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COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS
I. SUPERSCRIPTION (1:1)
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the assembly of Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace.
1. The superscription, which is to be distinguished from the address written “on the outside or on the cover of the folded letter” (Deissmann, Light, 148), comprises, as in contemporary letters, the name of the writer in the nominative, the people addressed in the dative, and the greeting. Although it is the shortest of extant Pauline superscriptions, it contains the essential points of the more developed forms, not simply the names of writers and recipients but also the divine names God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the characteristically Pauline “grace and peace.” The Holy Spirit is mentioned in no superscription and in but one benediction (2Co_13:13).
The inscription ΠΟ ΘΣΑΟΙΕΣ(א et al.), like the inscriptions and subscriptions in most mss. and like the introductions (ὑοέε) in some mss., is editorial and seems to presuppose a corpus Paulinum with some such title as ΕΙΤΛΙΠΥΟFor elaborations of this briefest form of inscription (e. g. in DGF with a prefixed ἄχτ; in P with a prefixed πύο ἐιτλ, or in G with a prefixed ἄχτ and an added πώηἐιτλ). see von Soden, Schriften des N. T. I, 294 ff. For the influence of contemporary literature upon the general form and many phrases of the Pauline and other N. T. letters, see Deissmann, BS. 187 ff., EB. II, 1323 ff., and Light; Rendel Harris, Exp5 VIII, 161 ff., 401 ff.; Robinson, Ephesians, 275 ff.; Mill. 121 ff.; and Moff. Introd. 44 ff. Useful selections from contemporary letters may be found in Lietzmann, Griechische Papyri, 1905; Witkowski, Epistulae graecae privatae, 1906; and Mill. Selections from the Greek Papyri, 1910.
Since Silvanus and Timothy were with Paul in Thessalonica when the church was established and with him in Corinth when both our letters were written (Act_18:5; cf. 2Co_1:19), it is natural to find the three names associated in the superscription. Paul takes precedence as he is the leading spirit and the letter is his in a peculiar sense; Silvanus, the Silas of Acts, comes next; and Timothy, who was not only a helper but a preacher (2Co_1:19), as youngest comes last. While the letter is Paul’s, the exceptionally frequent appearance of “we” where it is natural to think primarily not of an epistolary plural but of Paul and his companions suggests an intimacy of association in writing which is not true of 1 Cor. where Sosthenes is joined with Paul in the superscription, nor of 2 Cor. Col. Phile. Phil. where Timothy is joined with Paul.
It is generally admitted that “we” may be used in various senses including that of the epistolary plural (cf. not only Paul (1Co_9:11 and 9:15), but also Polybius, Josephus, and the papyri); but it is observed with force by Mill. (131-132) that owing to the “special circumstances under which the two epistles were written, we shall do well to give its full weight to this normal use of the plural in them, and to think of it as including St. Paul’s two companions along with himself wherever on other grounds this is possible”; cf. Zahn, Introd. I 209 ff. On the other hand, Dob. thinks that thought the associated authors may be in mind they have no prerogatives whatever (67-68); see Dick, Der schriftstellerische Plural bei Paulus, 1900.
The form Σλαό(DG; cf. B in 1Pe_5:12) is regular in the papyri (Mill.); cf. P. Oxy. 335 (c. 85 a.d.) where Πῦοsells Σλαόthe sixth part of a house in the Jewish quarter. Our Silvanus is a Jew and a Roman citizen (Act_16:37); cf. Schmiedel, EB 4514 ff. Timothy was of mixed Gentile and Jewish blood; whether a Roman citizen or not is unknown; cf. Moff. EB 5074 ff.
The designation ἀότλ does not appear in the superscription of the Macedonian letters and Philemon; it appears in that of Gal_1:2 Cor. addressed to communities in which Judaists attacked Paul’s apostleship (Php_3:2 ff. refers to unbelieving Jews as Lipsius, McGiffert, and most recently Dob. (117) insist); in that of Rom., a community not founded by him and not sharing his distinctive views, to which he is presenting his gospel; and in that of Col. Eph., churches founded by his converts whose Christianity he vouches for.
