1 Thessalonians 3:11

11. χριστος supplements ο κυριος ημων Ιησους in DcGKL: a characteristic Western and Syrian addition; see note on 1 Thessalonians 2:19 above.

11. Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς κατευθύναι τὴν ὁδὸν ἡμῶν κ.τ.λ. Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way unto you. The Apostles appeal to “God Himself and Christ” to clear their way to Thessalonica, hitherto obstructed by Satan (1 Thessalonians 2:18; cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:5). So many prayers, however, in these two Epistles begin with the formula Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ θεός or ὁ κύριος, which is peculiar to them (1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:16; 2 Thessalonians 3:16), that one hesitates to lay stress on the αὐτός here: this may mean only, as Lightfoot puts it, that “After all said and done, it is for God Himself to direct our path.” From “our God and Father” (see 1 Thessalonians 1:3, and note) the Apostles crave the help which, in this sovereign and gracious character, He is surely bound to give (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:16; Matthew 6:8 f.; Luke 11:13; John 17:11). Κατευθύνω, to make straight—a classical verb, found only here and in 2 Thessalonians 3:5; Luke 1:79, in the N.T.; a common O.T. word (see e.g. Psalms 5:8; Psalms 118:5, LXX): it is the opposite of ἐνκόπτω, 1 Thessalonians 2:18 (see note).

The association of “our Lord Jesus” with “God the Father” in acts of prayer and thanksgiving is a very noticeable feature of these two Letters; it affords impressive evidence, coming from the oldest N.T. writings, of the deity of Jesus Christ as this was conceived by the first Christians; the two are so identified that they count as one (cf. the words of Jesus in John 10:30, ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν), blending in the singular optative predicate, κατευθύναι: see also 2 Thessalonians 2:16 f., and note. The petition of 1 Thessalonians 3:12 is addressed to “the Lord” solely.