1 Thessalonians

2:13-16

2. Paul's relationship with the church, 2:1-3:13

ii] Thanksgiving for their response to the gospel

Paul has defended himself from the charge that his ministry is a front for financial gain and now he goes on to express his thanks to the members of the Thessalonian congregation. When Paul visited Thessalonica, he was given a hearing and inevitably a number of people accepted the gospel as a message from God. As always, an acceptance of the gospel brings with it negative social consequences, but like the believers in Judea, the Thessalonians stood firm in their faith against violent opposition.

i] Context: See 2:1-12.

ii] Structure: Paul's thanksgiving for their response to the gospel:

Thanksgiving proper, v13:

An open reception of the gospel.

Gospel opposition, v14-16:

A willingness to suffer for the gospel, v14.

Violent, v15a;

Focused on hindering the gospel, v15b-16a;

Eternal consequences, v16b;

They heap up their sins for the wrath of God.

iii] Interpretation:

Paul's thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' response to the gospel: i] Thanksgiving proper, v13. In this thanksgiving, Paul offers God his thanks for the thoughtful recognition and acceptance of the gospel message that he and Silas preached in Thessalonica, an acceptance which recognised that the message was not of human design, but divine in origin.

kai "And" - and. This variant is most likely original, given that it is rather awkward - more likely removed than added. It would be unusual for Paul to use kai, rather than de, to introduce the next step in his argument, but it was probably intended to serve this purpose, ie., transitional. As such, it should be treated in English as a paragraph marker; "As for us, we also thank God constantly ......"

dia touto "-" - because of this. With touto, "this reason", being backward referencing, dia touto is usually inferential; "therefore"; "Moreover, in consideration of all this (= therefore), we give unceasing thanks, ...", Cassirer. Barclay stays with cause / reason; "There is another reason why we continually thank God. We thank him because when you received the message of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human message, but as indeed it is, as a message from God."

kai "also" - [we] and = also. Here adverbial, adjunctive, "also"; "Added to this ......." Possibly serving to strengthen hJmeiV, "we", so "we for our part", Best, ie., emphatic.

tw/ qew/ (oV) dat. "[thank] God" - [give thanks to] god [unceasingly]. Dative of direct object after the verb "to give thanks to." The verb is modified by the modal adverb "unceasingly, constantly."

oJti "because" - because. Introducing a causal clause explaining why Paul unceasingly gives thanks to God for the Thessalonians. The ESV, so Fee, treat the oJti clause as epexegetic, specifying the content of touto, "this", cf., BDF 442.12; "we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God ....."

paralabonteV (paralambanw) aor. part. "when you received" - having received. The participle is adverbial, best taken as temporal, as NIV. The sense is "receive by approval / conviction by accepting", BDAG, and technically of receiving a tradition, which, in this case, refers to receiving the gospel tradition, cf., 1Cor.15:3, Gal.1:12.

tou qeou (oV) gen. "[the word] of God" - [the word = message of hearing beside = from us] of god. The genitive is adjectival, usually classified here as verbal, subjective, "proceeding from God", so Ellicott, Morris, ..., taking the head noun logon, "word, message" = "word of proclamation", BDAG, as a verbal noun. Of course, we may also classify it as descriptive, idiomatic / source, "which proceeds from God." The placement of this genitive is unusual, given that it is unrelated to the head noun "word". Paul seems to have added it as a qualification having just said that the message was from him (and Silas, "us", although Paul often uses the royal plural), when of course it is primarily from God. So the sense is "when you received the message (logoV, "word", the gospel - the apostolic tradition handed down), which you heard from us, a message which came directly from God, ......" So, although Paul states that the gospel communicated to the Thessalonians came from his lips, he adds that the prime source for the message is God himself. So, in simple terms, Paul's construction here serves to establish an "emphatic contrast", Morris; "When you received the word of divine preaching which goes out from us", Cassirer.

akohV (h) gen. "which you heard" - [word] of hearing / report. The genitive is adjectival, attributive, limiting "word of proclamation", as NIV. The word can refer to the act of hearing, or what is heard. If what is heard is in mind then "the preached word / message from us"; if the act of hearing is in mind then "the message which you heard from us."

para + gen. "from [us]" - beside [us]. Here expressing source / origin, "from us".

anqrwpwn (oV) gen. "a human [word]" - [you received it not as it is (kaqwV estin is assumed) a word] of men [but as it is truly a word of god]. The genitive, as with "of God", is adjectival, possibly source / origin, "from men .... from God", or better, attributive, limiting "word", "a human word ...... a divine word."

alla "but" - but. Strong adversative standing in a counterpoint construction; "not ....., but ...."

kaqwV + verb to-be. "as [it actually is]" - as [it is truly word of god]. Usually treated as a comparative, so Wanamaker; "just as it truly is a message from God". Yet, it is possible that here the sense is heading toward basis / cause / reason; "you received the message not because it is a human message, but because it is truly, really a divine message."

kai "[which] is indeed" - [which] and = also [works]. The conjunction here is adverbial, adjunctive, "which word also works in you", but possibly emphatic, as NIV. "This same word of proclamation is active in you believers".

