Iv. The Relationship Of Paul To The Thessalonians (2:17-3:13)
1. The Preachers' Motives (2:1-6)
i You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. 3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed-God is our witness. 6 We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.
It seems clear that Paul had been the object of some sharp criticism, and this might well have predisposed some of the Thessalonians to disregard what he wrote. So he reminds them that he and his companions had been absolutely sincere when they first preached in the city. They had never sought human approval but only tried to serve God well.
1 "For"' (which NIV omits) usually links what follows with what immediately precedes, but on this occasion it goes back in thought to 1:9. The unusual word there rendered "reception" 2 is repeated and is here rendered "visit," while "you" here corresponds to "they themselves" in 1:9. There Paul cited outsiders as witnesses; here he says that the Thessalonians needed no one else to bear witness, for they themselves knew what had happened. "You" is emphatic, as is brought out by Rutherford's translation, "You at any rate have no need to be told." The verb "know" is also important: others had heard about it, but the readers know.
This calling of the Thessalonians to witness was a masterly defense. It is clear that Paul had been accused of insincerity. His enemies said that he was more concerned to make money out of his converts than to present true teaching. The accusation would be made easier because itinerant preachers, concerned only to feather their own nests, were common in those days .3 The apostle was being represented as nothing more than another of this class of vagrant preachers. Paul's emphatic calling of the Thessalonians to witness did two things. In the first place it showed his confidence in them. He had no fear that they would succumb to the propaganda being put before them. In the second place it demonstrated that all the facts required for his vindication were facts of common knowledge. Neither Paul nor the Thessalonians had any need to search for material to prove his bona fides. An accusation of insincerity could scarcely stand in the light of such public knowledge of the man and his work.
There is some difference of opinion as to what is meant by the word rendered "a failure."4 Some understand it to mean "fruitless" (cf. Way, "barren of results"), but this meaning is rejected by Milligan and Lightfoot, who understand it to refer rather to the character of the preaching. Hendriksen thinks of it as having the same sort of meaning as in Mark 12:3, and as signifying that Paul did not come to them empty handed but with something to give them. Frame's view is similar. Against the first suggestion is the fact that the meaning of the word is "empty" rather than "ineffective." Against the last that it is the "visit" rather than the preachers that is thus described. Our best understanding, then, is something like "hollow, empty, wanting in purpose and earnestness" (Lightfoot; cf. 1 Cor. 15:10, 14; Gal. 2:2; Eph. 5:6). Paul is affirming as a well-known fact the purposeful manner of the visit.5
2 Paul's but is the strong adversative,6 which makes what follows a strong contrast to the preceding. The visit to Thessalonica was certainly no failure. Despite7 all the ill-treatment that had been meted out to them in Philippi, the preachers had not been discouraged but had preached boldly in Thessalonica. Paul had come from Philippi after being badly treated there. He had undergone physical hardship ("previously suffered"), and to that had been added verbal abuse ("been insulted"). Acts 16 tells us that the physical suffering had included flogging and the placing of his feet in the stocks. On that occasion, when it had been suggested that the jailor should simply free Paul and Silas, the great apostle had refused to leave until the praetors themselves had come to make amends for their treatment of Roman citizens. In his insistence on upholding the dignity of Roman citizenship we see something of the deep hurt Paul had experienced in the indignities heaped on him. So now, as he recalls those days, he uses a word that evokes memories of the insolence of those who had ill-treated him. The same verb is employed in Acts 14:5 ("mistreat them").8 All this is something of which the Thessalonians have knowledge, as Paul reminds them ("as you know"). Throughout this section of the letter the apostle keeps appealing to the knowledge the Thessalonians had of what he had done (vv. 1, 5, 9, 10, and 11).
Time-servers would have been discouraged by such treatment. Not so the little band of preachers. They had come from this treatment at Philippi but had preached with boldness. The verb rendered "dared"9 is full of interest. It comes from two words that mean literally "all speech." It denotes the state of mind when the words flow freely, the attitude of feeling quite at home with no sense of stress or strain, an attitude that includes both boldness and confidence (in fact, the corresponding noun is sometimes translated "boldness," sometimes "confidence"). When it is used in the New Testament the verb always has to do with the proclamation of the gospel.1° The boldness and confidence it denotes here are not natural attributes, for Paul speaks of daring "with the help of our God" (more literally, "in our God"). Because he lived "in" his God he was always at home, no matter what the outward circumstances, and thus he always had that attitude of ready speech of which we have been thinking. It was because he lived and moved in God (cf. Acts 17:28) that no hardship and no opposition were able to take away his confidence and his courage (cf. 2 Cor. 4:7).
Paul proceeds to designate the message he and his associates had proclaimed as "the gospel of God" (NIV, "his gospel"). There are occasions when it is proper to speak of the gospel as the gospel of its preacher (cf. 1:5), for unless he has appropriated it and taken it within himself in such a way that it is completely his, he cannot proclaim it with conviction. But from another point of view the gospel is not his at all. It does not take its origin in anything human but in God. It originates in God, it tells about God, and it invites people to take God's way of salvation.'' Accordingly, when Paul writes of "the gospel of God" he turns his readers' thoughts away from any human contrivance to God's perfect way. This thought is one that he develops with power in this chapter, and the phrase "the gospel of God" recurs (vv. 8, 9; cf. v. 13).
