Commentary on First and Second Thessalonians

Robert H. Gundry

© 2010 by Robert H. Gundry

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakeracademic.com

Ebook edition created 2011

Previously appeared in Robert H. Gundry, Commentary on the New Testament (Baker Academic, 2010).

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for Commentary on the New Testament is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4412-3770-5

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Acknowledgments

Introduction

First Thessalonians

ADDRESS AND GREETING

1 Thessalonians 1:1

A COMPLIMENTARY THANKS FOR THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS

1 Thessalonians 1:2–5

A COMPLIMENTARY DESCRIPTION OF THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS

1 Thessalonians 1:6–10

AN EXPLANATORY DESCRIPTION OF THE EVANGELIZATION OF THESSALONICA

1 Thessalonians 2:1–12

A REPRISE OF PRAYERFUL THANKS FOR THE THESSALONIANS AND OF THE COMPLIMENTARY DESCRIPTION OF THEM

1 Thessalonians 2:13–16

PAUL AND COMPANY’S CONCERN FOR AND JOY IN THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS

1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:10

A BENEDICTION

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13

AN EXHORTATION TO SEXUAL MORALITY

1 Thessalonians 4:1–8

AN EXHORTATION TO MUTUAL LOVE

1 Thessalonians 4:9–12

AN EXHORTATION TO BE COMFORTED IN REGARD TO DECEASED FELLOW BELIEVERS

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

AN EXHORTATION TO EXPECTANT READINESS FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

MISCELLANEOUS EXHORTATIONS

1 Thessalonians 5:12–22

A BENEDICTION AND FINAL INSTRUCTIONS

1 Thessalonians 5:23–28

Second Thessalonians

ADDRESS AND GREETING

2 Thessalonians 1:1–2

PERSECUTION

2 Thessalonians 1:3–12

THE DAY OF THE LORD

2 Thessalonians 2:1–17

MISCELLANEA

2 Thessalonians 3:1–15

CONCLUSION

2 Thessalonians 3:16–18

Notes

Back Cover

Acknowledgments

My sincere thanks to Shirley Decker-Lucke, Editorial Director at Hendrickson Publishers, for accepting this exposition of the New Testament for publication; to Mark House, Phil Frank, and others for their work there on the publication; and to the Baker Academic team for their work on this reprint. My brother Stan Gundry, whose contributions to Christian publishing are deservedly well-known, encouraged me to write the exposition. Connie Gundry Tappy copyedited the manuscript. Her copyediting included not only the correction of errors and the refinement of style, but also a host of interpretive improvements and scriptural cross-references arising out of her comprehensive knowledge of the Bible. To her, my daughter as well as my copyeditor, I affectionately dedicate this volume.

Robert H. Gundry

Westmont College

Santa Barbara, California

Introduction

Dear reader,

Here you have part of a commentary on the whole New Testament, published by Baker Academic both in hardback and as an ebook. The electronic version has been broken into segments for your convenience and affordability, though if you like what you find here you may want to consider the whole at a proportionately lower cost. Whether in whole or in part, the e-version puts my comments at your fingertips on your easily portable Kindle, iPad, smartphone, or similar device.

I’ve written this commentary especially for busy people like you—lay people with jobs and families that take up a lot of time, Bible study leaders, pastors, and all who take the New Testament seriously—that is, people who time-wise and perhaps money-wise can’t afford the luxury of numerous heavyweight, technical commentaries on the individual books making up the section of the Bible we call the New Testament. So technical questions are avoided almost entirely, and the commentary concentrates on what will prove useful for understanding the scriptural text as a basis for your personal life as a Christian, for discussion with others, and for teaching and preaching.

Group discussion, teaching, and preaching all involve speaking aloud, of course, and when the New Testament was written, even private reading was done aloud. Moreover, most authors dictated their material to a writing secretary, and books were ordinarily read aloud to an audience. In this commentary, then, I’ve avoided almost all abbreviations (which don’t come through as such in oral speech) and have freely used contractions that characterize speaking (“we’ll,” “you’re,” “they’ve,” and so on). To indicate emphasis in oral speech, italics also occur fairly often.

You’ll mostly have to make your own practical and devotional applications of the scriptural text. But such applications shouldn’t disregard or violate the meanings intended by the Scripture’s divinely inspired authors and should draw on the richness of those meanings. So I’ve interpreted them in detail. Bold print indicates the text being interpreted. Translations of the original Greek are my own. Because of the interpretations’ close attention to detail, my translations usually, though not always, gravitate to the literal and sometimes produce run-on sentences and other nonstandard, convoluted, and even highly unnatural English. Square brackets enclose intervening clarifications, however, plus words in English that don’t correspond to words in the Greek text but do need supplying to make good sense. (As a language, Greek has a much greater tendency than English does to omit words meant to be supplied mentally.) Seemingly odd word-choices in a translation get justified in the following comments. It needs to be said as well that the very awkwardness of a literal translation often highlights features of the scriptural text obscured, eclipsed, or even contradicted by loose translations and paraphrases.

Literal translation also produces some politically incorrect English. Though “brothers” often includes sisters, for example, “sisters” doesn’t include brothers. Similarly, masculine pronouns may include females as well as males, but not vice versa. These pronouns, “brothers,” and other masculine expressions that on occasion are gender-inclusive correspond to the original, however, and help give a linguistic feel for the male-dominated culture in which the New Testament originated and which its language reflects. Preachers, Bible study leaders, and others should make whatever adjustments they think necessary for contemporary audiences but should not garble the text’s intended meaning.

Out of respect for your abilities so far as English is concerned, I’ve not dumbed down the vocabulary used in translations and interpretations. Like the translations, interpretations are my own. Rather than reading straight through, many of you may consult the interpretation of an individual passage now and then. So I’ve had to engage in a certain amount of repetition. To offset the repetition and keep the material in bounds, I rarely discuss others’ interpretations. But I’ve not neglected to canvass them in my research.

On the theological front, the commentary is unabashedly evangelical, so that my prayers accompany this volume in support of all you who strive for faithfulness to the New Testament as the word of God.

Robert Gundry

First Thessalonians

In this letter Paul compliments Christian believers in the city of Thessalonica on their progress in faith and then exhorts them to live christianly in anticipation of Jesus’ return on the Day of the Lord.

ADDRESS AND GREETING

1 Thessalonians 1:1

1:1: Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians [which is] in God, the Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy cofounded the Thessalonian church (see Acts 15:22, 32, 40–41; 16:1–3 with 17:1–9, “Silas” being the Aramaic form of the Latinized “Silvanus”). But the apostle Paul counts as leader of the other two and therefore as the author of this letter (see 2:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:17). By adding weight to the letter, his inclusion of Silvanus and Timothy with himself aims for a wholeheartedly favorable reception on the Thessalonians’ part. “The church of the Thessalonians” means “the assembly of the Thessalonians.” But since an assembly could consist of non-Christians, Paul adds “in God, the Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ” and thus limits the address to Christians, whose assembly the word “church” connotes. The letter will be read to them when they assemble. They lived in Thessalonica, a major city in what is now northern Greece but was then Macedonia. Instead of saying “the church in Thessalonica,” though, Paul says (as just noted) “the church of the Thessalonians in God, the Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ.” Thus a theological address trumps a geographical address and thereby encourages the addressees. For dwelling physically in the city of Thessalonica, where they suffer persecution (2:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:4–7), doesn’t determine their destiny. Dwelling through the Holy Spirit in God and Jesus Christ does (see 1:5–6; 4:8; 5:19 for the Thessalonians’ having the Holy Spirit).

“The Father” designates God but leaves it unspecified whose Father he is. It will come out soon enough, however, that he’s “our Father,” the Father of Christians such as Paul and company (1:3; 3:11, 13), as well as of Jesus Christ (1:10). “The Lord” designates Jesus Christ. This term can refer to human beings—masters of slaves, owners of property, and rulers, for example—as well as to pagan deities. But the present conjunction with “God, the Father” in an indication of the Christians’ sphere of existence points to Jesus’ deity, especially in opposition to pagan deities and the emperor cult. “Jesus” is a personal name, “Christ” a title (meaning “Anointed One”) that has evolved into a second personal name. Putting a comma between “the Lord” and “Jesus Christ” underscores the true lordship of Jesus Christ over against the untrue lordship of pagan deities and deified emperors. For the meaning of “Grace and peace to you” see the comments on 1 Peter 1:2; 2 John 3.

A COMPLIMENTARY THANKS FOR THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS

1 Thessalonians 1:2–5

1:2–5: We’re always thanking God for all of you, constantly making remembrance [of you] in our prayers, 3remembering your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord, Jesus Christ, in the presence of God, even our Father, 4knowing—brothers loved by God—[his] selection of you, 5in that our gospel didn’t get to you only with a [spoken] word—rather, also with power and with the Holy Spirit and with much full assurance, just as you know what kind of [men] we proved to be among you because of you. As distinguished from “you” and “your,” “we” and “our” refer to Paul and company. Which isn’t to say, however, that “our Lord,” “our Father,” and “our gospel” exclude the addressees from the same relationships to Jesus, God, and the gospel. Thanks go to God for the Thessalonian Christians because of his seeing to their conversion, which made the evangelization of Thessalonica successful. “Always thanking God” stresses the extent of thanksgiving, and “for all of you” stresses the extent of his making the evangelization successful. “Prayers” provide the occasion for thanking God. “Making remembrance” means making mention. “Constantly” joins the plural of “prayers” to stress the regularity of mentioning the Thessalonian Christians thankfully in prayer.

“Remembering your work . . . and labor . . . and endurance” means mentioning in prayer these activities of the Thessalonian Christians as what in particular Paul and company thank God for. The “work” stems from “faith”—that is, from belief in Jesus—and means the doing of good deeds (see 2 Thessalonians 1:11; 2:17), especially for fellow Christians (4:9–12). The “labor” stems from “love” and connotes affectionate exertion for others’ benefit (3:12 [compare the combination of work, labor, and love in 5:12–13]). The “endurance” stems from “hope,” which means a confident expectation, not an uncertain wish. (An even more literal translation, “endurance of hope,” would sound as though hope was being endured, whereas the less literal translation, “endurance in hope,” allows hope to be the source of endurance.) “Of our Lord, Jesus Christ” defines the hope as a confident expectation of his second coming, and this expectation enables the endurance of persecution (2:14; 3:3–4; 2 Thessalonians 1:4–7; Acts 17:5–9). Hope comes last in this trio of Christian virtues because it looks forward to the second coming (so too in 5:8; Colossians 1:4–5), whereas in 1 Corinthians 13:13 love comes last as the highest virtue (compare Romans 5:1–5). “In the presence of God” goes with “remembering” and thus indicates that “prayers,” in which the remembrance occurs, put us in his presence (3:9–10 [compare Hebrews 4:16; 7:19, 25; 10:1, 22]).

Knowledge that God selected the addressees for salvation leads Paul to address them with “brothers loved by God.” They’re Christian brothers in relation to Paul and company as well as to one another (Matthew 23:8). Calling attention to this relationship makes for a favorable reception of the letter, and calling attention to God’s love for the addressees both encourages them in their hopeful endurance of persecution and contrasts sharply with pagan gods’ usual lack of love for their devotees, who therefore needed to placate them. “Knowing . . . the selection” provides the basis for thanksgiving, and providing the basis of this knowledge is God’s seeing to it that the gospel got to them not only verbally but also powerfully. Since by definition miracles are “powerful acts” or, more literally, “powers,” the phrase “with power” indicates that the performance of miracles accompanied the spoken word. “With the Holy Spirit” indicates the source of this power. And “with . . . full assurance” indicates its effect on the Thessalonians. In conjunction with the spoken word the power converted them. “Much” raises their “full assurance” to the nth degree (compare Romans 15:18–19; 1 Corinthians 2:4–5; 2 Corinthians 6:7; 12:12; Galatians 3:5). Their knowledge of “what kind of [men]” Paul and company “proved to be” among them balances Paul’s knowledge that God lovingly selected the Thessalonians, and also prepares for a description in 2:1–12 of the way Paul and company evangelized Thessalonica. This very appeal to the Thessalonians’ knowledge of their behavior among them, plus the description of that behavior as “because of you,” forecasts a favorable description in the upcoming passage and means that Paul and company behaved so as to benefit the Thessalonians with the gospel. All in all, the extended thanksgiving for the Thessalonians in 1:2–5 compliments them for the purposes of gaining their ready acceptance of the letter’s further contents and of encouraging their further progress in faith-filled work, love-filled labor, and hope-filled endurance.

A COMPLIMENTARY DESCRIPTION OF THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS

1 Thessalonians 1:6–10

1:6–10: And you proved to be imitators of us and of the Lord by having welcomed the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7so that you became a role model to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8For from you the word about the Lord reverberated forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia; rather, your faith toward God has gone forth in every place, so that we have no need to say anything. 9For people themselves are reporting about us in reference to what kind of entrance to you we had, even how you turned to God from idols to slave for the living and true God 10and to await his Son from the heavens, whom he [God] raised from among the dead, [namely] Jesus, the one who rescues us from the coming wrath. As Paul and company proved to be good for the addressees (1:5), so the addressees have proved to be imitators of them and of the Lord, who has twice been identified as Jesus Christ (1:1, 3). Like the compliment in 1:2–5, this compliment has the purpose of gaining a ready acceptance of the letter and of encouraging its recipients. They became imitators of Paul and company and of the Lord by “having welcomed the word.” The word of the gospel called on the Thessalonians “to slave for the living and true God” as Paul and company were doing and as the Lord, Jesus Christ, did. So welcoming this word meant “turn[ing] to God from idols” to slave for him, and welcoming it “in . . . affliction” adds an element to the imitation in that both Paul and company and the Lord suffered affliction—that is, persecution—in slaving for God. The Lord suffered it in his crucifixion, they in their evangelistic labors (Acts 16:16–17:15).

