1 and 2 Thessalonians Verse by Verse (Osborne New Testament Commentaries)

Grant R. Osborne

• Publisher: Lexham Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781683590774
• eBook ISBN: 9781683590781
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 AND 2 THESSALONIANS

The Letters to the Thessalonians are often considered to be among the less important of Paul’s Letters, but that is not true. They are written to a very important city with very important issues. My favorite aspect of these letters is neither the issue of the day of the Lord nor of how to handle the professional idlers but the wonderful model Paul and the Thessalonians present of a truly loving relationship between a pastor and a congregation. Throughout both letters runs a thread of respect and love that every pastor longs to experience. It provides a thrilling example of affection in extremely hard times and how that affection can make severe trials bearable.

AUTHOR

First Thessalonians is one of those letters (with Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians, called the Hauptbriefe, or “chief letters,” of Paul) whose Pauline authorship is virtually unchallenged. He identifies himself as the author of both (1 Thess 1:1; 2:18; 2 Thess 1:1; 3:17), and both the vocabulary and the style of writing closely match the others. Moreover, the church fathers from the start accepted both as from Paul’s hand (Didache 16.6; Ignatius, Romans 2.1, Ephesians 10.1). They are part of Marcion’s Canon (140) and the Muratorian Canon (170), the first collections of canonical works by the early church, and are found in all the versions (Vulgate, Syriac, Old Latin).1 So acceptance of 1 Thessalonians as from Paul is universal. However, several issues remain.

In both letters Silas and Timothy are named with Paul as authors (1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1), and with the predominance of “we” sentences, many think Paul was merely part of a team of authors. However, there are also several “I” sentences (1 Thess 2:18; 3:5; 5:27; 2 Thess 2:5; 3:17), and it seems more likely that Silas and Timothy are co-senders rather than coauthors, and that the “we” portions are literary devices to show that the team is behind the ideas Paul is writing. So Paul is the main author.

Another issue is that some critical scholars believe 1 Thessalonians 2:13–16 to be an interpolation added later to the epistle. They think (1) the mention of “the wrath of God” that “has come upon them” must reflect a time after the destruction of Jerusalem; (2) the tone of judgment and destruction contradicts “all Israel will be saved” in Romans 11:26; and (3) the intense persecution of 2:14 did not occur as early as the writing of these epistles. However, none of the three is convincing, and there is no evidence that 1 Thessalonians ever existed without 2:13–16. The emphasis on God’s judgment on the Jewish people actually stems from the Olivet Discourse on Matthew 24–25, and this in no way contradicts Romans 11:26. Paul is thinking only of unbelieving Jews here, and the idea of national revival (= “all Israel”) can easily fit into what he is saying. Finally, severe Jewish persecution existed from the start of the missionary journeys, as Acts 13–14 proves. In short, there is little reason to think 2:13–16 a late addition.

Finally, some scholars have disputed Paul’s authorship of 2 Thessalonians. It was universally considered a letter of Paul in the early church and was not doubted until the nineteenth century, and even today most scholars consider it Pauline. Still, quite a few have disputed it. Let’s consider their arguments briefly:

1.Its tone is apparently more formal and severe, using such later emphases as the traditions of the church (2:15; 3:6) and a tone of authoritative command, making it unlikely so soon after the warm, affectionate tone of the first letter. However, this is misleading, for Paul expresses love and affection in the second letter, and his thankfulness for them is still very evident throughout (1:3; 2:13, “we ought always to thank God for you”). When he talks discipline, he says it must be done in love “as you would a fellow believer” (3:15).

2.The eschatology of chapter 2 is purportedly late; some scholars argue that the “man of lawlessness” reflects the Nero redivivus (Nero revived) legend of the 80s and 90s, according to which Nero would come back from the dead with an army to defeat Rome. But there is no evidence for such an identification, and everything in 2:1–12 could stem from the mid-first century.

3.Others note the strong similarities between the two epistles and argue that the second letter was a near copy written by a later hand. They argue that no true author would duplicate so much material in a second letter written soon after the first. Several occur in the opening verses (1:1 = 1:1; 1:3 = 1:3–4; 1:3 = 1:11; 1:4 = 2:13), and there are several others (2:9 = 3:8; 4:1 = 3:1; 4:5 = 1:8; 5:28 = 3:18). However, this is all vastly overstated, for there are clear differences as well, such as the eschatology of the two (4:13–5:11 vs. 2:1–12) and the emphasis on “commands” in the second letter. It is much more likely that the new sets of problems that developed just after Paul sent the first letter led to what would be typical similarities and differences between any two letters sent just weeks apart.

In short, there is little hard evidence to make us (and most commentators on these two letters) reject either as stemming from the hand of Paul.

DATE OF WRITING AND SITUATION BEHIND THE LETTERS

It is clear that both 1 and 2 Thessalonians were written during Paul’s second missionary journey, which lasted between AD 49 and 51. When we combine the details noted in these two letters with the events of Acts 17, a clear picture emerges. When Paul and Silas were asked to leave Philippi after their extraordinary prison release by God, they took the major Roman road further into Macedonia to the major city of the province, Thessalonica. There they spent a few weeks, first in the synagogues, as was their practice. They had initial success, with several Jewish conversions and even more Gentiles coming to Christ (Acts 17:1–4). However, their initial success was short-lived, as severe persecution broke out and the mission team was forced to leave Thessalonica and travel first to Berea, and then further south to Athens in the province of Achaia (Acts 17:5–1...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Series Preface
• Introduction to 1 and 2 Thessalonians
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessalonians
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Subject and Author Index
• Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Literature