Commentary on First and Second Thessalonians (Commentary on the New Testament Book #13)

Robert H. Gundry

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781441237705
• eBook ISBN: 9781441237705
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

Delve Deeper into God's Word

In this verse-by-verse commentary, Robert Gundry offers a fresh, literal translation and a reliable exposition of Scripture for today's readers.

In these two letters Paul compliments Christians living in Thessalonica and assures them that they will be delivered from persecution. He exhorts them to live Christianly in anticipation of Jesus' return on the Day of the Lord.

Pastors, Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, and laypeople will welcome Gundry's nontechnical explanations and clarifications. And Bible students at all levels will appreciate his sparkling interpretations.

This selection is from Gundry's Commentary on the New Testament.

First Thessalonians

In this letter Paul compliments Christian believers in the city of Thessalonica on their progress in faith and then exhorts them to live christianly in anticipation of Jesus’ return on the Day of the Lord.

ADDRESS AND GREETING
1 Thessalonians 1:1

1:1: Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians [which is] in God, the Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy cofounded the Thessalonian church (see Acts 15:22, 32, 40–41; 16:1–3 with 17:1–9, “Silas” being the Aramaic form of the Latinized “Silvanus”). But the apostle Paul counts as leader of the other two and therefore as the author of this letter (see 2:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:17). By adding weight to the letter, his inclusion of Silvanus and Timothy with himself aims for a wholeheartedly favorable reception on the Thessalonians’ part. “The church of the Thessalonians” means “the assembly of the Thessalonians.” But since an assembly could consist of non-Christians, Paul adds “in God, the Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ” and thus limits the address to Christians, whose assembly the word “church” connotes. The letter will be read to them when they assemble. They lived in Thessalonica, a major city in what is now northern Greece but was then Macedonia. Instead of saying “the church in Thessalonica,” though, Paul says (as just noted) “the church of the Thessalonians in God, the Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ.” Thus a theological address trumps a geographical address and thereby encourages the addressees. For dwelling physically in the city of Thessalonica, where they suffer persecution (2:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:4–7), doesn’t determine their destiny. Dwelling through the Holy Spirit in God and Jesus Christ does (see 1:5–6; 4:8; 5:19 for the Thessalonians’ having the Holy Spirit).

“The Father” designates God but leaves it unspecified whose Father he is. It will come out soon enough, however, that he’s “our Father,” the Father of Christians such as Paul and company (1:3; 3:11, 13), as well as of Jesus Christ (1:10). “The Lord” designates Jesus Christ. This term can refer to human beings—masters of slaves, owners of property, and rulers, for example—as well as to pagan deities. But the present conjunction with “God, the Father” in an indication of the Christians’ sphere of existence points to Jesus’ deity, especially in opposition to pagan deities and the emperor cult. “Jesus” is a personal name, “Christ” a title (meaning “Anointed One”) that has evolved into a second personal name. Putting a comma between “the Lord” and “Jesus Christ” underscores the true lordship of Jesus Christ over against the untrue lordship of pagan deities and deified emperors. For the meaning of “Grace and peace to you” see the comments on 1 Peter 1:2; 2 John 3.

A COMPLIMENTARY THANKS FOR THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS
1 Thessalonians 1:2–5

1:2–5: We’re always thanking God for all of you, constantly making remembrance [of you] in our prayers, 3remembering your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord, Jesus Christ, in the presence of God, even our Father, 4knowing—brothers loved by God—[his] selection of you, 5in that our gospel didn’t get to you only with a [spoken] word—rather, also with power and with the Holy Spirit and with much full assurance, just as you know what kind of [men] we proved to be among you because of you. As distinguished from “you” and “your,” “we” and “our” refer to Paul and company. Which isn’t to say, however, that “our Lord,” “our Father,” and “our gospel” exclude the addressees from the same relationships to Jesus, God, and the gospel. Thanks go to God for the Thessalonian Christians because of his seeing to their conversion, which made the evangelization of Thessalonica successful. “Always thanking God” stresses the extent of thanksgiving, and “for all of you” stresses the extent of his making the evangelization successful. “Prayers” provide the occasion for thanking God. “Making remembrance” means making mention. “Constantly” joins the plural of “prayers” to stress the regularity of mentioning the Thessalonian Christians thankfully in prayer.