The opposition at Philippi of which Paul has spoken in the first part of this verse did not cease when he came to Thessalonica. There, too, as he preached, it was "in spite of strong opposition" (more literally, "much conflict"). The word "conflict" is a vivid one, taken from the vocabulary of athletics, where it meant a contest or a race.12 It is that from which we derive our word "agony." It denotes not a token opposition, a tepid struggle, but a very real battle. It is used of fighting the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7), and that is no half-hearted fight. The use of the word here reminds the Thessalonians that the opposition that Paul had met had been intense, and his preaching had not been easy. How, in the face of this, could it be urged that he preached only for what he could get out of it?
3 In this defense Paul clearly faces the accusation that he was no better than the usual run of wandering preachers. The apostle starts with the truth of his message, and we should not miss the force of the for that links this verse to the preceding. As the Thessalonians well knew, when Paul first came to them he had been tested by sufferings and ill treatment. That he persisted with his message despite hardships shows that he was concerned for the truth, not private gain. The noun rendered "appeal"13 has the original meaning of "a calling to one's side," that is, a call with a view to being helped. It acquires other meanings such as "entreaty," "exhortation," and "encouragement" (it is cognate with the word rendered "Comforter" in John 14:16, etc.). Here it means "exhortation," "appeal."14 It is the outward approach (whereas "the gospel of God" of the previous verse stresses the content of the message). The preachers' appeal, says Paul, did not have its origin in "error." The word so translated sometimes means "deceit" (so KJV), but in the New Testament it always seems to have the passive meaning, "error." Paul had been accused of being completely mistaken in his preaching.
The second accusation was more serious: "impure motives" or "uncleanness" denotes moral impurity.15 The charge is startling to modern ears, but it must always be borne in mind in interpreting early documents that sexual impurity was a regular feature of many of the cults of antiquity, especially those from the East. Ritual prostitution was carried on in connection with many temples, the idea apparently being that one effected union with the god by union with one of his "consecrated ones." The Jews, at least in later times and perhaps as early as this, frequently brought the accusation of immorality against the Chris- tians.16 It had apparently been suggested in Thessalonica that Paul and his companions had been associated with such practices, and the apostle repels the charge with decision.
The third accusation is that of using trickery. a The word rendered "to trick" originally had reference to catching fish by means of a bait. From this it came to mean any piece of cunning. The wandering sophists and jugglers resorted to all sorts of devices to attract people and so get their money. Not so the preachers. They had not tried to ensnare their hearers.
4 The strong adversative's is rendered "on the contrary." Over against each of the points listed in the last verse comes its refutation. Paul's preaching could not have proceeded from error, for he was entrusted by God with the message. He was not impure, for he had been approved by God. He was not a trickster, for he aimed at pleasing God, not people.
The word translated "approved" basically means "to test." At the end of this very verse it is used in that sense ("tests"). Moffatt translates "attested ... tests" and thus retains some of the wordplay of the original. But "to test" readily passes over to the meaning "to approve by test." Milligan points out that there is a technical use of the word "to describe the passing as fit for election to a public office." In the New Testament the verb is often used in this sense of approving.19 Since the gospel is of divine origin, no one may take it upon himself to proclaim it. God chooses his messengers, and he tests them before committing the gospel to their trust.20 The verb is in the perfect tense, signifying not only a past approval but one that continues into the present: "we stand approved" is the sense of it. It is out of this context that Paul and his companions habitually speak (continuous present).21
This meaning is further brought out by an emphatic disclaimer22 of any attempt to please people (cf. Gal. 1:10). The verb rendered "please" broadened in late Greek into the idea of actual service: "For the idea of service in the interests of others which underlies several of the NT occurrences of this verb (1 Th. 25 ...), we may compare its use in monumental inscriptions to describe those who have proved themselves of use to the commonwealth" (MM). There is something of this meaning here. Paul in fact might serve people, but he never served with the aim simply of pleasing them. If he served them, it was in the spirit of "ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor. 4:5). So now he says that his aim had been to render service that would be well pleasing to God.
That pleasing God could not comprise merely outward deeds, but was concerned with inward motives, underlies the reminder that God tests (the tense is continuous, "keeps testing") people's hearts. We are apt to misunderstand references to the heart in the Scriptures, for we often use the term to denote the affections. But in antiquity the affections were thought of as located in the intestines (cf. "bowels of compassion"). The heart, even though it might sometimes be used in a sense not far removed from our own, stood for the whole of the inner life, thought and will as well as emotions.23 Here the meaning is that God searches out the whole of our inner life. Nothing is hidden from him. In passing we might note that the plural, "our hearts," is unlikely to be an editorial plural. It associates Silas and Timothy closely with Paul in this great affirmation.
