1Th 1:1. It is a mark of the very early composition of the Epistle, and consequently of its authenticity, that Paul does not call himself ἀπόστολος. For it was very natural that Paul, in regard to the first Christian churches to whom he wrote, whom he had recently left, and who had attached themselves with devoted love to him and his preaching, did not feel constrained to indicate himself more definitely by an official title, as the simple mention of his name must have been perfectly sufficient. It was otherwise in his later life. With reference to the Galatians and Corinthians, in consequence of the actual opposition to his apostolic authority in these churches, Paul felt himself constrained to vindicate his full official dignity at the commencement of his Epistles. And so the addition ἀπόστολος, occasioned at first by imperative circumstances, became at a later period a usual designation, especially to those churches which were personally unknown to the apostle (Epistles to Rom. Col. Eph.), among whom, even without any existing opposition, such a designation was necessary in reference to the future. An exception was only natural where, as with the Philippians and with Philemon, the closest and most tried love and attachment united the apostle with the recipients of his Epistles. The supposition of Chrysostom, whom Oecumenius and Theophylact follow, is accordingly to be rejected, that the apostolic title was suppressed διὰ τὸ νεοκατηχήτους εἶναι τοὺς ἄνδρας καὶ μηδέπω αὐτοῦ πεῖραν εἰληφέναι, for then it ought not to be found in the Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians. Further, the view of Zwingli, Estius, Pelt, and others is to be rejected, that Paul omitted his apostolic title out of modesty, as the same title could not be assigned to Silvanus (and Timotheus); for, not to mention that this reason is founded on a distorted view of the Pauline character, and that the two companions of the apostle would hardly lay claim to his apostolic rank, such a supposition is contradicted by 2Co 1:1; Col 1:1.
καὶ Σιλουνανὸς καὶ Τιμόθεος] Both are associated with Paul in the address, not to testify their agreement in the contents of the Epistle, and thereby to confer on it so much greater authority (Zanchius, Hunnius, Piscator, Pelt), or to testify that the contents were communicated to the apostle by the Holy Ghost (Macknight), but simply because they had assisted the apostle in preaching the gospel at Thessalonica. The simple mention of their names, without any addition, was sufficient on account of their being personally known. By being included in the address, they are represented as joint-authors of the Epistle, although they were so only in name. It is possible, but not certain, that Paul dictated the Epistle to one of them. (According to Berthold, they translated the letter conceived in Aramaic into Greek, and shared in the work.)
Silvanus (as in 2Co 1:19) is placed before Timotheus, not perhaps because Timotheus was the amanuensis, and from modesty placed his name last (Zanchius), but because Silvanus was older and had been longer with Paul.
Ἐν Θεῷ πατρὶ … Χριστῷ is to be closely united with τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεσσαλονικέων: to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ,-that is, whose being, whose characteristic peculiarity, consists in fellowship with God the Father (by which they are distinguished from heathen ἐκκλησίαι) and with the Lord Jesus Christ (by which they are distinguished from the Jewish ἐκκλησία). Erroneously, Grotius: quae exstitit, id agente Deo Patre et Christo. The article τῇ is neither to be repeated before ἐν Θεῷ, nor is τῇ οὔσῃ to be supplied (Olshausen, de Wette, and Bloomfield erroneously supply οὔσῃ by itself, without the article; this could not be the construction, as it would contain a causal statement), because the words are blended together in the unity of the idea of the Christian church (see Winer’s Grammar, p. 128 [E. T. 170]). Schott arbitrarily refers ἐν Θεῷ κ.τ.λ. to χαίρειν λέγουσιν, to be supplied before χάρις ὑμῖν; for χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρ. takes the place of the usual Greek salutation χαίρειν λέγουσιν. Hofmann’s view (Die h. Schrift neuen Testaments zusammenhängend untersucht, Part I. Nördl. 1862) amounts to the same as Schott’s, when he finds in ἐν Θεῷ κ.τ.λ. “a Christian extension of the usual epistolary address,” importing that it is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ that the writers address themselves by letter to the churches. Still more arbitrarily Ambrosiaster (not Theophylact) and Koppe, who erase the concluding words: ἀπὸ Θεοῦ κ.τ.λ. (see critical note), have placed a point after Θεσσαλονικέων, and united ἐν Θεῷ … Χριστῷ with χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη. For (1) the thought: χάρις ὑμῖν (ἔστω) ἐν Θεῷ κ.τ.λ., instead of ἀπὸ Θεοῦ κ.τ.λ., is entirely un-Pauline; (2) the placing of ἐν Θεῷ κ.τ.λ. first in so calm a writing as the address of the Epistle, and without any special reason, is inconceivable; (3) 2Th 1:1-2 contradicts the idea.
χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη] See Meyer on Rom 1:7. As a Christian transformation of the heathen form of salutation, the words, grammatically considered, should properly be conjoined with the preceding in a single sentence: Παῦλος καὶ Σ … τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Θ … χάριν καὶ εἰρήνην (sc. λέγουσιν).
1Th 1:2. Εὐχαριστοῦμεν] The plural, which Koppe, Pelt, Koch, Jowett, and others refer to Paul only, is most naturally to be understood of Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus, on account of 1Th 1:1 compared with 1Th 2:18, where the apostle, to obviate a mistaken conception of the plural, expressly distinguishes himself from his apostolic helpers.
τῷ Θεῷ] Thanks is rendered to God, because Paul in his piety recognises only His appointment as the first cause of the good which he has to celebrate.
πάντοτε] even if ὑμῶν after μνείαν (see critical note) is omitted, belongs to εὐχαριστοῦμεν, not to μνείαν ποιούμ., as the expression: μνείαν ποιεῖσθαι περὶ τινός, instead of τινός, is un-Pauline. It is not to be weakened (with Koppe) in the sense of πολλάκις, certainly also not (with Zanchius and Pelt) to be limited to the feelings of the apostle, that the εὐχαριστεῖν took place “non actu sed affectu” (comp. already Nicholas de Lyra: semper in habitu, etsi non semper in actu), but to be understood absolutely always; certainly, according to the nature of the case, hyperbolically. Moreover, not without emphasis does Paul say: περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν, in order emphatically to declare that his thanksgiving to God referred to all the members of the Thessalonian church without exception.
μνείαν ὑμῶν ποιούμ. ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν ἡμῶν] These words are conjoined, and to be separated from the preceding by a comma. The clause is no limitation of εὐχαριστοῦμεν πάντοτε: when, or as often as we make mention of you (Flatt, Baumgarten-Crusius, Bisping; on ἐπί, see Meyer on Rom 1:10); but the statement of the manner of εὐχαρ.: whilst we, etc. Only by the addition of this participial clause is the statement of his thanks and prayer for the Thessalonians completed.
1Th 1:3. As the apostle has first stated the personal object of his thanksgiving, so now follows a further statement of its material object. 1Th 1:3 is therefore a parallel clause to μνείαν … ἡμῶν (1Th 1:2), in which μνημονεύοντες corresponds to μνείαν ποιούμενοι, ὑμῶν τοῦ ἔργου … Χριστοῦ to ὑμῶν after μνείαν, and lastly, ἔμπροσθεν … ἡμῶν to ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν ἡμῶν. Schott, Koch, and Auberlen (in Lange’s Bibelwerk, Th. X., Bielef. 1864) incorrectly understand 1Th 1:3 as causal; the statement of the cause follows in 1Th 1:4.
ἀδιαλείπτως] unceasingly does not belong to the preceding μνείαν ποιούμενοι (Luther, Bullinger, Balduin, Er. Schmid, Harduin, Benson, Moldenhauer, Koch, Bloomfield, Alford, Ewald, Hofmann, Auberlen), for, as an addition inserted afterwards, it would drag, but to μνημονεύοντες (Calvin and others), so that it begins the new clause with emphasis.
μνημονεύειν is not intransitive: to be mindful of (Er. Schmid: memoria repetentes; Fromond: memores non tam in orationibus sed ubique; Auberlen), but transitive, referring to the making mention of them in prayer.