en + dat. "in" - in [you]. Local, space / metaphorical.

toiV pisteuousin (pisteuw) dat. pres. "who believe" - the ones believing. The participle serves as a substantive standing in apposition to "you", although usually translated as adjectival, attributive, limiting "you", as NIV. "It is really a divine message, a power which is at work in you who believe."

ii] Gospel opposition, v14-16: A willingness to suffer for the gospel, v14. Paul is quite chuffed that his new converts in Thessalonica have proved their worth, proved their genuine response to the gospel, by standing firm in persecution. It seems likely that the congregation is primarily Gentile, but it would look very Jewish to the outsider, and so the persecution is probably coming from the Gentile population. None-the-less, the troubles were initiated by members of the local synagogue; see Taylor, Who Persecuted the Thessalonian Christians? Paul's letters to the Thessalonians reflect the early years of the Christian church when the Jerusalem church faced persecution, a persecution Paul himself initiated. So, the troubles in Judea serve as a model of faithful endurance, a model which the Thessalonian believers now emulate. See Jewett, Agitators; he argues that Jewish nationalists were involved in persecuting Jewish Christian throughout Palestine because of their mission to the Gentiles.

Except for v16b, "The wrath of God has come upon them at last", v14-16a serves as a single sentence in the Greek text commencing with a causal gar. As such, the clause serves to provide the basis for the thanksgiving in v13; "For you brothers, became imitators ......"

gar "for" - for. Here more reason than cause, ie., "a marker of clarification", BDAG; "Brothers and sisters, let me explain in more detail my reason for giving thanks to God for you. What happened to you is the very counterpart of what happened to God's churches in Judea."

twn ekklhsiwn (a) gen. "of [God's] churches" - [you became imitators] of the churches [of god]. The genitive is adjectival, usually treated as verbal, subjective, "you followed the example set by the congregations of God in Judea". None-the-less, the genitive may also be treated as objective, "you imitated the churches", Shogren. The genitive "of God" is probably possessive, as NIV. We have here an early use of the word ekklhsia. The word has no religious significance and means nothing more than "an assembly / gathering / meeting." The special nature of this assembly is that it is "in Christ", and that Christ is in it. Note that the noun mimhthV, "imitator", has a negative connotation in English which has prompted the TEV translation "the same things happened to you that happened to the churches of God in Judea."

twn ouswn (eimi) gen. pres. part. "[in Judea]" - the ones being [in judea in christ jesus]. The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "churches"; "the churches ... that are in Judea". The preposition en, "in", is locative, expressing space, ie., indicating where the churches are. Paul adds the prepositional phrase en Cristw/ Ihsou, "in Christ Jesus." Here en is again locative, but expressing sphere / incorporative union; "in union with Christ Jesus." "The churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea", ESV.

oJti "-" - because. Wanamaker suggests more reason than cause, explaining "the grounds of saying that the Thessalonians imitated the Jewish Christians of Judea", None-the-less, often translated as causal; "because you too, have suffered so at the hands of your own countrymen, just as they suffered from the Jews", Berkeley.

kai "-" - [the same things you] and = also [suffered]. Adjunctive use of the conjunction, repeated with "like also they (the Christians in Judea) suffered by the Jews."

uJpo + gen. "from [your own people]" - by [the own fellow countrymen]. Here expressing agency; "because you also suffered persecution by (at the hand of) your own countrymen." The preposition is also used in the following clause "as also they by the Jews."

kaqwV "the same things" - as, like [they by the jews]. Comparative; "when you suffered at the hands of your fellow-countrymen you were sharing the experience of the Judean Christian churches who suffered persecution by the Jews", Phillips. Note that the word "Jews" derives from the region, namely Judea, so in its fullest sense it means "the [Jewish] people of Judea."

Those opposed to the gospel are violent and so will have to face the wrath of God, v15-16. Paul is highly critical of his fellow countrymen. It was they who had fermented the troubles in Thessalonica, troubles which forced Paul and Silas to flee. They even pursued him, fermenting more trouble for the missionaries, cf., Acts 17:13. Paul reminds his readers that not only did Jesus die at the hands of his own people, but Jewish believers in Palestine have also suffered at their hands (hJmaV, "us", may specifically reference Paul and his fellow missioners). Paul's main charge against his fellow Jews is that they hindered the Gentile mission. This criticism is unlikely to be focused on the judaizers (legalistic Christian Jews), but the Jews in general. The Jewish authorities saw it as their responsibility to chastise wayward Jews for daring to pollute the purity of the Jewish faith by the inclusion of Gentiles. It is very unwise to classify Paul's words here as anti-Semitic; he has every right to criticise the hostility demonstrated by his own countrymen.

