern is to strengthen the young church in its commitment and the consistency of its practice.

DATE

If the reconstruction above is correct, then 1 Thessalonians was written during Paul's stay in Corinth on his second missionary journey. It is conceivable that Paul could have written this letter on his third journey after his second visit to Thessalonica, but since the letter itself refers to only one visit, the obvious explanation is that Paul had made only one. Some have denied the accuracy of the sequence of events in Acts altogether, but the numerous points of confirmation between 1 Thessalonians and Acts as noted above make such a denial highly questionable.

Paul's stay in Corinth can be dated with an exceptional degree of precision. According to Acts 18:12-17, Gallio served as proconsul of Achaia during Paul's Corinthian mission. An inscription at Delphi puts Gallio as proconsul during the twelfth year of Claudius' imperial power, after the Roman senate's twenty-sixth proclamation of Claudius as emperor. Since the twenty-seventh proclamation was made in August of A.D. 52 and proconsuls took office usually in midsummer, Gallio can be assumed to have taken office in the summer of A.D. 50 or 51. The Acts account makes it appear that Paul was brought before Gallio not long after he took office and near the end of Paul's eighteen-month sojourn in the city. Therefore, a date of 50-51 is likely for this letter.

Relative to Paul's other letters, 1 Thessalonians is very early. Unless Galatians was written earlier, as is plausible, between the first and second missionary journeys, or 2 Thessalonians was written first (see the introduction to 2 Thessalonians below), this letter is Paul's earliest. If so, it is also likely to be the earliest book of the New Testament, unless, as we have no way to confirm, one of the Gospels or the letter of James was penned sometime in the forties of the first century. For students of Paul and of early Christianity generally, then, this letter has special import.

AUTHORSHIP

Few critical scholars have doubted that Paul composed this letter himself. The internal claim of the letter is clear and unequivocal, including not only the salutation (1:1), but the repeated personal references in the middle section of the letter (2:1-3:10). Likewise, the external evidence is clear. The letter was quoted in some of the earliest Christian literature outside the New Testament (Ign. Eph. 10:1; Ign. Rom. 2:1; Did. 16:6-7), attributed to Paul as early as Marcion (c. A.D. 140), and never questioned in the early centuries of Christianity.

Those who have contended that 1 Thessalonians is not an authentic letter of Paul have largely based their arguments on alleged discrepancies with Acts. As implied above, it has been argued that this letter indicates that Paul's Thessalonian converts were pagans (1:9; 4:1-5) while Acts asserts that they were Jews and God-fearers (17:4). However, as noted in the comments below, Paul may have a particular reason for emphasizing converts from paganism, and Acts certainly emphasizes Jewish converts in Thessalonica as a part of a larger theme in Paul's ministry. Neither book, however, should be understood to be deliberately specifying the precise composition of the Thessalonian church.

Likewise, it has been argued that the movements of Timothy and Silas in 1 Thessalonians do not match those in Acts. In particular, Acts 18:5 shows them rejoining Paul in Corinth, whereas 1 Thessalonians 3:1-6 may show Timothy rejoining Paul in Athens. Several reconstructions of their specific movements can be offered which account for the material in both books. Paul may have initially left Timothy and Silas behind in Macedonia, and they may have returned to him briefly in Athens only to be sent back to Macedonia a second time. Alternately, Paul may have sent his associates back to Thessalonica after arriving in Athens, and Acts may simply condense their movements, giving the result that they were "left behind" while focusing attention on Paul. But most important is the observation that the use of "Athens" instead of "here" in 1 Thess 3:1 indicates that Paul probably wrote from a place other than Athens and so was reunited with Timothy at that place. Corinth clearly fits the details here, precisely in accord with the description in Acts.

A third argument based on alleged tensions with Acts concerns the length of Paul's stay. It is argued that Acts 17:2 indicates a stay of three weeks, whereas this letter presumes a longer stay with its discussion of Paul's self-support and preaching. However, all that Acts 17:2 asserts is that Paul preached in the synagogue for three sabbaths, not that those three weeks comprised his entire stay. And if only three weeks were involved, Paul still could have preached, taught and worked with his hands.

