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§ 3. 1Th 2:1-12. The Conduct of the Apostles at Thessalonica
The thanksgiving just offered to God for the conspicuous Christian worth of the Thessalonians reflects upon the work of the writers as the instruments of their conversion. The whole heart and interest of St Paul and his companions are bound up with the welfare of this Church (1Th 3:8); their thoughts in the previous paragraph (1Th 2:4-9) were constantly vibrating between “you” and “us,” as in the ensuing paragraph between “us” and “you.” This section is, in truth, an expansion of 1Th 2:5 b in chap. 1: οἴδατε οἶοι ἐγενήθημεν [ἐν] ὑμῖν διʼ ὑμᾶς. Starting from the εἴσοδος referred to in 1Th 1:9, the train of reflexion on the spirit and character of the past ministry of the writers amongst the Thessalonians, pursued through twelve verses with emphasis and relish, brings them back in 1Th 2:13 into the vein of thanksgiving from which they set out. The Introd., pp. xxxiv. f., suggested some reasons for the writers’ dwelling thus on themselves and their own behaviour. The section may be analysed as follows:—The mission of St Paul and his comrades at Thessalonica exhibited the true power of the Gospel (1Th 2:1); which was manifest (1) by the boldness they showed on its behalf in the face of persecution (1Th 2:2)—(2) the boldness of religious sincerity untainted with personal ambition (1Th 2:3-6), (3) united in their case with a tender parental devotion toward their charge (1Th 2:7-9), and with (4) a solicitous fidelity to the high aims of the Christian calling (1Th 2:11-12). Four words resume the whole—courage, purity, tenderness, fidelity; cf. 2Co 5:20 to 2Co 6:10.