τ ἐκηί Θσαοιέ. There is but one Christian group in Thessalonica; it is small numerically, unless πῆο πλ (Act_17:4) is to be pressed, but intense in faith (v. 8; cf. Rom_1:8, Col_1:6, Col_1:23); and it assembles perhaps in the house of Jason.
The numerical strength of the church in the house of Prisca and Aquila (1Co_16:19, Rom_16:5) is computed by Gregory (Canon and Text of the N. T. 524) to be at least fifty. Whether the church in Thess. that Paul addressed was as large as that is quite unknown.
No good reasons have been adduced to show why we have here and in II 1:1 (cf. Col_4:16) the nomen gentilicium θσαοιε instead of the name of the place (Gal_1:2, 1Co_1:2, 2Co_1:1). The view of von Soden (SK 1885, 274) that Paul “under the influence of the fresh impression of his success thinks of the inhabitants as already as a whole in touch with the church,” is unlikely in the light of the similar τ Λοιένἐκηί in Col_4:16. Equally obscure is the fact that I, II, Gal_1:2 Cor. Phile. are addressed to the “church” or “churches” (cf. Php_1:1 σνἐικπι κὶδαόο) while Rom. Col. Eph. are addressed to the saints and brethren.
ἐ θῷπτὶκὶκρῳἸ This phrase, found only here and (with ἡῶafter πτι in II 1:1 and to be attached closely to the preceding as in 2:14, specifies the Christian character of the ἐκηίin contrast with the civic assembly of the Gentiles and the theocratic assembly of the Jews (Chrys.). The omission of τ after θσ, which on the analogy of Gal_1:22 might have been retained, serves to accentuate the closeness of the attachment. Both the phrase as a whole and its component parts ἐ θῷπτι(II 1:1) and ἐ κρῳἸ Χ(II 1:1, 3:12) are peculiar to our letters.
The ἐ however, is the ἐof the characteristic Pauline phrases ἐ Χιτ Ἰσυ(2:14, 5:18 and often in Paul), ἐ Χιτ (4:16 and often in Paul), ἐ κρῳ(3:8, 5:12, II 3:4 and often in Paul), ἐ κρῳἸσυ(4:1, Rom_14:14, Eph_1:15, Php_2:19), ἐ Χιτ Ἰσῦτ κρῳἡῶ(1Co_15:31, Rom_6:23, Rom_8:39, Eph_3:11, but not in I, II), ἐ πεμτ(v. 5; Rom_8:9, Rom_9:1, etc.), and ἐ τ θῷ(2:2; Col_3:3, Eph_3:9, but not Rom_2:17, Rom_5:11). The relation of the human and divine indicated by ἐis local and realistic; the human is in the atmosphere of the divine. There is presupposed the indwelling of God (1Co_14:25, 2Co_6:16), Christ (Rom_8:10), or the Spirit (Rom_8:9, Rom_8:11) as an energising (cf. 1Co_12:16, Php_2:13) power both ethical and permanent. Hence when a man is in Christ or the Spirit, terms interchangeable as regards the operations, or in God, or when a man is possessed by them (ἔε Rom_8:19, 1Co_7:40), he is as such under the control of a divine power that makes for newness of life (cf. ἐ δνμιπεμτ Rom_15:13, Rom_15:19). The divine air which the human breathes is charged, so to speak, with ethical energy.