“Much” magnifies the like affliction suffered by the addressees. Likewise, “with the joy of the Holy Spirit” magnifies the compliment in that they welcomed the word joyfully despite the suffering of much affliction. Mention of the Holy Spirit as the source of this unnatural or, rather, supernatural joy balances the preceding mention of the Holy Spirit as the source of the power with which the word came to them (1:5) and implies by way of a further compliment that this joy gives evidence of their having received the Holy Spirit. Their joyful welcome of the word despite much affliction has made them “a role model” to be imitated just as they imitated Paul and company and the Lord. “To all the believers in Macedonia [roughly the northern part of modern Greece] and in Achaia [roughly the southern part]” enhances the compliment by displaying the extent to which the Thessalonian believers became a role model, and “For” introduces an explanation of the way they became such a model: the gospel, called “the word about the Lord,” had “reverberated forth” from them as some of them traveled out of Thessalonica into Macedonia and Achaia and even elsewhere (“in every place,” a deliberate exaggeration for emphasis on their far-flung evangelism [for some Thessalonian believers as Paul’s traveling coevangelists see Acts 19:29; 20:4; 27:2; Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24]). “Not only . . . rather,” where we’d expect “not only . . . but also,” is a particularly emphatic way of stating the hyperbole; and “your faith toward God” restates “the word about the Lord” in terms of personal testimonies. These testimonies made them role models to be imitated.

We might have expected “your faith in Jesus,” but “your faith toward God” prepares for a description of the addressees’ having “turned to God from idols.” The addressees’ own testimonies of faith toward God made it unnecessary for Paul and company to report their converts’ faith. Because of those testimonies, in fact, people who heard them were reporting “what kind of entrance” Paul and company had to the addressees. “Even how you turned to God from idols” defines the entrance in terms of evangelism so successful as to be comparable to a triumphal entry such as victorious generals and celebrated orators, philosophers, and teachers enjoyed when entering a city. “From idols” also implies both that the Thessalonian believers didn’t merely add God to the gods represented by idols, as pagans often multiplied their gods in a fashion similar to diversifying investments nowadays for the sake of economic safety (see Acts 17:1–4), and that most of the Thessalonian believers were Gentiles, for few Jews worshiped idols after their Assyrian and Babylonian exiles during the Old Testament period. “To slave” for God means to work for him—evangelistically in this context—and counts as an honor and privilege because he’s “the living and true God” in contrast with “idols,” dead and undivine as they are. God’s having “raised [‘his Son’] from among the dead” has made it possible for him (Jesus the Son) to come back “from the heavens” and rescue “us” (now including the addressees as well as Paul and company) “from the coming wrath” (that is, from the future cataclysm of God’s final judgment on unbelievers). Since this wrath is coming and therefore not yet here, the present tense of “rescues” implies that the rescue is so certain that it might as well be happening already.

AN EXPLANATORY DESCRIPTION OF THE EVANGELIZATION OF THESSALONICA

1 Thessalonians 2:1–12

2:1–2: For you yourselves know, brothers, our entrance to you, that it hasn’t proved empty [= void of success]. 2Rather, though having suffered earlier and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, we made bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in [the midst of] an enormous struggle. Here Paul and company start explaining the success of their entrance to the Thessalonians, first mentioned in 1:9. The explanation starts with an appeal to the Thessalonians’ knowledge of that success. The addition of “yourselves” to “you” and the endearing address “brothers” strengthen the appeal, designed as it is to enlist agreement with the explanation. “Rather” shifts attention from the success as such to a reason for it. The reason consisted in evangelistic boldness. Boldness of speech was highly admired, and this boldness deserved more admiration than usual because Paul and company had recently suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi (Acts 16:11–40). “In [the midst of] an enormous struggle” adds to the background of boldness the fierce opposition faced right in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1–9). Admirable as the boldness was, though, “in our God” gives God the credit for it. Just as the Spiritual location of the addressees “in God, the Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ” trumped their physical location in Thessalonica (1:1), so the Spiritual location of Paul and company in God trumped their circumstantial location in danger, so that they gained boldness of speech. “The gospel of God” means the good news of what God has done through his Son, Jesus (1:9–10).

2:3–4: For our urging [people to welcome the gospel] [does] not [stem] from misguidance, and not from impurity, and not from flimflammery. 4Rather, just as we’ve been certified by God so as to be entrusted with the gospel, we speak in this way: not as pleasing human beings—rather, [as pleasing] God, the one who certifies our hearts. This second explanation of the evangelistic success in Thessalonica consists in the bona fides of Paul and company. They speak and act not only boldly but also out of concern for truth (as opposed to “misguidance”), out of unselfish motives (as opposed to “impurity”), and out of sincerity (as opposed to “flimflammery”). Each of the two occurrences of “rather” introduces a contrast with “misguidance,” “impurity,” and “flimflammery,” all three of which would be designed to please human beings without their recognition of the misguidance, impurity, and flimflammery. The first contrast consists in “not pleasing human beings,” the second in “[pleasing] God.” To these contrasts are added two certifications by God: (1) his certification of Paul and company as trustworthy proclaimers of the gospel and (2) his certification of their hearts as pleasing to him. Since then they proclaim the gospel to please him rather than human beings, he saw to it that their evangelization of Thessalonica proved successful.

2:5–8: For neither at any time did we appear on the scene with a word of flattery, just as you know [we didn’t], nor with a ruse [in the service] of greed—God [is our] witness [that we didn’t]—6nor [did we ever appear on the scene] seeking glory from human beings, either from you or from others, though able as Christ’s apostles to be with weight [that is, to throw our weight around]. 7Rather, we appeared on the scene [as] infants among you. As if a nursing [mother] were bosoming her own children, 8in this way yearning for you [= having a soft spot in our hearts for you] we were delighted to deliver to you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you’ve become beloved to us. This third explanation of the evangelistic success in Thessalonica consists in the self-effacement of Paul and company. “Just as you know” enlists the Thessalonians’ agreement that they hadn’t flattered them to gain a personal following. Human beings can detect flattery, but only God can see greed in the heart. So Paul and company then enlist God as a witness to their using no ruse to satisfy any greed of theirs, the satisfaction of which greed would have come at the Thessalonians’ expense.

In the Greco-Roman culture of honor and shame it was expected that people—especially itinerant orators, philosophers, and teachers of religion—seek “glory [= admiration] from [their fellow] human beings” by virtue of their oratorical, philosophical, and didactic skills. It was also thought proper that they should seek such glory. But Paul denies that he and his companions sought it and implies that it would have been un-Christian for them to do so. “Either from you or from others” extends the denial to their evangelization elsewhere too, and this despite having ability (in the sense of authorization) as Christ’s apostles to throw their weight around. (Obviously, “apostles” is used here in a sense wider than the original Twelve [compare especially Acts 14:14].) Rather than presenting themselves as apostolic heavyweights and acting accordingly, they presented themselves as infants, lightweights lacking authority over their audience.[1] “Infants” is a figure of speech that highlights how innocent of greed were Paul and company among the Thessalonians. A shift to the figure of a nursing mother highlights how affectionately they acted toward them—so affectionately in fact that they weren’t simply willing, they were even delighted to deliver to the Thessalonians their very own selves as well as the gospel of God. And they did deliver their own selves to the Thessalonians by serving them gratis. “Because you’ve become beloved to us” translates the figure of a nursing mother “bosoming her own children” into the actuality of a loving relationship. How different from the flimflam artists who preyed on their gullible audiences with self-glorifying, self-aggrandizing, crowd-pleasing preachments!

2:9–12: For you remember, brothers, our labor and hardship. While working night and day so as not to impose a burden on any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10You and God [are] witnesses to how devoutly and righteously and blamelessly we appeared on the scene for you who believe, 11as indeed you know how [we were treating] each one of you as a father [treats] his own children by encouraging you and comforting [you] and testifying 12that you should walk [= conduct yourselves] worthily of God, who is calling you into his own kingdom and glory. This fourth explanation of the evangelistic success in Thessalonica consists in Paul and company’s supporting themselves rather than taking money for their proclamation of the gospel (compare 1 Corinthians 9:18; 2 Corinthians 11:7–12; 12:13–14; Acts 18:3; 20:33–35). (Note: Each of the four explanations is introduced with the conjunction “For” [2:1, 3, 5, 9].) “You remember” both reminds the Thessalonians that Paul and company supported themselves and enlists the Thessalonians’ agreement that they did. For the address “brothers” see the comments on 1:4. “Our labor and hardship” means “our hard labor.” “While working night and day” details how hard their labor was, for working hours normally stretched from sunrise to sunset, but no further. Greek elites despised manual labor; and itinerant orators, philosophers, and religious teachers didn’t deign to engage in it. “While working night and day” indicates that Paul and company combined evangelism with manual labor: they used their workplaces to proclaim the gospel of God. “To you” puts the Thessalonians in the audience at those workplaces. “So as not to impose a burden on any of you” states the merciful purpose of self-support. In 2:5–8 Paul and company appealed to God as the witness to his and his companions’ humanly invisible lack of greed. Now they appeal to the Thessalonians as well as to God, because working night and day was visible to the Thessalonians just as to God, though only he could attest to the inward purpose of not burdening the Thessalonians. They and God testify that the hard labor of Paul and company counted as religiously devout, morally righteous, ethically blameless, and meant for the benefit of the Thessalonian believers.

Here and earlier, “appeared on the scene” is a verbal equivalent of the noun “entrance” in 1:9; 2:1. “As indeed you know” appeals again to the Thessalonians’ knowledge, underscored this time with “indeed” (compare 2:1–2, 9–10), and introduces Paul and company’s treatment of them “as a father [treats] his own children.” “Each one of you” individualizes the treatment for emphasis. The earlier comparison to a nursing mother’s bosoming her own children featured motherly affection. The present comparison features fatherly encouragement, comfort, and deposition in regard to conduct worthy of God, that is, conduct which brings to him the glory he’s worthy of. Since he is calling believers “into his own kingdom and glory,” they owe him this kind of conduct. “His own” stresses the privilege of citizenship in that kingdom and of sharing there in God’s glory. To share in that glory is to be compensated for not seeking glory from human beings any more than Paul and company did (2:6). God’s call isn’t just an invitation to be accepted or rejected. It’s an effective tugging into his glorious kingdom.

A REPRISE OF PRAYERFUL THANKS FOR THE THESSALONIANS AND OF THE COMPLIMENTARY DESCRIPTION OF THEM

1 Thessalonians 2:13–16

2:13: And we’re also thanking God constantly because of this, [namely,] that on receiving from us the heard word of God [= the gospel of God that you heard spoken by us], you welcomed [it] not [as] the word of human beings—rather, just as it truly is, the word of God, who is also working among you who believe. Paul and company have just referred to their past fatherly treatment of the Thessalonians (2:9–12). Now they add a reprise of their thanking God for them (see 1:2–10 with comments). This time—in view of the intervening self-description (2:1–12)—they stress that the Thessalonians welcomed what they heard as God’s true word, not as a merely human message. And to deflect credit from themselves for their hard labor Paul and company credit God with working among the Thessalonians (compare Philippians 1:6). Alternatively, as is grammatically possible, they credit God’s word (“which” instead of “who”) with working among them (compare 1 Corinthians 1:18). In either case, Paul and company are living up to “not seeking glory from human beings” (2:6).

2:14–16: For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, in that you too have suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen just as also they themselves [did] at the hands of the Jews, 15who killed both the Lord, [namely] Jesus, and the [Old Testament] prophets, and [who] pursued us out [of Thessalonica], and who don’t please God, and [who are] hostile to all human beings, 16[as evident in their] trying to prevent us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved, with the result that they [the unbelieving Jews] are always filling up their sins. And the wrath has arrived first upon them to the max. The long sentence that starts this paragraph explains why Paul and company thank God constantly for the Thessalonians’ welcoming God’s word (2:13). As in 1:6, the reason lies in their welcoming it despite persecution; and complimenting them on their doing so has the purpose yet again of ensuring their ready acceptance of what is to follow in the letter. The affectionate address “brothers” enhances the compliment. According to 1:6 the addressees had become imitators of Paul and company and of the Lord in suffering persecution. Here they’re said to have become “imitators of God’s churches . . . that are in Judea.” Since conversion to God entails “slaving for God” (1:9), those assemblies of his slaves belong to him—hence, “God’s churches.” But besides locating them geographically in Judea the text locates them Spiritually “in Christ Jesus” (see the comments on 1:1). The placement of “Christ” before “Jesus” retains something of the original titular meaning: “the Christ, [namely] Jesus” or “Messiah Jesus.”