ὑμῶν] is, by Oecumenius, Erasmus (undecidedly), Vatablus, Calvin, Zwingli, Musculus, Hemming, Bullinger, Hunnius, Balduin, regarded as the object of μνημονεύοντες standing alone, whilst ἕνεκα is to be supplied before the genitives τοῦ ἔργου τῆς πίστ. κ.τ.λ. But this union is artificial, and the supposed ellipsis without grammatical justification. It would be better to regard τοῦ ἔργου κ.τ.λ. as a development of ὑμῶν in apposition; but neither is this in itself nor in relation to 1Th 1:2 to be commended. Accordingly, ὑμῶν is to be joined to the following substantives, so that its force extends to all the three following points. What Paul approvingly mentions in his prayers are the three Christian cardinal virtues, faith, love, and hope, in which his readers were distinguished, see 1Th 5:8; Col 1:4-5; 1Co 13:13. But Paul does not praise them simply in and for themselves, but a peculiar quality of each-each according to a special potency. First their πίστις, and that their ἔργον τῆς πίστεως. Πίστις is faith subjectively. That τὸ ἔργον τῆς πίστεως is not to be understood periphrastically for τῆς πίστεως[32] (Koppe), nor does it correspond with the pleonastic use of the Hebrew דָּבָר, is evident, as (1) such a use of the Greek ἔργον is not demonstrable (see Winer’s Grammar, p. 541 [E. T. 768]); and (2) ἜΡΓΟΝ Τῆς ΠΊΣΤΕΩς must be similarly understood as the two following double expressions, but in them the additions ΚΌΠΟΥ and ὙΠΟΜΟΝῆς are by no means devoid of import. Also Kypke’s explanation, according to which ἜΡΓΟΝ ΠΊΣΤΕΩς denotes veritas fidei, is to be rejected, as this meaning proceeds from the contrast of ἔργον and λόγος, of which there is no trace in the passage. Not less erroneous is it, with Calvin, Wolf, and others, to take ἔργον τῆς πίστεως absolutely as faith wrought, i.e. wrought by the Holy Ghost or by God. An addition for this purpose would be requisite; besides, in the parallel expressions (1Th 1:3) it is the self-activity of the readers that is spoken of. In a spiritless manner Flatt and others render ἔργον as an adjective: your active faith. Similarly, but with a more correct appreciation of the substantive, Estius, Grotius, Schott, Koch, Bloomfield, and others: operis, quod ex fide proficiscitur; according to which, however, the words would naturally be replaced by ΠΊΣΤΙς ἘΝΕΡΓΟΥΜΈΝΗ (Gal 5:6). So also de Wette: your moral working proceeding from faith. Hardly correct, as-(1) ΤῸ ἜΡΓΟΝ can only denote work, not working. (2) The moral working proceeding from faith, according to Paul, is love, so that there would here be a tautology with what follows. Clericus refers τὸ ἔργον τῆς πίστεως to the acceptance of the gospel (Opus … erat, ethnicismo abdicato mutatoque prorsus vivendi instituto, christianam religionem profiteri atque ad ejusdem normam vitam in posterum instituere; quae non poterant fieri nisi a credentibus, Jesum vere a Deo missum atque ab eo mandata accepisse apostolos, ideoque veram esse universam evangelii doctrinam); so also Macknight, according to whom the acceptance of the gospel is called an ἜΡΓΟΝ on account of the victory over the prejudices in which the Thessalonians were nourished, and on account of the dangers to which they were exposed by their acceptance of Christianity. But this reason is remote from the context. Chrysostom (ΤΊ ἘΣΤΙ ΤΟῦ ἜΡΓΟΥ Τῆς ΠΊΣΤΕΩς; ὍΤΙ ΟὐΔῈΝ ὙΜῶΝ ΠΑΡΈΚΛΙΝΕ ΤῊΝ ἜΝΣΤΑΣΙΝ· ΤΟῦΤΟ ΓᾺΡ ἜΡΓΟΝ ΠΊΣΤΕΩς. ΕἸ ΠΙΣΤΕΎΕΙς, ΠΆΝΤΑ ΠΆΣΧΕ· ΕἸ ΔῈ ΜῊ ΠΆΣΧΕΙς, Οὐ ΠΙΣΤΕΎΕΙς), Theodoret, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Calovius, Bisping, and others understand the words of the verification of faith by stedfastness under persecution. This meaning underlying the words appears to come nearest to the correct sense. ὑμῶν τοῦ ἔργου τῆς πίστεως denotes your work of faith; but as ἜΡΓΟΥ has the emphasis (not ΠΊΣΤΕΩς, as Hofmann thinks), it is accordingly best explained: the work which is peculiar to your faith-by which it is characterized, inasmuch as your faith is something begun with energy, and held fast with resoluteness, in spite of all obstacles and oppositions. This meaning strikingly suits the circumstances of the Epistle.
ΚΑῚ ΤΟῦ ΚΌΠΟΥ Τῆς ἈΓΆΠΗς] the second point of the apostle’s thanksgiving. Ἀγάπη is not love to God, or to God and our neighbour (Nicol. Lyr.), also not to Christ, as if τοῦ κυρίου ἡμ. Ἰ. Χ. belonged to ἄγαπης (Cornelius a Lapide), still less love to the apostle and his companions (Natal. Alexander: labores charitatis vestrae, quibus nos ex Judaeorum seditione et insidiis eripuistis, quum apud vos evangelium praedicaremus; Estius, Benson), but love to fellow-Christians (comp. Col 1:4). Κόπος τῆς ἀγάπης denotes the active labour of love, which shuns no toil or sacrifice, in order to minister to the wants of our neighbours: not a forbearing love which bears with the faults and weaknesses of others (Theodoret); nor is the genitive the genitive of origin, the work which proceeds from love (so Clericus, Schott, de Wette, Koch, Bloomfield, and most critics); but the genitive of possession, the work which is peculiar to love, by which it is characterized. According to de Wette, ΚΌΠΟς Τῆς ἈΓΆΠΗς might refer also to the labour of rulers and teachers (1Th 5:12). Contrary to the context, as 1Th 1:3 contains only the further exposition of 1Th 1:2; but according to 1Th 1:2, the apostle’s thanksgiving extends to all the members of the church (περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν), not merely to individuals among them.
The third point of the apostle’s thanksgiving is the ἘΛΠΊς of his readers, and this also not in and for itself, but in its property of ὙΠΟΜΟΝΉ. ὙΠΟΜΟΝΉ is not the patient waiting which precedes fulfilment (Vatablus), but the constancy which suffers not itself to be overcome by obstacles and oppositions (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact). The genitive here also is not the genitive of origin (Clericus, Schott, de Wette, Koch, Bloomfield), but of possession: your endurance of hope; that endurance which belongs to your hope, by which hope is characterized. ἐλπίς is here as usual subjective: hoping (otherwise, Col 1:5).
τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰ. Χ.] does not refer to all the three above-mentioned virtues, “in order to show that they are one and all derived from Christ, and instilled into man by the Holy Spirit” (Olshausen), or are directed to Christ as their object (Cornelius a Lapide, Hofmann), but is the object only of ἐλπίδος. The hope refers to Christ, that is, to His advent, because the judgment and retribution will then take place, and the divine kingdom completed in all its glory will commence.
ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἡμῶν] belongs not to εἰδότες (1Th 1:4), which Musculus thinks possible, and as little to τοῦ κυρίου ἡμ. Ἰ. Χ.; for-(1) the article τοῦ before ἔμπροσθεν must then have been omitted, and (2) an entire abnormal representation of Christ would occur; also not to τῆς ὑπομονῆς τῆς ἐλπίδος, or to all the three ideas, to indicate thereby these three virtues as existing before the eyes and according to the judgment of God, and thus as true and genuine (Theodoret, Oecumenius, Aretius, Fromond, Cornelius a Lapide, Baumgarten-Crusius, Auberlen), for in this case the repetition of the article would be expected, and besides, ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ and similar expressions have, in the above sense, always an adjective or corresponding clause; but it belongs-which only is grammatically correct-to μνημονεύοντες, so that μνημονεύοντες ἔμπροσθεν κ.τ.λ. corresponds to μνείαν ποιεῖσθαι ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν (1Th 1:2).
τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἡμῶν] may mean Him, who is our God and our Father; or Him, who is God, and likewise our Father.
[32] So in essentials Hofmann, who considers τῆς πίστεως as an epexegetical genitive, and converts the double expression into the unimportant saying: “Their doing or conduct consists in this, that they believed.”
