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1 Thessalonians 2

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Paul’s Courage and Integrity in Ministry 1–6

1
For yourselves, brethren, know our entering in unto you, that it hath not been found vain: ​
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but having suffered before and been shamefully treated, as ye know, at Philippi, we waxed bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God in much conflict. ​
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For our exhortation is not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:
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but even as we have been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our hearts. ​
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For neither at any time were we found using words of flattery, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness; ​
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nor seeking glory of men, neither from you nor from others, when we might have claimed authority as apostles of Christ. ​

Gentle Care and Fatherly Exhortation 7–12

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But we were gentle in the midst of you, as when a nurse cherisheth her own children: ​
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even so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were well pleased to impart unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were become very dear to us.
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For ye remember, brethren, our labor and travail: working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. ​
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Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and righteously and unblamably we behaved ourselves toward you that believe:
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as ye know how we dealt with each one of you, as a father with his own children, exhorting you, and encouraging you, and testifying, ​
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to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory. ​

Receiving the Word of God 13–16

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And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from us the word of the message, even the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe. ​
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For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judæa in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews; ​
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who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and please not God, and are contrary to all men; ​
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forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always: but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. ​

Paul's Longing to See Them 17–20

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But we, brethren, being bereaved of you for a short season, in presence not in heart, endeavored the more exceedingly to see your face with great desire: ​
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because we would fain have come unto you, I Paul once and again; and Satan hindered us. ​
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For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of glorying? Are not even ye, before our Lord Jesus at his coming? ​
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For ye are our glory and our joy.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Thessalonians 2

Verse 1

our entrance in unto you — Eisodos, a going in; the visit is called by the same word in 1:9, 'what manner of entering in we had unto you'. At Thessalonica Paul 'three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures' and 'some of them believed' (Acts 17:2–4). 'In vain' is kenos, empty.

Verse 2

shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi — Hubrizo, to treat with insolence; Christ foretold he would be 'spitefully entreated' (Luke 18:32). The beating and the stocks are told in Acts 16:22–24. 'Contention' is agon, a contest, the 'fight' of 1 Tim 6:12. 'Suffered before' (propascho) occurs only here.

Verse 4

allowed of God — Dokimazo, to test and approve, is the same verb as 'which trieth our hearts' later in the verse: the one God has tested is entrusted (pisteuo, 'put in trust') with the gospel. Compare Gal 2:7, 'the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me', and Gal 1:10 on pleasing men.

Verse 5

flattering words — Kolakeia, flattery, occurs only here in the New Testament. 'Cloke of covetousness' is prophasis, a pretext, joined to pleonexia, the wish for more; compare Acts 20:33, 'I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel'. 'God is witness' (martys) is the form of Rom 1:9, 'God is my witness'.

Verse 6

when we might have been burdensome — Baros, weight, the noun of the 'burden' in Acts 15:28; here it is the weight of claim the 'apostles of Christ' could have laid on them. That the right existed is stated in 2 Thess 3:9, 'Not because we have not power'. 'Sought we glory' recalls John 5:44, 'seek not the honour that cometh from God only'.

Verse 7

as a nurse cherisheth her children — Epios, gentle, is found elsewhere only in 2 Tim 2:24; trophos, nurse, only here; thalpo, to warm and foster, only here and Eph 5:29 ('nourisheth and cherisheth'). The picture of tenderness is used by the LORD in Isa 66:13, 'As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you'.

Verse 9

labour and travail — Kopos and mochthos, toil and hardship, paired also in 2 Thess 3:8 and 2 Cor 11:27. 'Chargeable' is epibareo, to weigh down. Paul worked at tentmaking (Acts 18:3) and says of his hands, 'these hands have ministered unto my necessities' (Acts 20:34); gifts also reached him at Thessalonica (Phil 4:16).

Verse 11

as a father doth his children — The nurse of v.7 is followed by the father. The three verbs are parakaleo, 'exhorted'; paramutheomai, 'comforted', as in 5:14, 'comfort the feebleminded'; and martureo, 'charged', to bear witness. Compare 1 Cor 4:15, 'in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel'.

Verse 12

walk worthy of God — Axios with peripateo is found also in Eph 4:1, 'walk worthy of the vocation', and Col 1:10, 'walk worthy of the Lord'. The ground is the calling: God 'who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory', as Peter has it, 'called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus' (1 Pet 5:10).

Verse 13

not as the word of men, but… the word of God — Two verbs stand behind 'received': paralambano, to take over from another, and dechomai, to welcome. Hearing (akoe) comes first: 'faith cometh by hearing' (Rom 10:17). 'Without ceasing' (adialeiptos) is found also at 1:3 and 5:17, and in Rom 1:9.

Verse 14

followers of the churches of God which in Judaea — Mimetes, imitator: 'ye became followers of us, and of the Lord' (1:6). The Judaean churches are those 'in Christ' of Gal 1:22. 'Countrymen' (symphyletes) occurs only here. Paul had told them 'we should suffer tribulation' (3:4); Acts 17:5 tells of the assault on Jason's house.

Verse 15

killed the Lord Jesus — The charge is laid on those 'of the Jews' of v.14; Scripture names others in Christ's death, 'Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel' (Acts 4:27). Stephen says of the prophets, 'Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?' (Acts 7:52). Paul prays for Israel 'that they might be saved' (Rom 10:1).

Verse 16

to fill up their sins alway — Anaplero, to fill to the full; compare 'Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers' (Matt 23:32). 'To the uttermost' is eis telos, rendered 'unto the end' in Matt 24:13 and John 13:1. Paul sets a limit elsewhere: 'blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in' (Rom 11:25).

Verse 17

taken from you for a short time — Aporphanizo, to bereave; it occurs only here in the New Testament. Paul speaks as one made an orphan of them, 'in presence, not in heart'. The Lord's word 'I will not leave you comfortless' (John 14:18) uses orphanos, the same root.

Verse 18

once and again — Literally 'once and twice' (hapax kai dis), the phrase of Phil 4:16, 'ye sent once and again unto my necessity'. 'Hindered' is enkopto, the verb of Rom 15:22. How Satan hindered is not stated; 3:5 speaks of 'the tempter' and of Paul's sending 'to know your faith'.

Verse 19

crown of rejoicing — Stephanos, a wreath, the 'crown' of Phil 4:1, 'my joy and crown'. Their place 'in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming' (parousia) is named four times in the letter, at 2:19; 3:13; 4:15 and 5:23. Phil 2:16 speaks likewise of rejoicing 'in the day of Christ'.