1 Thessalonians 1 - Introduction

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 earliest collection was the same as appears in our English Bibles (except that the position of the Epistle to the Hebrewsvaried now fourth, now tenth, and then last of the fourteen). The Thessalonian letters came last in the second group, which consisted of five smaller Epistles addressed to Churches Ephesians to2 Thessalonians. This was not the order of time (see Introd. p. 27), but of magnitude and supposed importance.