1Th 1:4. Εἰδότες is incorrectly referred by many (thus Baur) to the Thessalonians, either as the nominative absolute in the sense of οἴδατε γάρ (Erasmus), or εἰδότες ἐστέ (Homberg, Baumgarten-Crusius); or (Grotius) as the beginning of a new sentence which has its tempus finit. in ἐγενήθητε (1Th 1:6), “knowing that ye became followers of us.” Rather, the subject of 1Th 1:2-3, thus Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus, is continued in εἰδότες. It is further erroneous to supply καί before εἰδότες (Flatt), as this participle is by no means similar to the two preceding. Lastly, it is erroneous to make εἰδότες dependent on μνείαν ποιούμενοι (Pelt). Εἰδότες is only correctly joined to the principal verb εὐχαριστοῦμεν (1Th 1:2), and adduces the reason of the apostle’s thanksgiving, whilst the preceding participles state only the mode of εὐχαριστοῦμεν.
ὑπὸ Θεοῦ cannot be conjoined with εἰδότες (scientes a deo, i.e. ex dei revelatione), which Estius thinks possible, against which ὑπό instead of παρά is decisive. Nor does it belong to τὴν ἐκλογὴν ὑμῶν, so that εἶναι would require to be supplied, and ἀδελφοὶ ἠγαπημένοι to be taken by itself (Oecumenius, Theophylact, Calvin, Musculus, Hemming, Zanchius, Justinian, Vorstius, Calixtus, Clericus), but to ἠγαπημένοι. For-(1) this union is grammatically the most natural (see 2Th 2:13, the Hebrew יְדִידֵי יְהֹוָה, 2Ch 20:7, and ἀγαπητοὶ Θεοῦ, Rom 1:7). (2) By the union of ὑπὸ Θεοῦ τὴν ἐκλογὴν ὑμῶν, a peculiar stress would be put on ὑπὸ Θεοῦ; but such an emphasis is inadmissible, as another ἐκλογή than by God is in Paul’s view a nonentity, and therefore the addition ὑπὸ Θεοῦ would be idle.
Moreover, ἀδελφοὶ ἠγαπημένοι ὑπὸ Θεοῦ is a pure address, and not the statement of the cause of τὴν ἐκλογὴν ὑμῶν (Estius).
ἐκλογή] election or choice, denotes the action of God, according to which He has predetermined from eternity individuals to be believers in Christ. κλῆσις is related to ἐκλογή as the subsequent realization to the preceding determination. Erroneously Pelt: ἐκλογή is electorum illa innovatio, qua per spiritum divinum mutatur interna hominem conditio; and still more arbitrarily Baumgarten-Crusius: ἐκλογή is not “choice among others (church election), but out of the world, with Paul equivalent to κλῆσις, and exactly here as in 1Co 1:26; not being elected, but the mode or condition of the election” (!), so that the sense would be: “Ye know how ye have become Christians” (!!).
ὑμῶν] the objective genitive to ἑκλογήν: the election of you.
1Th 1:5. Bengel, Schott, Hofmann, and others unite 1Th 1:5 by a simple comma to the preceding, understanding ὅτι in the sense of “that,” or “namely that,” and thus the further analysis or explication of ἐκλογή, i.e. the statement wherein ἐκλογή consists. But evidently 1Th 1:5-6 are not a statement wherein ἐκλογή consists, but of the historical facts from which it may be inferred. Accordingly, ὅτι (if one will not understand it with most interpreters as quia, which has little to recommend it) is to be separated from 1Th 1:4 by a colon, and to be taken in the sense of for, introducing the reason on which the apostle grounds his own conviction of the ἐκλογή of his readers. This reason is twofold-(1) The power and confidence by which the gospel was preached by him and his companions in Thessalonica (1Th 1:5); and (2) The eagerness and joy with which it was embraced by the Thessalonians (1Th 1:6 ff.). Both are proofs of grace, attestations of the ἐκλογή of the Thessalonians on the part of God.
τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἡμῶν] our gospel, i.e. our evangelical preaching.
οὐκ ἐγενήθη πρὸς ὑμᾶς] was not carried into effect among you, i.e. when it was brought to you. The passive form ἐγενήθη, alien to the Attic, and originally Doric, but common in the κοινή (see Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 108 ff.; Kühner, I. 193; Winer’s Grammar, p. 80 [E. T. 102]), characterizes the being carried into effect as something effected by divine grace, and the additions with ἐν following indicate the form and manner in which the apostolic preaching was carried into effect. From this it follows how erroneous it is with Koppe, Pelt, and others to refer ἐν λόγῳ … πολλῇ to the qualities of the Thessalonians which resulted from the preaching of the apostle. According to Koppe, the meaning is “quantam enim mea apud vos doctrina in animos vestros vim habuerit, non ore tantum sed facto declaravistis.” That the concluding words of 1Th 1:5, καθὼς οἴδατε … ὑμᾶς, which apparently treats of the manner of the apostle’s entrance, contains only a recapitulatory statement of ἐν λόγῳ … πολλῇ, appealing to the testimony of the Thessalonians, is a sufficient condemnation of this strange and artificial explanation.
ἐν λόγῳ μόνον] in word only, i.e. not that it was a bare announcement, a bare communication in human words, which so easily fade away. Grotius: Non stetit intra verba. But the apostle says οὐ μόνον, because human speech was the necessary instrument of communication.
ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν δυνάμει κ.τ.λ.] By δύναμις is not to be understood miracles by which the power of the preached gospel was attested (Theodoret, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Erasmus, Cornelius a Lapide, Grotius, Natalis Alexander, Turretine, etc.); for if so, the plural would have been necessary. Nor is the gospel denoted as a miraculous power (Benson), which meaning in itself is possible. Nor is the efficacy of the preached word among the Thessalonians indicated (Bullinger: Per virtutem intellexit efficaciam et vim agentem in cordibus fidelium). But it forms simply the contrast to λόγος, and denotes the impressive power accompanying the entrance of Paul and his followers.
ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ] Theodoret, Musculus, Cornelius a Lapide, Fromond, B. a Piconius, Natalis Alexander, Benson, Macknight interpret this of the communication of the Holy Spirit to the readers. But the communication of the Holy Spirit is beyond the power of the apostles, as being only possible on the part of God. Besides, ἐν πνεύματι can only contain a statement of the manner in which Paul and his assistants preached the gospel. Accordingly, the meaning is: our preaching of the gospel was carried on among you in the Holy Ghost, that is, in a manner which could only be ascribed to the operation of the Holy Ghost. ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ serves, therefore, not only for the further amplification, but also for the intensification of the idea ἐν δυνάμει. It is therefore incompetent to consider ἐν δυνάμει καὶ ἐν πνεύμ. ἁγίῳ as a ἓν διὰ δυοῖν instead of ἐν δυνάμει πνεύμ. ἁγίου (Calvin, Piscator, Turretine, Bloomfield, and others).
πληροφορία] (comp. Col 2:2; Rom 4:21; Rom 14:5) denotes neither the fulness of spiritual gifts which were imparted to the Thessalonians (Lombard, Cornelius a Lapide, Turretine), nor the completeness of the apostolic instruction (Thomasius), nor the completeness with which Paul performed his duty (Estius), nor the proofs combined with his instructions, giving complete certainty (Fromond, Michaelis), nor generally “certitudo, qua Thessalonicenses certi de veritate evangelii ac salute sua redditi fuerant” (Musculus, Benson, Macknight); but the fulness and certainty of conviction, i.e. the inward confidence of faith with which Paul and his assistants appeared preaching at Thessalonica.
καθὼς οἴδατε κ.τ.λ.] a strengthening of ὅτι … πολλῇ by an appeal to the knowledge of his readers (Oecum.: καὶ τί, φησι, μακρηγορῶ; αὐτοὶ ὑμεῖς μάρτυρές ἐστε, οἷοι ἐγενήθημεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς). Pelt, entirely perverting the meaning, thinks that the apostle in these concluding words would hold forth his example for the emulation of his readers. This view could only claim indulgence if Koppe’s connection, which, however, Pelt rejects, were correct. Koppe begins a new sentence with καθώς, considering καθὼς οἴδατε as the protasis and καὶ ὑμεῖς as the apodosis, and gives the sense: qualem me vidistis, quum apud vos essem … tales etiam vos nunc estis. But this connection is impossible-(1) Because οἴδατε cannot mean me vidistis, but has a purely present signification-ye know. (2) Because if there were such an emphatic contrast of persons (qualem me … tales etiam vos), then, instead of the simple ἐγενήθημεν, ἡμεῖς ἐγενήθημεν would necessarily be put. (3) Because ἐγενήθητε does not mean nunc estis, but facti estis. (4) Instead of the asyndeton καθὼς οἴδατε, we would expect a connection with the preceding by some particle added to καθώς. (5) And lastly, the apodosis would not be introduced by καὶ ὑμεῖς, but by οὕτως ὑμεῖς (comp. 2Co 1:5; 2Co 8:6; 2Co 10:7). Pelt’s assertion is also erroneous, that instead of καθὼς οἴδατε οἷοι ἐγενήθημεν, the more correct Greek phrase would have been οἵους οἴδατε ἡμᾶς γεγονότας. For the greatest emphasis is put on οἷοι ἐγενήθημεν, but this emphasis would have been lost by the substitution of the above construction.