The new in these phrases with ἐis neither the realism of the relation nor the grammatical form (cf. ἐ κρῳHab_3:18; ἐ πεμτEze_11:24, Eze_37:1) but the combination of ἐwith Χιτ, a combination due to Paul’s experience of Christ as Spirit and Lord. For influences on Paul’s conception, see Gunkel (Die Wirkungen des Geistes, 1888, 100 ff.); Deissmann (Die neutestamentliche Formel in Christo Jesu, 1892); Volz (Der Geist Gottes, 1910, 198 ff.); Reitzenstein (Die hellenistischen Mysterienreligionen, 1910) and a critique of the same in Schweitzer’s Geschichte der Paulinischen Forschung, 1911, 141-184, especially 170 ff.; Deissmann’s Paulus, 1911, 87 ff.; and Percy Gardner’s Religious Experience of St. Paul, 1911. An analogy to Paul’s phrase is found in ἐ πεμτ ἀαάτ (Mar_1:23) and ἔενπεμ ἀάατ (Mar_3:30); the man is in the demon because the demon is in the man as an energising (cf. II 2:7, Eph_2:2; also II 2:9, 11) force; δίοο γροσαἐέγι(Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 35224).
θῷπτι The omission of the articles indicates that the phrase had long been fixed for Paul (cf. also II 1:2 (BD) Gal_1:1, Gal_1:3 (BD) Eph_6:23, Php_2:11). The name Father, inherited by the Master (cf. Bousset, Relig 432 ff.) and put into the central place in his teaching, is confirmed as primary in Paul’s redemptive experience. It is striking that this name occurs in passages giving fervent expression to his religious life, and that it is joined usually with the name Christ, e. g. in the superscriptions, thanksgivings (1:3, 2Co_1:3, Col_1:3, Col_3:17, Eph_1:3, Eph_5:20), prayers (3:11, 13, II 2:16, Rom_15:6, Eph_6:23), and the like (1Co_8:6, 15:24, 28, 2Co_11:31, Rom_6:4, Eph_2:18, Eph_4:6). It is probable that as Paul insists that no man can say κρο Ἰσῦbut in the Holy Spirit (1Co_12:3), so he would insist that no man can say Ἀβ ὁπτ (Gal_4:6, Rom_8:15) but in the same Spirit. At all events, Paul’s specifically Christian name of the God of both Jews and Gentiles (Rom_3:29) is “God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” “Our Father.”
κρῳἸ Χ In these words both the primitive (Act_2:36) and the Pauline convictions about Jesus are summed up: he is Messiah and Lord. The Lordship of Jesus (1Co_12:3, Rom_10:9), Jesus Christ (1Co_8:6, Rom_13:14, Php_2:11), Christ Jesus (2Co_4:5, Col_2:6) is the essence of the Pauline experience; it receives conspicuous emphasis in the second epistle (see on II 2:13). While both Ἰσῦ Χιτ and ΧιτςἸσῦhave already become proper names, the Messianic connotation of Χιτ is not lost (cf. Rom_9:5, 2Co_5:10, Php_1:15, Eph_1:10, etc.). It is Jesus the Messiah who is Lord.
On the divine names in I, II, see Mill. 135-140. Dob., (60-61) explains the placing of Χιτ before Ἰσῦ(e. g. 2:14, 5:18), to which SH 3ff.) call attention, as due to the ambiguity of the casus obliqui of Ἰσῦ for apart from Rom_8:34, 2Co_4:5, Col_2:6, the order Χ Ἰappears only in the formulæΧιτῦἸσυand ἐ Χιτ Ἰσυ while Paul writes continually κρο Ἰ Χand ἐ κρῳἸ Χ
χρςὑῖ κὶερν This phrase, common to all the ten Pauline superscriptions, bears, like the phrase έ Χιτ, the stamp of Paul’s experience. It is likewise the shortest Pauline præ χρ, used here in its widest sense, is the favour of God by which he acquits all sinners, Jews and Gentiles, solely on the principle of faith and grants them freedom from the power of sin and newness of the life in Christ or the Spirit. ερνis the spiritual prosperity enjoyed by the recipients of the divine favour. What is expressed in all the other letters of Paul (except Col_1:2 which adds only “from God our Father”), namely, that grace and peace come from God the (our) Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, is already implied in ἐ θῷκλThere is, however, no reason either here or in Col. for attaching χρ to the clause with ἐ
In coining, as he apparently does coin, this form of greeting, Paul is less influenced by current epistolary phrases than by his conviction that the blessings of the promised Messianic kingdom (Isa_9:5, Psa_72:3) are realised only through the grace of God in Christ.
