3:1 Finally, pray for us, brothers and sisters, 2 that the Lord’s message 3 may spread quickly and be honored 4 as in fact it was among you,
1:1 From Paul 5 and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians 6 in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:1 From Paul 7 and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians 8 in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
46:7 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! 9
The God of Jacob 10 is our protector! 11 (Selah)
46:11 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! 12
The God of Jacob 13 is our protector! 14 (Selah)
8:10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted!
Issue your orders, but they will not be executed! 15
For God is with us! 16
1 tc Most witnesses, including some early and important ones (א2 A D F G Ψ Ï lat sy), conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, the witnesses for the omission are among the best
2 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:3.
3 tn Or “the word of the Lord.”
4 tn Grk “may run and be glorified.”
3 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
4 map For the location of Thessalonica see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.
4 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
5 map For the location of Thessalonica see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.
5 tn Heb “the
6 tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).
7 tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).
6 tn Heb “the
7 tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).
8 tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).
7 tn Heb “speak a word, but it will not stand.”
8 sn In these vv. 9-10 the tone shifts abruptly from judgment to hope. Hostile nations like Assyria may attack God’s people, but eventually they will be destroyed, for God is with his people, sometimes to punish, but ultimately to vindicate. In addition to being a reminder of God’s presence in the immediate crisis faced by Ahaz and Judah, Immanuel (whose name is echoed in this concluding statement) was a guarantee of the nation’s future greatness in fulfillment of God’s covenantal promises. Eventually God would deliver his people from the hostile nations (vv. 9-10) through another child, an ideal Davidic ruler who would embody God’s presence in a special way (see 9:6-7). Jesus the Messiah is the fulfillment of the Davidic ideal prophesied by Isaiah, the one whom Immanuel foreshadowed. Through the miracle of the incarnation he is literally “God with us.” Matthew realized this and applied Isaiah’s ancient prophecy of Immanuel’s birth to Jesus (Matt 1:22-23). The first Immanuel was a reminder to the people of God’s presence and a guarantee of a greater child to come who would manifest God’s presence in an even greater way. The second Immanuel is “God with us” in a heightened and infinitely superior sense. He “fulfills” Isaiah’s Immanuel prophecy by bringing the typology intended by God to realization and by filling out or completing the pattern designed by God. Of course, in the ultimate fulfillment of the type, the incarnate Immanuel’s mother must be a virgin, so Matthew uses a Greek term (παρθένος, parqenos), which carries that technical meaning (in contrast to the Hebrew word עַלְמָה [’almah], which has the more general meaning “young woman”). Matthew draws similar analogies between NT and OT events in 2:15, 18. The linking of these passages by analogy is termed “fulfillment.” In 2:15 God calls Jesus, his perfect Son, out of Egypt, just as he did his son Israel in the days of Moses, an historical event referred to in Hos 11:1. In so doing he makes it clear that Jesus is the ideal Israel prophesied by Isaiah (see Isa 49:3), sent to restore wayward Israel (see Isa 49:5, cf. Matt 1:21). In 2:18 Herod’s slaughter of the infants is another illustration of the oppressive treatment of God’s people by foreign tyrants. Herod’s actions are analogous to those of the Assyrians, who deported the Israelites, causing the personified land to lament as inconsolably as a mother robbed of her little ones (Jer 31:15).
8 tn Grk “they will call his name.”
9 sn A quotation from Isa 7:14.
10 tn Grk “is translated.”
11 sn An allusion to Isa 8:8, 10 (LXX).
9 tn The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has been translated here as “remember” (BDAG 468 s.v. 1.c).
10 sn I am with you. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the prophecy that the Savior’s name would be “Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us,’” (1:23, in which the author has linked Isa 7:14 and 8:8, 10 together) and it ends with Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples forever. The Gospel of Matthew thus forms an inclusio about Jesus in his relationship to his people that suggests his deity.
11 tc Most
10 tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20.
11 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
12 tn Grk “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ with your spirit.” The elided verb, normally an optative, has been rendered as “be.”
13 tc Most witnesses, including several excellent ones (א C D1 Ψ 0278 Ï lat sy), conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, several good witnesses (Ì87 A D* 048vid 6 33 81 1739* 1881 sa) lack the ἀμήν, rendering the omission the preferred reading.