To the Thessalonians I. So the title runs in the oldest copies. St Paul's Epistles were at first gathered into a single volume by themselves, entitled "the Apostle." Within this volume the Epistles were distinguished simply by the names of those to whom they were addressed. The order of this earlies... [ Continue Reading ]
The Address and Salutation. Ch. 1 Thessalonians 1:1 This being the earliest of St Paul's extant letters, let us note with care the form of his address and introduction, for it is that from which he never departed. But his greetings were enlarged as time went on, and varied with every variation in t... [ Continue Reading ]
_We give thanks to God always for you all_ "We," i.e. the three above named. Here, as in Philippians 1:4, he has thankfulness and joy over them "all;" no other Churches seem to have been so much to the Apostle's mind as these two. And everything dear to him or useful to others in his friends moves h... [ Continue Reading ]
_remembering without ceasing … in the sight of God and our Father_ Standing ever in the presence of God, the witness of all his thoughts, St Paul bears with him unceasingly the remembrance of what he had beheld in the Christian life and spirit of his Thessalonian brethren. The adjunct comes in with... [ Continue Reading ]
_knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God_ Better, following the A. V. _margin_and R. V., KNOWING, BRETHREN BELOVED BY GOD, YOUR ELECTION: comp. 2 Thessalonians 2:13, "brethren beloved by the Lord." The Apostle thinks of his readers as _brethren_, for he has just been carrying them in his th... [ Continue Reading ]
_For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power_ The R. V. reads, HOW THAT OUR GOSPEL, &c.; better perhaps, IN THAT; the difference is slight: in any case the conversion of the Thessalonians, described in 1 Thessalonians 1:5, was not that wherein their election _consisted_, but whe... [ Continue Reading ]
_And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord_ IMITATORS OF US &c. (R.V.); comp. ch. 1 Thessalonians 2:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:9, where the same correction is made. An "imitator" not only accepts the teaching of another, but copies his example. This _imitation_consisted (1) in the joyful endurance o... [ Continue Reading ]
_so that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia_ Rather, YE BECAME AN ENSAMPLE (R. V.), or EXAMPLE, or PATTERN (as the same word naturalized as "type" in English is rendered in Titus 2:7; Hebrews 8:5). The Apostle applies this expression to himself in 2 Thessalonians 3:9; also... [ Continue Reading ]
_For from you sounded out the word of the Lord_ Better, HATH SOUNDED OUT, or RESOUNDED. The Greek word suggests a clear ringing note, "as of a trumpet" (Chrysostom); and the tense (perfect) implies no transient sound, but a continuing effect: see note on _beloved_, 1 Thessalonians 1:4. "The word of... [ Continue Reading ]
_For they themselves shew of us_ Rather, REPORT CONCERNING US (R.V.) "They" points to "those in Macedonia and Achaia" and "in every place," any whom the Apostle visited, or to whom he had thought of sending the news. "Instead of waiting to be told by us, we find them spreading the joyful news alread... [ Continue Reading ]
_and to wait for his Son from heaven_… even _Jesus_ Lit., FROM THE HEAVENS: comp. 2 Corinthians 12:2, "the third heaven;" and Hebrews 4:14, "Jesus, … Who (in ascending) hath passed through the heavens." _Heaven_is a plural word in Hebrew, and its conception was manifold, implying the existence of su... [ Continue Reading ]