Another challenge to authorship is found in hypotheses which argue that the letter is a compilation of several authentic or pseudepigraphical letters, edited together by a later follower of Paul. Elaborate arguments for compilation are entirely conjectural and have found little support. Some have argued that 5:1-11 is a later, non-Pauline interpolation based on its vocabulary and content. The differences with the rest of Paul's letters are in fact few, however, and so this hypothesis has little support either. More prominent has been the hypothesis that 2:13-16 are a later interpolation of non-Pauline material. Specific discussion of this issue can be found in the comments on the passage below.

ORGANIZATION

Most of Paul's letters follow a rather set pattern of salutation, thanksgiving, letter body, and closing greetings. This pattern is apparent in a wide variety of letters from the Greco-Roman world, indicating that Paul adapted the standard letter form for his own purposes.

1 Thessalonians follows this pattern approximately, as the outline below indicates. One variation comes at 2:13-16, where Paul appears to offer a second thanksgiving. Such formal irregularities are not surprising, however, if Paul felt free to adapt standard forms as the occasion demanded.

Recently Paul's letters have been analyzed according to the patterns of Greek rhetoric. Several recent works have employed this approach in understanding 1 Thessalonians, with the beneficial result of stressing that the letter is a unified composition with a specific purpose of communication. Opinions vary, however, on where the precise rhetorical divisions lie, probably because Paul did not compose his letters strictly according to the canons of rhetoric, though he was probably influenced by them. In this commentary, therefore, no direct attention will be given to specifying the precise rhetorical contours of the letter.

THEOLOGICAL VALUE

As a small, young church in big, pagan city, the Thessalonian Christians faced challenges to their faith at every turn. Persecution, social pressure, temptations of the old lifestyle, conflict with new brothers and sisters in Christ, and surrender to despair were constant threats. Whatever the confidence with which they began their Christian pilgrimage, these believers were now faced with the daily ordeals of life in Christ in hostile surroundings.

Paul's answers to these problems are varied and significant. He confirms the truth of the gospel in the face of the doubts and struggles which they face, reminding them of the change which the gospel has brought to their lives and of the warnings which they had already received about the difficulties to come. He reminds them of his own manner of life with them, itself a confirmation of the truth of his message and an example of the self-sacrificial love and Christ-glorifying integrity which comprise the core of the Christian lifestyle. That love expressed to one another will in turn draw the church together to stand up to the pressure of the hostile culture which surrounds it. Perhaps most importantly, Paul reminds the readers repeatedly that the work of God begun in them in Christ will not be complete until Christ returns. They can therefore look forward to his return with great expectancy, remembering that even death itself will then be utterly defeated, and living each moment in faithfulness as they await the fulfillment of their relationship with Christ.

The situation for Christians near the beginning of the third millennium is not much different from the one that Paul addressed. And so his reminders remain timely. The truth and power of the gospel, the love and integrity which characterize Christ's people, and the living hope of Christ's return are especially relevant to a people confronted with the contemporary diseases of relativism, hatred, selfishness, and despair. The conviction that this universe will end with God's eternal triumph is as foreign to modern thinking as is the idea that it began by God's command. But apart from such a conviction, which stands at the center of 1 Thessalonians, can humanity find meaning in what seems to be chaos? Without it, can humanity find a basis for moral decisions? Faced with such questions, today's reader will not have to read far in 1 Thessalonians to find both blessing and challenge.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1 & 2 THESSALONIANS

COMMENTARIES

Commentaries are cited in the notes by author's last name alone.

Bruce, F.F. 1 & 2 Thessalonians . WBC 45. Waco, TX: Word, 1982.

Best, Ernest. The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians . BNTC. 1972. Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1986.

Frame, James Everett. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians . ICC. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1979 (reprint).

Marshall, I. Howard. 1 and 2 Thessalonians . NCB. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983.

Morris, Leon. The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians . NICNT. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991.

Wanamaker, Charles A. The Epistles to the Thessalonians . NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.

OTHER WORKS

Allison, Dale C. "The Pauline Epistles and the Synoptic Gospels: the Pattern of the Parallels," NTS 28 (1982)1-31.

Aus, Roger D. "God's Plan and God's Power: Isaiah 66 and the Restraining Factors of 2 Thess 2:6-7," JBL 96 (1977) 537-553.