It is generally assumed (cf. Fritzsche on Rom_1:7 or Zahn on Gal_1:3) that the Pauline greeting is suggested both by the Semitic and the Greek.
The influence of the Aramaic in ερν(Ezr_4:17, Ezr_5:7, Dan. 3:31 (98), 6:26; see BDB sub שםmay have been felt (cf. also Apoc. Bar. 78:2 where Syriac suggests ἔεςκὶερν but it is doubtful (Robinson, Ephesians, 141) whether χρ has anything to do with χίε (Jam_1:1.Act_15:23, Act_23:26), for in some papyri at least (Witk., 22 ff. ἈκῖςΣσφνιχίεν χρςτῖ θοςπληor θῷπεσηχρ), χίε is the greeting and χρ the thanksgiving. On the other hand, cf. 2 Mal_1:1 χίε …κὶερννἀαή Exp. Times, 1911, vol. XXIII, 94).
The word χρ is rare in the Prophets and Psalms but frequent in the Wisdom literature. Paul’s usage has affected Luke and First Peter. The Johannist prefers ἀήε to χρ ε or (Since in later Gk. the optative tends to disappear) ἔτis to be supplied, in accordance with Semitic (Dan. 3:98 Lxx 1Pe_1:2, etc.), not Greek (which demands χρ sc. λγυι usage. The position of ὑῖserves to distinguish both χρ and ερν(Bl 80:2). It is doubtless “pedantry to reflect on the fact that the readers as Christians possess already that grace, that hence only an increase of the same could be desired for them” (Dob.). Most editors omit with BGF Orig. Pesh, Arm, f g r, Vulg the usual clause with ἀοThe insertion of the same by א et al., is more explicable than its omission.
II. THANKSGIVING (1:2-3:10)
In the thanksgiving (1:2-3:10; cf. 1:2, 2:13, 3:9) and closely related prayer (3:11-13) covering the major portion of the letter, Paul reviews his attitude to the church during his visit (1:2-2:16) and during the interval between his enforced departure and the writing of I (2:17-3:10). Though he praises without stint the faith and love of his converts, hardly mentioning the imperfections that exist (3:8, 10), and though his words pulsate with warmest affection, yet a tone of self-defence is heard throughout. The constant appeal to the knowledge or memory of the readers as regards his behaviour (1:5, 2:1-12), the references to oral reports which concern not only them but him (1:9), the insistence on the fact that the writers desired—Paul himself repeatedly—to return (2:17-20), the statement that the writers, Paul especially, had determined to send Timothy (3:1-5), and finally the prayer that the writers may return (3:11)—all serve to intimate that Paul is defending both his conduct during the visit and his failure to return against the allegations, not of the converts, not of Judaizers (for there are none in Thessalonica), not of the Gentile persecutors (2:14), for they are not attacked, but, as the ominous outburst (2:15-16) suggests, of the Jews.
It may be conjectured that the Jews, after Paul’s departure, were maligning his conduct and misconstruing his failure to return. Indeed they may well have been the real instigators of Gentile persecutions. Though it is unlikely that the converts actually distrusted Paul (3:6), it is not improbable that they were wrought up and worried by the representations of the Jews, especially since Paul did not return. Whether he had heard of the matter before he despatched Timothy is uncertain but altogether probable. That the self-defence arises purely from a suspicion of Paul without any basis of fact (Dob. 106-107) is unlikely. In the light of 2:15-16, the Jews not the Gentiles (cf. Zahn, Introd. I, 217-218) are the accusers.
(1) Visit and Welcome (1:2-10)
Paul thanks God, as he bears in mind the spiritual excellence of the readers, for their election, the certainty of which is inferred from the presence of the Spirit controlling not only the converts who welcomed the gospel in spite of persecutions (vv. 6-10; cf. 2:13-16), but also the preachers themselves (vv. 5, 9a; cf. 2:1-12).
