@1Th 2:1-20. HIS MANNER OF PREACHING, AND THEIRS OF RECEIVING, THE GOSPEL; HIS DESIRE TO HAVE REVISITED THEM FRUSTRATED BY SATAN.
1. For--confirming @1Th 1:9. He discusses the manner of his
fellow missionaries' preaching among them (@1Th 1:5, and former part
of @1Th 2:9) at @1Th 2:1-12; and the Thessalonians' reception of
the word (compare @1Th 1:6,7, and latter part of @1Th 2:9) at
@1Th 2:13-16.
yourselves--Not only do strangers report it, but you know it to
be true [ALFORD] "yourselves."
not in vain--Greek, "not vain," that is, it was full of "power"
(@1Th 1:5). The Greek for "was," expresses rather "hath been and
is," implying the permanent and continuing character of his
preaching.
2. even after that we had suffered before--at Philippi
(@Ac 16:11-40): a circumstance which would have deterred mere
natural, unspiritual men from further preaching.
shamefully entreated--ignominiously scourged (@Ac 16:22,23).
bold--(@Ac 4:29 Eph 6:20).
in our God--The ground of our boldness in speaking was the
realization of God as "OUR God."
with much contention--that is, literally, as of
competitors in a contest: striving earnestness (@Col 1:29 2:1).
But here outward conflict with persecutors, rather than inward and mental, was what the missionaries had to endure
(@Ac 17:5,6 Php 1:30).
3. For--The ground of his "boldness" (@1Th 2:2), his freedom
from all "deceit, uncleanness, and guile"; guile, before God,
deceit (Greek, "imposture"), towards men
(compare @2Co 1:12 2:17 Eph 4:14);
uncleanness, in relation to one's self
(impure motives of carnal self-gratification in gain, @1Th 2:5), or
lust; such as actuated false teachers of the Gentiles
(@Php 1:16 2Pe 2:10,14 Jude 1:8 Re 2:14,15). So Simon Magus and
Cerinthus taught [ESTIUS].
exhortation--The Greek means "consolation" as well as
"exhortation." The same Gospel which exhorts comforts. Its first lesson
to each is that of peace in believing amidst outward and inward sorrows.
It comforts them that mourn (compare @1Th 2:11 Isa 61:2,3 2Co 1:3,4).
of--springing from--having its source in--deceit, &c.
4. as--according as; even as.
allowed--Greek, "We have been approved on trial," "deemed fit."
This word corresponds to "God which trieth our hearts" below. This
approval as to sincerity depends solely on the grace and mercy of God
(@Ac 9:15 1Co 7:25 2Co 3:5 1Ti 1:11,12).
not as pleasing--not as persons who seek to please men; characteristic
of false teachers (@Ga 1:10).
5. used we flattering words--literally, "become (that is, have we been
found) in
(the use of) language of flattery"; the resource of those who
try to "please men."
as ye know--"Ye know" as to whether I flattered you; as to
"covetousness," GOD, the Judge of the heart, alone can be "my witness."
cloak of--that is, any specious guise under which I might cloak
"covetousness."
6. Literally, "Nor of men (have we been found, @1Th 2:5) seeking
glory." The "of" here represents a different Greek word from "of" in
the clause "of you . . . of others."
ALFORD makes the former
(Greek, "ex") express the abstract ground of the glory; the
latter (apo) the concrete object from which it was to come. The
former means "originating from"; the latter means "on the part of." Many
teach heretical novelties, though not for fain, yet for "glory." Paul
and his associates were free even from this motive [GROTIUS],
(@Joh 5:44).
we might have been burdensome--that is, by claiming maintenance
(@1Th 2:9 2Co 11:9 12:16 2Th 3:8). As, however, "glory" precedes, as
well as "covetousness," the reference cannot be restricted to the
latter, though I think it is not excluded. Translate, "when we might
have borne heavily upon you," by pressing you
with the weight of self-glorifying authority, and
with the burden of our sustenance. Thus the antithesis is
appropriate in the words following, "But we were gentle (the
opposite of pressing weightily) among you"
(@1Th 2:7). On
weight being connected with authority, compare Note,
see on 2Co 10:10, "His letters
are weighty" (@1Co 4:21).
ALFORD'S translation, which excludes reference to his right of
claiming maintenance ("when we might have stood on our
dignity"), seems to me disproved by @1Th 2:9, which uses
the same Greek word unequivocally for "chargeable." Twice he
received supplies from Philippi while at Thessalonica (@Php 4:16).
as the apostles--that is, as being apostles.
7. we were--Greek, "we were made" by God's grace.
gentle--Greek, "mild in bearing with the faults of others"
[TITTMANN]; one, too, who is gentle (though firm) in reproving the
erroneous opinions of others (@2Ti 2:24). Some of the oldest
manuscripts read, "we became little children" (compare
@Mt 18:3,4). Others support the English Version reading, which
forms a better antithesis to @1Th 2:6,7, and harmonizes better with
what follows; for he would hardly, in the same sentence, compare himself
both to the "infants" or "little children," and to "a nurse," or rather,
"suckling mother." Gentleness is the fitting characteristic of
a nurse.
among you--Greek, "in the midst of you," that is, in our
intercourse with you being as one of yourselves.
nurse--a suckling mother.
her--Greek, "her own children" (compare @1Th 2:11). So
@Ga 4:19.
