1 Thessalonians 1:8

Contextual Overview

⁶You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ⁶ You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ⁶ You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁶You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁶We told y'all when you saddled up for the Lord it wouldn't be easy. Y'all have suffered just like we said you would and you did it gladly, like top hands should. Y'all rode the way we showed ya and talked like we told ya. ⁶ And you took us and the Lord as your example, after the word had come to you in much trouble, with joy in the Holy Spirit; ⁶ and *ye* became our imitators, and of the Lord, having accepted the word in much tribulation with joy of [the] Holy Spirit, ⁶ and you became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit. ⁶ You became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ And ye became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

from: Isaiah 2:3, Isaiah 52:7, Isaiah 66:19, Romans 10:14-18, 1 Corinthians 14:36, 2 Thessalonians 3:1, Revelation 14:6, Revelation 22:17

in every: Romans 1:8, 2 Thessalonians 1:4, 3 John 1:12

God-ward: Exodus 18:9, 2 Corinthians 3:4

Reciprocal: Leviticus 25:9 - of the jubilee to sound Numbers 23:23 - What hath Psalms 40:10 - not hid Mark 6:14 - his name Mark 8:38 - when Acts 4:17 - that it Acts 16:9 - Macedonia Acts 18:12 - Achaia Acts 19:22 - Macedonia Romans 1:13 - but Romans 16:19 - obedience 2 Corinthians 1:1 - Achaia 2 Corinthians 3:2 - known 2 Corinthians 8:1 - churches 2 Corinthians 11:10 - the regions Philippians 1:13 - in all other places 1 Thessalonians 1:7 - in

Cross-References

Genesis 1:5
God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day.

Genesis 1:5
God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Genesis 1:5
And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Genesis 1:5
God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Genesis 1:5
And God called the light day, and the darknes night: and the euenyng & the mornyng were the first day.

Genesis 1:5
God named the light "day," and he named the darkness "night." There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the first day.

Genesis 1:5
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Genesis 1:5
dai, and the derknessis, nyyt. And the euentid and morwetid was maad, o daie.

Genesis 1:5
And God called the light, Day, and the darknesse he called Night: and the euening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:5
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For from you sounded out the word of the Lord,.... By which is meant the Gospel, and is so called because it is from the Lord, as the author of it: and it is of the Lord, as the subject of it; and it is by the Lord, as the minister or dispenser of it; and it is owing to the efficacy of his grace that it is useful and successful, and ought to be attended to, received, and obeyed, not as the word of man, but as the word of the Lord. This is said to have "sounded out", alluding to the blowing of a trumpet, to which the Gospel is sometimes compared, as to the silver trumpet under the law, for the gathering of the people of Israel; or to the trumpet blown in the years of jubilee, which proclaimed liberty, release of debts, and restoration of inheritances, as the Gospel in a spiritual sense does; or to the trumpet used in war to prepare for the battle, and therefore should not give an uncertain sound; or as used musically, the Gospel being a joyful sound; and this sounding of it may denote the clear publication and open declaration, and large spread of it far and near: though, when it is said to sound forth from the Thessalonians, it is not to be understood as if the Gospel first began to be preached among them, and from thence went to other places; it was preached at Philippi before it came to them, and at many other places before it was there; the word of the Lord, according to the prophecy of Isaiah 2:2 came from Jerusalem; Christ and his apostles first preached there, and from thence their words and sound went to the ends of the earth; but not so much the preaching of the Gospel, as the fame and report of its being preached in this place, is here meant: and so the Latin translation of the Syriac version renders it, "for from you went the report of the word of our Lord"; the fame of its being preached and received at Thessalonica, in the manner it was, spread itself,

not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place; not only at Philippi, Berea, Athens, and Corinth, and other cities and towns in those countries, but also in other parts of the world; and what greatly contributed to it were the uproar that was made at Thessalonica, and continued at Berea upon the first preaching of the Gospel in those parts by the unbelieving Jews; as also the large numbers both of Greeks and Jews, and of devout women of considerable families, that were converted: to which may be added, that Thessalonica was the metropolis of Macedonia, and a city of great trade, and much frequented from all parts both by sea and land; and by this means it came to pass, that not only the fame of the preaching of the word among them went abroad everywhere; but, as the apostle adds,

your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; meaning the grace of faith bestowed on them, by which they received the Gospel in the love of it, assented to it, and professed it, and which has God for its object, and is very valuable, since such public notice is taken of it; and which shows that it was not kept to themselves, and lay hid in their own breasts; but they declared it both by words and by deeds, by making a profession of it, and by walking agreeably to it:

so that we had no need to speak anything; the Syriac version adds, "concerning you"; concerning the preaching of the Gospel among them, their faith in it and profession of it, all being so well known in the several places where they came; for it seems it was usual with the apostles, when they came to any place, to speak of their success in others, and of the faith, and hope, and joy of other Christians, for the encouragement of, and as ensamples to those to whom they minister; but with relation to the Thessalonians this was unnecessary.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For from you sounded out the word of the Lord - The truths of religion were thus spread abroad. The word rendered “sounded out” - ἐξήχηται exēchētai - refers to the sounding of a trumpet (Bloomfield), and the idea is, that the gospel was proclaimed like the sonorous voice of a trumpet echoing from place to place; compare Isaiah 58:1; Revelation 1:10. Their influence had an effect in diffusing the gospel in other places, as if the sound of a trumpet echoed and reechoed among the hills and along the vales of the classic land of Greece. This seems to have been done:

(1) Involuntarily; that is, the necessary result of their conversion, even without any direct purpose of the kind of their own, would be to produce this effect. Their central and advantageous commercial position; the fact that many of them were in the habit of visiting other places; and the fact that they were visited by strangers from abroad, would naturally contribute to this result. But.

(2) This does not appear to be all that is intended. The apostle commends them in such a way as to make it certain that they were voluntary in the spread of the gospel; that they made decided efforts to take advantage of their position to send the knowledge of the truth abroad. If so, this is an interesting instance of one of the first efforts made by a church to diffuse the gospel, and to send it to those who were destitute of it. There is no improbability in the supposition that they sent out members of their church - messengers of salvation - to other parts of Macedonia and Greece that they might communicate the same gospel to others. See Doddridge.

But also in every place - Thessalonica was connected not only with Macedonia and Greece proper, in its commercial relations, but also with the ports of Asia Minor, and not improbably with still more remote regions. The meaning is, that in all the places with which they trafficked the effect of their faith was seen and spoken of.

Faith to God-ward - Fidelity toward God. They showed that they had a true belief in God and in the truth which he had revealed.

So that we need not to speak anything - That is, wherever we go, we need say nothing of the fact that you have been turned to the Lord, or of the character of your piety. These things are sufficiently made known by those who come from you, by those who visit you, and by your zeal in spreading the true religion.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 8. From you sounded out — As Thessalonica vas very conveniently situated for traffic, many merchants from thence traded through Macedonia, Achaia, and different parts of Greece. By these, the fame of the Thessalonians having received the doctrine of the Gospel was doubtless carried far and wide. And it appears that they had walked so conscientiously before God and man, that their friends could speak of them without a blush, and their adversaries could say nothing to their disgrace.