2We thank God always for you all, making mention of you when we pray, 3bearing in mind continually your work resulting from faith, and your activity prompted by love, and your endurance sanctioned by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, 4because we know, brothers beloved by God, that you have been chosen, 5from the fact that the gospel we preach did not come to you with words only but also with power, and in the Holy Spirit and much conviction,—as you know the kind of men we became to you for your sake; 6and (from the fact that) you became imitators of us and of the Lord, welcoming the Word in the midst of great persecution with the joy that the Holy Spirit gives, 7so that you became a model community to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia: 8for starting from you the Word of the Lord has sounded out not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place your faith in God has gone out, so that we need not utter a word about you, 9for they themselves are reporting about us what kind of visit we paid you, and (about you) how you turned to God leaving behind those idols of yours, for the purpose of serving the living and genuine God 10and of awaiting his Son who comes down out of the heavens, whom he raised from the dead,—Jesus who delivers us from the judgment that is coming.
The epistolary arrangement of I (χπ 1:1; εχρσομ 1:2-3:10; ατςδ 3:11-13; ἐωῶε4:1-5:22; ποεχσ 5:25; ἀπσσ 5:26; χρ 5:28) may be compared with BGU, 423 (saec. ii, a.d., quoted by Robinson, op. cit. 276): πεσαχίεν εχμι εχρσω…ὅι ἐωῶ ἄπσι ἐρσα σ εχμιSome of the phrases in v. 2 ff. may be compared with P. Lond. 42 (saec. ii, b.c., quoted by Deiss. BS 209 ff.): ο ἐ οκ πνε συδαατςμεα πιύεο…ἐὶμντ ἐρσα σ εθω τῖ θοςεχρσο; with BGU, 632 (saec. ii, a.d., quoted by Robinson, op. cit. 276): μίνσυπιύεο and with 1 Mac. 12:11.
As in the papyri, so also in Paul’s letters, there is freedom in the use both of the general epistolary outline and of the separate phrases. In Paul, the simplest thanksgiving is II 1:3, Rom_1:3. This is expanded in I 1:4, Col_1:4, Phm_1:5 by a causal participle without ὅ; in 1Co_1:4 by clauses with ἐιand ὅ; in Php_1:3 ff. with two clauses with ἐιand a causal participle. In Phil. and our letter, the thanksgiving is full, while Gal. has no thanksgiving. In 2 Cor. and Eph., the O. T. ελγτςὁθόtakes the place of εχρσομ
From Paul’s usage we may assume that πρ πνω ὑῶis to be taken not with μεα πιύεοbut with εχρσομ (hence a comma after ὐῶ as the simpler form (1Co_1:4, Rom_1:8) suggests; that μηοεοτ is parallel to and an expansion of μεα πιύεο as δόεο(Rom_1:10; contrast Phm_1:4, Eph_1:16) indicates; and that εδτ is a causal participle depending on εχρσομ, while ὅ depends not on the latter but on the former. Doubtful is the reference of ἀιλίτ and ἔποθ; v. infra.
2. εχρσομνκλ Thankfulness is not only felt but is expressed to God, and that too always and for all; in saying πνω Paul is thinking not of their imperfections (3:10) but of their faith and love and personal affection (3:6).
Inasmuch as Paul always uses the article in the phrase εχρσεντ θῷ τ is not significant in this case. Born (69) presses the article to mean “the one God” in contrast to the pagan gods. But quite apart from the lack of definiteness in the use of the article (Bl 46:6), it is to be noted that ὁθόis more frequent than θόin Paul; in I the proportion is about three to one, in Romans slightly greater; and in Col. all but two of the twenty-three cases have the article; cf. I 4:6 with Gal_4:9—Both πνο (except Rom_1:10) and πρ ὑῶ(except Phm_1:4) follow εχρσε in the initial thanksgivings of Paul. πνο, a late word, is rare in the Lxx (Sap. 11:21, 19:18) but common in Paul (3:6, 5:16, II 1:11, etc.). ἀιoccurs a score or more times in the Gk. Bib. (cf. 2Co_4:11, 2Co_6:10); ἑάττbut once (2Pe_1:15).—For πρ, we have ὑέin Php_1:3, Col_1:3 (v. l.); the distinction between them is fading away (Moult I, 105).