5 "For" at the beginning of this verse (which NIV omits) takes up the "for" of verse 3. There Paul had argued for the truth of the message; now he moves on to the integrity of the messengers (though with some overlap with the previous section). "Never" covers the whole period; no room is left for exceptions. Paul goes on to disclaim three specific defects. By inserting "you know" he calls on the Thessalonians themselves to bear witness to the truth of what he is saying. First he deals with "flattery"; a literal translation might run: "neither have we come to be in a word of flattery." The verb is one with a wide range of meaning. With the construction used here it seems to mean that the subject entered into whatever state is spoken of and stayed in it (as of coming to be "in Christ," Rom. 16:7, or of Eve entering "into transgression," 1 Tim. 2:14).24 Paul denies, then, that he and his companions had made flattery their method. Perhaps "flattery" is not quite the meaning. We can use this English term of remarks that, though insincere, are directed to the pleasure of the person being flattered. The Greek term has rather the idea of using fair words as a means of gaining one's own ends. It is a matter of using insincerity as an instrument of policy, as a means of persuading another to do one's will.
The second charge refuted also contains the idea of insincerity. The term "mask" denotes a specious pretext that conceals the real motive. It is used of putting forward something that is plausible and that might well be true in itself, but that is not the real reason for doing whatever deed is referred to. So here Paul denies that evangelism had been simply a cover for an underlying "greed." This latter term denotes more than love of money.25 It is derived from two words meaning "to have" and "more' ; it signifies an eager desire for what one does not have. It is self-interest in the widest sense (cf. Moffatt, "self-seeking"), and is one of the evil things that proceed from the heart (Mark 7:21-23). It is sometimes associated with impurity (Eph. 4:19, where it is translated "greediness"; cf. Eph. 5:3), for in sexual relations there can be the gratification of one's own lusts with a complete disregard for the rights of others. The word often signifies the desire for material possessions (Luke 12:15). Basically it is idolatry (Col. 3:5), for it exalts self to the highest position; it regards self with a veneration that amounts to worship. A few verses further on Paul is to affirm that he and his companions had given themselves unstintingly for the Thessalonians. Here he puts the negative side of it. They had had no selfish motives in their mission. Covetousness, of course, almost invariably comes with a cloak; people never admit to being covetous, and some specious reason can always be found to hide their real motives. Paul's words are a warning to all his readers to be rigorous in their self-examination.
In the first part of this verse Paul denies using flattery and calls the Thessalonians to witness that what he says is true. In the second he avows the purity of his motives and invokes God as witness. There can be no mistaking the intense seriousness with which he writes, nor the depth of his conviction that the methods and motives of the preachers would bear the closest scrutiny. He repeats this appeal to a double witness in verse 10; it points to observable behavior (which the Thessalonians could see) and to purity of motive (which is not the less important because only God can see it).
6 The third point Paul makes is that he and his associates had not sought the esteem of people, whether of the Thessalonians or of any others26 (which might mean other Christians or other people in general). He has already said something much like this (v. 4). There his point was that they did not pursue ends that would have the approval of people; here he claims that they did not seek praise for themselves, the emphasis being on the inner state of the preachers. The preachers did not look for commendation. They may well have received it, and they certainly deserved it, but Paul's point is that they did not seek it. Their motives were pure.27
7 There is some confusion as to where verse 6 ends. The clause about "apostles of Christ" is regarded by some as belonging to verse 7 (e.g., most Greek texts, NIV GNB, JB, REB), by others as part of verse 6 (RSV, LB, NEB). It is not only a problem of where to put the division; there is also the question of whether the words about apostles are to be taken with what precedes (as ARV, RSV, etc.) or with what follows (as NIV). Either makes good sense, but in this revision I shall follow NIV.
"We could have been a burden to you" is the translation of a Greek expression that is patient of more than one meaning.28 The noun means "weight," "burden," and KJV renders it "we might have been burdensome." On this view the meaning is that they, being apostles of Christ, had every right to be maintained by those to whom they preached. Paul frequently uses words cognate with that used here to refer to this right to maintenance (e.g., v. 9; 2 Cor. 11:9; 12:16; 2 Thess. 3:8). He makes with some emphasis the point that preachers have this right, even though he himself frequently forbore to exercise it.
But, of course, "weight" readily passes over into the meaning of "importance." The word is used quite often in this sense (though not, apparently, in the New Testament; the nearest approach is in 2 Cor. 4:17). Nevertheless, many think this to be the meaning here. It would be quite in the Pauline manner to use the word with a hint at both meanings. But if he does this, the primary emphasis seems to be on "burden," and thus the right to maintenance.29 Chrysostom was in no doubt. He commented, "But here he also says concerning money, `when we might have been burdensome ...' " (p. 330).
Paul speaks of "apostles of Christ." We read of the appointment of the apostles in Mark 3:14-15, where Jesus chose twelve men "that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons." This gives us the primary function of the apostles. They were to preach in Christ's name and perform certain miracles. After Judas fell, the early church took steps to see that his place was filled. But they neither selected nor commissioned Matthias. They recognized that God had already chosen a successor (Acts 1:24), and when, in answer to their prayer, God showed who the new apostle was, they simply numbered him with the eleven (Acts 1:26). In the same vein Paul stressed that his apostolate was not of human origin (Gal. 1:1).