Verses 15 is formed by four attributive clauses limiting / modifying "the Jews", v14 - the first three use a participle and the fourth an adjective. The clauses are linked by the conjunction kai, with the direct object in an emphatic position (placed before the verb). This pattern is broken in v16a.

twn ... apokteinantwn (apokteinw) gen. aor. part. "who killed [the Lord Jesus]" - of the ones having killed. The three participles, "having killed", "having persecuted / driven out" (NIV "drove [us] out"; the ek prefix my give this sense or it may simply intensify, ie., "severely persecuted"), and "[not] pleasing [God]", are adjectival, attributive, limiting the genitive "Jews", as NIV, ie., the Jews in question are those who persecuted Jesus and the Christian prophets of the early church (who were also Jews) and ........ So, the description of the Jews in mind covers the rest of the sentence, excluding "but wrath has come upon them at last!", v16b. "The Jews who put the Lord Jesus and the prophets to death, who are persecuting us cruelly, who incur the displeasure of God and are contrary to all people".

touV profhtaV (hV ou) "the prophets" - [and = both the lord jesus and] the prophets. Accusative direct object of the participle "having killed". The prophets are most likely Christian prophets, and this may include the apostles / leaders / witnesses etc., contra Fee who thinks Paul has in mind the OT prophets, ie., "their own prophets", NEB note. Note the possible translation "killing Jesus and persecuting the prophets and us."

qew (oV) dat. "[they displease] God" - [and having severely persecuted us and not pleasing] god. Dative of direct object after to verb "to give pleasure to." "How displeasing they are to God!", TEV.

enantiwn gen. adj. "are hostile [to everyone]" - [and were] contrary to, oppose, against [all men]]. The genitive adjective is attributive, limiting "Jews", so functioning in accord with the three participles in the sentence. This en prefix adjective takes a dative complement, here "to all men." The statement "hostile to everyone" reflects Jewish exclusivism, a stance that prompts a negative reaction (similar to Christianity - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me", Jn.14:6). This phrase makes the point that Paul's fellow countrymen continue to oppose the outpouring of God's grace upon humanity, which displeasing of God is demonstrated in their hostility toward broken humanity.

The fifth modifying clause of "the Jews", v14, does not follow the pattern of the first four, v15, so the participle "forbidding" is most likely not attributive, limiting "the Jews", "who hinder us from preaching to the Gentiles, are, in these ways, filling up the measure of their sins", but adverbial, instrumental, expressing means by which "the Jews" are hostile to all people, "by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved - so as always to fill up the measure of their sins", ESV, so Weima, contra Best.

kwluontwn (kwluow) gen. pres. part. "in their efforts to keep" - forbidding, hindering [us]. The participle is adverbial, probably instrumental, as above. The present tense, being durative, may indicate ongoing forbidding, "they are continually hindering us", but aspect doesn't seem to apply to participles to the extent that it applies to a finite verb. The personal pronoun "us" may refer to Paul and Silas / the missionaries, but may extend to all Jewish believers who seek to witness their faith to fellow Jews and Gentile neighbours.

lalhsai (lalew) aor. inf. "from speaking" - to speak. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what the Jews forbad Jewish Christians to do, namely, that they not preach to the Gentiles.

toiV eqnesin (oV) dat. "to the Gentiles" - to the gentiles. Dative of indirect object.

iJna + subj. "so that" - that [they might be saved]. This construction may introduce a final clause expressing purpose, "in order that they might be saved", although a negation would be expected, "lest ..." So, it is probably epexegetic specifying the "forbidding", namely, how the Gentiles may be saved; "they even try to prevent us telling the Gentiles how they may be saved", TNT - "They keep us from speaking his message to the Gentiles and from leading them to be saved", CEV.

eiV to + inf. "in this way they heap up [their sins]" - into the = that [to fill up / fulfil the sins of them]. This construction is either epexegetic or final, here verbal, so final, serving to introduce a purpose clause, Morris, Wanamaker, ..., "in order that .....", A final clause will often lean toward a consecutive sense, expressing result, and that seems likely here. We may have expected a durative tense rather than a punctiliar aorist + pantote, "always". Frame suggest Paul has in mind a series of events taken collectively, but it may just reflect Gen.15:16. Their interference in the salvation of the Gentiles results in the heaping up of their sins to the full measure, inevitably bringing upon them the wrath of God. "As a result, they fill up the full measure of their sins."

pantote adv. "to the limit" - always. Temporal adverb; "as they have always done."

de "-" - but / and [the wrath of god came upon them]. The NIV takes the conjunction here as indicating a step in the argument (indicating a new sentence) rather than as an adversative, "But wrath has come down upon them at last", so ESV, or continuative, as TEV, "and now God's anger has at last come down on them." The aorist efqasen, "came [upon them]", is problematic; has Paul got some particular event in mind, eg., the massacre in Jerusalem, AD 49, so Jewett, Agitators? Usually understood as an example of apocalyptic language, imaging the day of judgment.

eiV teloV "at last" - into the end. An idiomatic temporal phrase, as NIV, "finally", so Best, Wanamaker, ..., although possibly spatial, "completely", Moule, "to the full, to the utmost", Zerwick. "But now retribution has overtaken them for good and all!" REB. The various attempted translations indicate the difficulty faced by this prepositional phrase. The best explanation is that Paul is expressing the now / not yet of a kingdom "at hand" - the kingdom is both realised and inaugurated; the wrath of God / divine judgment has already come upon them to some degree and its final manifestation is near at hand.

1 Thessalonians Introduction

Exegetical Commentaries

lectionarystudies.com