. "The Liturgical Background of the Necessity and Propriety of Giving Thanks According to 2 Thes 1:3," JBL 92 (1973) 432-438.

Bammel, Ernst. "Preparation for the Perils of the Last Days: 1 Thessalonians 3:3." In Suffering and Martyrdom in the New Testament: Studies Presented to G. M. Styler by the Cambridge New Testament Seminar . Ed. William Horbury and Brian McNeil. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981.

Bassler, Jouette M. "The Enigmatic Sign: 2 Thessalonians 1:5," CBQ 46 (1984) 498-510.

Boers, Hendrikus. "The Form Critical Study of Paul's Letters. I Thessalonians as a Case Study," NTS 22 (1976) 140-158.

Collins, R.F. Studies on the First Letter to the Thessalonians . BETL 66. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1984.

Cottrell, Jack. What the Bible Says About God the Ruler . Joplin, MO: College Press, 1984.

Donfried, Karl P. The Theology of the Shorter Pauline Letters . New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Ellis, E. Earle. Prophecy and Hermeneutic in Early Christianity . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978.

Ferguson, Everett. Backgrounds of Early Christianity . 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.

Friskney, Tom. Thirteen Lessons on First and Second Thessalonians . Joplin, MO: College Press, 1982.

Funk, Robert W. Parables and Presence: Forms of the New Testament Tradition . Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982.

Guthrie, Donald. New Testament Introduction . 4th ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1990.

Harris, Murray J. Raised Immortal: Resurrection and Immortality in the New Testament . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983.

Hengel, Martin. The Pre-Christian Paul . Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1991.

Hewett, James A. "1 Thessalonians 3:11," ExpTim 87 (1975-76) 54-55.

Hock, Ronald F. The Social Context of Paul's Ministry: Tentmaking and Apostleship . Minneapolis: Fortress, 1980.

Holland, Glenn S. The Tradition that You Received from Us: 2 Thessalonians in the Pauline Tradition . HUT 24. Tübingen: Mohr, 1988.

Jewett, Robert. The Thessalonian Correspondence: Pauline Rhetoric and Millenarian Piety . FFNT. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986.

Johnson, Luke T. "The New Testament's Anti-Jewish Slander and the Conventions of Ancient Polemic," JBL 108 (1989) 419-441.

Klijn, A.F.J. "1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 and Its Background in Apocalyptic Literature." In Paul and Paulinism: Essays in Honour of C. K. Barrett . Ed. M.D. Hooker and S.G. Wilson. London: SPCK, 1982, pp. 67-73.

Ladd, G.E. A Theology of the New Testament . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.

Lightfoot, J.B. Notes on Epistles of St. Paul . 1885. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980.

Malherbe, Abraham J. "Exhortations in First Thessalonians," NovT 25 (1983) 238-256.

. "'Gentle as a Nurse': The Stoic Background to 1 Thess. II," NovT 12 (1970) 203-217.

. Moral Exhortation, A Greco-Roman Sourcebook . Library of Early Christianity. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1986.

. Paul and the Thessalonians: The Philosophic Tradition of Pastoral Care . Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987.

Marshall, I. Howard. "Pauline Theology in the Thessalonian Correspondence." In Paul and Paulinism: Essays in Honour of C.K. Barrett . Ed. M.D. Hooker and S.G. Wilson. London: SPCK, 1982, pp. 173-183.

Meeks, Wayne A. The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1983.

Morris, Leon. The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross . 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965.

Moule, C.F.D. The Origin of Christology . New York: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

Pauline Theology, Volume I: Thessalonians, Philippians, Galatians, Philemon . Ed. Jouette M. Bassler. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991.

Pate, C. Marvin. The End of the Age Has Come: The Theology of Paul . Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995.

Pearson, Birger A. "I Thessalonians 2:13-16: A Deutero-Pauline Interpolation," HTR 64 (1971) 79-94.

Plevnik, Joseph. "1 Thess 5,1-11: Its Authenticity, Intention and Message," Bib 60 (1979) 71-90.

. "The Taking Up of the Faithful and the Resurrection of the Dead in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18," CBQ 46 (1984) 274-283.