8. So--to be joined to "we were willing"; "As a nurse
cherisheth . . . so we were willing," &c.
[ALFORD]. But
BENGEL,
"So," that is, seeing that we have such affection for you.
being affectionately desirous--The oldest reading in the Greek implies, literally, to connect one's self with another; to be closely
attached to another.
willing--The Greek is stronger, "we were well content"; "we
would gladly have imparted," &c."even our own lives" (so the
Greek for "souls" ought to be translated); as we showed in the
sufferings we endured in giving you the Gospel (@Ac 17:1-34). As a
nursing mother is ready to impart not only her milk to them, but her
life for them, so we not only imparted gladly the spiritual milk of the
word to you, but risked our own lives for your spiritual nourishment,
imitating Him who laid down His life for His friends, the greatest proof
of love (@Joh 15:13).
ye were--Greek, "ye were become," as having become our spiritual
children.
dear--Greek, "dearly beloved."
9. labour and travail--The Greek for "labor" means
hardship in bearing; that for "travail," hardship in doing; the
former, toil with the utmost solicitude; the latter, the being wearied
with fatigue [GROTIUS].
ZANCHIUS refers the former to spiritual (see
@1Th 3:5), the latter to manual labor. I would translate,
"weariness (so the Greek is translated, @2Co 11:27) and travail"
(hard labor, toil).
for--omitted in the oldest manuscripts.
labouring--Greek, "working," namely, at tent-making (@Ac 18:3).
night and day--The Jews reckoned the day from sunset to sunset, so
that "night" is put before "day" (compare @Ac 20:31). Their labors
with their hands for a scanty livelihood had to be engaged in not only
by day, but by night also, in the intervals between spiritual labors.
because we would not be chargeable--Greek, "with a view to not burdening any of you" (@2Co 11:9,10).
preached unto you--Greek, "unto and among you." Though but "three
Sabbaths" are mentioned, @Ac 17:2, these refer merely to the time of
his preaching to the Jews in the synagogue. When rejected by them as
a body, after having converted a few Jews, he turned to the Gentiles; of
these (whom he preached to in a place distinct from the synagogue) "a
great multitude believed" (@Ac 17:4, where the oldest manuscripts
read, "of the devout [proselytes] and Greeks a great multitude"); then
after he had, by labors continued among the Gentiles for some time,
gathered in many converts, the Jews, provoked by his success, assaulted
Jason's house, and drove him away. His receiving "once and again"
supplies from Philippi, implies a longer stay at Thessalonica than three
weeks (@Php 4:16).
10. Ye are witnesses--as to our outward conduct.
God--as to our inner motives.
holily--towards God.
justly--towards men.
unblamably--in relation to ourselves.
behaved ourselves--Greek, "were made to be," namely, by God.
among you that believe--rather, "before (that is, in the eyes
of) you that believe"; whatever we may have seemed in the eyes of the
unbelieving. As @1Th 2:9 refers to their outward occupation in the
world; so @1Th 2:10, to their character among believers.
11. exhorted and comforted--Exhortation leads one to do a thing
willingly; consolation, to do it joyfully
[BENGEL], (@1Th 5:14).
Even in the former term, "exhorted," the Greek includes the
additional idea of comforting and advocating one's cause:
"encouragingly exhorted." Appropriate in this case, as the Thessalonians
were in sorrow, both through persecutions, and also through deaths of
friends (@1Th 4:13).
charged--"conjured solemnly," literally, "testifying";
appealing solemnly to you before God.
every one of you--in private (@Ac 20:20), as well as publicly.
The minister, if he would be useful, must not deal merely in
generalities, but must individualize and particularize.
as a father--with mild gravity. The Greek is,
"his own children."
12. worthy of God--"worthy of the Lord" (@Col 1:10); "worthily
of the saints" (@Ro 16:2, Greek): ". . . of the Gospel"
(@Php 1:27) ". . . of the vocation wherewith ye are called"
(@Eph 4:1). Inconsistency would cause God's name to be "blasphemed
among the Gentiles" (@Ro 2:24). The Greek article is emphatical,
"Worthy of THE God who is calling you."
hath called--So one of the oldest manuscripts and Vulgate. Other
oldest manuscripts, "Who calleth us."
his kingdom--to be set up at the Lord's coming.
glory--that ye may share His glory (@Joh 17:22 Col 3:4).
