1 Thessalonians 2:16

Contextual Overview

¹³And 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. 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 a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. ¹³ For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. ¹³And for this reason we also thank God without ceasing that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe. ¹³We are so thankful you didn't turn a deaf ear to what we had to say. You didn't act like God's message was just another self-help course taught by the world. It was the word of God and you accepted it with the awe and reverence you should have. It is this power that is now available to you and at work within you whether you realize it or not. ¹³ And for this cause we still give praise to God, that, when the word came to your ears through us, you took it, not as the word of man, but, as it truly is, the word of God, which has living power in you who have faith. ¹³ And for this cause we also give thanks to God unceasingly that, having received [the] word of [the] report of God by us, ye accepted, not men's word, but, even as it is truly, God's word, which also works in you who believe. ¹³ This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the message about God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the message of God, which also works effectively in you believers. ¹³ For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who believe. ¹³ For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, even because when ye received the word of God from us, ye received it, not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the word of God, who likewise effectually worketh in you that believe.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Forbidding: Acts 11:2, Acts 11:3, Acts 11:17, Acts 11:18, Acts 13:50, Acts 14:5, Acts 14:19, Acts 17:5, Acts 17:6, Acts 17:13, Acts 18:12, Acts 18:13, Acts 19:9, Acts 21:27-31, Acts 22:21, Acts 22:22, Galatians 5:11, Ephesians 3:8, Ephesians 3:13

that: Isaiah 45:22, Mark 16:16, Acts 4:12, Romans 10:13-15, 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 1 Timothy 2:4

to fill: Genesis 15:16, Zechariah 5:6-8, Matthew 23:32

for: Joel 2:30, Joel 2:31, Malachi 4:1, Malachi 4:5, Matthew 3:7-10, Matthew 3:12, Matthew 12:45, Matthew 21:41-44, Matthew 22:6, Matthew 22:7, Matthew 24:6, Matthew 24:14, Matthew 24:21, Matthew 24:22, Luke 11:50, Luke 11:51, Luke 19:42-44, Luke 21:20-24, Hebrews 6:8, Hebrews 10:27-30, James 5:1-6, Revelation 22:11

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 21:8 - lay not Deuteronomy 28:20 - vexation Joshua 23:15 - so shall 2 Kings 22:17 - therefore Psalms 21:9 - in his Psalms 34:21 - they Psalms 55:19 - hear Psalms 69:24 - Pour Psalms 72:14 - precious Psalms 109:20 - Let this Proverbs 29:8 - Scornful Isaiah 5:25 - the anger Isaiah 27:11 - therefore Isaiah 30:10 - say Isaiah 43:28 - and have Isaiah 49:5 - Israel Isaiah 59:12 - our transgressions Isaiah 61:2 - and Isaiah 65:2 - a rebellious Isaiah 65:7 - therefore Isaiah 65:15 - the Lord Isaiah 66:5 - Your Isaiah 66:24 - and they Jeremiah 11:22 - young Jeremiah 26:15 - ye shall Jeremiah 51:24 - General Lamentations 4:13 - that Ezekiel 11:8 - General Ezekiel 22:4 - and thou hast Daniel 8:23 - when Daniel 9:6 - have we Daniel 9:27 - that determined Amos 2:11 - and Micah 1:5 - the transgression of Jacob Micah 2:6 - Prophesy ye Zechariah 1:4 - unto Zechariah 5:8 - This Zechariah 7:12 - therefore Zechariah 11:6 - I will no Zechariah 13:8 - two Matthew 10:5 - Go Matthew 20:11 - they murmured Matthew 21:35 - General Matthew 21:44 - but Matthew 23:13 - for ye shut Matthew 23:31 - that Matthew 23:34 - ye Matthew 27:25 - His Luke 3:20 - General Luke 4:28 - were Luke 9:49 - we saw Luke 15:28 - he Luke 17:37 - wheresoever Luke 19:27 - General Luke 19:43 - the days Luke 20:18 - shall fall Luke 21:12 - before Luke 21:23 - great John 8:28 - then John 11:48 - all John 16:9 - General Acts 4:17 - let Acts 5:28 - blood Acts 9:23 - the Jews Acts 13:41 - for Acts 14:2 - General Romans 9:22 - fitted Romans 10:21 - a disobedient Romans 11:28 - are enemies 2 Corinthians 11:26 - in perils by mine Galatians 1:16 - that 1 Timothy 4:16 - them 2 Timothy 1:12 - the which James 5:6 - have 1 Peter 5:9 - the same Revelation 14:15 - ripe

Cross-References

Genesis 2:1
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

Genesis 2:1
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

Genesis 2:1
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.

Genesis 2:1
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.

Genesis 2:1
The heauens also & the earth were finisshed, & all the hoast of them.

Genesis 2:1
So the earth, the sky, and everything in them were finished.

Genesis 2:1
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Genesis 2:1
Therfor heuenes and erthe ben maad perfit, and al the ournement of tho.

Genesis 2:1
Thus the heauens and the earth were finished, and all the hoste of them.