οἷοι ἐγενήθημεν] recapitulates the preceding τὸ εὐαγγ.… πολλῇ, but with this difference, that what was before said of the act of preaching is here predicated of the preachers. οἷοι ἐγενήθημεν does not denote the privations which Paul imposed upon himself when he preached the gospel, as Pelagius, Estius, Macknight, Pelt, and others think, making an arbitrary comparison of 1Th 2:7; 1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8-9; also not κινδύνους, οὓς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ὑπέστησαν, τὸ σωτήριον αὐτοῖς προσφέροντες κήρυγμα (Theodoret), nor both together (Natal. Alexander). It also does not mean quales fuerimus (so de Wette, Hofmann, and others), but can only denote the being made for some purpose. It thus contains the indication that the emphatic element in the preaching of the gospel at Thessalonica was a work of divine appointment-of divine grace. Accordingly, διʼ ὑμᾶς, for your sake, that is, in order to gain you for the kingdom of Christ, is to be understood not of the purpose of the apostle and his assistants, but of the purpose of God.
1Th 1:6 contains the other side of the proof for the ἐκλογή of the Thessalonians, namely, their receptivity for the preaching of the gospel demonstrated by facts. 1Th 1:6 may either be separated by a point from the preceding (then the proof of 1Th 1:6, in relation to 1Th 1:4, lies only in thought, without being actually expressed), or it may be made to depend on ὅτι in 1Th 1:5 (provided this be translated by for, as it ought). In this latter case καθὼς οἴδατε … διʼ ὑμᾶς, 1Th 1:5, is a parenthesis. This latter view is to be preferred, because 1Th 1:5-6 appear more evidently to be internally connected, and, accordingly, the twofold division of the argument, adduced for the ἐκλογή of the readers, is more clearly brought forward.
μιμηταί] See 1Co 4:16; 1Co 11:1; Php 3:17; Eph 5:1; Gal 4:12.
ἐγενήθητε denotes here also the having become as a having been made, i.e. effected by the agency of God.
καὶ τοῦ κυρίου is for the sake of climax. Erroneously Bullinger: Veluti correctione subjecta addit: et domini. Eatenus enim apostolorum imitatores esse debemus, quatenus illi Christi imitatores sunt.
The Thessalonians became imitators of the apostle and of Christ, not in δύναμις, in πνεῦμα ἅγιον, and in πληροφορία, as Koppe thinks; but because they received the evangelical preaching (τὸν λόγον, comp. Gal 6:6, equivalent to κήρυγμα), allowed it an entrance among them, in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost, i.e. not merely that they received the λόγος (here the tertium comparationis would be wanting), but that they received it ἐν θλίψει πολλῇ μετὰ χαρᾶς πνεύμ. ἁγίου.
δεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον] The reception of the gospel corresponds to its announcement brought to the readers (1Th 1:5), whilst μίμησις is explained by ἐν θλίψει … ἁγίου. The chief emphasis is on the concluding words: μετὰ χαρᾶς πνεύματος ἁγίου, containing in themselves the proper tertium comparationis between Christ and the apostle on the one hand, and the Thessalonians on the other; but ἐν θλίψει πολλῇ is placed first to strengthen it, and for the sake of contrast, inasmuch as δέχεσθαι τὸν λόγον μετὰ χαρᾶς πν. ἁγ. is something high and sublime, but it is something far higher and more sublime when this joy is neither disturbed nor weakened by the trials and sufferings which have been brought upon believers on account of their faith in Christ.
ἐν θλίψει πολλῇ] Erroneously Clericus: Subintelligendum ὄντα, quum acceperitis verbum, quod erat in afflictione multa, h. e. cujus praecones graviter affligebantur. The θλίψις of the Thessalonians had already begun during the presence of the apostle among them (Act 17:6 ff.), but after his expulsion it had greatly increased (1Th 2:14, 1Th 3:2-3; 1Th 3:5). The apostle has in view both the commencement and the continuance of the persecution (comp. 1Th 1:7, and the adjective πολλῇ attached to θλίψει), against which δεξάμενοι is no objection, as the two points of time are united as the spring-time of the Christian church.
χαρὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου] is not joy in the Holy Ghost, but a joy or joyfulness which proceeds from the Holy Ghost, is produced by Him (comp. Rom 14:17; Gal 5:22; Act 5:41). In reality, it is not to be distinguished from χαίρειν ἐν κυρίῳ (see Meyer on Php 3:1).
1Th 1:7. The Thessalonians had so far advanced that they who were formerly imitators had now become a model and an example to others.
τύπον] The singular is regular, as the apostle considers the church as a unity (see Winer’s Grammar, p. 164 [E. T. 218]; Bernhardy, Syntax, p. 60; Kühner, II. p. 27).
πᾶσιν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν] not to all believers (de Wette), but to the whole body of believers. See Winer, p. 105 [E. T. 137]. πᾶσιν augments the praise given. οἱ πιστεύοντες are believers, Christians (comp. Eph 1:19). Chrysostom, whom Oecumenius, Theophylact, and most interpreters (also Pelt and Schott) follow, takes πιστεύουσιν in the sense of πιστεύσασιν, finding in 1Th 1:7 the idea that the Thessalonians converted at a later period were further advanced in the intensity of their faith than those who had been earlier believers: Καὶ μὴν ἐν ὑστέρῳ ἦλθε πρὸς αὐτούς· ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἐλάμψατε, φησίν, ὡς τῶν προλαβόντων γενέσθαι διδασκάλους … Οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, ὥστε τύπους γενέσθαι πρὸς τὸ πιστεῦσαι, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἤδη πιστεύουσι τύπος ἐγένεσθε. But this view would contain a historical untruth. For in Europe, according to the Acts (comp. also 1Th 2:2), only the Philippians were believers before the Thessalonians; all the other churches of Macedonia and Achaia were formed afterwards. The present participle is rather to be understood from the standpoint of the apostle, so that all Christians then present in Macedonia and Achaia, that is, all Christians actually existing there at the time of the composition of the Epistle, are to be understood.
ἐν τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ] Comp. Rom 15:26; Act 19:21 : the twofold division of Greece usually made after its subjection to the Romans (comp. Winer, Realwörterb. 2d ed. vol. I. p. 21). The emphasis which Theodoret puts on the words (Ηὔξησε τὴν εὐφημίαν, ἀρχέτυπα αὐτοὺς εὐσεβείας γεγενῆσθαι φήσας ἔθνεσι μεγίστοις καὶ ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ θαυμαζομένοις) is not contained in it. Baur’s (p. 484) assertion, that what is said in 1Th 1:7 is only suitable for a church already existing for a longer time, is without any justification. For to be an example to others depends on the behaviour; the idea of duration is entirely indifferent.
1Th 1:8. Proof of the praise in 1Th 1:7. See on the verse, Storr, Opusc. III. p. 317 ff.; Rückert, locorum Paulinorum 1Th 1:8 et 1Th 3:1-3, explanatio, Jen. 1844.
Baumgarten-Crusius arbitrarily assumes in 1Th 1:8 ff. an address, not only to the Thessalonians, but also to the Philippians, in short, to “the first converts in Macedonia.” For ὑμῶν (1Th 1:8) can have no further extension than ὑμᾶς (1Th 1:7).
