ple, by merely taking the d(f>' r]n&v Sgrfofrat 6 Xoyos = 77 mans i>n&v
i&krjXvdev. Paul puts foremost the source of the report (a</>' t-y/wv),
and on account of the genitive Kvoiov could not add vptiv to Adyof,
as he subsequently did to mans. But the word of the Lord is here
to be taken subjectively, as the word received by the Christians in
Thessalonica (ver. 8), so that the passage is to be rendered thus,
" from you (i. e., your church) as a starting point, not only has your
reception of the word of the Lord become publicly known in Mace-
donia and Achaia, but the report of your faith in God has also
penetrated to all countries." ('Efyxelodai is not found again in the
New Testament, but at Joel iii. 16 ; Sir. xl. 13, it occurs in the
sense, " to resound, to sound." Kat is wanting after aAAa in
A.B.D.F.G., and is, no doubt, an interpolation, as it usually follows
upon ov {tovov. Yet it is wanting also at Matth. iv. 4 ; Acts xix.
26 ; [See Viger, p. 522.] On marts rrpdc see Gal. vi. 10 ; 2 Cor.
iii. 4 ; Philem. ver. 5. A.B.C.D.E.F.G. read e%m> faas for fads
e%eiv } and it is undoubtedly preferable. As to the rest, the ware pj,
K. T. A., is not to be understood, " so I have no need here in this
epistle to say anything about it," but " so that I have no need any-
where in the course of my personal labours to make your faith
known by recommending it, for all know of it already.")
Vers. 9, 10. We need praise you to none, for men themselves
have already related to me how ye have been converted and how ye
walk. In the dnolog, TT&S, is expressed not merely the quickness, but
also the radicalness of the conversion. (Ver. 9. A.VTOI are all those
to whom Paul preaches, who come in contact with him. How the
copyists could alter nepl v^i&v for fa&v is very explicable ; rj^v is
to be explained by the t ; o%o//ev following. Paul only means to say,
" they shew of me inasmuch as ye have received me." Eloodos re-
fers not merely to the outward entrance, but also to the access which
Paul found to their hearts. Compare ii. 1. On Kmarptystv see
Luke i. 16 ; Acts xxvi. 18. The conversion is attributed to God,
because Paul is thinking of the Gentile character of the readers.
If Jews were in question, TTOOS rbv KV pi ov would certainly be
put. The absolute infinitives, dovkevei v, dva[j,sveiv } denote the aim of
VOL. V. 17
258 FIRST THESSALONIANS II. 1, 2.
the conversion, for which commonly the infinitive with dg TO is put.
For, while in EmoTptyetv faith is couched, tiovteveiv denotes love, and
dvafiKvetv hope, both which proceed from the former. 6eo? wv (=
>n ovftg) and dhrjdivos (= -JCK rbx). [2 Kings xix. 4 ; Isaiah Ixv.
16 ; Rev. iii. 14] form the antithesis to the dead unsubstantial idols.
The expectation of the second coming of Christ, in which Christian
hope concentrates itself, is named as the last point. At Phil. iii.
20 drre/cde^eaftu stands for dvafisveiv. 'E/c TWV ovpav&v scil. tp^d^tevov.
'Pveadcu = ou^eiv 2 Cor. i. 10. 'Opy^ ^pxt l ^ vr l = fteAAovcra. See
at Matth. iii. 7 ; Rom. ii. 5, iii. 5.)
2. DESCRIPTION OF PAUL'S LABOURS IN THESSALONIOA.
(ii. 1-16.)
To the praise of his readers' faith Paul subjoins a description of
his labours among them. He lays particular stress on his purity,
his disinterestedness, in the preaching of the gospel, and concludes
with a sharp invective against the Jews, as against his and Chris-
tianity's bitterest foes, who had filled up the measure of their sins.
No intimation is found that Paul in this description had in
his thoughts Christian opponents of the sort that we became ac-
quainted with among the Galatians, and who might have been act-
ive in Thessalonica ; but probably Paul foresaw that the Judaists
would not delay to damage him in that community too, and therefore
in anticipation spoke out upon the points that were usually blamed
in him.
Vers. 1, 2. First, Paul reminds his readers of the way in which
he originally appeared among them. " He had, it is true," says he,
" had even before in Philippi much to suffer ; he had also in Thes-
salonica itself taught in much contention, but still with joyful
heart and in God's strength." These two verses are substantially of
equivalent purport with i. 5. (Compare also 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5.) The
phrase doodtx; ov nevri yt-yove answers to the KV dwd^ei, tv nvevfj.an
dyiu ; the TrappTioia here is the outward expression of the -rr^r^po^opia
there. Of the previous sufferings and ill-usage of Paul in Philippi,
Acts xvi. informs us. But the tv TroAAoi dytivi, which refers to
Paul's sojourn in Thessalonica, can be referred at the same time to
an outward and an inward contention ; but, according to ver. 9, it
refers certainly to the former in particular. (Ver. 1. On elaodog
see i. 9. -Uponda^etv is not found again in the New Testament.
On nappTjoia^eoOai see Acts xiii. 46, xviii. 26. The iv rw 6ecj is
to be immediately joined with it, as the napprjoia, boldness, open-
ness, is represented as founded on the living union of the soul with
God.)
FIKST THESSALONIANS II. 3, 4. 259
Vers. 3, 4. With the idea of the rrappqaia what follows is so united
by means of yap that the purity of his intention, the consciousness of
having no impure underhand designs, is a guarantee to the apostle
that God's protection does not fail him. The -napdnXrioi^ is to be un-
derstood here in the wider sense of his labours in Christian teaching
generally (Acts xiii. 15, xv. 31). Paul first denies of these that
they had an impure origin (KK), then that they were connected with
an inherent perverseness (ev). IlXdvrj is more accurately defined
by ddAof which follows ; it denotes the state of being deceived,
whether by the deceit of others, or by fanaticism, while 66kog de-
notes one's own intention to deceive. 'KitaQapaia is not to be under-
stood here of sexual, but of moral, impurity ; covetousness is
perhaps especially pointed to in it. That such reproaches were
made against Paul 2 Cor. chapters xi. xiii. especially shew. Ver. 4
contrasts the positive statements with the negative. " We speak
(i. e., work in our office) so as being approved, i. e., acknowledged of
God, in order to preserve the gospel intrusted to us, not as pleasing
men but God," But we should take this idea in a sense utterly
contradictory to the doctrine of Paul, if we understood it thus : " I
have been tried by God who knows all hearts, and have stood the
test ; on account of my purity and sincerity God has intrusted his
gospel to me, and in the same purity also I now preach it, pleasing
God alone, seeking no man's honour." For, as (Rom. i. ii.) Paul
denies to all men purity, so he denies it to himself also ; everything
good in man is God's work of grace in him (2 Cor. iii. 5, 6). But,
if Paul's disposition is something wrought in him by God, it seems
obscure how he can say, " we have been approved of God as those to
whom the gospel can be intrusted ;" it would seem that the idea
should of necessity have run thus : " as God, in his election by
grace, has made us able through regeneration to preserve the gospel
committed to us, we are also in a condition to labour for it in purity."
But in the dedoKipdaneda seems to be expressed not the being created
anew, but the trial, and, in consequence of that trial, the approval
of what already existed. We seek here in vain for explanation from
the interpreters ; perhaps, however, the following remarks may
throw some light on the subject. All positive good Paul attributes
to God as its real source ; on the other hand, he derives just as de-
cidedly evil only from the human will as the final cause ; this will,
now, can, in spite' of the universal sinfulness, still be corrupted and
polluted in a very different degree in different men ; the one may be
so far pure, that when he sees the light, he receives it as such, with-
out polluting it by a sinful taint ; the other, on the contrary, has
added so much of his own guilt to his innate sinfulness, that he
pollutes even what is holy. According to this, then, Paul can say,
perfectly in harmony with his fundamental ideas, that God com-
FIRST THESSALONTANS II. 5-8.
mitted the gospel to him because he had found him approved ; not
that Paul had been by nature good, but only that he was in a
state to receive in purity the holy matter which was to be committed
to him, and not to corrupt it by mingling his sin with it ; therefore
on account of the negative good in him. Man in all his sinful-
ness can still be sincere and upright, acknowledge good as good,
evil as evil ; such upright souls God can alone make use of as la-
bourers in his kingdom, and as such, Paul represents himself here.
(In ver. 3 ovdi is certainly, on the authority of A.B.C.D.F.G., to be
preferred to ovre, with Lachmann and Winer [Gr. 56, 6, p. 437].
Ver. 4. As to the well-known construction of frenia-evfuu see
Winer's Gr. 39, 1 ; Gal. ii. 7 ; 1 Cor. ix. 17 ; Rom. iii. 2 ee6f 6
donifidfav ra<; Kapdiag, see Acts i. 24, xv. 8 ; 1 Sam. xvi. 7 ; 1 Kings
viii. 39.)
Vers. 5, 6. Proceeding from the ovx w? dvOpunois dpea/covre?-,
Gal. i. 10, the negative side (verse 3) is again taken up and further
carried out. Flattery, co.vetousness, and the itch for glory, are ex-
cluded from the motives of Paul's labours. (In verse 5 yiveoOai or
elvcu iv a rrn, denoting " to occupy one's-self with anything, to
have to do with." Compare 1 Tim. iv. 15. 'Ev Aoyw xoAa/ca'af
is to be explained after 1 Cor. ii. 5, iv Aoyw aoQiag, flattery, which
manifests itself in that discourse, in that form of representation,
which labours to take from the doctrine of the cross its offence. To
understand Adyo? of guilt, or fault, as it occurs at Matth. v. 32, xii.
32, which Pelt has defended last, has been already satisfactorily
proved inadmissible by Schott. The iv -npwfxioei nXtove^ia^ is diffi-
cult. In no case can it be taken, with Koppe and Rosenmuller, as
a mere paraphrase of -xteoveJ-ia, neither can -npo^amg be taken in the
sense of " appearance," for Paul means to declare himself free not
merely from the appearance of covetousness, but from covetousness
itself. We can only, with Beza, Grotius, Flatt, and Schott, so ex-
plain the words that the genitive contains the motive of the -npofiaaig
in this sense : " I laboured not among you with pretences, the mo-
tive of which was covetousness," *'. e., " I always went out openly,
never made use of a pretence veiling my real motives." Oeus ndft-
rvg = rr.rn ty } \ Sam. xii. 5. In ver. 6 IK and dno are not quite
synonymous ; the former denotes the immediate origin, the latter
the mediate one. Winer's Gr. 50, 2, p. 365.)
Vers. 7, 8. The dAA' i-yevrjOiifiev i\moi (which latter word is only
found again at 2 Tim. ii. 24) comes in aptly in opposition to the as-
sumption couched in the 66fav fyruv. Paul compares his indulgent
^gentleness, as exhibited in Thessalonica, to the care which a nursing
mother devotes to her little children ; as she dedicates herself, her
own life, to the children, so, says Paul, he also gives himself to
them, as to such as have become dear to him. Without the clause,
FIRST THESSALONIANS II. 9. 261
iv (3dpet elvat, tig Xptarov drroaro^oi, the connexion is clear
enough ; with it the construction is confused, for which reason in-
deed Griesbach has separated it by brackets from the rest of the
discourse. That is to say, we feel tempted to take KV (3dpei dvai as
= Km(3apelv (ver. 9 ; 2 Thess. iii. 8) or KaraQapelv (2 Cor. xii. 16), and
to refer it to the bodily support, which Paul as an apostle could
demand, as indeed Baumgarten, Koppe, and Flatt, have taken
it, after the example of Theodoret. But, taken so, the passage
will not harmonize at all with what precedes, and if taken with
what follows, a/Ua is plainly unsuitable. But ; if we only take iv
ftdpei slvai in the wider sense, viz., of the authority and dignity that
belonged to Paul as an apostle, generally, of which properties the
privilege (tt-ovoia) to allow himself to be maintained by the churches
was only one consequence among several, a satisfactory connexion
presents itself. For the dwdpevot, K. r. A., connects itself with the
preceding fyrelv dogav thus : " we seek no glory of men, although
we should surely, as apostles of Christ (clothed with that exalted
dignity), be in a condition to present ourselves with high authority;
but we have not doiie that, we have made ourselves efficient among
you with indulgent gentleness." So Vitringa,* Wolf, Pelt, Schott,
have already interpreted correctly. (Ver. 7. Tpo</>o$> is properly " a
nurse," here " a nursing mother," on account of the rd iavTJjg renva.
The o>? av, with the subjunctive following, is to be taken -as utcunque.
See Schott, p. 68. Instead of l^eipofievot the reading of the text,
rec., dpeipofievoi is to be read according to the preponderance
of the MSS. But the word is found nowhere else. The lexi-
cographers only have it, but perhaps merely from this passage.
Theophylact explains it by 6[wv and eipeiv^jfirmiter alicui adhcerere.
[See Winer's remarks on it, Gr. 16, 4 B, p. 92, seq.] Hesy-
chius and Phavornius explain it by fanftvptlv. In any case it
is, according to the context, quite synonymous with Ipeipeadai.
The ov fiovov dAAtt nai might perhaps give one pause, in so far as
the gospel of God certainly seems to be more than one's own life.
But Paul here considers the gospel not in its objective value, but as
the gift intrusted to him for distribution. Now, the proclamation
of the gospel is a duty to Paul (1 Cor. ix. 16), but the giving up his
life is a voluntary act of love: the latter, therefore, is set higher.;
'Eyev7J07/Te is to be read at the close of ver. 8 ; yeyev7/(T0e, which
Griesbach has in error put into the text, proceeds from such copyists
as took evdoKovfiev for the present tense, whereas it is the imperfect,
the augment being omitted, as often in words compounded with ev.
See Schott ad h. 1.)
Ver. 9. For a proof of his pretensionlessness, Paul appeals to
the fact, well-known to the Christians in Thessalonica, that he
* See Vitringa's Essay on this passage in the observatt. sacrce., p. 852, seq.
262 FIRST THESSALONIANS II. 10-13.
maintained himself there by the work of his hands, in order to prove
a burden to no one. Of the reasons which moved Paul to this re-
nunciation of something appertaining to him as a matter of right,
we have already spoken in detail at 1 Cor. ix ; 2 Cor. xi. It is only
to be observed here that Paul perhaps finds himself impelled to lay
this before the Thessalonians, because they had, in consequence of
religious idleness, begun to abandon their handicrafts. (1 Thess. iv.
11 ; 2 Thess. iii. 11.) (The expression nox,do$ is stronger than KOTTO?.
See 2 Thess. iii. 8. The Epyd&odcu here is to be understood of
the exercise of the handicraft, which has the object, among others,
of relieving the Christians in Thessalonica from all the burden
of his maintenance. On the construction of nrjpvaaeiv with d$,
see Mark xiii. 10 ; Luke xxiv. 47 ; 1 Pet. i. 25 ; Winer's Gr.,
81, 5.)
Vers. 10-12. As in this one point, so, too, in everything else
respecting his blameless walking, and his faithful, fatherly labours
among them. Paul appeals to the Thessalonian Christians' own wit-
nessing. (Ver. 10. 'O<no> denotes the relation towards God [see at
Luke i. 75], dmai^ and dfitfnrr^ the relation towards men, dutaiw;
from the positive, a^e^rrro^ from the negative, point of view.
Ver. 11. As Paul in verse 7 compared himself with a careful mother,
so he now compares himself with a conscientious father who brings
up his children to all that is good. The words rrapaKaAeiv, -napa-
fivdeiodai, and naprvpeiodcu, form a climax. [See Phil. ii. 1 as to the
first two.] Uaprvpelodcu = frn obtestari, " to conjure by all that
is holy." In ver 12 ftaoiXeia nai 66%a stands as v did dvolv for ftaoi-
teia tVdofo?. That Paul by this kingdom does not understand merely
the spiritual kingdom of God we shall see further on. [Comp. on
the idea of the 0ao. r. 6., in general, the note on Matth. iii. 2.] As
to the rest it is not implied in the Kateiv d$ that the Thessaloniaus
are already in that kingdom, they are only called to be citizens of
it at some future time. In the connexion in which the apposition
rov KaAoOvTOf, K. r. A., stands with the et$ TO TrepiTTaTfjocu vfid<; d%i(j$
rov Qeov is intimated a strong motive for a serious, holy walk :
" to walk worthy of God, who has, out of love to you, prepared
such glory for you," therefore to love him again, who has first
loved you.)
Ver. 13. For the sake of this calling of them unto the kingdom
of God (did TOVTO), Paul now anew (i. 2) expresses his unceasing
thanks to God for their having received the word which he had
preached to them, as it is in truth the Word of God. Thus Paul
considers the receiving of the word of God not as an independent act
of his readers, but as an operation of God's grace in them. To him,
therefore, alone are thanks for it also due. The second half of the
verse, ov Adyov dvdpwnuv marevovoiv, has the object of representing
FIKST THESSALONIANS II. 14. 263
this word of God as a mighty principle, the receiving of which, ac-
cordingly, includes in it the possibility of the worthy walking. (The
phrase Aoyof daorj^ Trap' ty&v rov Qeov is difficult. The Adyof a/co7fc
is, it is true, = duovoddg [Isa. liii. 1 ; Jer. x. 22], but the position
of the rov Qeov after Trap' fytiv is very strange. It is, however,
to be explained by the fact that Paul considers the phrase Aoyof
ck(% Trap' T]\L&V as a joint idea, " the of us received, i. e., the by our
preaching made known to you, word of God." Aoyo? avdpuTtuv, in
opposition to Qeov, indicates the origin, and at the same time with
that the nature which necessarily passes from the source over to
what proceeds from it. In this acceptation the Aoyof of which Paul
speaks is not the mere doctrine, i. e., not only the series of ideas in
which Christ and his salvation are conceived and propounded, but
at the same time with and in that series the fulness of the Divine
Spirit which God has annexed to it. It is precisely, too, through
the latter that the doctrine is then in a condition to work so power-
fully in believers in fruits of faith and of love. 'AA^0w^ for a confir-
mation is found again Matth. xiv. 33 ; John i. 48. "Of refers not to
6e6f, but to the joint idea Adyof Qeov. For the middle form evep-
yelodai requires the reference to an impersonal subject. [See Wi-
ner's Gr., 38, 6.] Schott erroneously observes that evepyeladai does
not occur in the middle. Besides this passage it is so found also
Col. i. 29 ; 2 Thess. ii. 7. He inappositely takes it as a passive :
" which is made effectual in you." But the word of God is itself
the principle of all moral activity, it is not made effectual by means
of something else. In the participle rolg morevovmv the condition
of all efficiency is pointed to : " In you who believe, i. e., because
and inasmuch as ye believe and continue believing."
Ver. 14. From their behaviour, in that they have been able to
walk like the churches in Judea, Paul draws a conclusion as to their
faith : " ye are believers, for ye have undoubtedly imitated the
churches of God in Judea, which is possible through the power of
faith alone." In this Paul has in his thoughts especially the perse-
cutions by which the Christians in Thessalonica did not suffer them-
selves to be made apostates from Christianity. The Acts inform us
of the persecutions of the Christians in Judea, v. 18, seq., vii. 1, seq.,
viii. 1, seq., of those in Thessalonica, xvii. 5, seq. But, according to
1 Thess. iii. 3, they had still been persecuted even after the depart-
ure of Paul. As to the rest, that Paul is here thinking only of this
latter persecution cannot be concluded from the addition VTTO r&v tdiuv
ov[i<j)vXeT<j)v } i. e., by their Gentile fellow-citizens. For, although,,
according to Acts xvii. 5, the first persecution of the Christians in,
Thessalonica proceeded from the Jews, yet the words may also be
referred to this persecution, inasmuch as the Jews stirred up the
Gentile population.
264 FIRST THESSALONIANS II. 15, 16.
Yers. 15, 16. Paul, however, uses this comparison of his readers
with the Christians in Judea, in order to remind the former of the
old sin of the Jews, and their hostile feelings towards him and his
labours among the Gentiles. This diatribe is only explained by the
assumption that Paul wished to draw the attention of the Thessa-
lonian Christians to the intrigues of those men, with whom the Ju-
daizing Christians stood entirely on a level, as it was to be foreseen
that they would not leave this church undisturbed either. (Ver. 15.
Christ himself represents the Jews as murderers of the prophets,
Matth. xxiii. 31, 37. The trdmv avOpumou; Ivdvrioi reminds one of
the odium generis humani, with which Tacitus (Hist. v. 5) re-
proaches the Jews. As to the rest, it is understood without expla-
nation, that this is not asserted by Paul to be embraced in the
Jewish national character, or in the influence of the Mosaical insti-
tutions, but solely in the perverted pharisaical spirit, which had se-
cured dominion over the people. Ver. 16. AaA?/<7<M stands prceg-
nanti sensu for eva-yyeM&o6ai. Now here Paul seems to say that
the Jews entirely forbid preaching to the Gentiles, which Baur could
employ for his strange hypothesis. [See my essay in the Stud, for
1838, part 4.] But Paul clearly means here too that that preach-
ing alone is offensive to the Jews which would not lead the Gentiles
to be circumcised ; therefore the preaching of Paul. That Jews
had ever forbidden Gentiles to become Jews or Jewish Christians, to
be first circumcised and then baptized, is entirely indemonstrable,
and in itself improbable. In this bitter jealousy, which grudges the
poor Gentiles even their salvation, Paul justly sees, according to the-
teleological conception of history, God's chastisement ; the Jews
must by that means make their own sins, that is, the measure of
their sins, full [sin becomes the chastisement of sin], and thereby
become ripe for the chastisement. [We find the same idea Matth.
xxiii. 32, on which see the Comm.] The -ndvrors. is unwonted. In
the ordinary meaning " always" it is here inappropriate ; for Paul does
not mean to say that the Jews had at all times filled up their sins,
in the sense, i. e., that every generation had been equally godless ;
but he clearly represents to himself the nation, as a whole, engaged
in a course of development in sin, whose last and most flagrant conse-
quence is enmity against Christ in his saints. Therefore Bretsclmei-
der's view [in the Lex. in vocabulo] that iravTore here stands =
irdvrug or TravreAwc, may be correct. That learned man finds the
same meaning at 2 Cor. ix. 8, but there the ordinary one is quite
sufficient. But in consequence of this completion of their course of
development in sin, concludes Paul, the wrath of God, i. e., his
chastisement, has already overtaken it. Schott insists that the
aorist <ty0aoe stands prophetically instead of the future ; this is quite
inadmissible, for surely Paul in this passage utters no prophecy.
FIRST THESSALONIANS II. 17. 265
The passage is rather to be explained by the apostle's fundamental
view, that the latter days, and consequently also the manifestation
of the Divine wrath, were already at hand. The sufferings, there-
fore, which even then under the dominion of the Eomans came upon
the Jews, Paul considers as beginnings of the great manifestation
of wrath nearly impending, in perfect analogy with the representa-
tion in Matth. xxiv. which treats the destruction of Jerusalem as a
type of the last judgment. This acceptation explains also the ob-
scure etf rtvlof. That is to say, it cannot possibly be = tandem,
postremo, for which rtAof occurs alone. [^Elian, V. H. x. 16, xii.
22 ; Xenoph. Mem. ii. 7, 13.] Justice must be done the dg ; the
phrase d$ rekog can be taken only as "on unto the end," so that all
that has now happened appears as merely the beginning. Neither,
accordingly, can we supply avrwv, " till their ends," i. e. } their anni-
hilation, but the end must be referred to <tyy??, and understood, as
Grotius, Flatt, and Pelt have already correctly taken it, of the full
magnitude of the Divine chastisement. " The wrath [of God] is
come upon them, and will now work on to its full manifestation." A
reference to the eternity of punishment, as Chrysostorn, Theodoret,
Benson, and others, insisted on finding here, as they take e/f reAof =