Another “you yourselves,” plus “too” and “the same things,” highlights the parallel between the addressees’ suffering at the hands of their unbelieving fellow Thessalonians and the Judean churches’ suffering at the hands of their unbelieving fellow Judeans (see especially Acts 8:1b–3). Adding to this parallel, the tradition of such persecution—a tradition which goes back through the killing of Jesus all the way to the killing of the Old Testament prophets—reinforces the point that the addressees aren’t alone in their suffering of persecution. “[Who] pursued us out [of Thessalonica]” spotlights unbelieving Jews outside Judea, too, and alludes to what happened according to Acts 17:1–9, though the same sort of pursuit had happened elsewhere (Acts 9:26–30; 13:45–50; 14:5–6, 19–20; 17:13–14; 2 Corinthians 11:24–26). Since God sent the prophets and Jesus his Son and owns believers, it follows that their unbelieving persecutors aren’t pleasing God. And the Jewish persecutors’ “hostil[ity] to all human beings,” not just to Christians, shows itself in the attempt to prevent the evangelization and consequent salvation of Gentiles. This attempt is “filling up their [the persecutors’] sins” in that they not only disbelieve but also try to keep the Gentiles, whom they hate, from believing. “Always” describes their attempt as ongoing. “The wrath” refers back to “the coming wrath” in 1:10, so that the past tense of “has arrived” portrays this future cataclysm of divine wrath as so sure to come that it might as well have come already (compare the present tense in “Jesus, the one who rescues us from the coming wrath” [1:10], as though the rescue is so sure to happen that it might as well be happening already). “First” indicates that the Jewish persecutors will suffer God’s wrath before unbelieving Gentiles do (compare Romans 2:9). “To the max” matches the magnitude of coming wrath to the magnitude of “always filling up their sins.”

PAUL AND COMPANY’S CONCERN FOR AND JOY IN THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS

1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:10

2:17–18: But we, brothers, having been orphaned from you for an hour’s time [= a short while]—as to face, not as to heart [= so far as a face-to-face but not a heart-to-heart relationship is concerned]—in our immense yearning were all the more eager to see your face. 18Therefore we wanted to come to you—indeed I, Paul, both once and twice [= more than once]—and Satan cut in on us [so as to block our way and thus thwart us]. “But we” shifts attention from the persecutors to Paul and company. Another affectionate address, “brothers” (for which see the comments on 1:4), introduces their yearning for the addressees. “Immense” magnifies the yearning, and “orphaned from you” gives a reason for it and compares it to an orphaned child’s hopeless and therefore all the greater yearning to see his or her parents. That Paul and company have been separated from the Thessalonian believers for only a short while makes their immense yearning even greater evidence of their love for those believers. “Not [orphaned] as to heart” is the reason for being “all the more eager to see your face.” Because of this eagerness Paul and company, but especially Paul as their leader and the author of this letter (“I, Paul”), wanted to visit the Thessalonian believers. “Indeed” and “both once and twice” stress this desire of his. “And Satan cut in on us” absolves Paul and his companions from any blame for having failed to visit the persecuted Thessalonians.

2:19–20: For what [is] our hope or joy or crown of boasting [that is, a crown to boast about]—for sure [it’s] even you, isn’t it?—in the presence of our Lord, Jesus, at his coming? 20For you are our glory and joy! “For” introduces another reason, this time forward-looking, for the immense yearning to visit the Thessalonian believers. The word translated “what . . . ?” could also be translated “who . . . ?” But “what . . . ?” does a better job of leaving the answer to the question in suspense. “Hope” means confident expectation and prepares for a reference to the second coming (see the comments on 1:3) but here refers to the Thessalonian believers at the second coming (“for sure [it’s] even you, isn’t it?”) rather than to that coming itself. “Or joy or crown” sets out a range of further possibilities. But all of them complement each other. “Crown” means a wreath such as victorious athletes were given. To boast is to express pride. But Paul and company are so bent on expressing pride in the Thessalonian believers rather than in themselves that they interrupt their question before finishing it. The interruption (“for sure [it’s] even you, isn’t it?”) answers the initial question with another, self-answering question. “In the presence of our Lord, Jesus, at his coming” indicates that on that occasion Paul and company will express joyful pride in the Thessalonian believers because by staying true despite persecution these believers will have met the confident expectation of Paul and company. See the comments on 4:15 for the word “coming.” “For you are our glory and joy” reiterates the interruptive answer to the foregoing question. “Our hope” drops out, “joy” stays, and “our glory” replaces “crown of boasting” to indicate that whatever honor Paul and company get at the second coming will derive from their converts in Thessalonica. See the comments on 1 Corinthians 9:24–25 on the crown as an imperishable wreath.

3:1–3a: Therefore [because Satan thwarted our coming to you] when we could no longer bear [wondering how you were doing], we thought it good to be left alone in Athens 2and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel about the Christ, to stabilize you and encourage [you] for the sake of your faith 3aso that no one would be perturbed by these afflictions. The sending of Timothy left Paul and Silvanus alone. “Our brother and God’s coworker” commends Timothy so as to ratify his ministry among the Thessalonians during his past visit, and during another visit too if he’s the carrier of this letter to them. (There was no public postal service.) See 2:13 (with comments) and Philippians 1:6 for God as a worker. What a high honor to be working with him! “In the gospel” makes the good news “about the Christ” a kind of workshop where God and Timothy cooperate in the task of evangelism, which goes beyond the converting of people to include their stabilization and encouragement. “The Christ” highlights Jesus’ office of messiahship, so that “the gospel about the Christ” makes a kind of brand name over against the supposed gospel of a reigning Caesar. (“Gospel” was used for the good news of a Caesar’s accomplishments.) Given the Thessalonian believers’ afflictions, Timothy was to stabilize them lest their faith falter, and to encourage them lest even one of them be so much as perturbed by the afflictions.

3:3b–5: For you yourselves know that we’re destined for this [the suffering of afflictions/persecution]. 4For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you ahead of time, “We’re going to be afflicted,” just as also it has happened and [just as] you know [from your own experience of persecution]. 5Because of this [the fulfillment of our prophecy], when I too [Paul in addition to Silvanus] could no longer bear [wondering how you were doing], I sent [Timothy] to ascertain your faith, lest somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor had drawn a blank. Knowledge of predestination to persecution explains why you needn’t be perturbed by the persecution. It holds no surprise. The addition of “yourselves” to “you” stresses the Thessalonians’ knowledge and therefore not needing to be perturbed. Paul and company’s prophesying the persecution explains the Thessalonians’ knowledge that it was coming on them, as it now has. “We’re going to be afflicted” includes Paul and company with their addressees in the past prophecy. Its very fulfillment helps steel them all against discouragement and loss of faith. A second mention of Timothy’s sending serves to stress the concern of Paul, the leader, over the unknown state of the Thessalonians’ faith. He calls Satan, who had thwarted him and his companions (2:18), “the tempter” who “had tempted” the Thessalonians by stirring up the persecution in Thessalonica so as to tempt the believers there into apostatizing (see the comments on James 1:2–4 on temptation as testing, and on testing as temptation). If they had yielded to the temptation, the labor that Paul and company had expended on them would have “drawn a blank,” that is, proved empty of a lasting result in eternal life for the Thessalonians. But “somehow” implies that Paul doubted the tempter had succeeded, and that this doubt characterized Paul even at the time of his not yet knowing the state of their faith. Thus he compliments them with his confidence in them.

3:6–8: But now, since Timothy has come to us [Paul and Silvanus] from you and told us good news about your faith and love and that you always have a good remembrance of us [that is, you think kindly of us whenever we come to mind, as we often do], longing to see us just as indeed we also [long to see] you, 7because of this [your “good remembrance of us” and “longing to see us”] we were encouraged over you, brothers, on [the occasion of] our every adversity and affliction, [encouraged, that is,] through your faith, 8because we now live if you’re standing in the Lord [as you are, in contrast with falling away from him to escape persecution]. “But now” signals a shift from previous concern to present relief. Given the earlier concern over stability and courage in faith, Timothy’s good news was that the Thessalonians’ faith had made them stable and courageous in persecution. But he had more good news: love and pleasant memories of Paul and company also characterized them (see 1:3; 5:8 for the correlation of faith and love, and 3:12 for love of fellow believers and all others as well). The Thessalonians’ “good remembrance” rests on the good conduct of Paul and company as described in 2:1–12. Evidence of the good remembrance derives from the Thessalonians’ longing to see them to the same degree they long to see the Thessalonians. “Indeed” underscores this equality of longing. And just as Timothy was sent to encourage the Thessalonians (3:2), his good news concerning their faith and love has encouraged Paul and company, whose concern over them has therefore changed to encouragement over them.

The address “brothers” adds a note of affection that tells why the good news encouraged Paul and company. “On [the occasion of] our every adversity and affliction” reflects back on their persecutions around the time of Timothy’s bringing the good news (see in particular Acts 18:5, 12–17) and draws a parallel between the hard circumstances in which they received encouragement and the hard circumstance in which the Thessalonians received from them encouragement through Timothy. “Every” stresses the circumstantial adversity and affliction that made the good news brought by Timothy so encouraging. The faith of the Thessalonian believers was the object of his encouragement (3:2), but now their faith has become the means of encouragement to Paul and company. “Because we now live” implies that Paul and company had been (as we would say) “worried to death” over the possibility of the Thessalonians’ having apostatized under the pressure of persecution (compare Mark 14:34; Matthew 26:38). “If you’re standing” doesn’t imply doubt that they’re standing, for such doubt would contradict the encouragement derived from Timothy’s good news. This news implies that as a matter of fact they are standing. “If” simply introduces standing as a condition, the fulfillment of which has given encouragement. Nevertheless, the very stating of this condition implies that the Thessalonians must continue standing if the encouragement of Paul and company is also to continue. “In the Lord” qualifies the standing as sticking true to belief in Jesus as the Lord rather than apostatizing to the worship of Caesar and pagan deities as though they were lords (compare the comments on 1:1 for “in the Lord”). The Lord supplies stability for standing.

3:9–10: For what thanks can we return to God concerning you on [the basis of] all the joy with which because of you we rejoice in the presence of our God, 10night and day begging extravagantly hard to see your face [= to see you face to face] and make up for the deficiencies in your faith? This question explains the reason why Paul and company are living rather than dying (so to speak [3:8]) out of concern over the Thessalonians. The reason is that the Thessalonians’ “standing in the Lord” makes it impossible to thank God enough for the joy they’ve brought to Paul and company. “All the joy” and the redundancy in “all the joy with which . . . we rejoice” heighten the degree of joy. “In the presence of our God” points to the expression of joy in thankful prayer, which puts Christians in his presence (1:3). “Night and day” and “extravagantly” stress how insistent is Paul’s and Silvanus’s “begging” God in prayer that they might see the Thessalonians, as Timothy has recently done. Timothy’s report has increased the longing of Paul and Silvanus to see them. The implication of this longing in prayer should make the Thessalonians take seriously the instruction and exhortations to follow. But Paul and Silvanus are begging God extravagantly also that when seeing them they might “make up for the deficiencies in [the Thessalonians’] faith.” Their faith is stable in that they’re “standing in the Lord.” But it’s deficient in content, as will come out in chapters 4–5.

A BENEDICTION

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13

A benediction closes out chapters 1–3 and prepares for the instruction and exhortations in chapters 4–5.

3:11: And may God himself, even our Father, and our Lord, Jesus, straighten our way [figuratively speaking] to you. This first part of the benediction has to do with God’s and Jesus’ acting for the benefit of Paul and Silvanus (and Timothy unless he’s carrying the letter to Thessalonica). They wish God and Jesus to straighten their way to the Thessalonian believers despite Satan’s thwarting more than one prior attempt to visit them (2:18)—“straighten,” because a straight road gets people from A to B faster than a crooked road would. “Himself” emphasizes God as one who has power to straighten the road in answer to the praying described in 3:10. “Even our Father” portrays him as one who has sympathy to do so in answer to that praying. “Our Lord” identifies Jesus as one who has authority to do so. That he would thus act in conjunction with God the Father and in answer to prayer implies his deity, and the singularity of the Greek verb underlying “straighten” despite its having a plural subject indicates that God and Jesus act in unison.