μεα πιύεο κλThis participial clause defines πνο (cf. Phm_1:4). ἐὶτνποεχνἡῶ= ποεχμν (Col_1:3); ἐι= “in the time of.” Each time that they are engaged in prayer, the writers mention the names of the converts (contrast μηοεε v. 3 and μεα ἔε 3:6) and give thanks for them.
While both πεσα μεα πρ τν and πιῖθιμεα τν (cf. Job_14:13, Psa_110:4, Isa_32:10) are classic, epistolary usage favours the latter construction. ὑῶis to be supplied. Its omission is due both here and Eph_1:16 to the πρ (ὑὲ) ὑῶ its retention by CDG, et al., is influenced by Rom_1:10, Phm_1:4 (cf. I 3:6, Php_1:3 and papyri). ἡῶinstead of μ (Rom_1:10, Eph_1:16, Phm_1:4) is natural, since Silvanus and Timothy are associated with Paul in the thanksgiving.—The distinction between ἐ τῖ ποεχῖ(Dan. Lxx 18, 20; Ign. Mag. 14:1 Trall. 13:1 with μηοεεν cf. Paul in Rom_15:30, Col_4:12) and ἐὶτνποεχ is probably slight; cf. 1 Mac. 12:11.
3. ἀιλίτςμηοεοτ. “Bearing in mind continually.” This participial clause, parallel to the defining temporal clause μεα πιύεο suggests the immediate ground of the thanksgiving, while the third parallel εδτ gives the ultimate ground (Find.). The never-failing memory of the spiritual excellence of the converts prompts the expression of thanks at every season of prayer.
Whether ἀιλίτ is to be taken with μηοεοτ (Chrys., Dob., Dibelius, et al.) or with πιύεο(Ephraem, Pesh, Vulg, and G (which capitalises Μηοεοτ) Wohl., Mill., Moff., et al.) cannot be determined. In view of the freedom of epistolary usage, the analogy of 1 Mac. 12:11, Rom_1:10 P. Lond. 42 (δαατςμεα πιύεο is not decisive. ἀιλίτ is used with μεα πιῖθ (Rom_1:9; cf. 1 Mac. 12:12), εχρσε (2:13), and ποεχσα(5:17; cf. Ign. Eph. 10:1; Hermas Sim. IX 11:7; and Polyc. 4:3 ἐτγάε).—Since μηοεε with gen. (Gal_2:10, Col_4:18) refers to the thought not to its expression in prayer before God, it is better to take ἔποθνκλnot with the distant μηοεοτ but with the adjacent ἸσῦΧιτυ(Lft., Mill., Dob.), as indeed the position of the clause and the analogy of 3:13 make probable (but see Lillie, ad loc.).
ὐῶ…Χιτυ The genitives are somewhat bewildering and the interpretations are various. The most favoured solution is that which joins ὑῶwith ἔγυ κπυ ὑοοῆ and which explains τςπσες τςἀάη and τςἐπδ as subjective genitives, and τῦκροas an objective genitive qualifying ἐπδ. The stress is laid not on faith alone but on the work that results from faith; not on love alone but on the toilsome activity prompted by love; not on endurance alone but on the endurance that is inspired by the hope in Christ. The three phrases τ ἔγντςπσες ὁκπςτςἀάη and ἡὑοοὴτςἐπδ may be the coinage of Paul; at least they are not found elsewhere in the Gk. Bib. (except II 1:11 ἔγνπσε; Heb_6:10 reads not τῦκπυτςἀάηbut simply τςἀάη or in the Apostolic Fathers.
Lillie notes that Olshausen and Steiger (1832 on 1Pe_1:2) connect τῦκροwith all three gen. πσες ἀάηand ἐπδ, a view to which Dob. inclines. But love to God (Rom_8:28, 1Co_2:9, 1Co_8:3) or Christ (1Co_16:22, Eph_6:24) is rare in Paul compared with the love of God or Christ for men. On the name ὁκρο ἡῶ Ἰ Χ(5:9, 23, 28, II 2:1, 14, 16, 3:18), see below on 2:19.
