1 Thessalonians 4:18

4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 5:27

5:27 I call on you solemnly in the Lord ¹  to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. ² 

1 Thessalonians 1:7

1:7 As a result you became an example ³  to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

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 2:16

2:16 because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins, ⁴  but wrath ⁵  has come upon them completely. ⁶ 

1 Thessalonians 2:13

2:13 And so ⁷  we too constantly thank God that when you received God’s message that you heard from us, ⁸  you accepted it not as a human message, ⁹  but as it truly is, God’s message, which is at work among you who believe.

[5:27]  ¹ tn Grk “I adjure you by the Lord,” “I put you under oath before the Lord.”

[5:27]  ² 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.

[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.

[2:16]  ¹ tn Grk “to fill up their sins always.”

[2:16]  ² tc The Western text (D F G latt) adds τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) to ὀργή (orgh) to read “the wrath of God,” in emulation of the normal Pauline idiom (cf., e.g., Rom 1:18; Eph 5:6; Col 3:6) and, most likely, to clarify which wrath is in view (since ὀργή is articular).

[2:16]  ³ tn Or “at last.”

[2:13]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “God’s word of hearing from us.”

[2:13]  ³ 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.