3:12–13: And may the Lord make you increase and flourish in love for one another and for all [people], just as indeed we [increase and flourish in love] for you, 13so as to stabilize your hearts as blameless in consecration in the presence of God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord, Jesus, with all his consecrated ones [compare 4:14; Zechariah 14:5]. This second part of the benediction has to do with Jesus’ acting for the benefit of the Thessalonian believers. “The Lord” identifies him again as one who has authority to take such action. Love already characterizes the believers (1:3; 3:6). But because of continuing persecution, an increase in love is needed to maintain stability in Christian belief. Wishing them to “flourish” in love means wishing them to have more than enough love to maintain this stability. “For one another” points to a love that will bind them together in a unity so close-knit that it will enable them collectively to resist further temptations to apostatize. “For all [people]” points to a love that will also lead the believers to convert unbelievers, including persecutors, with charitable words and deeds. “Just as indeed” emphatically rementions the love of Paul and company for their addressees as a template for the addressees’ love for one another and all people. An increase and flourishing of love will stabilize the addressees’ “hearts.” Since evil originates in the heart, one’s inner being (Mark 7:21–23; Romans 1:24), “blameless” hearts produce blameless persons. “In consecration” means that such persons belong to God, as others do not. “In the presence of God . . . at the coming of our Lord, Jesus” means that stability in blamelessness of hearts—that is, perseverance in the face of persecution—ensures the enjoyment of God’s presence “with all the consecrated ones” at the second coming. “Even our Father” describes God as one whose presence will be enjoyable because nobody will be able to cast blame on the addressees. They won’t have apostatized. For Jesus’ coming as “our Lord,” see the comments on 4:13–5:3. But who are “all his consecrated ones”? “All the consecrated [= holy] ones” in Zechariah 14:5 refers to angels, and 2 Thessalonians 1:7 will say that at his revelation from heaven Jesus will be accompanied by “his powerful angels.” But “the consecrated ones” at his coming in 2 Thessalonians 1:10 seem to equate with “those who believe,” and 1 Thessalonians 4:14 says that God will bring deceased believers with Jesus. On the whole, then, “with all his consecrated ones” here in 3:13 probably means “with all deceased believers” and anticipates the discussion in 4:13–18. Comfortingly, “all” stresses that no deceased believer will be left out.

AN EXHORTATION TO SEXUAL MORALITY

1 Thessalonians 4:1–8

4:1–2: Therefore, brothers, as to the rest [of this letter] we ask you and exhort [you] in the Lord, Jesus, that just as you received from us [instructions on] how it’s necessary for you to walk around [a figure of speech for conduct in everyday life] and to please God, just as you are walking around [that is, conducting yourselves], that you be flourishing more [by way of God-pleasing conduct]. 2For you know what orders we gave you through the Lord, Jesus. This exhortation to sexual morality starts a series of exhortations that fill out the rest of the letter, except for a conclusion in 5:23–28. The initial “Therefore” makes Paul’s preceding wish that the Lord stabilize the Thessalonians’ hearts as “blameless” (3:13) a basis for the following exhortation. The address “brothers” lends to the exhortation the weight of Paul and company’s affection for the Thessalonian believers. The exhortation is driven by concern for their welfare. The use of “ask” as well as “exhort” adds further weight. To ask is to request. To exhort is to encourage strongly. “In the Lord, Jesus” locates Paul and company, the addressees, the asking, and the exhorting in Jesus as the Lord, whose lordship adds even further weight to the exhortation. He himself is the sphere in which these parties participate in the give-and-take of exhortation. “Just as you received from us” indicates that the exhortation shouldn’t surprise the Thessalonians, as though Paul were going to spring on them something new and onerous. They heard the upcoming exhortation when Paul and company were with them in Thessalonica. “How it’s necessary” justifies a repetition of the exhortation despite its being old hat. For of necessity “turn[ing] to God from idols to slave for the living and true God” (1:9) issues in conduct pleasing to him. “Just as you are walking around” provides a complimentary and therefore encouraging base on which to build the exhortation to “be flourishing more” by way of God-pleasing conduct. They’re already flourishing; that is, their conduct is already more than good enough to please God. But they should build up an even greater excess of such conduct lest there be any doubt as to the genuineness of their faith, love, and hope (1:3). “For you know what orders we gave you” appeals to their already existing knowledge of what pleases God and, to ensure a ready acceptance of the exhortation, compliments them for that knowledge. “Through the Lord, Jesus” means that though Paul and company gave the orders, God had channeled those orders first through Jesus as the authoritative Lord. So obedience is necessary.

4:3–6: For this is God’s will—[namely,] your consecration—that you be keeping your distance from fornication; 4that each of you know to be acquiring his own vessel in consecration and honor, 5not in the passion of lust [= lustful passion] as indeed also the Gentiles [fornicate] who don’t know God; 6that none [of you] infringe on and rip off his brother in the matter [by committing adultery with his fellow Christian’s wife], because the Lord [is] an avenger in regard to all these [matters], just as also we told you before [when we were with you] and solemnly testified [so that you’d be forewarned]. “Consecration” (“sanctification” in many translations) has to do with being set apart from profane use, here for the doing of God’s will. The Thessalonian believers are to consecrate themselves by keeping their distance from fornication, a term used for all kinds of sexual immorality but referring especially to sexual intercourse with prostitutes. Because it often took place with prostitutes who plied their trade in pagan temples, fornication there would amount to consecration to the god or goddess of the temple rather than to “the living and true God” (1:9). Paul is writing in particular to Christian men. But God’s will isn’t only that these men keep away from fornication. Taking account of their sexual urge, he wills also that they marry a woman so as to help them keep their distance from fornication (1 Corinthians 7:1–9). A woman is a “vessel” for seminal fluid ejaculated by a man (compare the comments on 1 Peter 3:7, where a woman as “the weaker vessel” implies that the man is a container of seminal fluid just as she’s a receptacle for it). “His own vessel” indicates a woman who becomes the man’s wife. “Acquiring” describes marriage as a man’s gaining sexual property (see more on this description below, and compare Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21). “That each of you know to be acquiring his own vessel” means that God wants every Christian man to know his approval of such an acquisition. (The Greek text contains no word for “how,” so that the translation “know how to be acquiring his own vessel,” as though it were a question of manner or method, is misleading.) “In consecration” defines sexual intercourse in marriage as a kind of consecration that God wills. “In . . . honor” defines it as a behavior he honors as well as wills. “Not in the passion of lust” relates back to the practice of fornication, with which marital sexual intercourse contrasts. “As indeed the Gentiles [fornicate]” draws a distinct line of separation between sexual behavior proper to Christians and sexual misbehavior characteristic of non-Christians. “Who don’t know God” describes non-Christians as ignorant of God’s will in this regard because they don’t know God himself (compare Romans 1:18–32).

Next, Paul and company shift from fornication, presumably with prostitutes, to adultery with fellow Christians’ wives, calling it an infringement and rip-off because the wife of a brother is by acquisition his sexual property. This isn’t all that Paul has to say about the status of married women, of course. See 1 Corinthians 7:2–5 for their having as much sexual authority over their husbands’ bodies as husbands do over the bodies of their wives (compare Ephesians 5:22–33). For the moment, though, Paul is zeroing in on men’s bad behavior. The defrauded husband won’t have to take vengeance on the brother who committed adultery with his wife. The Lord himself will avenge the defrauded brother, and the fleeting pleasure of adultery isn’t worth suffering vengeance at the Lord’s hands. Though it’s left unstated how and when he’ll take vengeance, see 1 Corinthians 5:1–5. “But in all these [matters]” includes fornication as well as adultery. So the Lord (Jesus) will avenge not only a defrauded husband. He’ll also avenge God for a Christian man’s violating his consecration to God by having sex with a prostitute (which in the pagan world of that day was generally considered legitimate). “Just as we told you before” reminds the Thessalonians again that this exhortation should come as no imposition on them of a new and onerous moral burden. “And solemnly testified” adds that the past exhortation in their presence was given with the same seriousness that characterizes this written version of it. No excuses, then!

4:7–8: For God has not called us on the ground of uncleanness—rather, in consecration. Here Paul supports his exhortation with an appeal to the call of God, by which God effectively draws people into his kingdom. “Uncleannesss” refers to the moral contamination of illicit sex, as opposed to moral consecration to him. “Not . . . on the ground of uncleanness” means that his call shares no ground with the sexual immorality that formed part and parcel of much pagan religion. “In consecration” locates his call separate from such uncleanness. 8Therefore indeed [because God has called us] the one who disregards [God’s having called him in consecration] isn’t disregarding a human being; rather, [he’s disregarding] God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you. “The one who disregards” suggests that Timothy had brought back a report that a man or a class of men in the Thessalonian church were disregarding the exhortation to sexual morality which Paul and company had issued when evangelizing Thessalonica. In any case, to disregard human authorities, such as them, is ill-advised. To disregard God is positively dangerous, as emphasized by “Therefore indeed.” But the description of him as the one “who also gives his Holy Spirit to you” explains both why it’s necessary to keep your consecration to God inviolate (compare 1 Corinthians 6:18–20) and how it is that you’re “in the Lord, Jesus” (4:1). Since the Holy Spirit indwells him, for you to have the Holy Spirit is for you also to indwell the Lord, Jesus.

AN EXHORTATION TO MUTUAL LOVE

1 Thessalonians 4:9–12

4:9–10a: But concerning brotherly love, you have no need [for us] to write to you. For you yourselves are God-taught to be loving one another. 10aFor you’re actually doing it, [that is, showing love] to all the brothers in the whole of Macedonia. For two reasons the Thessalonian believers don’t need an exhortation to love one another: (1) They’re already doing it so spontaneously that Paul credits it to God’s direct teaching, which implies that Paul and company hadn’t told them earlier to love one another (compare Isaiah 54:13; John 6:45). The addition of “yourselves” to “you” highlights their mutual love. (2) “Actually” and “to all the brothers [fellow Christians] in the whole of Macedonia” excitedly acknowledge an expansion of this love far beyond the city limits of Thessalonica, so that for this reason too no exhortation is needed. Since love entails “labor” for others’ benefit (1:3), the Thessalonian Christians must have been helping Christians throughout other parts of Macedonia financially and in other practical ways.

4:10b–12: But we exhort you, brothers, to flourish more [in mutual love] 11and to aspire to being quiet and doing your own things and working with your own hands, just as we ordered you [when we were with you] 12that you should walk around [= conduct yourselves] respectably toward outsiders and [that] you might have need of nothing. Now it turns out that the lack of need for an exhortation to mutual love transmutes into a reason for such an exhortation—but with this difference, that the exhortation has to do with increase rather than making up for a deficiency. Another address with “brothers” stresses the exhortation. “To flourish more” implies that love is already flourishing. But there’s never too much of love among Christians, especially when they’re being persecuted as the Thessalonian believers were (1:6; 2:14; 3:3–5). So “more” urges an even greater excess of love for one another. Such love will enable them to retire from seeking favors from wealthy, powerful patrons in return for noisily broadcasting the supposed virtues of those patrons. “Working with your own hands” defines “doing your own things” and indicates that doing manual labor for self-support provides the means by which one can achieve the aspiration of “being quiet” because of independence from patrons. Despite the elites’ disdain for manual labor, Christians’ gaining economic independence (“need of nothing”) by “working with [their] own hands” would gain the respect of most non-Christians (“outsiders” [compare the comments on 2 Thessalonians 3:6–13]).

AN EXHORTATION TO BE COMFORTED IN REGARD TO DECEASED FELLOW BELIEVERS

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

4:13–14: And we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are sleeping [the sleep of death], lest you grieve just as [do] the rest [unbelievers], who have no hope. 14For if we believe [as we do] that Jesus died and resurrected—in this way too God will bring those who’ve fallen asleep through Jesus with him. Yet another address with “brothers” introduces a new exhortation on an affectionate note. This exhortation includes an instruction designed to do away with ignorance. Some Thessalonian believers had died. The figure of sleeping refers to the supine posture of corpses lying in a tomb or a grave, not to the condition of disembodied souls (for which see 2 Corinthians 5:6–9; Philippians 1:21–23 so far as Paul is concerned). The Christians still living were grieving, apparently out of ignorance that their deceased fellow Christians would resurrect at the second coming. To resurrect is, literally, to have your corpse “stand up” out of its supine posture because of renewed life. Pagans lacked hope of a bodily resurrection for life on a renewed earth (compare the ancient epitaph: “I didn’t exist. I did exist. I don’t exist. I don’t care”). “Lest you grieve just as [do] the rest, who have no hope” implies that the Thessalonian believers likewise lacked this hope, though they did believe that Jesus had resurrected. Paul and company explain that there’s no reason to grieve out of lack of hope, because Jesus’ resurrection ensures the resurrection of deceased Christians as God’s way of bringing them with Jesus at the second coming. Paul is so eager to make this point that he breaks off the sentence that begins, “For if we believe,” skips saying something like “we should also believe that,” and jumps to the conclusion: “in this way too [= through a resurrection like that of Jesus] God will bring those who’ve fallen asleep through Jesus with him.” “Will bring . . . with him” means that God will bring the disembodied souls of deceased believers with Jesus at the second coming to be united with their bodies in resurrection. “Those who’ve fallen asleep through Jesus” means that he’s the agent whose death and resurrection ensures that the death of believers in him will issue in a resurrection like his. For, after all, they’re “in . . . the Lord, Jesus Christ” (1:1) and thus are “the dead in Christ” (4:16; compare Romans 8:1–11; 1 Corinthians 15:22–23).

4:15–18: For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who are being left behind [by those who’ve passed on] till the Lord’s coming, will by no means precede those who’ve fallen asleep, 16because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a summons, with the archangel’s voice, and with God’s trumpet [compare 1 Corinthians 15:52; Matthew 24:31]; and the dead in Christ will resurrect first. 17Then we who are living and who are [now] being left behind will be snatched up together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And in this way we’ll always be with the Lord. 18And so [as a consequence], be encouraging one another with these words. “For” introduces the basis on which the preceding assurance rests. “The word of the Lord” constitutes that basis. It’s tempting to think of some saying of Jesus that’s recorded in one or more of the Gospels. But he’s not recorded as having said anything like the key point here, which is that believers still living at the second coming won’t precede deceased believers. So “the word of the Lord” likely refers to a prophetic revelation given by Jesus after his ascension to heaven (compare the use of this phrase for prophetic revelations in 1 Kings 13:2, 5, 9, 17, 18, 20, 26, 32; 20:35; Isaiah 1:10; Jeremiah 1:4 and other passages).