ἀφʼ ὑμῶν] does not import vestra opera, so that a missionary activity was attributed to the Thessalonians (Rückert), also not per vos, ope consilioque vestro, so that the sense would be: that the gospel might be preached by me in other parts of Macedonia and Achaia, has been effected by your advice and co-operation, inasmuch as, when in imminent danger, my life and that of Silvanus was rescued by you (Schott, Flatt). For in the first case ὑφʼ ὑμῶν would be required, and in the second case διʼ ὑμῶν, not to mention that the entire occasion of the last interpretation is invented and artificially introduced. Rather ἀφʼ ὑμῶν is purely local (Schott and Bloomfield erroneously unite the local import with the instrumental), and denotes: out from you, forth from you, comp. 1Co 14:36. Yet this cannot be referred, with Koppe and Krause, to Paul: from you, that is, when I left Thessalonica, I found in the other cities of Macedonia and Achaia a favourable opportunity for preaching the gospel. For (1) this would have been otherwise grammatically expressed, perhaps by ἀφʼ ὑμῶν γὰρ ἀπελθόντι θύρα μοι ἀνέῳγε μεγάλη εἰς τὸ κηρύσσειν τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου; add to this (2), which is the chief point, that the logical relation of 1Th 1:8 to 1Th 1:7 (γάρ) does not permit our seeking in 1Th 1:8 a reference to the conduct of the apostle, but indicates that a further praise of the Thessalonians is contained in it.
ἐξήχηται] Comp. Sir 40:13; Joe 3:14; an ἅπαξ λεγόμενον in N. T. is sounded out, like the tone of some far-sounding instrument, i.e. without a figure: was made known with power.
ὁ λόγος τοῦ κυρίου] is not the word from the Lord, or the report of what the Lord has done to you (so, as it seems, Theodore Mopsuest. [in N. T. commentariorum, quae reperiri potuerunt. Colleg., Fritzsche, Turici 1847, p. 145]: Λόγον κυρίου ἐνταῦθα οὐ τὴν πίστιν λέγει, οὐ γὰρ ἡ πίστις ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ἔλαβε τὴν ἀρχήν, ἀλλʼ ἀντὶ τοῦ πάντες ἔγνωσαν ὅσα ὑπὲρ τῆς πίστεως ἐπάθετε, καὶ πάντες ὑμῶν τὸ βέβαιον θαυμάζουσι τῆς πίστεως, ὥστε καὶ προτροπὴν ἑτέροις γενέσθαι τὰ ὑμέτερα), but the word of the Lord which He caused to be preached (subjective genitive), i.e. the gospel (comp. 2Th 3:1; Col 3:16); thus similar to the more usual expression of Paul: ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ. But the meaning is not: The report of the gospel, that it was embraced by you, went forth from you, and made a favourable impression upon others (de Wette); but the knowledge of the gospel itself spread from you, so that the power and the eclat which was displayed at the conversion of the Thessalonians directed attention to the gospel, and gained friends for it.
The words οὐ μόνον have given much trouble to interpreters. According to their position they evidently belong to ἐν τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ, and form a contrast to ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ. But it does not agree with this view that a new subject and predicate are found in the contrast introduced with ἀλλά, because the emphasis lies (as the position of οὐ μόνον … ἀλλά appears to demand) only on the two local statements, so that only ἀφʼ ὑμῶν … τόπῳ should have been written, and ὥστε μὴ κ.τ.λ. should have been directly connected with them. This double subject and predicate could only be permissible provided the phrases: ἐξήχηται ὁ λόγος τοῦ κυρίου, and: ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τ. Θεὸν ἐξελήλυθεν were equivalent, as de Wette (also Olshausen and Koch) assumes (“the fame of your acceptance of the gospel sounded forth not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place the fame of your faith in God is spread abroad”); but, as is remarked above, de Wette does not correctly translate the first member of the sentence. Zanchius, Piscator, Vorstius, Beza, Grotius, Koppe, Storr, Flatt, Schrader, Schott, Baumgarten-Crusius, and others have felt themselves obliged to assume a trajection, uniting οὐ μόνον not with ἐν τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ, but with ἐξήχηται, and thus explain it as if the words stood: ἀφʼ ὑμῶν γὰρ οὐ μόνον ἐξήχηται κ.τ.λ. But this trajection is a grammatical impossibility. Bloomfield has understood the words as a mingling of two different forms of expression. According to him, it is to be analyzed: “For from you sounded the word of the Lord over all Macedonia and Achaia; and not only has your faith in God been well known there, but the report of it has been disseminated everywhere else.” But that which is united by Paul is thus forcibly severed, and arbitrarily moulded into an entirely new form. Lastly, Rückert has attempted another expedient. According to him, the apostle, after having written the greater part of the sentence, was led by the desire of making a forcible climax so to alter the originally intended form of the thought that the conclusion no longer corresponded with the announcement. Thus, then, the sense would be. Vestra opera factum est, ut domini sermo propagaretur non solum in Macedonia et Achaja, sed etiam-immo amplius quid, ipsa vestra fides ita per famam sparsa est, ut nullus jam sit locus, quem ejus nulla dum notitia attigerit. But against this is-(1) that ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν, on account of its position after ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ, cannot have the principal accent; on the contrary, to preserve the meaning maintained by Rückert, it ought to have been written ἀλλʼ αὐτὴ ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ ἐξελήλυθεν; (2) that the wide extension of the report of the πίστις of the readers is not appropriate to form a climax to their supposed missionary activity expressed in the first clause of the sentence. However, to give οὐ μόνον … ἀλλά its proper force, and thereby to avoid the objection of the double subject and predicate, there is a very simple expedient (now adopted by Hofmann and Auberlen), namely, another punctuation; to put a colon after κυρίου, and to take together all that follows. According to this, 1Th 1:8 is divided into two parts, of which the first part (ἀφʼ ὑμῶν … κυρίου), in which ἀφʼ ὑμῶν and ἐξήχηται have the emphasis, contains the reason of 1Th 1:7, and of which the second part (οὐ μόνον … λαλεῖν τι) takes up the preceding ἐξήχηται, and works it out according to its locality.
From the fact that οὐ μόνον … ἀλλά serves to contrast the local designations, it follows that ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ is not to be limited (with Koppe, Storr, Flatt, Schott, and others) to Macedonia and Achaia (ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ τῆς Μακεδονίας καὶ τῆς Ἀχαΐας), but must denote every place outside of Macedonia and Achaia, entirely apart from the consideration whether Paul and his companions had already come in contact with those places or not (against Hofmann), thus the whole known world (Chrysostom: τὴν οἰκουμένην; Oecumenius: ἅπαντα τὸν κόσμον); by which it is to be conceded that Paul here, as in Rom 1:8, Col 1:6; Col 1:23, expresses himself in a popular hyperbolical manner.
ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν] your faith, that is, your believing or becoming believers in God (πίστις thus subjective); the unusual preposition πρός instead of εἰς is also found in Phm 1:5. That here God, and not Christ, is named as the object of faith does not alter the case, because God is the Father of Christ and the Author of the salvation contained in Him. But the unusual form ἡ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν is designedly chosen, in order to bring prominently forward the monotheistic faith to which the Thessalonians had turned, in contrast to their former idolatry.
ἐξελήλυθεν] has gone forth, has spread forth, namely, as a report. Comp. on ἐξέρχεσθαι in this sense, Mat 9:26; Luk 8:17, etc. Probably the report had spread particularly by means of Christian merchants (Zanchius, Grotius, Joach. Lange, Baumgarten, de Wette), and the apostle might easily have learned it in the great commercial city of Corinth, where there was a constant influx of strangers. Possibly also Aquila and Priscilla, who had lately come from Rome (Act 18:2), brought with them such a report (Wieseler, p. 42). At all events, neither a longer existence of the Thessalonian church follows from this passage (Schrader, Baur), nor that Paul had in the interval been in far distant places (Wurm). As, moreover, ἐξελήλυθεν is construed not with εἰς, but with ἐν, so not only the arrival of the report in those regions is represented, but its permanence after its arrival (see Winer, p. 385 [E. T. 514]; Bernhardy, Synt. p. 208).
ὥστε μὴ χρείαν ἔχειν ἡμᾶς λαλεῖν τι] so that we have no need to say anything of it (sc. of your πίστις; erroneously Michaelis, “of the gospel;” erroneously also Koch, “something considerable”), because we have been already instructed concerning it by its report; although this is contained in ἐξελήλυθεν, yet it is impressively brought forward and explained in what follows.