Poythress, Vern S. "2 Thessalonians 1 Supports Amillennialism," JETS 37 (1994) 529-538.

Russell, R. "The Idle in 2 Thess 3.6-12: An Eschatological or a Social Problem," NTS 34 (1988) 105-119.

Schlueter, Carol J. Filling Up the Measure: Polemical Hyperbole in 1 Thessalonians 2.14-16 . JSNTSup 98. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994.

Schmidt, Daryl. "1 Thess 2:13-16: Linguistic Evidence for an Interpolation," JBL 102 (1983) 269-279.

Schmithals, Walter. Paul and the Gnostics . Trans. J.E. Steely. Nashville: Abingdon, 1972.

Stowers, Stanley K. "Social Status, Public Speaking and Private Teaching: The Circumstances of Paul's Preaching Activity," NovT 26 (1984) 68-82.

The Thessalonian Correspondence . Raymond F. Collins, ed. BETL 87. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1990.

Walton, Steve "What Has Aristotle to Do with Paul? Rhetorical Criticism and 1 Thessalonians," TynBul 46 (1995) 229-249.

Warfield, B.B. "The Prophecies of St. Paul." In Biblical and Theological Studies . 1886. Ed. Samuel G. Craig. Reprint, Philadelphia: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1952, pp. 463-475.

Weatherly, Jon A. "The Authenticity of 1 Thessalonians 2.13-16: Additional Evidence," JSNT 42 (1991) 79-98.

. Jewish Responsibility for the Death of Jesus in Luke-Acts . JSNTSup 106. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994.

Wenham, David. Gospel Perspectives 4: The Rediscovery of Jesus' Eschatological Discourse . Sheffield: JSOT, 1984.

. Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity? Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.

Winter, Bruce W. "The Entries and Ethics of Orators and Paul (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12)," TynBul 44 (1993) 55-74.

Witton, J. "A Neglected Meaning for Skeuos in 1 Thessalonians 4.4," NTS 28 (1982) 142-143.

Wright, N.T. The Climax of the Covenant . Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992.

COMMENTARIES

Commentaries are cited in the notes by author's last name alone.

Bruce, F.F. 1 & 2 Thessalonians . WBC 45. Waco, TX: Word, 1982.

Best, Ernest. The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians . BNTC. 1972. Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1986.

Frame, James Everett. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians . ICC. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1979 (reprint).

Marshall, I. Howard. 1 and 2 Thessalonians . NCB. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983.

Morris, Leon. The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians . NICNT. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991.

Wanamaker, Charles A. The Epistles to the Thessalonians . NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.

OTHER WORKS

Allison, Dale C. "The Pauline Epistles and the Synoptic Gospels: the Pattern of the Parallels," NTS 28 (1982)1-31.

Aus, Roger D. "God's Plan and God's Power: Isaiah 66 and the Restraining Factors of 2 Thess 2:6-7," JBL 96 (1977) 537-553.

. "The Liturgical Background of the Necessity and Propriety of Giving Thanks According to 2 Thes 1:3," JBL 92 (1973) 432-438.

Bammel, Ernst. "Preparation for the Perils of the Last Days: 1 Thessalonians 3:3." In Suffering and Martyrdom in the New Testament: Studies Presented to G. M. Styler by the Cambridge New Testament Seminar . Ed. William Horbury and Brian McNeil. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981.

Bassler, Jouette M. "The Enigmatic Sign: 2 Thessalonians 1:5," CBQ 46 (1984) 498-510.

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Ellis, E. Earle. Prophecy and Hermeneutic in Early Christianity . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978.

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Friskney, Tom. Thirteen Lessons on First and Second Thessalonians . Joplin, MO: College Press, 1982.

Funk, Robert W. Parables and Presence: Forms of the New Testament Tradition . Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982.

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-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

ABBREVIATIONS

ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. by David Noel Freedman

ASNU Acta seminarii neotestamentici upsaliensis

ASV American Standard Version

AV Authorized (King James) Version

BAGD Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich-Danker Greek Lexicon, 1979

BDF Blass-Debrunner-Funk Greek Grammar

BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium

Bib Biblica

BNTC Black's New Testament Commentary

CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

DPL Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. by Gerald F.

Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin and Daniel G. Reid

EDNT Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. by Horst

Balz and Gerhard Schneider

ET English Translation

ExpTim Expository Times

FFNT Foundations and Facets: New Testament

GELNTBSD Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on

Semantic Domains (2nd ed.), ed. by Johannes P. Louw,

Eugene A. Nida, Rondal B. Smith and Karen A. Munson

HCNT Hellenistic Commentary to the New Testament, ed. by

M. Eugene Boring, Klaus Berger and Carsten Colpe

HTR Harvard Theological Review

HUT Hermeneutische Untersuchungen zur Theologie

ICC International Critical Commentary

JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament

JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament

Supplement Series

LSJ Liddell-Scott-Jones-McKenzie Greek Lexicon (9th ed.)

MHT Moulton-Howard-Turner Grammar of

New Testament Greek

MM Moulton-Milligan Vocabulary of the Greek Testament

NASB New American Standard Bible

NCB New Century Bible Commentary

NIDNTT New International Dictionary of New Testament

Theology, ed. by Colin Brown

NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament

NIGTC New International Greek Testament Commentary

NIV New International Version

NovT Novum Testamentum

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

NTS New Testament Studies

RSV Revised Standard Version

TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. by

Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich

TEV Today's English Version

TynBul Tyndale Bulletin

UBS United Bible Societies

UBSGNT United Bible Societies Greek New Testament

WBC Word Biblical Commentary

ZPEB Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, ed. by

Merrill Tenney

ZTK Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: 1 Thessalonians (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. GREETING - 1:1

II. THANKSGIVING - 1:2-10

A. The Initial Thanksgiving - 1:2-5

1. Paul's Constant Prayers for the Readers - 1:2

2. Their Exercise of Faith, Love and Hope - 1:3

3. Their Election - 1:4

4. The Power of the Gospel in Thessalonica - 1:5

B. Reiteration and Further Specification - 1:6-10

1. The Readers' Imitation of Paul and His Associates - 1:6a

2. Their Endurance of Suffering - 1:6b

3. Their Example to Other Churches - 1:7-8

4. Reports of Their Conversion - 1:9-10

a. Forsaking Idols to Serve the Living God - 1:9

b. Awaiting the Return of Jesus - 1:10

III. PAUL'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE THESSALONIAN CHURCH - 2:1-3:13

A. Paul's Behavior in Thessalonica - 2:1-12

1. Paul's Motives - 2:1-6a

2. Paul's Activity - 2:6b-12

B. The Thessalonians' Endurance of Persecution - 2:13-16

1. Their Genuine Reception of the Word - 2:13

2. Their Imitation of the Judean Christians - 2:14

3. The Continuity of Persecution Age to Age - 2:15-16

C. Paul's Continuing Concern for the Church - 2:17-3:10

1. His Desire to See the Thessalonians - 2:17-20

2. Timothy's Visit on Paul's Behalf - 3:1-5

3. Timothy's Report and Paul's Response - 3:6-10

D. Paul's Prayer for the Thessalonians - 3:11-13

1. That He Might Return to Them - 3:11

2. That They Might Abound in Love, and Be Blameless at the Lord's Return - 3:12-13

IV. EXHORTATION - 4:1-5:22

A. Exhortation Concerning Christian Living - 4:1-12

1. To Continue in Current Behavior - 4:1-2

2. To Remain Sexually Pure - 4:3-8

3. To Exercise Brotherly Love - 4:9-10

4. To Lead a Quiet, Honest Life - 4:11-12

B. Exhortation Concerning the Lord's Return - 4:13-5:11

1. The Dead in Christ and the Lord's Return - 4:13-18

2. The Suddenness of the Lord's Return - 5:1-11

C. General Exhortations - 5:12-22

1. Behavior in the Christian Community - 5:12-15

a. Respect for Christian Leaders - 5:12-13

b. Service and Forgiveness - 5:14-15

2. Constants of Christian Behavior - 5:16-18

3. Responding to Christian Prophecy - 5:19-22

a. Yielding to the Spirit's Work - 5:19-20

b. Testing Prophecy - 5:21-22

V. CONCLUSION - 5:23-28

A. Benediction - 5:23-24

B. Final Words - 5:25-28

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV