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2. οὐ κενὴ γέγονεν (1Th 2:1), ἀλλὰ … ἐπαρρησιασάμεθα ἐν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν κ.τ.λ. The Apostles’ παρρησία ἐν θεῷ excluded the thought of a κενὴ εἴσοδος: utterance so confident, and so charged with Divine energy, betokened a true mission from God. The aorists ἐπαρρησιασάμεθα … λαλῆσαι signify “We took courage … to speak,” &c.—“waxed bold” (R.V.)—fiduciam sumpsimus (Calvin) rather than habuimus (Vulg.), gewannen wir in unserm Gott den Muth (Schmiedel); for in verbs of state, or continuous action, the aorist denotes inception (see Kühner’s Ausf. Grammatik2, ii. § 386. 5; or Rutherford’s Syntax, § 208), and the “entrance” of the missionaries is in question: contrast the imperfect as used in Act 19:8. Commonly St Paul grounds his “boldness” ἐν κυρίῳ, as in 1Th 4:1; 2Th 3:4; Php 2:24, &c., or ἐν Χριστῷ, as in Phm 1:8; here he is thinking much of his message as τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ—in our God the glad courage is grounded with which he speaks “the good news of God,” who entrusted him therewith (1Th 2:4): cf. ἐν θεῷ, 1Th 1:1; Col 3:3; ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ, 2Co 6:4-7. Thus Jesus encouraged His disciples: “The Spirit of your Father speaketh in you.… Fear not therefore” (Mat 10:20 ff.). In this joyful mood, shortly before, Paul and Silas “at midnight sang praise to God” in the stocks at Philippi.
Παρρησιάζομαι occurs only here and Eph 6:20 in St Paul, in Acts frequently; the noun παρρησία (παν-ρησία) passim. Denoting first unreserved speech, it comes to mean confident expression, freedom of bearing, frank and fearless assurance (German Freimuth)—the tone and attitude suitable to Christ’s servants (see 2Co 3:12 ff.; Luk 12:1 ff.); for the wider use of the term, cf. Php 1:20; Act 4:13; Heb 10:35; 1Jn 3:19-22, &c. Λαλῆσαι fills out the sense of ἐπαρρησιασάμεθα, as it denotes utterance, form of speech; while λέγειν (εἰπεῖν) would point to definite content, matter of speech (see 1Th 4:15, 1Th 5:3, &c.).
λαλῆσαι is qualified by ἐν πολλῷ ἀγῶνι, in much contention: ἀγών—a term of the athletic arena (cf. 1Co 9:25; Heb 12:1)—may denote either external or (as in Col 2:1) internal conflict; cf. 1Co 16:9, for the situation—ἀντικείμενοι πολλοί. The circumstances antecedent to their εἴσοδος, described in the introductory participial clause, προπαθόντες … ἐν Φιλίπποις, enhanced the courage shown by the missionaries in preaching at Thessalonica, making it the more evident that the power of God was with them. Their Philippian experience is graphically related in Acts 16; for the connexion of the two cities, see the Map, and Introd. pp. x, lxii. Προπάσχω, only here in the N.T.: for προ- of time, cf. 1Th 3:4, 1Th 4:6; for πάσχω in like connexion, 1Th 2:14, 2Th 1:5. ὑβρισθέντες shows the “suffering” to have taken the shape of outrage, criminal violence, as was the case in the imprisonment of Paul and Silas (Act 16:37); ὕβρις denoted legally an actionable indignity to the person: the expression indicates “the contumely which hurt St Paul’s feelings, arising from the strong sense of his Roman citizenship” (Lightfoot). What the Apostles suffered in Philippi was calculated to damage their character and arrest their work; their deliverance by so signal an interposition of Divine Providence emboldened them to proceed. καθὼς οἴδατε appeals to the familiarity of the readers with all that had transpired; cf. 1Th 2:1, and note on 1Th 1:5.
1Th 2:3-4 are attached by γάρ to the object of the sentence immediately foregoing, viz. τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ: the religious sincerity of the Apostles went to show that it was indeed “the gospel of God” that they brought, and that accordingly in their “entrance” there was no false pretence (1Th 2:1). The note of contradiction, οὐκ … ἀλλά, is repeated from 1Th 2:1-2; and the main repudiation includes a minor in 1Th 2:4 b.