“Lord” was increasingly used for the Roman emperor, and “coming” was often used for his (as well as other dignitaries’) arrivals. So “the Lord’s coming” pits Jesus’ arrival as the true, heavenly emperor against that of the earthly Caesar. “Will by no means” emphatically denies a precedence of living believers over deceased believers on that occasion. The Lord’s coming will feature a descent from heaven. The addition of “himself” to “the Lord” underscores his heavenly lordship. “A summons” refers to a shout of command that “the dead in Christ” resurrect. “The archangel’s voice” and a blast of “God’s trumpet” add further decibels to the shout, which will awake and rally to renewed life “those who’ve fallen asleep.” That the trumpet is God’s, that the voice is the archangel’s, and that “the [Christian] dead” are “in Christ” and “will resurrect first [that is, before living believers are involved]” add such prestige to the deceased believers that nobody should grieve over their fate. They “will resurrect first” because they’ll need bodies with which to meet the Lord appropriately. Living believers won’t need a resurrection, of course. The meeting will occur “in the air” because of the Lord’s descent from heaven, on the one hand, and because of the need, on the other hand, to honor him with a welcoming party outside the world-city and with an escort for the rest of his descent to the earth. For the arrivals of an emperor or other dignitary were regularly celebrated in this way, though horizontally rather than vertically. A meeting in the air requires not only that the Lord “come down from heaven” but also that resurrected and living believers “be snatched up.” “Together with them” assures living believers that they won’t be left out any more than they’ve feared that deceased believers would be left out. “In clouds” identifies the air where the meeting will take place as the earth’s upper atmosphere. This meeting describes the way believers will come to be “always . . . with the Lord” (compare “presence” as another meaning of the Greek word behind “coming”). “Encouraging” connotes comfort in regard to deceased fellow believers, and possibly also in regard to living believers who face the prospect of dying before the Lord’s coming.

AN EXHORTATION TO EXPECTANT READINESS FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD

1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

5:1–3: But concerning the times and the occasions, brothers, you have no need [for anything] to be written to you. 2For you yourselves know correctly that the Day of the Lord is coming in this way: as a thief [comes] in the night. 3When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction bears down on them, as indeed labor pain [bears down on] a pregnant woman; and by no means will they escape. The address “brothers” introduces a new exhortation on an affectionate note. “The times and the occasions” have to do with the date of the Lord’s coming as described in 4:13–18. The Thessalonians don’t need a written instruction about that date, because prior oral instruction has already given them as much knowledge as is available. The addition of “yourselves” to “you” stresses their knowledge and adds to the compliment of their having it. As usual, the compliment aims for a good reception of what the authors have further to write. “Correctly” heightens the compliment and stresses the accuracy of knowing that “the Day of the Lord is coming in this way: as a thief [comes] in the night.”

Old Testament prophets spoke often about “the Day of the Lord,” by which they meant a day when the Lord would step into human affairs so as to judge the wicked and deliver the righteous (see, for example, Amos 5:18, 20). Since 4:13–18 spoke about “the coming of the Lord [Jesus],” Paul takes over the Old Testament phrase, “the Day of the Lord,” and uses it for the day of Jesus’ coming as the Lord to judge the wicked and deliver believers in him. Since the Day of the Lord is the day of the Lord’s coming, “is coming” personifies the day: it is coming because he is coming. The present tense of “is coming” makes the coming so sure that the day might as well be already on its way. “As a thief [comes] in the night” points to unexpectedness. The contrast between the bearing down of “sudden destruction” and people’s saying, “Peace and security,” slightly favors that the people are expecting peace and security rather than, or more than, that they are describing a condition current at the time. In either case, there’s a warning that the peace and security claimed and advertised by Roman rulers will prove illusory at worst, ephemeral at best. “Sudden destruction” refers to ruination, not annihilation, that will occur on the Day of the Lord. It’s the Lord, Jesus, who at his coming on his day brings ruin on the people who are saying, “Peace and security.” The contrast with “peace” implies a day of battle. The contrast with “security” stresses the destruction that will take place as a consequence of the battle. And the suddenness of this destruction contributes to its unexpectedness. The comparison to labor pain, emphasized with “indeed,” highlights both the suddenness and the inevitability of destruction. Just as labor pain suddenly stabs the body of a pregnant woman who has come to term, so too will destruction suddenly strike the wicked when the Day of the Lord arrives. Furthermore, the unstoppability of giving birth once labor pain starts—this unstoppability leads the authors to add “and by no means will they [those who say, ‘Peace and security’] escape.”

5:4–5: But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness so that the Day [of the Lord] would catch you [by surprise], as a thief [would]. 5For all you are sons of the light and sons of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to the darkness. “But you” distinguishes the audience of Christian believers from the preceding “they/them” on whom the Day of the Lord will bring ruin. As explained in 4:13–18, the coming of the Lord on his day will bring to believers, not ruin, but the very peace and security that unbelievers mistakenly expect for themselves. Another address with “brothers” underscores the distinction between believers and unbelievers in this regard. “You . . . aren’t in darkness” is a figurative way of repeating the compliment that as informed believers the addressees are already in the know. But if there’s nothing to be known about the date of the Day of the Lord, why won’t that day catch believers as well as unbelievers by surprise? Answer: 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 will remind the addressees of events preceding the Day of the Lord, the observation of which events will keep them from being caught by surprise (though in 2 Thessalonians the present nonobservation of those events is meant to keep the addressees from thinking the day has already arrived), whereas unbelievers won’t recognize the preceding events as signals that the Day of the Lord is about to arrive. In the meantime, though, Paul explains that along with other believers the Thessalonians are “sons of the light”—that is, people characterized by the light of knowledge—and therefore also “sons of the day”—that is, people whose knowledge makes the Day of the Lord welcome for them rather than threatening, as it is to unbelievers. “All you” heightens the compliment, which is also an encouragement. Since nighttime is at odds with daytime, “we don’t belong to the night” means that we aren’t at odds with the Day of the Lord. “Nor to the darkness” means that we’re not characterized by ignorance concerning the Day of the Lord’s coming. “We” includes Paul and company along with the addressees and implies their joyful anticipation of that day.

5:6–11: Therefore, then, let’s not be sleeping, as the rest [of humankind are sleeping, because they belong to the night and to darkness]. Rather, let’s stay awake and sober. 7For those who sleep do their sleeping during the night, and those who get drunk do their getting drunk during the night. 8But because of belonging to the day, let’s be staying sober as a result of having suited up with the breastplate [consisting] of faith and love, and with the hope of salvation as a helmet [compare 1:3; Ephesians 6:14–17; Isaiah 59:17], 9because God hasn’t set us for wrath—rather, for the obtaining of salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ, 10who died for us in order that whether we’re staying awake or sleeping we’ll live together with him. 11Therefore be encouraging one another and building up [each other], one on one, just as also you’re doing [compare 4:1, 10]. “Therefore” means “[for the reason that] we don’t belong to the night, nor to the darkness” (5:5). The addition of “then” to “therefore” underlines this reason for not sleeping. Not as in 4:13–15, where sleeping represented death, now it represents failure to be looking out for the events that will signal the soon coming of the Day of the Lord. As noted earlier, 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 will spell out those events by way of a reminder of what Paul had taught when in Thessalonica but what for the moment he takes for granted the Thessalonian believers remember. So “let’s not be sleeping” urges looking for the signaling events. “As the rest” alludes to unbelievers’ not looking out for these events because of ignorance concerning them. “Rather” underscores both staying awake, the counterpart to not sleeping, and the additional exhortation to stay sober.

We shouldn’t interpret staying sober as only a figure of speech for maintaining self-control (see the comments on 1 Peter 1:13; 4:7; 5:8). Drunkenness leads to sleep. Drunken sleep characterizes unbelievers and stands for their ignorance of the events that will signal the near arrival of the Day of the Lord—and hence for the unbelievers’ coming failure to recognize those signals. Neither drunkenness and drunken sleep nor what they symbolize should characterize Christians. Sobriety enables the exercise of “faith,” which has earlier been said to issue in “work” (1:3), which in turn can’t be done by those who are sleeping. Sobriety also enables the exericise of “love,” which has earlier been said to issue in “labor” (1:3 again), which in turn and likewise can’t be done by those who are sleeping. Faith and love are compared to a breastplate, protection for the vital organs in the chest. “The hope of salvation” means confident expectation of salvation at the Day of the Lord. This hope is compared to a helmet, protection for the head. These pieces of armor stand for believers’ protection from the destruction that the Day of the Lord will bring on unbelievers. “Because God hasn’t set us for wrath” means that there’s no need to drown our troubles, such as persecution, in drunkenness. Our exemption from his coming wrath (compare 1:10) and our destiny to obtain salvation from it give more than enough reason to face the future awake and sober. “Through our Lord, Jesus Christ” reminds us that we’ll obtain this salvation at his future coming because he “died for us” in the past.

“Our Lord, Jesus Christ” identifies Jesus rather than the Caesars or pagan deities as the Lord of Christians. “We’ll live together with him” recalls “we’ll always be with the Lord” (4:17), expresses the purpose of his dying for us, and alludes to his past resurrection, deceased believers’ future resurrection, and the continued living of believers who survive till the coming of the Lord on his day. So “whether we’re staying awake or sleeping” means whether we stay alive till his coming or we’re sleeping the sleep of death by that time (compare 4:13–17). “Therefore be encouraging one another” recalls 4:18 for emphasis and helps identify “the Day of the Lord” as the time of “the coming of the Lord” in 4:13–18. “And building up [each other]” portrays encouragement in terms of building a structure that will withstand the pressures of persecution. “One on one” individualizes the encouragement that’s to be done. “Just as also you’re doing” draws a comparison whose complimentary character should elicit further activity of an encouraging sort.

MISCELLANEOUS EXHORTATIONS

1 Thessalonians 5:12–22

5:12–13: And we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who are laboring among you and presiding over you in the Lord and admonishing you; 13and [we ask you] to regard them extravagantly in love because of their work. Another address with “brother” introduces a further exhortation on an affectionate note designed to elicit a favorable response. “And we ask you” issues this exhortation on the cordial note of a request. “To acknowledge” is to show a deference that’s deserved because of labor, authority, and admonition. For “laboring among you” is exhausting, “presiding over you” is “in the Lord” (that is, an execution of Jesus’ lordship), and “admonishing you” is for your benefit. “Admonishing you” refers to putting you on notice as to what Christian conduct requires. Acknowledgment is one thing, attitude another. So Paul asks the addressees to regard their local leaders “in love,” and to do so “extravagantly.” (“Presiding over” may refer not so much to governing as to hosting a house church, which hosting entailed a certain authority in arranging meetings of the church.) Be at peace among yourselves. This exhortation encapsulates the preceding one in that deferring to the leaders and loving them extravagantly will forestall rebellion and thus maintain peaceful relations between believers.

5:14–15: And we exhort you, brothers, be admonishing the disorderly. See the comments on 5:12 for “brothers.” “Exhort” strikes a stronger note than that of “ask” in the preceding exhortation. This greater strength suits an admonition concerning the disorderly, whose misbehavior disrupts the just-commanded peaceful relations among believers. Given 4:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:6–16, “the disorderly” describes those who refuse to work for their living and sponge off wealthy patrons instead. Ordinary church members as well as the leaders are to put the disorderly on notice that they must stop this behaving out-of-line, which causes peace-disrupting resentments among believers. Be reassuring the discouraged. Persecution, which the addressees have been suffering according to 1:6; 2:14; 3:3–4; 2 Thessalonians 1:4–7, can cause discouragement, especially when some fellow Christians are taking economic refuge in the good graces of their patrons. The teaching on the Lord’s coming in 4:13–5:11 can be put to good use in reassuring the discouraged. Be helping the sick. Why? Because their weakness keeps them from helping themselves—by working for their living as they could and should do if they were well, for example. Be patient toward all—that is, toward the disorderly, the discouraged, the sick, and (presumably) outsiders as well, including persecutors. For such people can try your patience innocently as well as culpably. 15Be seeing that no one repays anyone harm in return for harm; rather, always be pursuing what’s good for one another [in the church] and for all [unbelievers too]. Believers as a community have a responsibility to see that none of their number plays tit for tat when it comes to harmful behavior. The opposition to each other of “harm” and “good” indicates that “what’s good” refers to what is beneficial to others. “Always” and “be pursuing” stress the persistence and vigor which should characterize doing good for others rather than harming them.

5:16–22: Always be rejoicing. 17Be praying constantly. 18In every [circumstance] be giving thanks. Rejoicing, praying, and thanksgiving feed off each other. Thanksgiving validates praying, and praying gives rise to rejoicing in that God answers prayer. Joy, which isn’t characteristic of pagan religion, produces more thanksgiving, so that the cycle repeats itself interminably, whereas failure to do one or another damages your doing of the others. So do all three in conjunction—regularly, as indicated by “always,” “constantly,” and “in every [circumstance].” For this [rejoicing, praying, and thanksgiving] [is] God’s will in Christ Jesus for you [to do]. The will of God should drive believers to rejoice, pray, and give thanks; and his will is located “in Christ Jesus” in the sense that since believers are “in God the Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ” (1:1), they should do God’s will that they find there. See the comments on 2:14 for “Christ Jesus.” 19Don’t be extinguishing the Spirit. 20Don’t be treating prophecies as of no account. 21But be testing all things. Be holding tight the good. 22Be keeping your distance from every sort of evil [compare Isaiah 1:16–17]. Implied is a comparison of the Spirit to fire. Since the word of the Lord is like a burning fire in the heart of a prophet (Jeremiah 20:9), “Don’t be treating prophecies as of no account” interprets “Don’t be extinguishing the Spirit” (see the comments on 1 Corinthians 14:3 for Christian prophecy as inspired speech, whether or not predictive, that has the purposes of upbuilding, exhortation, and reassurance). On the other hand there’s false prophecy as well as true. So Paul follows up with the instruction, “But be testing all things” (compare 1 Corinthians 12:10; 14:29). Some things will test out good. Other things will test out evil. Believers are to hold tight the good, but keep their distance from evil. Since they’ve already been told to keep their distance from fornication (4:3), Paul enlarges the exhortation to include “every sort of evil.” The contrast with “keeping your distance” makes “holding tight” mean allying yourself as closely as possible with what’s good.

A BENEDICTION AND FINAL INSTRUCTIONS

1 Thessalonians 5:23–28

5:23–24: And may the God of peace himself consecrate you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept blamelessly complete at the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 24The one calling you [is] faithful, who also will do [the consecrating and keeping]. “The God of peace” is the God who grants believers the peace that consists in all the blessings of salvation (see the comments on 1 Peter 1:2; 2 John 3), a peace to be reflected and symbolized in “peace among yourselves” (5:13). For God to consecrate you is for him to set you apart from unbelievers and thus treat you as sacred to himself. The addition of “himself” to “the God of peace” stresses Paul’s wish that God act in this way (compare 4:3, though there the associated command to keep away from fornication favors self-consecration to him). “Entirely” indicates the insufficiency of any consecration less than 100 percent. A repetitive and expansive followup drives home the point: (1) “Your spirit and soul and body” expands the earlier “you” for emphasis on the entirety of the person, including the physical body, often denigrated in pagan thought. The expansion doesn’t make fine distinctions between three parts of the human constitution any more than the command to love God with your whole heart and soul and mind and strength (Mark 12:30) makes fine distinctions between four parts of the human constitution. (2) “Be kept” corresponds to God’s consecrating you in the earlier wish. (3) “Blamelessly complete” refers to the result of entire consecration, a result that will be achieved “at the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” “The one calling you” is God (see the comments on 2:12 for the call). His faithfulness will display itself in consecrating and keeping you in addition to calling you.

5:25–28: Brothers, be praying for us too. 26Greet all the brothers with a sacred kiss. 27I put you under a solemn oath before the Lord [as a witness] to have the letter [this one] read to all the brothers. 28The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, [be] with you. As before, the address “Brothers” refers to the Thessalonian Christians in general and introduces the final lines of this letter affectionately. “Be praying for us too” implies that the immediately preceding benediction (“And may the God of peace himself . . .”) reflected a prayer for the Thessalonian believers such as they should now pray for Paul and company. “Greet” literally means “embrace.” Paul commands that “a sacred kiss” supplement the embrace. “Sacred” doesn’t describe the kiss as chaste, though it should be, but as symbolic of accepting one another as consecrated to God, his sacred ones, his saints (see the comments on 1 Corinthians 1:1–3). Presumably, “you” (plural) whom Paul (“I”) puts “under a solemn oath . . . to have the letter read to all the brothers” are the church leaders referenced in 5:12–13. “Before the Lord” strengthens the adjuration. For the church’s united further progress, Paul insists that no believer be denied a hearing of the letter in an assembly. He used “grace,” the ill-merited favor of God and Jesus Christ, as a hello (1:1) and now uses it as a goodbye. Both coming and going their grace is never to be forgotten.

Second Thessalonians

This letter assures Christians in Thessalonica, Macedonia, that they’ll be delivered from persecution at Jesus’ return on the Day of the Lord, explains that that day won’t arrive till after a massive rebellion against God, and specifies ways to behave properly in the meantime.

ADDRESS AND GREETING

2 Thessalonians 1:1–2

1:1–2: Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians [which is] in God, our Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ: 2Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. See the comments on 1 Thessalonians 1:1. There, “our” is missing from the first instance of “Father” but present in 1:3, whereas the reverse is true here. Furthermore, “from God, the Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ” now specifies the source of grace and peace, as wasn’t done in 1 Thessalonians 1:1. Given the ongoing persecution of the Thessalonian believers and their apparent alarm, both of which are about to be mentioned, this specification has the purpose of encouraging them, so that a greeting from Paul and company escalates into a greeting from God and Jesus Christ as well, even at the expense of repetitiousness. See also the final comments on the greeting in 1 Corinthians 1:3

PERSECUTION

2 Thessalonians 1:3–12

Though it consists of one long sentence, this passage divides into a thanksgiving for the Thessalonian believers’ progress in the midst of persecution (1:3–4), an assurance of deliverance from persecution and of divine judgment on the persecutors at the Lord’s coming (1:5–10), and a prayer for the Thessalonian believers (1:11–12).

1:3–4: We ought to be thanking God always for you, brothers, just as it’s fitting [that we do], because your faith is luxuriating and [because] the love of each one of you all for one another is increasing, 4so that we ourselves are boasting in you among all the churches of God regarding your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and afflictions that you’re putting up with . . . . “We ought to be thanking God for you” doesn’t imply that Paul and company haven’t been praying for the addressees (see 1:11)—rather, that though they had evangelized Thessalonica, God deserves the credit for the luxuriating of the addressees’ faith and for the increase in their love for one another. “Always” underscores his deserving this credit, and “just as it’s fitting” adds propriety to obligation in this giving of thanks to God. The endearing address “brothers” helps make the thanksgiving also a compliment on the Thessalonians’ faith and mutual love. Though 1 Thessalonians was peppered with references to their faith and mutual love, a large number of features in the present passage heighten this thank-filled compliment, which should open the Thessalonians’ hearts to the encouragement, instruction, and exhortations contained in the rest of the letter. Here are those features: (1) “because your faith is luxuriating” (whereas 1 Thessalonians 3:10 referred to a need to “make up for the deficiencies in your faith” despite earlier commendations of it); (2) “the love of each one of you all for one another is increasing” (in fulfillment of the prayer and exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 3:12; 4:9–10); (3) Paul and company’s “boasting” in the addressees (whereas in 1 Thessalonians 1:8–10 they had “no need to say anything,” because others were reporting the Thessalonians’ faith); (4) their boasting in the Thessalonian believers “among all the churches of God” (except the church in Thessalonica, of course); (5) the addition of “ourselves” to “we” for emphasis on this boasting (as though they couldn’t contain themselves even though the report of others left no need for boasting); (6) the prefixing of “your endurance” to “faith”; (7) the addition of “in all your persecutions and afflictions” to “faith” (which additions give “your endurance and faith” the sense of “persevering faith” and “faithful perseverance”); and (8) the notation that the addressees “are putting up with” their persecutions and afflictions. “Boasting in you” means that the boasting is centered on the Thessalonian believers, not on Paul and company’s work of having evangelized them; and the Greek text mentions “in” twice for an untranslatable emphasis on them as the object of boasting. “Among all the churches” means “in all the assemblies,” not in church buildings, of which there were none as yet. See the comments on 1 Thessalonians 2:14 for the additional phrase “of God.” First Thessalonians 1:3 mentioned the addressees’ faith, love, and hope. The present passage mentions faith and love—but not hope, because it has to do with the second coming, about which the addressees have become confused and therefore need correction (see chapter 2).

1:5–10: evidence of God’s righteous judgment, so that you’ll be considered worthy of God’s kingdom, for which also you’re suffering, 6if indeed [it’s] right [as it is!] with God [= in accordance with his justice] to repay with afflictions those who are afflicting you 7and [to repay] with relief you who are being afflicted, along with us, at the revelation of the Lord, Jesus, from heaven with his powerful angels, by means of flaming fire 8dealing vengeance [for believers] on those who don’t know God and aren’t obeying the gospel about our Lord, Jesus, 9who [referring to the persecutors] as such [= as ignorant of God and disobedient to Jesus’ gospel] will pay a penalty, [namely,] eternal destruction away from the Lord’s face [= presence] and away from the glory of his strength, 10when he comes to be glorified on that day among his consecrated ones [= Christians as consecrated to the Lord Jesus and through him to the one true God] and marveled at among all who believe, because our testimony to you was believed . . . . According to 1 Thessalonians 3:3b–4 Christians are destined to suffer afflictions that consist in persecution. Here, then, such afflictions are said to be “evidence of God’s righteous judgment” in that they demonstrate that he will rightly consider persecuted Christians fit (“worthy”) for entrance into his coming kingdom, because they’ve suffered for it, and will rightly repay their persecutors with affliction (compare Philippians 1:27–30). Not that Christians earn their way into God’s kingdom by suffering for it; rather, that their endurance of persecution proves their faith genuine (compare 1 Peter 1:6–7). They suffer for God’s kingdom because they profess it and proclaim it over against the kingdom of blasphemously deified Caesars and their successors. “Also” simply adds the thought of suffering to that of being considered worthy. “Along with us” adds the suffering of Paul and company to that of the addressees (see 1 Thessalonians 2:2, 15–16; 3:7 and numerous passages in Acts, including 17:1–13).

“If indeed [it’s] right with God” echoes “God’s righteous judgment” for emphasis on its rightness. “And [to repay] with relief [from persecution] you who are being afflicted” echoes “you’ll be considered worthy of God’s kingdom” for further emphasis on that rightness. “At the revelation of the Lord, Jesus, from heaven” echoes “the coming of the Lord . . . from heaven” on “the Day of the Lord” in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:2. But “the revelation” substitutes for “the coming” to indicate a public appearance for a balancing of the scales of justice. Since persecution has put the Christians to public shame, their vindication will require publicity. “With his powerful angels” portrays as irresistible their execution of justice at Jesus’ command. “By means of flaming fire dealing vengeance” balances relief from affliction for Christians with God’s fiery wrath for their persecutors (compare 1 Thessalonians 4:6, 13–5:10; Romans 12:19; 2 Samuel 22:48 = Psalm 18:47; Isaiah 66:15). The persecutors “don’t know God” in the sense that they ignore him, don’t acknowledge him, and therefore lack a personal acquaintance with him. They “aren’t obeying the gospel of our Lord, Jesus” in that they’re hearing it but not heeding it. Personified, the gospel commands people to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus as the Lord. “Our Lord” includes Paul and company with the addressees.

“Vengeance” works itself out as “a penalty” on unbelievers, and the penalty consists in “destruction,” which means ruination, not annihilation (see the comments on Matthew 25:46). “Eternal” describes the ruination as everlasting. “Away from the Lord’s face” means “distant from Jesus’ presence” and makes a striking contrast with the assurance that believers “will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). “And away from the glory of his strength” contrastively anticipates his “be[ing] glorified among his consecrated ones” (compare Isaiah 2:10, 19, 21). For good measure, Paul adds “and marveled at among all who believe.” “His strength” alludes to Jesus’ wreaking vengeance on their persecutors and relieving believers of their persecutions. So “the glory of his strength” consists in believers’ glorifying him for—and marveling at—the strength with which he turned the tables on their persecutors. To be away from that glory is ruinously not to participate in the glorifying and marveling. “On that day” refers to “the Day of the Lord,” the day of his coming (2:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:2; compare Isaiah 2:11, 17). Though believers will do the glorifying and marveling, these activities are twice said to take place “among” them. This way of stating the matter points up Jesus’ presence with them to receive their adulation, which presence of his is the correlate to their being “with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). “All who believe” stresses that no believer will be left out (compare 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 5:5). “All who believe” contrasts with “not obeying the gospel.” “Because our testimony to you was believed” assures the addressees that they’re included among “all who believe” and therefore will enjoy the Lord’s presence. This reference to a past testimony prepares for a reminder in 2:5 of past teaching.