“Remembering your work . . . and labor . . . and endurance” means mentioning in prayer these activities of the Thessalonian Christians as what in particular Paul and company thank God for. The “work” stems from “faith”—that is, from belief in Jesus—and means the doing of good deeds (see 2 Thessalonians 1:11; 2:17), especially for fellow Christians (4:9–12). The “labor” stems from “love” and connotes affectionate exertion for others’ benefit (3:12 [compare the combination of work, labor, and love in 5:12–13]). The “endurance” stems from “hope,” which means a confident expectation, not an uncertain wish. (An even more literal translation, “endurance of hope,” would sound as though hope was being endured, whereas the less literal translation, “endurance in hope,” allows hope to be the source of endurance.) “Of our Lord, Jesus Christ” defines the hope as a confident expectation of his second coming, and this expectation enables the endurance of persecution (2:14; 3:3–4; 2 Thessalonians 1:4–7; Acts 17:5–9). Hope comes last in this trio of Christian virtues because it looks forward to the second coming (so too in 5:8; Colossians 1:4–5), whereas in 1 Corinthians 13:13 love comes last as the highest virtue (compare Romans 5:1–5). “In the presence of God” goes with “remembering” and thus indicates that “prayers,” in which the remembrance occurs, put us in his presence (3:9–10 [compare Hebrews 4:16; 7:19, 25; 10:1, 22]).

Knowledge that God selected the addressees for salvation leads Paul to address them with “brothers loved by God.” They’re Christian brothers in relation to Paul and company as well as to one another (Matthew 23:8). Calling attention to this relationship makes for a favorable reception of the letter, and calling attention to God’s love for the addressees both encourages them in their hopeful endurance of persecution and contrasts sharply with pagan gods’ usual lack of love for their devotees, who therefore needed to placate them. “Knowing . . . the selection” provides the basis for thanksgiving, and providing the basis of this knowledge is God’s seeing to it that the gospel got to them not only verbally but also powerfully. Since by definition miracles are “powerful acts” or, more literally, “powers,” the phrase “with power” indicates that the performance of miracles accompanied the spoken word. “With the Holy Spirit” indicates the source of this power. And “with . . . full assurance” indicates its effect on the Thessalonians. In conjunction with the spoken word the power converted them. “Much” raises their “full assurance” to the nth degree (compare Romans 15:18–19; 1 Corinthians 2:4–5; 2 Corinthians 6:7; 12:12; Galatians 3:5). Their knowledge of “what kind of [men]” Paul and company “proved to be” among them balances Paul’s knowledge that God lovingly selected the Thessalonians, and also prepares for a description in 2:1–12 of the way Paul and company evangelized Thessalonica. This very appeal to the Thessalonians’ knowledge of their behavior among them, plus the description of that behavior as “because of you,” forecasts a favorable description in the upcoming passage and means that Paul and company behaved so as to benefit the Thessalonians with the gospel. All in all, the extended thanksgiving for the Thessalonians in 1:2–5 compliments them for the purposes of gaining their ready acceptance of the letter’s further contents and of encouraging their further progress in faith-filled work, love-filled labor, and hope-filled endurance.

