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1 THESSALONIANS
ROBERT L. THOMAS
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Introduction
1. Background
2. Unity
3. Authorship and Canonicity
4. Date
5. Place of Origin and Destination
6. Occasion
7. Purpose
8. Theological Values
9. Bibliography
10. Outline
1. BACKGROUND
Many consider 1 Thessalonians to be the earliest of Paul’s letters. This is especially appropriate because these five chapters reveal so much of Paul’s mind and heart. They contain a number of his characteristic doctrinal emphases and show the depth of his feeling for the Christians in Thessalonica to whom he ministered.
Having been hindered by divine intervention from going southwest into the province of Asia and north into Bithynia (Ac 16:6–7), Paul arrived at Troas probably in late March or early April of AD 49. From Troas, the westernmost city of what is today Turkey, he received direction in a vision to cross the Aegean Sea into Macedonia and to take the gospel there for the first time (Ac 16:9). He did that (Ac 16:10–11), marking one of the crucial events in history, because at that point the gospel moved westward, and the evangelization of Europe began. Arriving at the port of Neapolis after a two-day voyage, the missionary party of Paul, Silas, Luke, and Timothy left almost immediately on the single-day journey of ten miles toward the larger city of Philippi to the north.
The successful mission at Philippi (Ac 16:12–40) lasted about two months. Then, after leaving behind Luke and possibly Timothy, Paul and Silas departed Philippi under pressure from the city officials and headed west toward Thessalonica, a major center about a hundred miles or a five-day walk away. It must have been a painful journey because of what they had suffered while in prison at Philippi (Ac 16:22–24; 1Th 2:2). En route they followed the famous Egnatian Way, which crossed Macedonia from east to west, passing through Amphipolis and then through Apollonia (Ac 17:1). Apparently these two cities were not suitable points for evangelism, so Paul and Silas continued to Thessalonica, a city founded by the Macedonian general Cassander in 315 BC and named after the stepsister of Alexander the Great.
At Thessalonica they found circumstances suitable for settling down to preach for a time. The city was of good size, perhaps only about a third smaller than Salonika, its modern-day counterpart, which was renamed Thessaloniki in 19371 and has a population of about 300,000. Its location was conducive to commerce. It had a good natural harbor at the head of the Thermaic Gulf and east of the mouth of the Auxius River. Traffic to and from the rich agricultural plains in the interior fed through this port and in both directions on the Egnatian Way. The city attracted sufficient Jewish merchants of the Dispersion to account for the existence of a well-established synagogue there (Ac 17:1).
Thessalonica was a free city ruled by its own council of citizens. Since 146 BC it had been the seat of Roman government for all Macedonia, earning the description “the mother of all Macedon.” The city was administered by five or six “officials” known as “politarchs” (Ac 17:6). For some years the accuracy of this title in Luke’s account of the events was questioned; now this fact is universally conceded on the basis of nineteen inscriptions that clearly show the use of “politarch” in Macedonian governmental organization.2
Paul considered Thessalonica to be the next suitable place for planting the gospel. The presence of a synagogue offered an obvious place to begin (Ac 17:1–4). So he pursued his approach of proving from the OT that the Messiah must suffer and be raised and that Jesus is this Messiah. In the meantime, he could conveniently follow his own trade of manufacturing the goat-hair cloth that was a prominent part of the local economy (cf. Ac 18:3; 1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8). For three consecutive Sabbaths Paul spoke in the synagogue, but he met with the usual Jewish resistance. Luke’s description of the events may be interpreted as meaning that such resistance forced him to leave the city immediately.3 Or it is possible that he continued his ministry in the city for some time after being forced from the synagogue.4
Three points make the latter alternative more probable: (1) Paul engaged in gainful employment at Thessalonica (1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8). Two to three weeks are not sufficient time for settling into a trade and freeing converts from the burden of supporting their missionaries. Besides, Paul used his working as proof of his self-sacrifice for them, something he could hardly have done during a limited stay. (2) Upon his departure from Thessalonica, he left a thriving church—not one still in the throes of separation from the local synagogue; indeed, by the time he left, this church included many Gentiles fresh from their heathen idolatry (1Th 1:9). They could not have come to Christ through a synagogue ministry. (3) Before leaving, Paul had received at least two special gifts from Philippi (a hundred miles or five days away). It is difficult to crowd all this into two or three weeks.5
A good number of Jews, God-fearing Gentiles, and prominent women responded to the synagogue ministry, including Jason, at whose home Paul stayed (Ac 17:4–9). Many others, principally Gentiles, became Christians in the weeks following (1Th 1:9). Numbered among the converts in the city were probably Aristarchus and Secundus (Ac 19:29; 20:4; 27:2) and perhaps Gaius (Ac 19:29) and Demas (2Ti 4:10). After approximately three months, the Christian assembly was of considerable size, and the Jews became unbearably jealous. They instigated riots to force the politarchs to rule against Christians, whom they accused of upsetting society and opposing Caesar’s decrees (Ac 17:5–9). Jason and several other Christians were brought in for a hearing. The city officials, however, stood firm under pressure and eventually let Jason and the others go. Though not personally involved in this incident, Paul, Silas, and perhaps Timothy (if he had joined them from Philippi) knew it was time to leave so as to avoid bringing additional hardship on their brothers in Christ (Ac 17:10).
From Thessalonica they traveled west for two and a half days (fifty miles) to Berea. Their synagogue ministry was favorably received for about seven weeks. It might have continued even longer if adversaries from Thessalonica had not heard of their success and come to disrupt their preaching. At this point, Paul had to leave for Athens, but since Silas and Timothy had not been so conspicuous in earlier protests, they were able to remain at Berea (Ac 17:11–15).
The Berean brothers escorted Paul all the way to Athens, going first to the nearby coast (Ac 17:14) and then catching a ship for a one-week voyage to the city. A three-hundred-mile overland trip to Athens, as certain Western and Byzantine readings imply,6 is not probable. Paul’s physical condition and his personal safety were too much a concern for his escorts to have taken such a risk.7 The party probably arrived in Athens late in October of AD 49.
Paul gave the returning Bereans instruction to have Silas and Timothy join him at Athens immediately (Ac 17:15), which they did (1Th 3:1). The two were then sent back to Macedonia, Timothy’s responsibility being to encourage the Thessalonian Christians and bring back a report about them. If Timothy joined Paul at Athens by late November, it would have been about three months since Paul had left Thessalonica. He had become quite concerned about the converts there and at great personal sacrifice dispatched Timothy to strengthen them and find out how they were faring under persecution (1Th 3:1–5). Silas probably left Paul alone in Athens to pursue a similar missi...