1Th 1:9. Αὐτοί] not: sponte, αὐτομαθῶς, of themselves (Pelt), but emphatically opposed to the preceding ἡμᾶς: not we, nay they themselves, that is, according to the well-known constructio ad sensum (comp. Gal 2:2): οἱ ἐν τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ καὶ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ. See Bernhardy, Syntax, p. 288; Winer, p. 137 [E. T. 181]. Beza erroneously (though undecidedly) refers αὐτοί to πάντες οἱ πιστεύοντες (1Th 1:7).
περὶ ἡμῶν] is not equivalent to ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, in our stead (Koppe), but means: concerning us, de nobis; and, indeed, περὶ ἡμῶν is the general introductory object of ἀπαγγέλλουσιν, which is afterwards more definitely expressed by ὁποίαν κ.τ.λ.
ἡμῶν, however, refers not only to the apostle and his assistants, but also to the Thessalonians, because otherwise καὶ πῶς ἐπεστρέψατε in relation to ἡμῶν would be inappropriate. This twofold nature of the subject may be already contained in ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν (1Th 1:8); as, on the one hand, the producing of πίστις by the labours of the apostle is expressed, and, on the other hand, its acceptance on the part of the Thessalonians.
ὁποίαν εἴσοδον ἔσχομεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς] what sort of entrance we had to you, namely, with the preaching of the gospel, i.e. (comp. 1Th 1:5) with what power and fulness of the Holy Spirit, with what inward conviction and contempt of external dangers (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact erroneously limit ὁποίαν to danger), we preached the gospel to you. Most understand ὁποίαν εἴσοδον (led astray by the German Eingang) of the friendly reception, which Paul and his companions found among the Thessalonians (indeed, according to Pelt, εἴσοδος in itself without ὁποία denotes facilem aditum); and accordingly some (Schott, Hofmann) think of the eager reception of the gospel, or of its entrance into the hearts of the Thessalonians (Olshausen). The first view is against linguistic usage, as εἴσοδον ἔχειν πρός τινα can only have an active sense, can only denote the coming to one, the entrance (comp. 1Th 2:1); as also in the classics εἴσοδος is particularly used of the entrance of the chorus into the orchestra (comp. Passow on the word). The latter view is against the context, as in πῶς ἐπεστρέψατε κ.τ.λ. the effect of the apostle’s preaching is first referred to.
πῶς] how, that is, how joyfully and energetically.
ἐπιστρέφειν] to turn from the false way to the true.
πρὸς τὸν Θεόν] to be converted to God: a well-known biblical figure. It can also denote to return to God; for although this is spoken of those who once were Gentiles, yet their idolatry was only an apostasy from God (comp. Rom 1:19 ff.).
δουλεύειν] the infinitive of design. See Winer, p. 298 [E. T. 408].
Θεῷ ζῶντι] the living God (comp. אֱלֹהִים חַי, 2Ki 19:4; 2Ki 19:16, and Act 14:15), in contrast to dead idols (Hab 2:19).
ἀληθινός] true, real (comp. אֱלֹהִים אֶמֶת, 2Ch 15:3; Joh 17:3; 1Jn 5:20), in contrast to idols, which are vain and unreal. The design intended by δουλεύειν Θεῷ ζῶντι καὶ ἀληθινῷ contains as yet nothing specifically Christian; it is rather δουλεία consecrated to the living and true God, common to Christians and Jews. The specific Christian mark, that which distinguishes Christians also from Jews, is added in what immediately follows.
1Th 1:10. It may surprise us that this characteristic mark is given not as faith in Christ (comp. Act 20:21; also Joh 17:3), but the hope of His advent. But, on the one hand, this hope of the returning Christ presupposes faith in Him, as also ῥυόμενον clearly points to faith as its necessary condition and presupposition; and, on the other hand, in the circumstances which occasioned the composition of this Epistle, the apostle must have been already led to touch in a preliminary manner upon the question, whose more express discussion was reserved to a later portion of his Epistle.
ἀναμένειν] here only in the N. T.; in 1Co 1:7, Php 3:15, etc., ἀπεκδέχεσθαι stands for it. Erroneously Flatt: to expect with joy. The idea of the nearness of the advent as an event, whose coming the church might hope to live to see, is contained in ἀναμένειν.
ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν] belongs to ἀναμένειν. A brachyology, in the sense of ἀναμένειν ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐρχόμενον, see Winer, p. 547 [E. T. 775].
ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν] is emphatically placed before Ἰησοῦν, as God by the resurrection declared Christ to be His υἱός (comp. Rom 1:4). Hofmann strangely perverts the passage, that Paul by ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν assigns a reason for ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, because “the coming of the man Jesus from where He is with God to the world where His saints are, has for its supposition that He has risen from where He was with the dead.” There is no emphasis on ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, its only purpose is for completing the idea of ἀναμένειν.
τὸν ῥυόμενον] The present participle does not stand for τὸν ῥυσόμενον (Grotius, Pelt); it serves to show that ῥύεσθαι is not begun only at the judgment, but already here, on earth, inasmuch as the inward conviction resides in the believer that he, by means of his fellowship with Christ, the σωτήρ, is delivered from all fears of a future judgment.
τὸν ῥυόμενον] stands therefore as a substantive. See Winer, p. 331 [E. T. 443].
ὀργή] wrath, then the activity of wrath, punishment. It has also this meaning among classical writers. See Kypke, in den Obss. sacr., on Rom 2:5.
Also τῆς ἐρχομένης] is not equivalent to ἐλευσομένης (Grot., Pelt, and others), but refers to the certain coming of the wrath at the judgment, which Christ will hold at His advent (comp. Col 3:6).
The brevity of the inscription clearly shews that Paul’s doctrine had been received with reverence among the Thessalonians, and that without controversy they all rendered to him the honor that he deserved. For when in other Epistles he designates himself an Apostle, he does this for the purpose of claiming for himself authority. Hence the circumstance, that he simply makes use of his own name without any title of honor, is an evidence that those to whom he writes voluntarily acknowledged him to be such as he was. The ministers of Satan, it is true, had endeavored to trouble this Church also, but it is evident that their machinations were fruitless. He associates, however, two others along with himself, as being, in common with himself, the authors of the Epistle. Nothing farther is stated here that has not been explained elsewhere, excepting that he says, “the Church in God the Father, and in Christ; ” by which terms (if I mistake not) he intimates, that there is truly among the Thessalonians a Church of God. This mark, therefore, is as it were an approval of a true and lawful Church. We may, however, at the same time infer from it, that a Church is to be sought for only where God presides, and where Christ reigns, and that, in short, there is no Church but what is founded upon God, is gathered under the auspices of Christ, and is united in his name.
2. We give thanks to God. He praises, as he is wont, their faith and other virtues, not so much, however, for the purpose of praising them, as to exhort them to perseverance. For it is no small excitement to eagerness of pursuit, when we reflect that God has adorned us with signal endowments, that he may finish what he has begun, and that we have, under his guidance and direction, advanced in the right course, in order that we may reach the goal. For as a vain confidence in those virtues, which mankind foolishly arrogate to themselves, puffs them up with pride, and makes them careless and indolent for the time to come, so a recognition of the gifts of God humbles pious minds, and stirs them up to anxious concern. Hence, instead of congratulations, he makes use of thanksgivings, that he may put them in mind, that everything in them that he declares to be worthy of praise, is a kindness from God. (491) He also turns immediately to the future, in making mention of his prayers. We thus see for what purpose he commends their previous life.
(491) “Est vn benefice procedant de la liberalite de Dieu;” —”Is a kindness proceeding from God’s liberality.”
3. Unceasingly remembering you. While the adverb unceasingly might be taken in connection with what goes before, it suits better to connect it in this manner. What follows might also be rendered in this way: Remembering your work of faith and labor of love, etc. Nor is it any objection to this that there is an article interposed between the pronoun ὑμῶν and the noun ἔργου, (492) for this manner of expression is frequently made use of by Paul. I state this, lest any one should charge the old translator with ignorance, from his rendering it in this manner. (493) As, however, it matters little as to the main point (494) which you may choose, I have retained the rendering of Erasmus. (495)
He assigns a reason, however, why he cherishes so strong an affection towards them, and prays diligently in their behalf — because he perceived in them those gifts of God which should stir him up to cherish towards them love and respect. And, unquestionably, the more that any one excels in piety and other excellences, so much the more ought we to hold him in regard and esteem. For what is more worthy of love than God? Hence there is nothing that should tend more to excite our love to individuals, than when the Lord manifests himself in them by the gifts of his Spirit. This is the highest commendation of all among the pious — this the most sacred bond of connection, by which they are more especially bound to each other. I have said, accordingly, that it is of little importance, whether you render it mindful of your faith, or mindful of you on account of your faith.