A COMPLIMENTARY DESCRIPTION OF THE THESSALONIAN BELIEVERS
1 Thessalonians 1:6–10

1:6–10: And you proved to be imitators of us and of the Lord by having welcomed the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7so that you became a role model to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8For from you the word about the Lord reverberated forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia; rather, your faith toward God has gone forth in every place, so that we have no need to say anything. 9For people themselves are reporting about us in reference to what kind of entrance to you we had, even how you turned to God from idols to slave for the living and true God 10and to await his Son from the heavens, whom he [God] raised from among the dead, [namely] Jesus, the one who rescues us from the coming wrath. As Paul and company proved to be good for the addressees (1:5), so the addressees have proved to be imitators of them and of the Lord, who has twice been identified as Jesus Christ (1:1, 3). Like the compliment in 1:2–5, this compliment has the purpose of gaining a ready acceptance of the letter and of encouraging its recipients. They became imitators of Paul and company and of the Lord by “having welcomed the word.” The word of the gospel called on the Thessalonians “to slave for the living and true God” as Paul and company were doing and as the Lord, Jesus Christ, did. So welcoming this word meant “turn[ing] to God from idols” to slave for him, and welcoming it “in . . . affliction” adds an element to the imitation in that both Paul and company and the Lord suffered affliction—that is, persecution—in slaving for God. The Lord suffered it in his crucifixion, they in their evangelistic labors (Acts 16:16–17:15).

“Much” magnifies the like affliction suffered by the addressees. Likewise, “with the joy of the Holy Spirit” magnifies the compliment in that they welcomed the word joyfully despite the suffering of much affliction. Mention of the Holy Spirit as the source of this unnatural or, rather, supernatural joy balances the preceding mention of the Holy Spirit as the source of the power with which the word came to them (1:5) and implies by way of a further compliment that this joy gives evidence of their having received the Holy Spirit. Their joyful welcome of the word despite much affliction has made them “a role model” to be imitated just as they imitated Paul and company and the Lord. “To all the believers in Macedonia [roughly the northern part of modern Greece] and in Achaia [roughly the southern part]” enhances the compliment by displaying the extent to which the Thessalonian believers became a role model, and “For” introduces an explanation of the way they became such a model: the gospel, called “the word about the Lord,” had “reverberated forth” from them as some of them traveled out of Thessalonica into Macedonia and Achaia and even elsewhere (“in every place,” a deliberate exaggeration for emphasis on their far-flung evangelism [for some Thessalonian believers as Paul’s traveling coevangelists see Acts 19:29; 20:4; 27:2; Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24]). “Not only . . . rather,” where we’d expect “not only . . . but also,” is a particularly emphatic way of stating the hyperbole; and “your faith toward God” restates “the word about the Lord” in terms of personal testimonies. These testimonies made them role models to be imitated.

We might have expected “your faith in Jesus,” but “your faith toward God” prepares for a description of the addressees’ having “turned to God from idols.” The addressees’ own testimonies of faith toward God made it unnecessary for Paul and company to report their converts’ faith. Because of those testimonies, in fact, people who heard them were reporting “what kind of entrance” Paul and company had to the addressees. “Even how you turned to God from idols” defines the entrance in terms of evangelism so successful as to be comparable to a triumphal entry such as victorious generals and celebrated orators, philosophers, and teachers enjoyed when entering a city. “From idols” also implies both that the Thessalonian believers didn’t merely add God to the gods represented by idols, as pagans often multiplied their gods in a fashion similar to diversifying investments nowadays for the sake of economic safety (see Acts 17:1–4), and that most of the Thessalonian believers were Gentiles, for few Jews worshiped idols after their Assyrian and Babylonian exiles during the Old Testament period. “To slave” for God means to work for him—evangelistically in this context—and counts as an honor and privilege because he’s “the living and true God” in contrast with “idols,” dead and undivine as they are. God’s having “raised [‘his Son’] from among the dead” has made it possible for him (Jesus the Son) to come back “from the heavens” and rescue “us” (now including the addressees as well as Paul and company) “from the coming wrath” (that is, from the future cataclysm of God’s final judgment on unbelievers). Since this wrath is coming and therefore not yet here, the present tense of “rescues” implies that the rescue is so certain that it might as well be happening alr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• First Thessalonians
• Second Thessalonians
• Notes
• Back Cover