Bible Commentaries
1 Thessalonians 2

Verses 1-20

II 1-12 A Defence of his Conduct amongst them— The apologetic character of this description of his preaching is apparent in the praise of his own work and life among them.

1. ’not in vain’: neither hollow nor lacking in sincerity. 2. Cf.Acts 16:19 f. which relates their scourging and imprisonment.—’in much carefulness’: in much striving.

3. His motives for preaching were entirely pure and disinterested. He taught neither error nor indulgence of sexual passion nor did he use guile or deceit to attract converts.—’exhortation’: practically equals instruction.

5. ’occasion’: pretext, i.e. a pretended disinterestedness regarding money. /par/par7. ’been burdensome’: they might have claimed either special honour’ or ’the expenses’ of their board and lodging, cf. the proverb ’honos propter onus’.—’little ones’: the balance of textual evidence is slightly in favour of the Vg ’little ones’ (??p???) as against ’gentle’ (?p???). Because of the sudden change of metaphor, by which St Paul first describes himself as a babe and then in the next line as a nursing-mother, many would prefer ’gentle’. But the change of metaphor his Pauline and our present text should stand.—’a nurse’: he loves them like a mother and teaches them like a father (v 11). The true punctuation of 7-8 is uncertain.—9: cf.Acts 18:3; Philippians 4:15 f. 12. cf.Galatians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Corinthians 15:24, 1 Corinthians 15:50; 2 Thessalonians 1:5.—’kingdom’: the Kingdom of the Messias whose ’glory’ will be revealed at the end of the world. This Kingdom consists in an invisible sharing of the divine nature on earth, a sharing that will become visible and glorious in the definitive and eternal phase of God’s Kingdom.

13-16 Praise of their Behaviour: Condemnation of the Jews— 13. ’which worketh’, viz. the Word of God.

14. ’imitators’ of the Christian Churches in Judaea; by suffering persecution from their fellow-citizens and countrymen in Thessalonica; it was indeed an honour for them to suffer in such good company. The Judaean persecutions in question are probably those referred to in Acts 8:1 f.; 9:1-2; 12:1. 15-16. This outburst of St Paul’s against the Jews is not paralleled elsewhere and seems to have been evoked by their opposition to his work at Corinth as formerly at Thessalonica and Beroea.—’the prophets’: cf. Matthew 5:12; Matthew 23:34.—’adversaries to all men’: precisely because they do all in their power to prevent St Paul preaching to the pagan world. Nothing was so repugnant to them as the proclamation that they no longer had a monopoly of the Messianic Kingdom. ’to fill up’: cf.Matthew 23:32. When the pre-ordained measure of their sins has been filled to capacity (the process has been long drawn out) then retribution will fall suddenly. Whilst the time God allows to all men is a time for acquiring their measure of grace to those who repent, for the stiff-necked it is by their own fault a time for filling up the measure of their sins.—’the wrath of God’ is either the Day of Judgement, or the destruction of Jerusalem and the public rejection of the Jewish race, as foretold by Christ (Mt 24). The latter is more likely.—’is come upon them to the end’: the verb is proleptic, i.e. St Paul is so sure of the terrible penalty awaiting the Jews that he speaks as if it has already come upon them ’to the uttermost’.

17-III 10 St Paul’s anxiety about them until relieved by Timothy’s return. 17. ’have been anxious beyond measure to see your face’. 18. ’us’: here, Paul himself. 19. ’Coming’: the Parousia, the technical word used to signify the glorious coming of Christ at the end of the world; cf.Matthew 24:3 f.