1 Thessalonians 1:2

Thanksgiving for Response to the Gospel

1:2 We thank God always for all of you as we mention you constantly ¹  in our prayers,

1 Thessalonians 2:2

2:2 But although we suffered earlier and were mistreated in Philippi, ²  as you know, we had the courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God ³  in spite of much opposition.

1 Thessalonians 2:4

2:4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we declare it, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts.

1 Thessalonians 3:9

3:9 For how can we thank God enough for you, ⁴  for all the joy we feel ⁵  because of you before our God?

1 Thessalonians 4:6

4:6 In this matter no one should violate the rights of his brother or take advantage of him, ⁶  because the Lord is the avenger in all these cases, ⁷  as we also told you earlier and warned you solemnly.

1 Thessalonians 3:2

3:2 We ⁸  sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God ⁹  in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith,

1 Thessalonians 2:13

2:13 And so ¹⁰  we too constantly thank God that when you received God’s message that you heard from us, ¹¹  you accepted it not as a human message, ¹²  but as it truly is, God’s message, which is at work among you who believe.

[1:2]  ¹ tn Or “mention you in our prayers, because we recall constantly…”

[2:2]  ² map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[2:2]  ³ tn The genitive in the phrase τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ (to euangelion tou qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. This same phrase occurs in vv. 8 and 9 as well.

[3:9]  ³ tn Grk “what thanks can we render to God about you.”

[3:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “all the joy with which we rejoice.”

[4:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “not to transgress against or defraud his brother in the matter,” continuing the sentence of vv. 3-5.

[4:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “concerning all these things.”

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[3:2]  ⁶ 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.

[2:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “for this reason,” which seems to look back to Paul’s behavior just described. But it may look forward to v. 13b and mean: “and here is another reason that we constantly thank God: that…”

[2:13]  ⁷ tn Grk “God’s word of hearing from us.”

[2:13]  ⁸ tn Paul’s focus is their attitude toward the message he preached: They received it not as a human message but a message from God.