1:11–12: to which [end] also we’re always praying for you, that our God would consider you worthy of the calling [with which he will call you] and fulfill by [his] power every desire of goodness and [to fulfill] the work of faith, 12so that the name of our Lord, Jesus, may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accordance with the grace of our God and the Lord, Jesus Christ [compare Isaiah 24:15; 66:5]. See the comments on 1 Thessalonians 1:2–3 for “always praying for you.” “To which [end]” points forward to the addressees’ being relieved of persecution because of God’s considering them “worthy of the calling.” Since they’ll be relieved “at the revelation of the Lord, Jesus, from heaven,” “the calling” refers to God’s calling them into his eternal kingdom on the occasion of Jesus’ revelation from heaven (see the comments on 1:5; 2:14; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 5:24). God’s considering them worthy of this calling depends on the exercise of his power to “fulfill . . . every desire of goodness and [to fulfill] the work of faith.” But whose desire? God’s? The addressees’? Paul and company’s? That Paul and company “are always praying” to this end favors a reference to their desire that goodness characterize the addressees, and the Greek word underlying “desire” carries the connotation that Paul and company will “delight” in goodness on the addressees’ part (compare 1 Thessalonians 5:15). “Every desire of goodness” then multiplies the desire in accordance with Paul and company’s being three in number. Accompanying goodness will be “the work of faith,” which doesn’t mean that belief in Jesus is a work—rather, that good deeds grow out of belief in him (see the comments on 1 Thessalonians 1:3 and compare Galatians 5:6; Ephesians 2:8–10; James 2:14–26). Again, though, the fulfillment of this desire and of this work can come about only by God’s exercise of power—hence the praying to this end (compare Philippians 1:6). The purpose and result of fulfillment will be twofold: (1) the glorification of Jesus’ name (that is, of him as “Lord” when he comes “on that day” [1:10; compare Philippians 2:9–11]) and (2) the glorification of believers in him (so that because they’re in him by virtue of having the Holy Spirit that indwells him as well as them, they’ll share his glory [compare Romans 8:17; Colossians 3:4]). “In accordance with the grace of our God and the Lord, Jesus Christ” reminds that sharing in Jesus’ glory isn’t due to any merit on our part—rather, to the ill-merited favor that originates in God and that Jesus mediates. “Our God” and “our . . . Lord, Jesus” joyously distinguish the God and the Lord of grace from those ungracious gods and lords from whose idols the addressees have turned away (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

THE DAY OF THE LORD

2 Thessalonians 2:1–17

This passage divides into a denial that the Day of the Lord has arrived (2:1–2), an affirmation of necessary precursors to that day (2:3–15), and a benediction (2:16–17).

2:1–2: And concerning the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the gathering of us to him, we ask you, brothers, 2to stop being quickly shaken from your rationality and to stop being alarmed—whether through a spirit or through a word or through a letter, as though through us—to the effect that the Day of the Lord has arrived. The address “brothers” introduces a soothing instruction on an affectionate note. “The coming of the Lord” echoes 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 4:15, and “the gathering of us to him” summarizes the catching up of Christians to meet the Lord in the air according to 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17. The Greek word that underlies “concerning the coming . . . and the gathering” suggests a rescue of those events from a misconception on the addressees’ part. “Us” includes only Christians, of course, such as Paul and company and their addressees. “To stop being quickly shaken” implies that the misconception has already disturbed the addressees despite the recency of their conversion and of Paul and company’s having taught them in person about the Lord’s coming and the gathering of Christians to him on that occasion. “Shaken from your rationality” indicates a mental mistake. “And to stop being alarmed” indicates an accompanying and resultant emotional upheaval. “Whether through a spirit” points to the possibility of a prophetic revelation claimed to derive from the Holy Spirit but attributed here by Paul and company to some other spirit. “Or through a word” points to the possibility of an oral report. “Or through a letter” points to the possibility of a written communication. “As though through us” probably refers to all three possibilities. That is, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy don’t know how the Thessalonian believers got mixed up concerning the Lord’s coming and the gathering; so they conjecture that somebody has told those believers that Paul and company received a new prophetic revelation, or that somebody has brought an oral report of their supposedly new teaching, or that somebody has delivered to the Thessalonians a letter containing it and forged in the names of Paul and company. Regardless of the way the Thessalonians got a false impression that Paul and company had revised their teaching on the Lord’s coming and the gathering, the Thessalonians’ misconception of those events consisted in a belief that the Day of the Lord had already arrived (see the comments on 1 Thessalonians 5:2 for the Day of the Lord). The consequent emotional upheaval implies that the Thessalonians were disappointed that the Day of the Lord hadn’t relieved them of their persecution by including the Lord’s coming to bring them that relief.

2:3–4: No one should delude you in any way, because [the Day of the Lord can’t arrive] unless the rebellion comes first and the human being of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4the one opposing and elevating himself over everyone called “god” or object of worship [such as an idol], so that he sits in God’s temple, publicizing himself [so that people will say,] “He’s God!” Compare Daniel 11:36; Mark 13:14; Matthew 24:15; Acts 12:21–22; Revelation 13. “In any way” includes the three possible ways just mentioned (“a spirit . . . a word . . . a letter”). “Delude” stresses the falsity of the notion that “the Day of the Lord has arrived” (2:2). Two recognizable events have to take place first: (1) a climactic rebellion against God and (2) a revelation of its leader (compare “the Antichrist” in 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7 and “the beast” in Revelation 11:7; 13:1–4 and following). “The human being” stresses his humanity over against his false claim to deity and over against the Lord of the Day of the Lord. “Of lawlessness” means “characterized by the breaking of God’s laws” (see Romans 4:7; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Titus 2:14 for Paul’s other uses of “lawlessness”). “Is revealed” sets the revelation of this rebel over against, and prior to, “the revelation of the Lord, Jesus, from heaven with his powerful angels” (1:7). “The son of destruction” describes the rebel as destined to be ruined, so that in the end his rebellion against God won’t succeed. He won’t just claim himself to be a god alongside other gods, as some Caesars and other rulers did. He’ll claim to be the one and only God and so successfully publicize himself as such that people will proclaim him God. But what’s meant by his sitting in God’s temple? One immediately thinks of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, which was still standing when 2 Thessalonians was written. But elsewhere Paul consistently speaks of God’s temple as Christians, because the Spirit of God indwells them (see 1 Corinthians 3:16–17; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21). So under the assumption that Paul and company had spoken of Christians as God’s temple when they were in Thessalonica (compare 1 Thessalonians 1:5–6; 4:8; 5:19), it may be better to think of the present text as meaning that “the human being of lawlessness” will arise as an apostate within the church (see again 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7 and compare the use of the word “rebellion” for apostasy, that is, for a religious rebellion). His posture of sitting, as on a throne, suits a claim to deified rulership.

2:5–6: You remember, don’t you, that when I was still with you I was telling you these things? 6And now [because of my previous teaching] you know what’s holding down [the lawless human being], so that he’ll be revealed in his own season [that is, at the proper time for his revelation]. “I” is Paul (compare 1 Thessalonians 2:18). “Don’t you . . . ?” implies that the addressees do remember, so that they shouldn’t believe that the Day of the Lord has arrived, as though Paul had changed his tune. “And now you know what’s holding [the lawless human being] down” compliments the Thessalonians on their present remembrance of Paul’s past teaching, but also uses that remembrance for a soothing correction of their current misconception that the Day of the Lord has arrived without the Lord’s coming to relieve them from persecution. They know not only that the lawless human being hasn’t yet been revealed. They also know what’s holding him down till the proper time for his revelation. But for lack of Paul’s teaching when he was in Thessalonica, we don’t know what’s holding down the lawless human being. It’s enough for us to know that he hasn’t been revealed, that he must be revealed prior to the Lord’s coming on the Day of the Lord, and that he’ll be revealed at the right time according to God’s eschatological calendar.

2:7: For the secret of lawlessness is already at work. Only the one who’s presently holding down [the lawless human being will keep doing so] till he gets out of the midst [= out of the way]. Paul uses the term “secret” for information formerly unknown but now revealed to Christians, though it remains a mystery to non-Christians. Here the secret consists in the working of lawlessness (that is, the activity of breaking God’s laws) already (that is, prior to the revelation of the lawless human being), so that the ground is presently being prepared for the future but short-lived success of his publicizing himself as God. It’s only the counter activity of “the one who’s presently holding [him] down” that keeps him from being revealed immediately. “What’s holding [him] down” (2:6) has changed here to “who’s . . . holding [him] down.” This change has caused much interpretive speculation: that Paul shifts from Roman law (“what”) as a deterrent over to the Roman emperor (“who”) as the enforcer of that law, for example, or that Paul refers to the Holy Spirit as the deterrer and shifts from the neuter gender of the “Spirit” in the Greek language, grammatically speaking (“what”), to the personhood of the Holy Spirit, theologically speaking (“who”). A number of other identifications have been suggested. Again, though, we don’t know the reason for the shift because we lack knowledge of Paul’s prior teaching in Thessalonica, so that we have to satisfy ourselves with knowing that the lawless human being has to be revealed before the Lord’s coming on the Day of the Lord.

2:8–10: And then [after the one who’s holding him down gets out of the way] the lawless [human being] will be revealed, whom the Lord [Jesus] will do away with by the breath of his mouth [compare Exodus 15:18; Psalm 33:6] and deactivate by the epiphany that consists in his coming, 9whose coming [referring now to the lawless human being’s coming as opposed to the Lord’s coming] is in accordance with Satan’s working by means of every [kind of] miracle and signs and wonders in the service of a lie [= the lie that the lawless human being is God] 10and by means of every [kind of] dishonest deception [aimed] at those who are perishing because they didn’t welcome the love of the truth [that Jesus is Lord rather than that the lawless human being is God] so that they’d be saved [from God’s wrath (see 1 Thessalonians 5:9)]. Clearly, the revelation of the lawless human being will precede the revelation of the Lord. 1:5–10 portrayed the revelation of the Lord as the occasion for his bringing retribution on the persecutors of Christians and for his relieving the Christians from persecution. 2:1 portrayed his revelation as the occasion for his gathering Christians to himself. Now 2:8–10 portrays his revelation as the occasion for his doing away with the lawless human being. But because Paul has just used the vocabulary of revelation in reference to the coming of the lawless human being, for Jesus he shifts from “the revelation” to “the epiphany,” which has the added advantage of connoting a powerful manifestation of deity, in contrast with the mere humanity of the lawless human being. The word that’s translated “breath” because of the following phrase, “of his mouth,” is elsewhere translated “Spirit” or “spirit” and therefore produces a wordplay: the Lord’s breath is the Lord’s Spirit, by whom he does away with the lawless human being and who is not the “spirit” that might have been mistakenly thought to inspire the notion of the Day of the Lord’s having arrived already. “Deactivate” describes the Lord’s epiphany as effecting the lawless human being’s loss of power. The equation of the Lord’s epiphany with his coming sets up for a contrast with the coming of the lawless human being, which Paul attributes to Satan’s working and describes as including miracles, signs, wonders, and dishonest deception. By definition “deception” is “dishonest,” but the redundancy is emphatic. “At those who are perishing” limits to non-Christians the effectiveness of the lawless human being’s deception and describes their fate as an ongoing loss of salvation. This loss derives, in turn, from their failure to welcome, not just the truth (as we expect Paul to say), but “the love of the truth.” You have to love the truth if you’re to welcome it. For loving what 1 John 2:15–16 calls “everything [that’s] in the world—[namely,] the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the braggadocio of livelihood” keeps you from loving the truth by way of welcoming it as your guide for belief and conduct.

2:11–12: And because of this [their nonwelcome of the love of the truth] God is sending them a work of delusion, so that they’ll believe the lie [that the lawless human being is God], 12in order that all who haven’t believed the truth—rather, have delighted in the dishonesty—may be judged. The present tense of “is sending” for a future event connotes certainty. “A work of delusion” is a delusive effect. So God will judge nonwelcome of the love of the truth by making the nonwelcomers unable to avoid delusion and by making inevitable their believing the lie that the lawless human being is God. People’s nonwelcome of the love of the truth, so that they “haven’t believed the truth,” actually leads God to purpose their judgment, their punishment (compare Jesus’ telling parables in Mark 4:11–12 for the purpose of hiding the truth from people who hadn’t accepted his plain speech). Their “hav[ing] delighted in the dishonesty” of satanic “deception” is the correlate of not believing the truth and of not welcoming the love of it.

2:13–14: But we ought to be thanking God always for you, brothers loved by the Lord [Jesus], because God chose you for himself from the beginning for salvation by means of the Spirit’s consecration and [by means of your] belief in the truth [of the gospel], 14into which [divine choosing for salvation] he [God] also called you through our gospel for the purpose of [your] obtaining the glory of our Lord, Jesus Christ. See the comments on 1:3 about the obligation to be always thanking God. The attachment of “loved by the Lord” to the address “brothers” adds Jesus’ affection for the addressees to that of Paul and company for them and thus aims to encourage them in their endurance of continued persecution, which would have ceased if the Day of the Lord had arrived, as they mistakenly thought it had. “Loved” connotes an ongoing love. The basis for thanksgiving—namely, God’s having chosen the addressees for salvation—amplifies the encouragement (compare 1 Thessalonians 1:4). “From the beginning” locates God’s choice in the primordial past and therefore describes it as so long-standing as not to be withdrawn.[2] “By means of the Spirit’s consecration” assures the addressees that they’re sacred to God; and “[by means of your] belief in the truth,” which contrasts with “all who haven’t believed the truth” (2:12), balances the sovereign action of God’s Spirit with the responsible exercise of faith on the part of human beings. God’s primordial choice is likewise balanced by his temporal call through Paul and company’s proclamation of the gospel. “For the purpose of [your] obtaining the glory of our Lord, Jesus Christ” looks forward to what will happen at Jesus’ revelation from heaven (see 1:12 for Christians’ sharing Jesus’ glory in recompense for the shame of their persecution).