Work of faith I understand as meaning the effect of it. This effect, however, may be explained in two ways — passively or actively, either as meaning that faith was in itself a signal token of the power and efficacy of the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as he has wrought powerfully in the exciting of it, or as meaning that it afterwards produced outwardly its fruits. I reckon the effect to be in the root of faith rather than in its fruits — “A rare energy of faith has strewn itself powerfully in you.”
He adds labor of love, by which he means that in the cultivation of love they had grudged no trouble or labor. And, assuredly, it is known by experience, how laborious love is. That age, however, more especially afforded to believers a manifold sphere of labor, if they were desirous to discharge the offices of love. The Church was marvelously pressed down by a great multitude of afflictions: (496) many were stripped of their wealth, many were fugitives from their country, many were thrown destitute of counsel, many were tender and weak. (497) The condition of almost all was involved. So many cases of distress did not allow love to be inactive.
To hope he assigns patience, as it is always conjoined with it, for what we hope for, we in patience wait for, (Rom 8:24) and the statement should be explained to mean, that Paul remembers their patience in hoping for the coming of Christ. From this we may gather a brief definition of true Christianity — that it is a faith that is lively and full of vigor, so that it spares no labor, when assistance is to be given to one’s neighbors, but, on the contrary, all the pious employ themselves diligently in offices of love, and lay out their efforts in them, so that, intent upon the hope of the manifestation of Christ, they despise everything else, and, armed with patience, they rise superior to the wearisomeness of length of time, as well as to all the temptations of the world.
The clause, before our God and Father, may be viewed as referring to Paul’s remembrance, or to the three things spoken immediately before. I explain it in this way. As he had spoken of his prayers, he declares that as often as he raises his thoughts to the kingdom of God, he, at the same time, recalls to his remembrance the faith, hope, and patience, of the Thessalonians, but as all mere presence must vanish when persons come into the presence of God, this is added, (498) in order that the affirmation may have more weight. Farther, by this declaration of his goodwill towards them he designed to make them more teachable and prepared to listen. (499)
(492) The words are ὑμῶν τοῦ ἔργου. —Ed
(493) The rendering of the Vulgate is as follows: “Sine intermissione memores operis fidei vestrae .” Wiclif (1380) renders as follows: “With outen ceeysynge hauynge mynde of the werk of youre feithe.” Cranmer, (1539,) on the other hand, renders thus: “And call you to remembrance because of the work of your faith—Ed.
(494) “Quant a la substance du propos;” — “As to the substance of the matter.”
(495) The rendering of Erasmus is as follows: “Memores vestri propter opus fidei;” — “Mindful of you on account of your work of faith.”
(496) “D’afflictions quasi sans nombre;” — “By afflictions, as it were, without number.”
(497) “Foibles et debiles en la foy;” — “Weak and feeble in faith.”
(498) “Ce poinct a nommeement este adiouste par Sainct Paul;” — “This point has been expressly added by St. Paul.”
(499) “Car ce n’estoit vne petite consideration pour inciter St. Paul et les autres, a auoir les Thessaloniciens pour recommandez, et en faire esteme;” — “For it was no slight motive to induce St. Paul and others to hold the Thessalonians in estimation, and to regard them with esteem.”
4. Knowing, brethren beloved. The participle knowing may apply to Paul as well as to the Thessalonians. Erasmus refers it to the Thessalonians. I prefer to follow Chrysostom, who understands it of Paul and his colleagues, for it is (as it appears to me) a more ample confirmation of the foregoing statement. For it tended in no small degree to recommend them — that God himself had testified by many tokens, that they were acceptable and dear to him.
Election of God. I am not altogether dissatisfied with the interpretation given by Chrysostom — that God had made the Thessalonians illustrious, and had established their excellence. Paul, however, had it in view to express something farther; for he touches upon their calling, and as there had appeared in it no common marks of God’s power, he infers from this that they had been specially called with evidences of a sure election. For the reason is immediately added — that it was not a bare preaching that had been brought to them, but such as was conjoined with the efficacy of the Holy Spirit, that it might obtain entire credit among them.
When he says, in power, and in the Holy Spirit, it is, in my opinion, as if he had said — in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the latter term is added as explanatory of the former. Assurance, to which he assigned the third place, was either in the thing itself, or in the disposition of the Thessalonians. I am rather inclined to think that the meaning is, that Paul’s gospel had been confirmed by solid proofs, (500) as though God had shewn from heaven that he had ratified their calling. (501) When, however, Paul brings forward the proofs by which he had felt assured that the calling of the Thessalonians was altogether from God, he takes occasion at the same time to recommend his ministry, that they may themselves, also, recognize him and his colleagues as having been raised up by God.
By the term power some understand miracles. I extend it farther, as referring to spiritual energy of doctrine. For, as we had occasion to see in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul places it in contrast with speech (502) — the voice of God, as it were, living and conjoined with effect, as opposed to an empty and dead eloquence of men. It is to be observed, however, that the election of God, which is in itself hid, is manifested by its marks—when he gathers to himself the lost sheep and joins them to his flock, and holds out his hand to those that were wandering and estranged from him. Hence a knowledge of our election must be sought from this source. As, however, the secret counsel of God is a labyrinth to those who disregard his calling, so those act perversely who, under pretext of faith and calling, darken this first grace, from which faith itself flows. “By faith,” say they, “we obtain salvation: there is, therefore, no eternal predestination of God that distinguishes between us and reprobates.” It is as though they said — “Salvation is of faith: there is, therefore, no grace of God that illuminates us in faith.” Nay rather, as gratuitous election must be conjoined with calling, as with its effect, so it must necessarily, in the mean time, hold the first place. It matters little as to the sense, whether you connect ὑπὸ with the participle beloved or with the term election (503)
(500) “A l’este comme seellé et ratifié par bons tesmoignages et approbations suffisantes;” — “Had been there, as it were, sealed and ratified by good testimonies and sufficient attestations.”
(501) “Et en estoit l’autheur;” — “And was the author of it.”
(502) See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 1, pp. 100, 101.
(503) “Au reste, les mots de ceste sentence sont ainsi couchez au texte Grec de Sainct Paul, Scachans freres bien-aimez de Dieu, vostre election: tellement que ce mot de Dieu, pent estre rapporté a deux endroits, ascauoir Bien-aimez de Dieu, ou vostre election estre de Dieu: mais c’est tout vn comment on le prene quant au sens;” — “Farther, the words of this sentence are thus placed in the Greek text of St. Paul; knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election: in such a way, that this phrase of God may be taken as referring to two things, as meaning beloved of God, or, your election to be of God; but it is all one as to the sense in what way you take it.”
5. As ye know. Paul, as I have said before, has it as his aim, that the Thessalonians, influenced by the same considerations, may entertain no doubt that they were elected by God. For it had been the design of God, in honoring Paul’s ministry, that he might manifest to them their adoption. Accordingly, having said that they know what manner of persons they had been, (504) he immediately adds that he was suchfor their sake, by which he means that all this had been given them, in order that they might be fully persuaded that they were loved by God, and that their election was beyond all controversy.
(504) “Quels auoyent este St. Paul et ses compagnons;” — “What manner of persons St. Paul and his associates had been.”
6. And ye became imitators. With the view of increasing their alacrity, he declares that there is a mutual agreement, and harmony, as it were, between his preaching and their faith. For unless men, on their part, answer to God, no proficiency will follow from the grace that is offered to them — not as though they could do this of themselves, but inasmuch as God, as he begins our salvation by calling us, perfects it also by fashioning our hearts to obedience. The sum, therefore, is this — that an evidence of Divine election shewed itself not only in Paul’s ministry, in so far as it was furnished with the power of the Holy Spirit, but also in the faith of the Thessalonians, so that this conformity is a powerful attestation of it. He says, however, “Ye were imitators of God and of us, ” in the same sense in which it is said, that the people believed God and his servant Moses, (Exo 14:13 (505)) not as though Paul and Moses had anything different from God, but because he wrought powerfully by them, as his ministers and instruments. (506) While ye embraced. Their readiness in receiving the gospel is called an imitation of God, for this reason, that as God had presented himself to the Thessalonians in a liberal spirit, so they had, on their part, voluntarily come forward to meet him.