Genesis 2:1
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved,.... Speaking or preaching the Gospel is the ordinary means of saving souls, or of acquainting them with the way of salvation, the necessity of it, and of the application of it to them, and with this end and view it is preached: now though the Jews disbelieved the Gospel, and despised the ministry of it, and disavowed any such use and end of it, yet such was their envy at the Gentiles, and their hatred of them, that could they have believed it to be the means of salvation, they would have forbidden the preaching of it to them, as they now did; and it is certain, that even the believing Jews, through ignorance, did at first disapprove of the ministry of the word to the Gentiles; see Acts 11:1 such was the aversion of that nation to all others, and which perfectly agrees with their general sentiments, which forbid the explanation of the law to the Gentiles; and therefore it need not be wondered at, that they should do all that in them lay to hinder the entrance and spread of the Gospel among them, of which take the following proof f:

"whoever has not the holy name sealed and bound in his flesh (i.e. is not circumcised) לאודעא ליה מלה דאוריתא

אסיר "it is forbidden to make known to him a word of the law", and much less to study in it--and whoever is not circumcised, and they give to him את זציר דאוריתא, "the least thing in the law", it is as if he destroyed the world, and dealt falsely with the name of God--Hillell and Shammai did not make known to Onkelos a word of the law, until he was circumcised--and the traditions are, that even though a man is circumcised, yet if he does not do the commands of the law, lo, he is as a Gentile in all things, and "it is forbidden to teach him the words of the law":''

nay, it is a rule with the Jews g, that

"if a Gentile studies in the law, he is guilty of death:''

and thus were they left in providence, to judicial blindness and hardness of heart,

to fill up their sins alway; the measure of their own and their fathers' iniquities; see Matthew 23:32 a phrase expressive of the abounding of their sins, and of their being under a divine appointment, and of their being limited and restrained by a divine power, and overruled by infinite wisdom, to answer some ends and purposes of God's glory;

for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost: which is to be understood, not of their wrath and fury being come to its highest degree and pitch against the followers of Christ, but of "the wrath of God", as the Vulgate Latin version and Beza's ancient copy express it; and designs not so much "eternal punishment", as the Ethiopic version renders the phrase, or everlasting wrath and damnation on the reprobate part of that people, as temporal ruin and destruction, which was now near at hand, and hung over their heads; and therefore is said to be come to them, and which in a little time fell upon their nation and city, and temple, even to the uttermost, to the last degree; and was, as the Arabic version renders it, "wrath consuming"; or "the consummation, and that determined poured upon the desolate", spoken of in Daniel 9:27 and which, as it is come upon them, will remain "unto the end", as the phrase may also be rendered; unto the end of the world, until the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in, and then God's elect among the Jews shall obtain mercy, and be called, and so all Israel shall be saved, Romans 11:25.

f Zohar in Lev. fol. 30. 2, 3. g T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 59. 1. Maimon. Hilchot Melachim, c. 10. sect. 9.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles - see Acts 17:5, Acts 17:13. No particular instance is mentioned in the life of Paul previous to this, when they had formally commanded him not to preach to the pagan, but no one can doubt that this was one of the leading points of difference between him and them. Paul maintained that the Jews and Gentiles were now on a level with regard to salvation; that the wall of partition was broken down; that the Jew had no advantages over the rest of mankind in this respect, and that the pagan might be saved without becoming Jews, or being circumcised; Romans 2:25-29; Romans 3:22-31; notes, Colossians 1:24. The Jews did not hold it unlawful “to speak to the Gentiles,” and even to offer to them eternal life Matthew 23:15, but it was only on condition that they should become proselytes to their religion, and should observe the institutions of Moses. If saved, they held that it would be as Jews - either originally such, or such by becoming proselytes. Paul maintained just the opposite opinion, that pagans might be saved without becoming proselytes to the Jewish system, and that, in fact, salvation was as freely offered to them as to the children of Abraham. Though there are no express instances in which they prohibited Paul from speaking to the Gentiles recorded before the date of this Epistle, yet events occurred afterward which showed what were their feelings, and such as to make it in the highest degree probable that they had attempted to restrain him; see Acts 22:21-22, “And he (Christ) said unto me (Paul), Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. And they (the Jews) gave him audience unto this word, and then lift up their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live.”

That they might be saved - That is, as freely as others, and on the same terms, not by conversion to Judaism, but by repentance and faith.

To fill up their sins alway - At all times - πάντοτε pantote - in every generation. That is, to do now as they have always done, by resisting God and exposing themselves to His wrath. The idea is, that it had been a characteristic of the nation, at all times, to oppose God, and that they did it now in this manner in conformity with their fixed character; compare Acts 7:51-53, and notes on Matthew 23:32, on the expression, “Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.”

For the wrath is come upon them - This cannot mean that the wrath of God had been then actually poured out upon them in the extreme degree referred to, or that they had experienced the full expressions of the divine displeasure, for this Epistle was written before the destruction of their city and temple (see the Introduction); but that the cup of their iniquity was full; that they were in fact abandoned by God; that they were the objects even then of his displeasure, and that their destruction was so certain that it might be spoken of as an indubitable fact. The “wrath of God” may be said to have come upon a man when he abandons him, even though there may not be as yet any external expressions of his indignation. It is not punishment that constitutes the wrath of God. That is the mere outward expression of the divine indignation, and the wrath of God may in fact have come upon a man when as yet there are no external tokens of it. The overthrow of Jerusalem and the temple, were but the outward expressions of the divine displeasure at their conduct. Paul, inspired to speak of the feelings of God, describes that wrath as already existing in the divine mind; compare Romans 4:17.

To the uttermost - Greek - εἰς τέλος eis telos - “to the end;” that is, until wrath shall be “complete” or “exhausted;” or wrath in the extremest degree. It does not mean “to the end of their race or history;” nor necessarily to the remotest periods of time, but to that which constitutes completion, so that there should be nothing lacking of that which would make indignation perfect: “εἰς τέλος eis telos - gantz und gar” - thoroughly, entirely, through and through.” Passow. Some have understood this as meaning “at the last,” or “at length,” as Macknight, Rosenmuller, Koppe, and Wetstein; others as referring to duration, meaning that it would follow them everywhere; but the more correct interpretation seems to be to refer it to that extremity of calamity and woe which was about to come upon the nation. For an account of this, see the notes on Matthew 24:21.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 16. 1 Thessalonians 2:15.