1 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians 1
1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers, 3remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father. 4We know, brothers loved by God, that you are chosen, 5and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, 7so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out, so that we need not to say anything. 9For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
Commentary
No commentary on this chapter yet.
What others are saying
4 commentators · 32 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry3
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
In this introduction we have, I. The inscription, where we have, 1. The persons from whom this epistle came, or by whom it was written. Paul was the inspired apostle and writer of this epistle, though he makes no mention of his apostleship, which was not…
I. The apostle begins with thanksgiving to God. Being about to mention the things that were matter of joy to him, and highly praiseworthy in them, and greatly for their advantage, he chooses to do this by way of thanksgiving to God, who is the author of all…
In these words we have the evidence of the apostle's success among the Thessalonians, which was notorious and famous in several places. For, I. They were careful in their holy conversation to imitate the good examples of the apostles and ministers of Christ…
John Gill10
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus,.... These are the persons concerned in this epistle, and who send their greetings and salutations to this church; Paul was the inspired writer of it, and who is called by his bare name, without any additional epithet to it…
We give thanks to God always for you all,.... For all the members of this church, Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, greater or lesser believers, officers or private Christians; for their being a church, for the gifts bestowed on them, for the graces hereafter…
Remembering without ceasing,.... The phrase "without ceasing", is, by the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, joined to the last clause of the preceding verse; and the remembrance the apostle speaks of is either a distinct thing from the mention…
Adam Clarke10
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
Paul, and: Silvanus, and Timotheus - Though St. Paul himself dictated this letter, yet he joins the names of Silas and Timothy, because they had been with him at Thessalonica, and were well known there. See Act 17:4, Act 17:14. And Silvanus - This was…
We give thanks - See Phi 1:3, Phi 1:4, and Col 1:3; where the same forms of speech are used.
Your work of faith - This verse contains a very high character of the believers at Thessalonica. They had Faith, not speculative and indolent, but true, sound, and operative; their faith worked. They had Love, not that gazed at and became enamoured of the…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown9
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
(Rom 1:9; Ti2 1:3.) The structure of the sentences in this and the following verses, each successive sentence repeating with greater fulness the preceding, characteristically marks Paul's abounding love and thankfulness in respect to his converts, as if he…
work of faith--the working reality of your faith; its alacrity in receiving the truth, and in evincing itself by its fruits. Not an otiose assent; but a realizing, working faith; not "in word only," but in one continuous chain of "work" (singular, not plural…
Knowing--Forasmuch as we know. your election of God--The Greek is rather, "beloved by God"; so Rom 1:7; Th2 2:13. "Your election" means that God has elected you as individual believers to eternal life (Rom 11:5, Rom 11:7; Col 3:12; Th2 2:13).
World English Bible — Public domain