τῦἔγυτςπσε. The work of faith is the activity that faith inspires, that is, love in all its manifestations (as in II 1:11).—τῦκπυτςἀάη “The toilsome activity prompted by love.” In this unique phrase, minted from the situation, it is uncertain whether Paul has in mind manual labour necessary to support missionary propaganda, or the laborious missionary effort as such (3:5), or both. Love is not to be restricted to φλδλί—τςὑοοῆ τςἐπδ. “The endurance inspired by hope.” This unique phrase differs from ἡἐπςτςὑοοῆ(4 Mac. 17:4) in that the emphasis is upon endurance. Hope, whose object is Christ (Col_1:27), is the confident expectation of spiritual prosperity after death, the hope of salvation (5:8), the good hope (II 2:16) originating in Christ, a hope that those who are not in Christ do not share (4:13).
ὑοοη(II 1:4, 3:5) is frequent in 4 Mac. (e. g. 15:30) in the sense of κρείIn 1 Clem. 5:7 Paul himself is ὑοοῆ μγσο ὑορμόIn II 3:5 the only adequate endurance is that inspired by Christ.
ἔποθνκλ Hope in Christ suggests the day of the Lord when all men must appear before God. For the unbeliever, it is a day of destruction (1:10, 5:3, II 1:9), but for the believer, a day of salvation (1:10, 3:13, 5:9), the fruition of hope. The Judge here is not Christ (2Co_5:10) but God (Rom_14:10), and that too the God and Father of us Christians. As in 2:19, 3:13, ἔποθ is attached loosely to the immediately preceding words.
ὁπτ (Rom_6:4, Eph_2:18, Eph_3:14, Col_1:2 v. l.), ἀβ ὁπτ (Gal_4:6, Rom_8:15), ὁθὸ πτ (Col_1:12 (א 3:17), θὸ ὁπτ (1Co_8:6, Col_1:12 FG), ὁθὸ κὶπτ (1Co_15:24, Eph_5:20), ὁθὸ κὶπτρτῦκρο ἡῶ Ἰ Χ(Rom_15:6, 2Co_1:3, Eph_1:3, Col_1:3 (א BCDG omit κι 2Co_11:31 D) do not occur in I, II. We have, however, θὸ πτ (1:1, II 1:2 (BD) Gal_1:1, Gal_1:3 (BD) Eph_6:23, Php_2:11), θὸ πτρἡῶ(II 1:1, Gal_1:3 (א Rom_1:7, 1Co_1:3, 2Co_1:2, Col_1:2, Eph_1:2, Php_1:2, Phm_1:3), and ὁθὸ κὶπτρἡῶ(1:3, 3:11, 13, Gal_1:4, Php_4:20). Unique is II 2:16 whether we read θὸ ὁπτρἡῶ(BD) or ὁθὸ ὁπτρἡῶ(א Paul does not use ὁθὸ ἡῶ κὶπτ or πτρθό(Sir. 23:4).
4. εδτ = ὅιοδμ. The causal participle (cf. Php_1:6, Col_1:3, Phm_1:4) introduces the ultimate ground of the thanksgiving, namely, the election of the readers. Of this election Paul is assured both from the fact that (ὅ v. 5) the gospel which he preached, the gospel through which God calls men unto salvation (II 2:14), came home to them with the power of the Spirit, and from the fact that (sc. ὅ before ὑε v. 6) the same Spirit operated in the believers, as could be plainly inferred from the welcome they gave to the Word and its messengers in spite of great persecution. It is significant both that here, as Calvin observes, Paul infers the pretemporal election of the readers from the fruits of the Spirit, and that it is taken for granted that the readers understand what ἐλγ means, an evidence that this idea formed an integral part of the gospel of God proclaimed in Thessalonica.
