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1Th_1:2. Εὐχαριστοῦμεν ] The plural, which Koppe, Pelt, Koch, Jowett, and others refer to Paul only, is most naturally to be understood of Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus, on account of 1Th_1:1 compared with 1Th_2:18, where the apostle, to obviate a mistaken conception of the plural, expressly distinguishes himself from his apostolic helpers.
τῷ Θεῷ ] Thanks is rendered to God, because Paul in his piety recognises only His appointment as the first cause of the good which he has to celebrate.
πάντοτε ] even if ὑμῶν after μνείαν (see critical note) is omitted, belongs to εὐχαριστοῦμεν , not to μνείαν ποιούμ ., as the expression: μνείαν ποιεῖσθαι περὶ τινός , instead of τινός , is un-Pauline. It is not to be weakened (with Koppe) in the sense of πολλάκις , certainly also not (with Zanchius and Pelt) to be limited to the feelings of the apostle, that the εὐχαριστεῖν took place “non actu sed affectu” (comp. already Nicholas de Lyra: semper in habitu, etsi non semper in actu), but to be understood absolutely always; certainly, according to the nature of the case, hyperbolically. Moreover, not without emphasis does Paul say: περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν , in order emphatically to declare that his thanksgiving to God referred to all the members of the Thessalonian church without exception.
μνείαν ὑμῶν ποιούμ . ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν ἡμῶν ] These words are conjoined, and to be separated from the preceding by a comma. The clause is no limitation of εὐχαριστοῦμεν πάντοτε : when, or as often as we make mention of you (Flatt, Baumgarten-Crusius, Bisping; on ἐπί , see Meyer on Rom_1:10); but the statement of the manner of εὐχαρ .: whilst we, etc. Only by the addition of this participial clause is the statement of his thanks and prayer for the Thessalonians completed.