1 Thessalonians 2:4

4. τῳ prefixed to θεῳ τῳ δοκιμαζοντι by אcADcGKL (Syrian witnesses), against א*BCD*P 67** (Pre-Syrian): the first τῳ due to the presence of the second. Cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:15 for anarthrous θεῳ in this connexion; also 1 Thessalonians 4:1, and Romans 8:8.

4. Base motives and methods were excluded, once for all, by the nature of the apostolic commission: ἀλλὰ καθὼς δεδοκιμάσμεθα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πιστευθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, κ.τ.λ. But according as we have been approved by God to be put in trust with the Good News, we thus speak—quemadmodum probati fuimus a Deo, ut crederetur nobis Evangelium, sic loquimur (Calvin). Δεδοκιμάσμεθα (in the perf. tense, of settled and resultful fact), which is echoed by δοκιμάζοντι τὰς καρδίας in the appended clause, is the decisive word: God’s approval, shown by the conferment of this lofty commission, certifies the honesty of the Apostles and supplies its standard: cf., on this latter point, 1 Thessalonians 2:12, εἰς τὸ περιπατεῖν … ἀξίως, κ.τ.λ.; and 2 Thessalonians 1:11. There is a play on the double sense of δοκιμάζω (based on δόκιμος—see e.g. Romans 16:10—accepted, approved, with its root in δέχομαι), which means first to assay, put to proof, as one does metal, coin, &c. (see Jeremiah 11:20, LXX, κύριε κρίνων δίκαια, δοκιμάζων νεφροὺς καὶ καρδίας: cf. Proverbs 17:3; Zechariah 13:9, &c.; also 1 Corinthians 3:13, and 1 Peter 1:7; 1 Peter 2:4), then to approve on testing, as in 1 Corinthians 16:3 : in the latter sense synon. with ἀξιόω, 2 Thessalonians 1:11, in the former with πειράζω; see Trench’s Synon. § 74. St Paul makes a similar appeal, in the face of disparagement, to the Divine judgement respecting himself in 1 Corinthians 4:1 ff.; and again in 2 Corinthians 1:12; 2 Corinthians 1:17-23.

For πιστευθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, cf., both as to sense and grammatical form, Galatians 2:7; 1 Timothy 1:11 ff.: as to the fact, in St Paul’s own case, see Galatians 1:12; Galatians 1:15 f., Galatians 2:8 f.; Acts 9:15 f., Acts 22:14 f., Acts 26:16 ff.; Ephesians 3:2 ff.; 2 Timothy 1:11. Πιστεύομαι with nomin. of person (representing the dative after the active verb) and accus. of thing follows a sound Greek construction, occurring, for this particular verb, only in St Paul in the N.T.: add to the examples above given Romans 3:2; 1 Corinthians 9:17; consult Winer-Moulton, p. 326, Rutherford, Syntax, §201, Goodwin’s Greek Grammar, 1236. For λαλοῦμεν, see note to 1 Thessalonians 2:2.

οὕτως λαλοῦμεν is defined a second time, by οὐχ ὡς� κ.τ.λ., not as (though we were) pleasing men, but (as pleasing) God who tries our hearts. The sentence “doubles back on itself” in true Pauline fashion (cf. e.g. Colossians 1:5), the ὡς clause putting over again, in another light, what the καθώς clause had asserted. Those who serve human masters “speak” in a manner calculated to “please” them; the Apostles preach in a spirit accordant with their responsibility to God, whom they felt to be ever “trying” their “hearts.” “Ἀρέσκειν θεῷ can only be spoken de conatu, as in Galatians 1:10” (Schmiedel): for this idiom of the pres. and impf. tenses, see Kühner2, ii. § 382. 6, Rutherford, Syntax, § 210, Goodwin’s Greek Grammar, 1255. For “pleasing God,” cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:15; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; Romans 8:8; 1 Corinthians 7:32 : for “men,” Ephesians 6:6—and in a good sense, 1 Corinthians 10:33; Romans 15:1 ff.

For δοκιμάζω, see note on p. 37; the phrase comes from Jeremiah 11:20. τὰς καρδίας, plural (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:5), shows that St Paul carries his companions with him in all he writes (τὴν καρδίαν would have suited the conventional pluralis auctoris); see note on the Address (1 Thessalonians 1:1), and Lightfoot’s note ad hoc. “The heart” in Scripture is not the seat of mere emotion, as when in modern usage it is opposed to “the head,” but of “the inner man” comprehensively (see Ephesians 3:16 f.); it is the centre and meeting-point of the soul’s movements. There the real self is found, which God sees (see Acts 1:24; 1 Samuel 16:7; Mark 7:21, &c.)—hence contrasted with “the mouth” or “lips” or “body” (Romans 10:10; Matthew 15:8; Proverbs 16:23; Hebrews 10:22, &c.).

1 Thessalonians 2:5-8 contain a third apologetic denial, introduced by γάρ, and stated once more in the οὐκ … ἀλλά form of contradiction. The negative half consists of three members, as in 1 Thessalonians 2:3, but is more extended; these are distinguished by οὔτε, not οὐδέ as before, since they are more closely kindred.