2:15–17: Therefore then, brothers, be standing [firm] and holding on to the traditions that you were taught, whether through word [of mouth when we were evangelizing Thessalonica] or through our letter [that is, 1 Thessalonians]. See the comments on 1 Thessalonians 5:6 for “Therefore then.” As often, “brothers” introduces an exhortation affectionately. Persecution elicits the exhortation to be “standing [firm].” The addressees’ misconception concerning the Lord’s coming and the gathering elicits the exhortation to “be . . . holding on to the traditions” (see 2:1–5). 16And may our Lord himself, Jesus Christ, and God, our Father who loved us and by grace gave [us] eternal encouragement and good hope, 17encourage your hearts and stabilize [you] in every [kind of] good deed and word [compare 1 Thessalonians 3:11–13]. “Himself” stresses the identity of “Jesus Christ” as “our Lord” over against the supposed lordships of pagan deities and rulers. “Our Father” stresses the identity of “God” as the one “who loved us [as fathers love their children] and by grace [= ill-merited favor] gave [us] eternal encouragement [in the promise of eternal life] and good hope [in the sure and certain prospect of the Lord’s coming to relieve us from our afflictions].” “And may [our Lord and God] . . . encourage your hearts [to withstand persecution in the meantime] and stabilize [you] in every [kind of] good deed and word.” “Every [kind of]” stresses the variety of good deeds and words that characterize Christians. Stability in such outward deeds and words despite persecution will stem from hearts inwardly encouraged by good hope and will give evidence of genuine Christian faith. Thus this wish represents Paul and company’s prayer for the addressees.

MISCELLANEA

2 Thessalonians 3:1–15

This passage divides into a plea for prayer (3:1–2), expressions of confidence (3:3–4), a wish for love and stability (3:5), and a command to exercise discipline (3:6–15).

3:1–2: As to the rest [of this letter], brothers, be praying for us that the Lord’s word may be running and glorified, just as [it was] also in your case, 2and that we may be rescued from deviant and evil human beings [who pose to us a constant threat]. For faith [in the gospel] doesn’t characterize all [human beings]. The address “brothers” introduces this plea for prayer on a familial note. “The Lord’s word” is the gospel concerning Jesus Christ. “May be running” personifies it (compare Psalm 147:15). The personification portrays it as a runner who wins a race and gets “glorified”—that is, honored—for his victory. Here the running stands for the speedy spread of the gospel through Paul and company’s evangelistic itinerations, and the glorification stands for conversions. For converts glorify the gospel by believing it. “Just as also in your case” presents the evangelization and conversion of the Thessalonian believers as an interpretive example of this figure of speech. Prayer for rescue “from deviant and evil human beings” has the purpose of enabling Paul and company to continue their itinerant evangelism (compare 1 Thessalonians 5:25). “Deviant” means “out of place,” that is, dislocated from the will of God; and “evil” means “causing pain.” Together, these terms describe persecutors. Disbelief in the gospel underlies their attempts to thwart evangelism by means of persecution.

3:3–4: But the Lord is faithful, who will stabilize you and protect [you] from the evil one. 4And we’re persuaded about you in the Lord, that you’re doing, and will do, the things which we’re commanding. The faithfulness of the Lord (Jesus) contrasts with the just-noted faithlessness of deviant, evil human beings (3:2). They lack trust whereas he has trustworthiness. His trustworthiness will demonstrate itself in stabilizing the Thessalonian believers to endure their afflictions and in protecting them from the evil one—in other words, in keeping them from the apostasy that Satan wants to induce by means of the persecution he foments (compare 2:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:18; 3:2, 5, 13; 5:24). To the same end of such protection, the Lord will use Paul and company’s persuasion that the addressees are doing, and will do, the things being commanded them in this letter. For expressions of confidence both in the Lord and in the addressees themselves will encourage them to match the Lord’s faithfulness with their own.

3:5: And may the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and into the Christ’s endurance. The preceding expressions of confidence have here morphed into a wish that reflects Paul and company’s prayer for the addressees. As usual, “the Lord” refers to Jesus, to whom therefore the prayers are addressed. “God’s love” could be the addressees’ love for God or his love for them. But “the Christ’s endurance” likely refers to Jesus’ endurance of suffering and shame, particularly in his crucifixion. So the parallel between these phrases favors God’s love for the addressees. The directing of their hearts into his love for them therefore means, more literally, the straightening of the road that their hearts, personified as travelers, should take into God’s love. A straight road will get them there quicker than a crooked one would (compare the comments on 1 Thessalonians 3:11). “Hearts” suits “love,” because the heart pounds rapidly when affected. Here, God’s love for the addressees is to affect their hearts by way of keeping them loyal to him despite their afflictions. Similarly, a straight road into the Christ’s endurance will affect their hearts by way of keeping them loyal to him, too, despite their afflictions. After all, he endured afflictions for their sakes—indeed, for their salvation—and in so doing provided them a role model of such endurance (compare Hebrews 12:1–3; 1 Peter 2:20b–21). “The Christ” points up the messianic character of his exemplary endurance.

3:6–9: But we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you shun every brother who walks around in a disorderly way, that is, not in accordance with the tradition which they received from us [compare 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12]. 7For you yourselves know how it’s necessary for you to imitate us, because we didn’t act disorderly among you; 8that is, we didn’t eat bread [= food] for free from anyone. Rather, in labor and hardship [we were] working night and day so as not to burden any of you [compare 1 Thessalonians 2:9]. 9Not that we don’t have authority [to demand material support for our ministry]—rather, [we supported ourselves] in order that we might give ourselves as a role model to you for [you] to imitate us. The shift from a wish to a command triggers the address “brothers,” which softens the command. But lest it therefore not be taken seriously, Paul and company state it “in the name [that is, with the authority] of our Lord, Jesus Christ” (compare 1 Corinthians 5:4). The addressees’ likely hesitancy to “shun every brother [fellow Christian] who walks around in a disorderly way” prompted this appeal to Jesus’ authority, expressed in full with “our Lord, Jesus Christ.” In particular, the naming of Jesus Christ as “Lord” puts his authority front and center. “Shun every brother” disallows any favoritism and presumably has the purpose of making the fellow Christian who’s guilty of disorderly behavior miss fellowship with other Christians so much that he’ll correct his behavior. The disorderly behavior that is to draw shunning consists in defending and praising a patron in return for his material support rather than working for one’s own living. Paul and company put themselves forward as role models of self-support, models well-known to the addressees because of Paul and company’s past behavior in their midst, and also because of Paul and company’s past teaching of self-support (“the tradition that you received from us”). The addition of “yourselves” to “you” stresses the addressees’ “know[ing] how it’s necessary for [them] to imitate [Paul and company’s self-support].” The use of “know how it’s necessary” rather than “know that it’s necessary” highlights the self-supporting manner, not just the fact, of Paul and company’s self-support. Also highlighting its manner are the statements “we didn’t eat bread for free from anyone,” “in labor and hardship [we were] working night and day so as not to burden any of you,” “not that we don’t have authority [to demand material support],” and “[we supported ourselves] in order that we might give ourselves as a role model to you.”

3:10–13: For also when we were with you we were commanding you, “If anyone doesn’t want to work, neither is he to eat.” 11For we hear [that] some [are] walking around disorderly among you, [that is,] working not at all—rather, working around. 12And we’re commanding and exhorting such people in the Lord, Jesus Christ, that as a result of working in a quiet fashion they eat their own bread [rather than somebody else’s]. 13But you, brothers—you shouldn’t give up in doing good. Now it comes out clearly why refusal to work for a living has gotten the description, “disorderly.” It violates the previous command. The command that the person isn’t to eat who doesn’t work because he doesn’t want to work—this command means that his fellow Christians shouldn’t feed him. Hunger may teach him to work for his own food. His fault lies in a lack of desire, not in the job market. Some Christians in the Thessalonian church are so loathe to work that they’re “working not at all,” which equates with “walking around disorderly.” How then does “working not at all” contrast with “working around”? Both expressions posit working. The contrast lies between “not at all” and “around.” Working not at all means not working quietly to make one’s own living. Working around means working at the expense of a patron to defend and praise him noisily around town. Ironically, the contrast between these workings also carries an implicit equation between them in that working around counts as working not at all. A second use of “commanding,” the addition of “exhorting,” a reference to “such people,” and the locating of the command and exhortation “in the Lord, Jesus Christ” (where ultimate authority lies) strengthen immeasurably the command that those unwilling to work shouldn’t eat, which then turns into a command that they eat their own food as a result of working. “But you, brothers” shifts from “such people” as are “working not at all” to those who are “doing good”—in other words, who are acting nobly not only by working for their own living but also by providing material support to those who want to work but for one reason or another can’t and therefore find themselves in dire straits. Despite the hardship of supporting the needy as well as themselves, doers of good “shouldn’t give up.”

3:14–15: But if anyone doesn’t obey our word [of command that you support yourselves by working], be taking note of that [man] so as not to affiliate yourselves with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15And [in your nonaffiliation] don’t be regarding him as an enemy; rather, be admonishing [him] as a brother [compare 1 Thessalonians 5:14]. The earlier command that anyone who doesn’t want to work shouldn’t eat—that is, shouldn’t be given a handout—escalates here into a command to shame him by shunning him. If hunger doesn’t teach him to work, maybe shame will, especially since non-Christians have already rejected him (1 Thessalonians 2:14; compare 1 Corinthians 5:9–11, where nonaffiliation includes not eating together). On the other hand, he’s not to be considered an enemy; for then your speaking to him would turn hostile. Brotherly admonition should characterize it instead. But nonaffiliation is to confine the speaking to such admonition and rule out all other social intercourse.

CONCLUSION

2 Thessalonians 3:16–18

This conclusion is made up of a threefold wish (3:16, 18) wrapped around a greeting (3:17).

3:16: And may the Lord of peace give you peace through all [time] in every way [compare Numbers 6:26]. The Lord [be] with you all. As usual, “the Lord” is Jesus. “Peace” consists in all the blessings of salvation. So “of peace” describes Jesus the Lord as the source of those blessings. “Give you peace” wishes the addressees the blessings, which are to be reflected and symbolized by peaceful relations among Christians (1 Thessalonians 5:13, 23); and the wish represents Paul and company’s prayer. “Through all [time] in every way” calls for blessings unlimited in time and kind. “The Lord [be] with you [now]” anticipates Christians’ being always with the Lord from his future coming onward (1 Thessalonians 4:17), and the fulfillment of this prayerful wish will steel the addressees to stand firm in the midst of persecution. The addition of “all” to “you” implies the need for unity if Christians are to stand firm. They need one another along with the Lord’s presence.

3:17: The greeting [is written] by my hand, [that is,] Paul’s, which [referring to his penmanship as different from that of the scribe to whom he has dictated the letter up to this point] is a sign [of my authorship] in every letter [of mine]. This is the way I write. Paul, the main author, calls attention to his penmanship to guarantee the authenticity of this letter (compare especially Galatians 6:11, where he calls attention to the large size of the characters in his handwriting). Though he writes the final greeting himself in all his letters, his present mention of the practice arises out of the aforementioned possibility of a letter forged in his and his companions’ names (2:2).

3:18: The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, [be] with you all. For this benediction see the comments on 1 Thessalonians 5:28, and for the present addition of “all” to “you” see the comments on 3:16 right here in 2 Thessalonians.

Notes

[1]Some ancient manuscripts, followed by most English translations, have “gentle” instead of “infants.” But “infants” has better manuscript support and, being more difficult to understand, the greater likelihood of having been changed by copyists.

[2]Some very good ancient manuscripts read “as first fruits” instead of “from the beginning”; but the city of Philippi, not Thessalonica, provided the first converts in Macedonia.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Acknowledgments

Introduction

First Thessalonians

ADDRESS AND GREETING 1 Thessalonians 1:1

A COMPLIMENTARY THANKS FOR THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS 1 Thessalonians 1:2–5

A COMPLIMENTARY DESCRIPTION OF THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS 1 Thessalonians 1:6–10

AN EXPLANATORY DESCRIPTION OF THE EVANGELIZATION OF THESSALONICA 1 Thessalonians 2:1–12

A REPRISE OF PRAYERFUL THANKS FOR THE THESSALONIANS AND OF THE COMPLIMENTARY DESCRIPTION OF THEM 1 Thessalonians 2:13–16

PAUL AND COMPANY’S CONCERN FOR AND JOY IN THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS 1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:10

A BENEDICTION 1 Thessalonians 3:11–13

AN EXHORTATION TO SEXUAL MORALITY 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8

AN EXHORTATION TO MUTUAL LOVE 1 Thessalonians 4:9–12

AN EXHORTATION TO BE COMFORTED IN REGARD TO DECEASED FELLOW BELIEVERS 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

AN EXHORTATION TO EXPECTANT READINESS FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

MISCELLANEOUS EXHORTATIONS 1 Thessalonians 5:12–22

A BENEDICTION AND FINAL INSTRUCTIONS 1 Thessalonians 5:23–28

Second Thessalonians

ADDRESS AND GREETING 2 Thessalonians 1:1–2

PERSECUTION 2 Thessalonians 1:3–12

THE DAY OF THE LORD 2 Thessalonians 2:1–17

MISCELLANEA 2 Thessalonians 3:1–15

CONCLUSION 2 Thessalonians 3:16–18

Notes

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