1 Thessalonians 4:9

εχομεν (for εχετε) in אcD*G 67**, latt vg syrhcl, Chr Ambrst; while B, am, Pelag read ειχομεν—probably a Western emendation, pointing to an older εχομεν. Weiss, however, and Tregellesmg prefer ειχομεν as the hardest reading, regarding εχετε as conformed to 1 Thessalonians 4:1; see Expository Note. εχετε, in א*ADcHKL, &c., cop syrpesh aeth. The 1st plural looks like a stylistic assimilation to παρακαλουμεν δε, 1 Thessalonians 4:10.

9. Περὶ δὲ τῆς φιλαδελφίας οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε γράφειν ὑμῖν. About love of the brethren, however, you have no need that one (or that we) write to you. There was need (note the contrastive δέ) to write on the former subject. The introduction of a fresh topic by περὶ δέ, as isn 1 Thessalonians 4:1 below, prevails in 1 Corinthians (περὶ μέν, 2 Corinthians 9:1), and then drops out of use in the Epistles.

Φιλαδελφία is enjoined, as a distinctive Christian virtue arising out of the relation of believers to each other in “the household of faith,” in Romans 12:10; Hebrews 13:1 (see also 1 Peter 1:22, and Hort’s Note). It is distinguished from ἀγάπη, the general principle of spiritual love, in 2 Peter 1:7 : cf. 2 Peter 3:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:3; Galatians 5:13 ff.; Philippians 2:1 ff.; also John 13:34 f., John 15:17; 1 John 2:9 ff., 1 John 3:14 ff., 1 John 3:23; 1 John 4:11. In 1 John 4:19 to 1 John 5:2 love to God in Christ, and love to the children of God, are shown to be an identical affection devoted to kindred objects, In common Greek the word φιλάδελφος, -ία, did not go beyond the literal sense.

There is a slight laxity of expression in the words οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε γράφειν: either ἔχομεν … γράφειν (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:8; also Acts 25:26; 2 John 1:12), or ἔχετε … γράφεσθαι (1 Thessalonians 5:1), would have been more exact. On the constructions of χρείαν ἔχειν, see note to 1 Thessalonians 1:8. Cf. περισσόν μοί ἐστιν τὸ γράφειν, 2 Corinthians 9:1.

αὐτοὶ γὰρ ὑμεῖς θεοδίδακτοί ἐστε εἰς τὸ�, for of yourselves you are God-taught, to the end you should love one another. Not simply “taught to love,” as though this were the one lesson of God’s grace, “but taught of God that you may love,” this being τὸ τέλος τῆς παραγγελίας (1 Timothy 1:5); “doctrinæ divinæ vis confluit in amorem” (Bengel): cf. οὐ … ἐκάλεσεν … ἐπὶ�, 1 Thessalonians 4:7. God’s own teaching (scil. through His Spirit, 1 Thessalonians 4:8, and His word) had been received by the readers so abundantly and directly, that further advice on this subject seems superfluous. Αὐτοὶ … ὑμεῖς presents a tacit contrast to ἡμεῖς, much as in 1 Thessalonians 1:8 f., 1 Thessalonians 2:1. For the idiomatic use of εἰς τό with infinitives, see note on 1 Thessalonians 2:12.

Θεο-δίδακτος is a hapax leg. in Scripture (cf. θεο-στυγής, probably passive, in Romans 1:30; θεό-πνευστος in 2 Timothy 3:16); its elements are found in John 6:45, which rests upon Isaiah 54:13; Jeremiah 31:33 f.,—passages probably in the Apostle’s mind here: cf. Psalms of Solomon Psalms 17:35; and Matthew 23:8. The phrase διδακτοῖς πνεύματος in 1 Corinthians 2:13 is very similar. The compound word was naturalized in the Greek Fathers.

1 Thessalonians 4:10 proves that the Thessalonian Christians are “God-taught” to the above effect: for indeed you are doing that (showing mutual love) toward all the brethren in the whole of Macedonia.

ποιεῖτε αὐτό is a chief instance of the καθὼς … περιπατεῖτε credited to the readers in 1 Thessalonians 4:1; this agrees with the testimony of 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:7 ff., 2 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:4. εἰς πάντας τοὺς� extends the ἀλλήλους of 1 Thessalonians 4:9 beyond the bounds of Thessalonica; a close intercourse and friendship linked the Macedonian Christians, including those of Philippi (see Philippians 4:16) and Berœa along with other Christian communities that had by this time sprung from these,—or the writers could hardly have said, “in the whole of Macedonia”; see Introd. pp. xv. f., lxii. Εἰς signifies direction of effort (cf. Ephesians 1:15 : Philemon 1:5 f.). If the second τούς be inauthentic (see Textual Note), ἐν ὅλῃ κ.τ.λ. must be attached to ποιεῖτε as denoting the region “in” which the readers display their “love of the brethren.” Thessalonica, being the capital and commercial centre of Macedonia, was a place of constant resort; and the Christians there had frequent opportunities of giving hospitality to those of other towns; this was a chief form of brotherly love in the primitive Church (see Romans 12:13; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8; Hebrews 13:1; 1 Peter 4:9). Ποιεῖτε conveys a slight contrast to -δίδακτοι of the last clause: “you are not only taught, for indeed you do it”: cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:24; 2 Corinthians 8:10 f.; Matthew 7:21; Matthew 7:24; James 1:23 ff., for similar antitheses to ποιεῖν.

As ποιεῖτε αὐτό repeats the καθὼς περιπατεῖτε of 1 Thessalonians 4:1, so παρακαλοῦμεν … περισσεύειν μᾶλλον resumes the παρακαλοῦμεν … ἵνα περισσεύητε μᾶλλον of that context: see notes above. In ἀγάπη there is always room for increase and growth: cf. Ephesians 3:19; Romans 13:8 (a debt never quite discharged). 2 Thessalonians 1:3 shows that the present exhortation was acted upon. The infinitive is the more regular construction after παρακαλέω; ἵνα in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 (see note).