In the providence of God apostles were used to establish churches. Inevitably they became the leaders in the Christian church, and their prestige was great. In modem times many people have inferred that they were the source of all authority to minister in the church, so that only those ministries which can claim direct descent from the apostles (those in the "Apostolic Succession") are to be thought of as validly ordained. There is much that could be said about this,30 but we content ourselves with noticing that this is a function that the New Testament does not ascribe to the apostles. In the words of Jesus, as we have seen, their primary functions are preaching and healing, and throughout the New Testament these are the important things. The apostles come before us as Christian leaders noteworthy for their proclamation of the authentic gospel and for their founding of churches.
2. The Preachers' Maintenance (2:7-9)
7 As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 9 Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
Paul insists that those who preach the gospel have the right to be maintained by the church as they preach (1 Cor. 9:14). But he was sensitive to the accusation that he made money out of his converts, so he did not insist on his rights (1 Cor. 9:15-18). In accord with this, he now reminds the Thessalonians that when he was with them he had refused to "be a burden" to them; he had worked hard and constantly, and had always been considerate of them.
7 There is a first-class textual problem in this verse, namely, whether we should read "gentle" or "babies,"31 two words that in the Greek differ from one another by only one letter. Whichever word was original, it would have been easy for scribes to have misread the text, especially so in the early days when there were no spaces between words. Paul generally uses "baby" in a derogatory sense as he refers to people who had failed to develop as they should (cf. Gal. 4:3; 1 Cor. 13:11). The case for "gentle" proceeds by noting that this word is rather rare, being found only once elsewhere in the New Testament (2 Tim. 2:24). Scribes had a tendency to replace less usual forms by more usual ones, so it is urged that "gentle" stood in the original text. Again it might be argued that "gentle" is required as a contrast to "a burden."
These arguments are not decisive. Taking the last point first, we have already noticed that the alteration need not have been intentional; since the two words are so similar it probably was not. There is confusion between the two words elsewhere; for example, in a passage where it is accepted that "gentle" is the right reading some MSS read "babies" (2 Tim. 2:24), and in another where "babies" seems correct some MSS read "gentle" (Eph. 4:14). We should probably agree that the mistake, whichever way it was made, was accidental. Again, the derogatory meaning often attaching to "babies" in Paul's letters proves little, for when it suited him he could use the word in a good sense (1 Cor. 14:20). The mixture of metaphors is not very significant either, for Paul does this quite often 32 In this very chapter he compares himself to a father (v. 11) and to an orphan (v. 17, where "when we were torn away from you" is really "being orphaned"). Then there are some grammatical points, such as the fact that a noun would be more natural after "apostles" earlier in the verse. So, too, the phrase "among you" would in Greek be more natural after "babies" than after "gentle." These points do not prove much, for Paul could be impatient of grammatical niceties, but for what they are worth we should take notice of them. Finally, there is the point that Westcott and Hort make so forcefully: "the change from the bold image to the tame and facile adjective" that is "characteristic of the difference between St. Paul and the Syrian revisers."33
Paul speaks of being "in the midst of you" and not simply "among you"35 (as NIV). There may be no significance in this, but the expression would more naturally indicate the taking of a place of equality than would the other. It is of interest that Jesus used the same expression when he said, "I am among you as one who serves" (Luke 22:27). There, too, the thought is of a condescension to the level of others. Paul then compares his behavior to that of a nurse (NIV reads "a mother," but the Greek means "a nurse") among children.36 ARV renders "cherisheth her own children," and "own" is probably correct 37 A nurse in such a position could be relied on to give the children the most tender care;38 Ward draws attention to the mother of Moses, who "was both nurse and mother." Paul claims to have given care like this to the Thessalonians. So far from trying to make gain of them he had become one with them. He had lavished affectionate care39 on them.
8 All this had followed naturally enough from the fact that Paul and his companions had cherished such a deep regard for the Thessalonians. Now he employs a most unusual word to express it, a verb found only here in the New Testament and very rarely elsewhere. It expresses a real depth of desire: "we loved you so much" brings out much of its significance, but Paul is not using any of the usual words for love.40 He does not say "we would have been delighted to share with you," but simply "we were delighted to share with you." The turn of phrase points us to what was actually done rather than what was contemplated. It is part of the picture Paul is painting for us that this should be so definite. The verb is in the imperfect, a continuous tense, and the implication is that this was no passing whim of the apostles, but their habitual style. Throughout their stay in Thessalonica they had been happy continually to be giving to their hearers.
When Paul speaks of the gift they made, he puts "the gospel of God" first. Even when he is putting the emphasis elsewhere, he never loses sight of the fact that it was the gospel that gave the reason for the very existence of the preachers. They were "slaves of Christ." They lived to render service to God. The particular service to which they were called was the imparting of the blessed news of the salvation that God himself had made available to sinners through the atoning death of his Son. Nothing must ever obscure that great fact.
But true preaching of the gospel implies the total commitment of the preachers to the task. Paul has already made it clear that they gave a message (vv. 2, 3); now he goes on to make the point that they gave themselves. He makes this clear by the addition of "but our lives as well." By "lives" he means their whole personalities; his expression sums up their innermost being 41 Thus he is saying that in their preaching the apostles gave themselves without stint (cf. also 2 Cor. 12:15; Phil. 2:17). It is clear that this meant much to Paul. He was entirely given over to living out the implications of the gospel and proclaiming it wherever he could. R. F. Hock argues that the apostle would have used the workshop as a place for his preaching; he sees the apostle as "busy at tentmaking and busy at preaching the gospel."42 There is nothing improbable in the thought that Paul "gossiped the gospel" as he engaged in his trade.
The verse ends, as it began, with an expression of tender affection. We, the preachers, have done all this, says Paul, "because43 you had become so dear to us." "So dear"44 brings before us the specifically Christian quality of love; its use brings to mind that that love is essentially self-giving. It is not a desire to possess the beloved, but a desire to give, a desire inspired by the nature of the God whom Christians worship. Paul had come to see the Thessalonians as the objects of God's love, and therefore as the objects of the love of God's servants too.
9 He invites his readers to recall the incessant toil of the preachers, toil undertaken with a view to their imposing no burden on those to whom they preached. It was a Jewish custom, emphasized in the teaching of the rabbis, that every boy should learn a trade.45 This custom does not seem to have arisen from any conviction that a well-rounded life with interests in many directions was highly desirable, as much as from sheer economic necessity. There were no paid teachers in Palestine.46 It was necessary therefore for a rabbi to have some other means of income than the gifts that might now and then be made to him. It was natural accordingly for teachers to stress the importance of a trade. But whatever the motive, the fact is clear. Even boys from well-to-do homes were taught a trade as a matter of course. From Acts 18:3 we learn that Paul's trade was tentmaking; since tents were often made of leather, this may mean that he was a leatherworker. But since a kind of canvas was also used (Lightfoot says it was manufactured from the goats' hair of Paul's native Cilicia, which may account for the choice of this trade), we cannot be sure. What is plain is that Paul and his companions had worked, and had worked hard, to support themselves and to ensure that no burden was placed on their converts.
The two words rendered "toil and hardship" occur together elsewhere (2 Cor. 11:27; 2 Thess. 3:8). The former word is derived from a verb meaning "to strike." Thus properly it means "a blow." It came to denote the result of the blow, and thus work that produces such an effect. In other words, it denotes work that produces tiredness, wearisome toil. The other word comes from a root with the idea of difficulty. It brings before us the thought of that labor which is an overcoming of difficulties. The combination stresses that the work that the preachers had done had not been token work, something in the nature of a public show meant only to demonstrate their willingness. It had been laborious toil. They had had to work hard. They had also had to work constantly: "night and day." We do not know at what hours they had been able to engage in evangelism, but whatever those hours were they had had to fill up their other hours with toil, whether by night or by day, in order to effect their purpose.
This section concludes with a reiteration of the divine origin of the message. The verb rendered "preached" is that which signifies the action of a herald.48 It is the function of a herald simply to pass on the words given to him. His is not to give a message of his own devising, nor even to elaborate what has been given to him. He simply passes on what he is told. So Paul thinks of the preacher as one who passes on "the gospel of God." This conviction that the message comes from God is fundamental to effective preaching. And the message must indeed be that which comes from God. Little moral essays will never take its place. It is easy to distort the message or to substitute something else for it. But what gives Christianity its power is that the gospel is "of God." Any trifling with it is bound to result in loss of power.
3. The Preachers' Behavior (2:10-12)
io You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. i i For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
The apostle continues his insistence that he and his preaching companions had acted rightly and compassionately when they brought the gospel to Thessalonica. It is important that the converts bear this in mind when Paul comes later to rebuke and give further instruction.
10 A striking feature of Paul's defense of his position is the confidence with which he appeals to the Thessalonians themselves to bear witness to the truth of what he says. It is abundantly clear that the true facts of his mission were known to them all. Earlier he called on them as people who knew the facts and invoked God as witness to the truth of what he said (v. 5). Now he does the same, though this time the two are joined more closely and Paul is more emphatic. His you is strongly emphatic.
Three adverbs49 (literally "holily," "righteously," and "un blamably") are used to indicate the upright conduct of the preaching band during their stay in the city. All three are rare elsewhere in the New Testament, though the corresponding adjectives are more common. Attempts have been made to distinguish between "holily" and "righteously" along the lines that the former refers to conduct before God and the latter to that before people (so, for example, Lightfoot). But it is difficult to substantiate this in the New Testament, whatever may be true of the classics. In the Bible "righteous" fundamentally means "conforming to God's law."50 This word may refer to one's duty to God or one's duty to other people. It is better to understand that all the conduct of the Christian, be it toward God or people, springs from the fact that he is born again. The significance, then, of our adverbs is a piling up of the necessity for right conduct somewhat in the manner of Titus 2:12. This is first put positively, "holily and righteously," and then negatively, "unblamably."51
In the New Testament "believers" is often a synonym for Christians, so fundamental is faith to Christianity (see on 1:7). Here Paul does not mean that he had behaved in one way toward believers and in another way toward people outside the faith. He is simply reminding the Thessalonians that there was nothing to complain about in the way he and his companions had conducted themselves, a truth that believers above all people would know. There is possibly also an emphasis on the difference between the reaction of the church and that of outsiders. Whatever other people might think of the apostles, the Thessalonian church had good reason for a high opinion of them. They had believed the message; therefore they must trust the messengers.
11 Paul has been concerned with his own conduct and that of those who worked with him; now he turns to the conduct appropriate to the Thessalonians. The construction of this sentence is difficult, for there does not seem to be a main verb. NIV supplies "dealt with," which makes very good sense, but some exegetes have thought that the verb of verse 10 should be repeated, others that the participles of this verse are used for the indicative. There are other suggestions of greater or less complexity. Fortunately the meaning is fairly clear, so that not much hinges on the particular construction we adopt. The suggestion of NIV seems as good as any, and we understand the verse accordingly.
Once again we have an appeal to the personal knowledge of the Thessalonians. On this occasion the knowledge is of the personal dealings the evangelists had had with their converts. "Each of you" implies attention to individuals.52 It may signify house-to-house visiting as well as public preaching (cf. Acts 20:20), but it is more probable that it means giving attention to the individual needs of those converted through the public preaching. House-to-house visitation in a city the size of Thessalonica would have presented problems to a small group like the apostolic band, especially if the campaign were short.
12 The note of affection is combined with care that the right way should be chosen, both in the use of the metaphor of a father with his children53 and in the participles that follow. Paul has compared himself to the Thessalonians as a mother to her children (v. 7), a figure that fitted the situation of caring for babies in the faith. But in the ancient world it was the father who was responsible for the education of the child, so the change in imagery is appropriate. The word rendered "encouraging"54 is from the same root as the noun "appeal" in verse 3 (where see note). The meaning here is probably that Paul and his friends had directed the converts into suitable lines of conduct. "Comforting"55 is from a verb that in the classics means much the same as does the preceding verb; it is used elsewhere in the New Testament only in 5:14 and John 11:19, 31. In the first of these passages it is used of comforting the fainthearted, and in John of comforting the bereaved; clearly it is well adapted to the thought of consolation. We shall not be far wrong in assuming that here it is used with special reference to those who found it difficult to live the Christian life in the face of the opposition they encountered. To them the apostles spoke words of cheer and inspiration.
The third participle, "urging," is from a verb that properly means ,.to bring forward a witness" and hence "to declare solemnly" (perhaps with the idea of calling God to witness); it has this meaning of solemn affirmation in other passages (Acts 20:26; Gal. 5:3). It is thus a good word to use for the solemn declaration of the truth (Best renders it "insisting"). It may refer to serious words addressed to slackers or the like.
If Paul could be tender and considerate, he yet never lost sight of the high demands Christ makes on his followers. Thus all the encouraging and comforting and urging were directed toward the aim of seeing that the Thessalonians should "live lives worthy of God," or more literally, "walk worthily of God."56 Walking is for Paul a favorite way of designating the whole of one's life (see on 4:1); the verb has this sense here. The expression to which it is joined sets before us the highest standard that could possibly be conceived. While it is well that we should appreciate the wonder of God's lovingkindness and the fact that his love does not grow less no matter how low we may fall, yet we should not waver in our grasp of the complementary truth that such a God must be served with all our powers. Nothing less should be offered to him who gave his Son for us than all that we have and all that we are.
Paul rapidly turns from contemplating what people should do for God to what God does for them. He says that God "calls" the Thessalonians, where the tense is a little unusual for the apostle; he more commonly uses the past tense (which gives an air of finality to the call). This leads some to hold that we should see here a meaning like "God the caller," but it is better to see this timeless present as bringing out the truth that God's call never ceases. Always he is calling people. Since the call is "into his kingdom and glory," there may well be the thought also that the call is effectual; those called will finally be with God in his kingdom.
The kingdom of God is not a very frequent concept in the Pauline correspondence (though in Acts 20:25 it sums up Paul's preaching at Ephesus). In the Synoptic Gospels the kingdom is, of course, the most frequent topic in Jesus' teaching. The kingdom is in some sense present and in some sense future. That is to say, people may enter the kingdom here and now, and experience some of its joys (cf. Rom. 14:17). But the full apprehension of what it involves cannot be attained until the end of the age (cf. 2 Thess. 1:5). Further, the kingdom is essentially dynamic; it is something that happens, not a static realm (Moffatt's translation "realm" is inadequate). It is God's righteous rule operating within and over people. Some readers have held that we should labor to establish the kingdom of God on earth. This is a noble ideal, but it is not the biblical idea of the kingdom. In the Scriptures it is clear that God and no other establishes the kingdom. The death of the Son is not linked with the kingdom in so many words, but throughout the New Testament the cross is viewed as integral to its being set up. It is in virtue of what Christ has accomplished for his people that their sin is put away and that God's rule becomes operative in them.57
In this passage the "kingdom" is closely linked with the "glory"; in the Greek they share a common preposition and a common article, while one "his" covers them both. Phillips's rendering, "the splendour of His Kingdom," may be going just a little too far,58 but the two are certainly seen as closely related. For "glory" see on verse 20. It stands for the manifestation of God's glory to people, the revelation of God in his majesty. Paul holds out this glorious future as an incentive for the Thessalonians to live worthily here and now. They have been saved by a wonderful God. They have been brought into his kingdom. They face a glorious future. Let them so live here and now as to be worthy of such a God!
4. The Preachers' Message (2:13-16)
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, 15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men 16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.a
Paul goes on to the way the message of the preachers had been received. The Thessalonians had recognized its divine origin, and, receiving it as the very word of God, they had endured persecution, just as the Judean believers had done. There is something of a parallel to the first chapter, where Paul follows his reminder of the way the gospel came to the Thessalonians (1:5) with the result in the lives of the believers (1:6). In both passages Paul is pointing to the validity of the Thessalonians' faith.
So he thanks God, and says he never ceases to do so, where "for this cause" (which NIV omits) surely refers forward to what follows, but may also have a backward reference to the things of which Paul has just spoken (Whiteley). He gives thanks60 that61 the Thessalonians had recognized this feature of the gospel when it was first preached to them. The word preached was "of God." Paul finds matter for thanksgiving negatively, in that the Thessalonians had not received it as of human origin,62 and positively, in that they had perceived it for what it really was, "the word of God." He underlines this with his contrast between "from us" and the very emphatic "of God."63 The preachers were the immediate source of the message. But Paul and his companions were no more than intermediaries in proclaiming a gospel whose ultimate source and originator was none less than God himself.
There is an interesting and significant contrast between the ways in which the receiving of the message is spoken of in the two halves of the verse 64 In the first half the word for receiving is one that denotes an objective, outward receiving. What is heard is likewise called "the word of hearing," a peculiar phrase65 that also directs attention to the outward. Unless the variation is purely stylistic, the second word for receiving denotes rather a subjective reception, a reception that involves welcome and approval (the word is the usual one for the reception of a guest; cf. Ward, "a `hospitality' word"). It is followed by an expression indicating the presence of faith in the recipients and the working of the power of God.
The verb rendered "is at work"66 is almost always used in the New Testament to denote some form of supernatural activity. Mostly it is that of God (1 Cor. 12:6; Phil. 2:13, and elsewhere), but sometimes, by contrast, that of Satan (Eph. 2:2). It can be used of faith (Gal. 5:6), prayer (Jas. 5:16), and life or death (2 Cor. 4:12), in each case referring to a force not human. Here it draws attention to the fact that the power manifested in the lives of the converts is not of this world, but divine. Where the word of God is welcomed with obedient faith, there the power of God is at work. And it is a present reality: "it is still a living power among you who believe it" (JB). When he speaks of believing67 Paul uses the present tense, conveying the idea of a continuous process of belief (rather than the single act of decision that would more naturally be expressed by the aorist). It is the condition of the working of God in people that they continue to exercise faith. Or to put it another way, we cannot live today on the spiritual capital of yesterday.
14 The firm adherence of the Thessalonians to the word of God had resulted in persecution. Persecution in some form is the common lot of Christians and, in the nature of the case, always must be (cf. 2 Tim. 3:12). Rolston remarks that the evangelists "preached an intolerant faith which branded the worship of the Greek and Roman gods as idolatry, as the worship of gods which had no real existence. When men received this faith, a line of division came between them and their unbelieving neighbours." Paul sees the way the Thessalonians had borne severe persecution as evidence of their real Christianity.68 It showed that they had indeed received the gospel as divine in origin, that the gospel had produced results in them, and that it was still working in them. The persecution came from "your own countrymen," an expression that may be in part geographical and include Thessalonian Jews, but that certainly points to a large Gentile element in the opposition 69 We are probably not far wrong in seeing the opposition as rooted in the hostility of the Jews, but as extending also to the Greeks who were so stirred up by the Jews that they took action on their own account. Incidentally, the expression reveals that the church was predominantly Gentile.
In their endurance of persecution the Thessalonians had become imitators of the Palestinian churches 70 Paul is not speaking of conscious imitation but of the experience of the Thessalonians as repeating that of the Palestinians. The word rendered "churches"71 is not a specifically religious word. It could be used of such assemblies as that of the rioting Ephesians (Acts 19:32, 39, 41). We find it in the Septuagint for the assembly of Israel, but that assembly, of course, was just as much political as religious. The word does not seem to have been used in a religious sense in Greek literature generally. Beside this we should set the fact that the Christians passed over the many Greek words for religious brotherhoods.72 The force of this is that the early believers did not envision Christianity as just another religion. It is not to be named with any of the words proper to religions in general. Its designation is unique for a religious community.73 At the same time there were many "assemblies," both Jewish and Greek. The Christian assemblies are distinguished as being "God's," and further as "in Christ Jesus." The order "Christ Jesus" is almost peculiar to Paul (who has it 73 times as against 18 times for "Jesus Christ," while in 24 cases the manuscripts are divided). It indicates that "Christ" is already thought of as in the nature of a personal name (see further on 1:1). It is typical of Paul to think of the churches as being "in" Christ. In him they live and move and have their being.
We do not know the exact force of the reference to persecution by the Jews. It may point to an allegation by the Thessalonian Jews that in taking action against the Christians they were simply doing what their compatriots in Judea had earlier been compelled to do. Or it may be that the sufferings of the Palestinian churches were well known in Christian circles and could be used as the basis of instruction without further explanation anywhere among the believers.
15-16 This reference to persecution leads on to a denunciation of the Jews more severe than anything else in the Pauline writings, and some interpreters, finding a contradiction with the apostle's attitude, for example in Romans 9-11, hold that these verses were added by a later hand.74 But Paul is not here writing about all Jews, but only those involved in the activities he names;75 Marshall takes up W. Marxsen's suggestion that "Paul is writing here about particular Jews, those who have shown hostility to God's messengers, and not about the Jews in general." This is surely the way we should understand the passage. It is not an outburst of temper, but "the vehement condemnation, by a man in thorough sympathy with the mind and spirit of God, of the principles on which the Jews as a nation had acted at every period of their history" (Denney). Paul begins with the accusation that they had killed the Lord Jesus, this being apparently the one place where he says that "the Jews" were responsible for the death of Jesus. His use of "killed" rather than "crucified" may point to the fact that the Jews were responsible for the death, whereas it was the Romans, not the Jews, who did the crucifying. The unusual word order emphasizes both "Lord" and "Jesus." They had killed the heavenly Man, the Lord, and they had killed one who was of their flesh, the human Jesus. Paul emphasizes the heinousness of the crime, and proceeds to bring out that this was no isolated act. "Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute?" asked Stephen (Acts 7:52). This is Paul's thought, too. The slaying of the Lord Jesus was the outworking of the same essential attitude as that displayed so often to the prophets 76 Jesus, of course, had himself denounced with some emphasis what his nation had done to the prophets (Matt. 23:33-35).
And the persecution continued. They "drove us out." Paul's verb77 is a compound found only here in the New Testament; it denotes the extreme in persecution. The manner of life of these persecutors is such that they "displease God," where the present tense marks the habitual attitude (for the meaning of the verb see on v. 4). Just as they displease God, so they are "hostile to all men." We are reminded of Tacitus's accusation that the Jews were "haters of the human race." The word "hostile" is usually referred to things, such as winds (Mark 6:48; Acts 27:4), or to deeds (Acts 26:9; 28:17). This is the only place in the New Testament where people are said to be hostile, and we may take this as a measure of the apostle's feeling. Ordinary expressions will not serve. His indignation mounts as he thinks of their trying to prevent the gospel from being preached to the Gentiles, quite in the spirit of the Pharisees who opposed Jesus (Matt. 23:13). Such preaching was in order that people might be saved. The Jews' attempt to prevent this underlines their guilt. Paul probably had in mind the opposition that provoked the riot when he was at Thessalonica (Acts 17:5ff.), which is an excellent example of the conduct he is condemning.
Paul brings out the inevitability of the divine punishment of the conduct he is deploring by using a construction expressing purpose 78 The Jews have done their persecuting to "heap up their sins to the limit," which we might well understand in Frame's words: "The obstinacy of the Jews is viewed as an element in the divine plan." Moffatt brings out something of the determination of these sinners with "So they would fill up the measure of their sins to the last drop!" They are seeing to it that nothing is left out in the catalogue of their sins! The plural "sins" points to the aggregate of their separate evil acts, and not to the general abstract concept of "sin." The consequence is sure. Paul speaks of "the wrath" as coming on them ("retribution" is the translation of JB and REB, but this is not the meaning of the Greek; Paul's word expresses the strong, personal opposition of God to all evil). Indeed, so sure is their punishment that he uses the aorist tense, which might be rendered "came" upon them. The use of this tense does not refer to the imminence of the punishment but to its certainty;79 Paul is speaking of wrath in an eschatological setting. It is at the last great day that the people of his nation will receive the due reward of their misdeeds. But though it is postponed, there is no doubt about what their fate will be. "The cup of the nation's sin is now full. They can do no more to provoke the divine wrath" (Bicknell).
At the same time we should notice that Paul's anger is the anger of a man with his own nation, his own people. He is very much part of them, and he sorrows at their fate. He is not gleefully invoking dire disasters on them, but grieving over the effects of their misdeeds. Phillips brings out something of this with "Alas, I fear they are completing the full tale of their sins and the wrath of God is over their heads." It is the anguish so poignantly expressed in Romans 9. And here the apostle's sorrow is not mitigated by any ray of hope. We could understand the Greek to mean that the wrath is come on them "to the uttermost" ("in full," BDF #207 [3]).80 Judah's sin had been so constant and so serious that Paul sees no other possible outcome.