ἀεφὶἠαηέο ὑὸτῦθο. The frequency of ἀεφιin I is indicative of Paul’s love for his converts. This affectionate address is strengthened by “beloved by God,” a phrase which like “beloved by the Lord” (II 2:13) is unique in the N. T., though equivalent in sense to ἀαηο θο (Rom_1:7). The connection of this phrase with ἐλγ makes plain that election proceeds from the love of God (cf. Isa_41:8-9 where ἐλγσαis parallel to ἀαᾷ
Moses in Sir. 45:1 is ἠαηέο ὑὸθο κὶἀθώω Israel in Baruch 3:37 is ἠα. ὑʼατυ(i. e. “our God”); and Solomon in Neh_13:26 is ἀαώεο τ θῷcf. Ep. to Diogn. 4:4 where ἐλγ and ἠαηέοςὑὸθο appear together and Ign. Trall. init. of the holy church ἠα. θῷπτὶἸ ΧMore frequently we have in this phrase, as in II 2:13, κρο for example, Benjamin in Deu_33:12 and Issachar in Test. xii Iss. 1:1 are ἠα. ὑὸκρο and Samuel in Sir. 46:13 is ἠα. ὑὸκρο ατυSee further Col_3:12, 1Co_15:58, etc.—ἀεφίμ (Rom_7:4, Rom_7:15:14, 1Co_1:11, 1Co_11:33, 1Co_14:39, Php_3:1), ἀεφίμυἀαηο (1Co_15:58, Php_4:1), ἀαηο (Rom_12:19, 2Co_7:1, 2Co_12:19, Php_4:1), ἀαηο μ (1Co_10:14, Php_2:12), do not occur in I, II as forms of address. The simple ἀεφιof address occurs about 20 times in 1Cor., 14 in 1 Thess., 10 in Rom., 9 in Gal., 7 in 2 Thess., 6 in Phil., 3 in 2 Cor. and twice in Phile. (ἀεφ). But no one of these addresses appears in Col. or Eph. On the Christian use of ἀεφίcf. Harnack, Mission, 2 I, 340 ff.; on the pagan use, Deiss. BS 82 f. and Witk., 38, note 1. It is doubtful whether τυbefore θο is to be retained (א or omitted (BDGL; cf. Weiss., 72).
τνἐλγνὑῶ “The election of you,” that is, “that you have been chosen,” namely, by God, as always in Paul. The eternal choice of God, “the divine purpose which has worked on the principle of selection” (SH ad Rom_9:11), includes, according to II 2:14, not only the salvation of the readers but also the means by which or the state in which salvation is realised.
The words ἐλγσα(1Co_1:27 ff. Eph_1:4), ἐλκό(Rom. 16:33), ἐλκο θο (Rom_8:33, Col_3:12), and ἐλγ (Rom_9:11, Rom_9:11:5, Rom_9:7, Rom_9:28) are rare in Paul. ἐλγ does not occur in the Lxx For its use in Ps. Sol., see the edition of Ryle and James, 1891, 95 f. κῆι(II 1:11), κλῖ(2:12, 4:7, 5:24) is the historical calling mediated by the preaching of the gospel (II 2:14).
5. ὅ …ἐεή. We infer your election from the fact that (ὅ = “because” as in II 3:7, Rom_8:27, 1Co_2:14) the Spirit was in us who preached (v. 5) and in you who welcomed the Word (vv. 6-10). By saying “our gospel came” instead of “we came with the gospel” (2Co_10:14), Paul puts the emphasis more upon the message as the means of realising God’s call than upon the bearers of the message. The presence of the Spirit is the central fact in Paul’s experience and the test of its validity. Hence such passages as Gal_3:2, 1Co_12:2, Rom_8:15 and the inevitable 2Co_13:13.
That ὅ = quia (Vulg) is the usual view. εδτ …ἐλγ …ὅ = οδμνὅ (that) ἐλθτ ὅ (because), as in Rom_5:4-5, Rom_8:28-29, Php_4:15-16. An alternative interpretation takes ὅ as an object clause further explaining ἐλγ Since, however, ἐλ&g