He says, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, that we may know that it is not by the instigation of the flesh, or by the promptings of their own nature, that men will be ready and eager to obey God, but that this is the work of God’s Spirit. The circumstance, that amidst much tribulation they had embraced the gospel, serves by way of amplification. For we see very many, not otherwise disinclined to the gospel, who, nevertheless, avoid it, from being intimidated through fear of the cross. Those, accordingly, who do not hesitate with intrepidity to embrace along with the gospel the afflictions that threaten them, furnish in this an admirable example of magnanimity. And from this it is so much the more clearly apparent, how necessary it is that the Spirit should aid us in this. For the gospel cannot be properly, or sincerely received, unless it be with a joyful heart. Nothing, however, is more at variance with our natural disposition, than to rejoice in afflictions.
(505) This is what the original text reads; however, (Exo 14:31 would seem to be a more appropriate reference. — fj.
(506) See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 2, p. 288.
7. So that ye were. Here we have another amplification — that they had stirred up even believers by their example; for it is a great thing to get so decidedly the start of those who had entered upon the course before us, as to furnish assistance to them for prosecuting their course. Typus (the word made use of by Paul) is employed by the Greeks in the same sense as Exemplar is among the Latins, and Patron among the French. He says, then, that the courage of the Thessalonians had been so illustrious, that other believers had borrowed from them a rule of constancy. I preferred, however, to render it patterns, that I might not needlessly make any change upon the Greek phrase made use of by Paul; and farther, because the plural number expresses, in my opinion, something more than if he had said that that Church as a body had been set forward for imitation, for the meaning is, that there were as many patterns as there were individuals.
8. For from you sounded forth. Here we have an elegant metaphor, by which he intimates that their faith was so lively, (507) that it did, as it were, by its sound, arouse other nations. For he says that the word of God sounded forth from them, inasmuch as their faith was sonorous (508) for procuring credit for the gospel. He says that this had not only occurred in neighboring places, but this sound had also extended far and wide, and had been distinctly heard, so that the matter did not require to be published by him. (509)
(507) “Si viue et vertueuse;” — “So lively and virtuous.”
(508) “Auoit resonné haut et clair;” — “Had resounded loud and clear.”
(509) “Tellement que la chose n’ha point besoin d’estre par luy diuulgee et magnifiee d’auantage;” — “So that the matter does not need to be farther published and extolled by him.”
He says that the report of their conversion had obtained great renown everywhere. What he mentions as to his entering in among them, refers to that power of the Spirit, by which God had signalized his gospel. (510) He says, however, that both things are freely reported among other nations, as things worthy of being made mention of. In the detail which follows, he shews, first, what the condition of mankind is, before the Lord enlightens them by the doctrine of his gospel; and farther, for what end he would have us instructed, and what is the fruit of the gospel. For although all do not worship idols, all are nevertheless addicted to idolatry, and are immersed in blindness and madness. Hence, it is owing to the kindness of God, that we are exempted from the impostures of the devil, and every kind of superstition. Some, indeed, he converts earlier, others later, but as alienation is common to all, it is necessary that we be converted to God, before we can serve God. From this, also, we gather the essence and nature of true faith, inasmuch as no one gives due credit to God but the man, who renouncing the vanity of his own understanding, embraces and receives the pure worship of God.
9To the living God. This is the end of genuine conversion. We see, indeed, that many leave off superstitions, who, nevertheless, after taking this step, are so far from making progress in piety, that they fall into what is worse. For having thrown off all regard to God, they give themselves up to a profane and brutal contempt. (511) Thus, in ancient times, the superstitions of the vulgar were derided by Epicurus, Diogenes the Cynic, and the like, but in such a way that they mixed up the worship of God so as to make no difference between it and absurd trifles. Hence we must take care, lest the pulling down of errors be followed by the overthrow of the building of faith. Farther, the Apostle, in ascribing to God the epithets true and living, indirectly censures idols as being dead and worthless inventions, and as being falsely called gods. He makes the end of conversion to be what I have noticed — that they might serve God. Hence the doctrine of the gospel tends to this, that it may induce us to serve and obey God. For so long as we are the servants of sin, we are free from righteousness, (Rom 6:20) inasmuch as we sport ourselves, and wander up and down, exempt from any yoke. No one, therefore, is properly converted to God, but the man who has learned to place himself wholly under subjection to him.
As, however, it is a thing that is more than simply difficult, in so great a corruption of our nature, he shews at the same time, what it is that retains and confirms us in the fear of God and obedience to him — waiting for Christ. For unless we are stirred up to the hope of eternal life, the world will quickly draw us to itself. For as it is only confidence in the Divine goodness that induces us to serve God, so it is only the expectation of final redemption that keeps us from giving way. (512) Let every one, therefore, that would persevere in a course of holy life, apply his whole mind to a expectation of Christ’s coming. It is also worthy of notice, that he uses the expression waiting for Christ, instead of the hope of everlasting salvation. For, unquestionably, without Christ we are ruined and thrown into despair, but when Christ shews himself, life and prosperity do at the same time shine forth upon us. (513) Let us bear in mind, however, that this is said to believers exclusively, for as for the wicked, as he will come to be their Judge, so they can do nothing but tremble in looking for him.
This is what he afterwards subjoins — that Christ delivereth us from the wrath to come. For this is felt by none but those who, being reconciled to God by faith, have conscience already pacified; otherwise, (514) his name is dreadful. Christ, it is true, delivered us by his death from the anger of God, but the import of that deliverance will become apparent on the last day. (515) This statement, however, consists of two departments. The first is, that the wrath of God and everlasting destruction are impending over the human race, inasmuch as all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) The second is, that there is no way of escape but through the grace of Christ; for it is not without good grounds that Paul assigns to him this office. It is, however, an inestimable gift, that the pious, whenever mention is made of judgment, know that Christ will come as a Redeemer to them.
In addition to this, he says emphatically, the wrath to come, that he may rouse up pious minds, lest they should fail from looking at the present life. For as faith is a looking at things that do not appear, (Heb 11:1) nothing is less befitting than that we should estimate the wrath of God, according as any one is afflicted in the world; as nothing is more absurd than to take hold of the transient blessings which we enjoy, that we may from them form an estimate of God’s favor. While, therefore, on the one hand, the wicked sport themselves at their ease, and we, on the other hand, languish in misery, let us learn to fear the vengeance of God, which is hid from the eyes of flesh, and take our satisfaction in the secret delights of the spiritual life. (516)
(510) “Par laquelle Dieu auoit orné et magnifiquement authorizé son Euangile;” — “By which God had adorned and magnificently attested his gospel.”
(511) “De toute religion;” — “Of all religion.”
(512) “Que ne nous lassions et perdions courage;” — “That we do not give way and lose heart.”
(513) “Jettent sur nous leurs rayons;” — “Cast upon us their rays.”
(514) “Aux autres;” — “To others.”
(515) “Mais’au dernier iour sera veu a l’oeil le fruit de ceste deliurance, et de quelle importance elle est;” — “But on the last day will be visible to the eye the fruit of that deliverance, and of what importance it is.”
(516) “En delices et plaisirs de la vie spirituelle, lesquels nous ne voyons point;” — “In the delights and pleasures of the spiritual life which we do not see.”
10Whom he raised up. He makes mention here of Christ’s resurrection, on which the hope of our resurrection is founded, for death everywhere besets us. Hence, unless we learn to look to Christ, our minds will give way at every turn. By the same consideration, he admonishes them that Christ is to be waited for from heaven, because we will find nothing in the world to bear us up, (517) while there are innumerable trials to overwhelm us. Another circumstance must be noticed; (518) for as Christ rose for this end — that he might make us all at length, as being his members, partakers of the same glory with himself, Paul intimates that his resurrection would be vain, unless he again appeared as their Redeemer, and extended to the whole body of the Church the fruit and effect of that power which he manifested in himself. (519)
(517) “Et faire demeurer fermes;” — “And make us remain firm.”
(518) “A laquelle ceci se rapporte;” — “To what this refers.”
(519) “Laquelle il a vne fois monstree en sa personne;” — “Which he once shewed in his own person.”
