1 Thessalonians 1:7

1:7 As a result you became an example ¹  to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

1 Thessalonians 2:6

2:6 nor to seek glory from people, either from you or from others,

1 Thessalonians 2:10

2:10 You are witnesses, and so is God, as to how holy and righteous and blameless our conduct was toward you who believe.

1 Thessalonians 3:1

3:1 So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens ²  alone.

1 Thessalonians 3:7

3:7 So ³  in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters, ⁴  through your faith.

1 Thessalonians 5:1

The Day of the Lord

5:1 Now on the topic of times and seasons, ⁵  brothers and sisters, ⁶  you have no need for anything to be written to you.

1 Thessalonians 5:9

5:9 For God did not destine us for wrath ⁷  but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:27

5:27 I call on you solemnly in the Lord ⁸  to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. ⁹ 

[1:7]  ¹ tc Most mss (א A C D² F G Ψ 0278 Ï) have the plural τύπους (tupou", “examples”) here, while a few important witnesses have the singular τύπον (tupon, “example”; B D*^,c 6 33 81 104 1739 1881 pc lat). With ὑμᾶς (Jumas, “you”) immediately preceding, the plural form looks motivated: Scribes would be expected to change the singular to the plural here. Although the external evidence for the singular reading is not overwhelming, the internal evidence for it is compelling.

[3:1]  ² map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[3:7]  ³ tn Or “for this reason.”

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.

[5:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “concerning the times and the seasons,” a reference to future periods of eschatological fulfillment (cf. Acts 1:7).

[5:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.

[5:9]  ⁵ sn God did not destine us for wrath. In context this refers to the outpouring of God’s wrath on the earth in the day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:2-4).

[5:27]  ⁶ tn Grk “I adjure you by the Lord,” “I put you under oath before the Lord.”

[5:27]  ⁷ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א² A Ψ [33] 1739 1881 Ï ar vg sy bo), read “holy” before “brothers [and sisters]” (ἁγίοις ἀδελφοῖς, Jagioi" adelfoi"). It is possible that ἁγίοις dropped out by way of homoioteleuton (in uncial script the words would be written agioisadelfois), but it is equally possible that the adjective was added because of the influence of ἁγίῳ (Jagiw) in v. 26. Another internal consideration is that the expression ἅγιοι ἀδελφοί ({agioi adelfoi, “holy brothers”) is not found elsewhere in the corpus Paulinum, though Col 1:2 comes close. But this fact could be argued either way: It may suggest that such an expression is not Pauline; on the other hand, the unusualness of the expression could have resulted in an alteration by some scribes. At the same time, since 1 Thessalonians is one of the earliest of Paul’s letters, and written well before he addresses Christians as saints (ἅγιοι) in 1 Corinthians for the first time, one might argue that Paul’s own forms of expression were going through something of a metamorphosis. Scribes insensitive to this fact could well impute later Pauline collocations onto his earlier letters. The internal evidence seems to support, albeit slightly, the omission of ἁγίοις here. Externally, most of the better witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א* B D F G 0278 it sa) combine in having the shorter reading. Although the rating of “A” in UBS⁴ for the omission seems too generous, this reading is still to be preferred.