13. For this cause--Seeing ye have had such teachers
(@1Th 2:10-12)
[BENGEL], "we also (as well as 'all that believe' in
Macedonia and Achaia) thank God without ceasing
('always' . . . 'in our prayers,' @1Th 1:2),
that when ye received the word of God which ye
heard from us (literally, 'God's word of hearing from us,'
@Ro 10:16,17), ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, even as
it is truly, the word of God." ALFORD omits the "as" of
English Version. But the "as" is required by the clause, "even as
it is truly." "Ye accepted it, not (as) the word of men (which it
might have been supposed to be), but (as) the word of God,
even as it really is." The Greek for the first "received,"
implies simply the hearing of it; the Greek of the second is
"accepted," or "welcomed" it. The proper object of faith, it hence
appears, is the word of God, at first oral, then for security
against error, written (@Joh 20:30,31 Ro 15:4 Ga 4:30). Also, that
faith is the work of divine grace, is implied by Paul's
thanksgiving.
effectually worketh also in you that believe--"Also," besides your
accepting it with your hearts, it evidences itself in your lives. It
shows its energy in its practical effects on you; for instance,
working in you patient endurance in trial (@1Th 2:14; compare
@Ga 3:5 5:6).
14. followers--Greek, "imitators." Divine working is most of
all seen and felt in affliction.
in Judea--The churches of Judea were naturally the patterns to other
churches, as having been the first founded, and that on the very scene
of Christ's own ministry. Reference to them is specially appropriate
here, as the Thessalonians, with Paul and Silas, had experienced from
Jews in their city persecutions (@Ac 17:5-9) similar to those which
"the churches in Judea" experienced from Jews in that country.
in Christ Jesus--not merely "in God"; for the synagogues of the Jews
(one of which the Thessalonians were familiar with, @Ac 17:1) were
also in God. But the Christian churches alone were not only
in God, as the Jews in contrast to the Thessalonian idolaters were,
but also in Christ, which the Jews were not.
of your own countrymen--including primarily the Jews settled at
Thessalonica, from whom the persecution originated, and also the
Gentiles there, instigated by the Jews; thus, "fellow countrymen" (the
Greek term, according to Herodian, implies, not the enduring relation of fellow citizenship, but sameness of country
for the time being), including naturalized Jews and native
Thessalonians, stand in contrast to the pure "Jews" in Judea
(@Mt 10:36). It is an undesigned coincidence, that Paul at this time
was suffering persecutions of the Jews at Corinth, whence he writes
(@Ac 18:5,6,12); naturally his letter would the more vividly dwell
on Jewish bitterness against Christians.
even as they--(@Heb 10:32-34). There was a likeness in
respect to the nation from which both suffered, namely, Jews, and
those their own countrymen; in the cause for which, and in the
evils which, they suffered, and also in the steadfast manner in
which they suffered them. Such sameness of fruits, afflictions, and
experimental characteristics of believers, in all places and at all
times, is a subsidiary evidence of the truth of the Gospel.
15. the Lord Jesus--rather as Greek,
"Jesus THE
LORD." This
enhances the glaring enormity of their sin, that in killing Jesus they
killed the LORD (Compare @Ac 3:14,15).
their own--omitted in the oldest manuscripts.
prophets--(@Mt 21:33-41 23:31-37 Lu 13:33).
persecuted us--rather as Greek (see Margin), "By persecution
drove us out" (@Lu 11:49).
please not God--that is, they do not make it their aim to please
God. He implies that with all their boast of being God's peculiar
people, they all the while are "no pleasers of God," as certainly as, by
the universal voice of the world, which even they themselves cannot
contradict, they are declared to be perversely "contrary to all men."
JOSEPHUS [Against Apion, 2.14], represents one calling them
"Atheists and Misanthropes, the dullest of barbarians"; and
TACITUS
[Histories, 5.5], "They have a hostile hatred of all other men."
However, the contrariety to all men here meant is, in that they "forbid us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved"
(@1Th 2:16).
16. Forbidding--Greek, "Hindering us from speaking," &c.
to fill up their sins alway--Tending thus "to the filling up (the
full measure of, @Ge 15:16 Da 8:23 Mt 23:32) their sins at all
times," that is, now as at all former times. Their hindrance of the
Gospel preaching to the Gentiles was the last measure added to their
continually accumulating iniquity, which made them fully ripe for
vengeance.
for--Greek, "but." "But," they shall proceed no further, for
(@2Ti 3:8) "the" divine "wrath has (so the Greek) come upon
(overtaken unexpectedly; the past tense expressing the speedy certainty
of the divinely destined stroke) them to the uttermost"; not merely
partial wrath, but wrath to its full extent, "even to the finishing
stroke" [EDMUNDS].
The past tense implies that the fullest visitation of
wrath was already begun. Already in
A.D. 48, a tumult had occurred at
the Passover in Jerusalem, when about thirty thousand (according to
some) were slain; a foretaste of the whole vengeance which speedily
followed (@Lu 19:43,44 21:24).
17. But we--resumed from @1Th 2:13; in contrast to the Jews, @1Th 2:15,16.
taken--rather as Greek, "severed (violently, @Ac 17:7-10)
from you," as parents bereft of their children. So "I will not leave you
comfortless," Greek, "orphanized" (@Joh 14:18).
for a short time--literally, "for the space of an hour." "When we
had been severed from you but a very short time (perhaps alluding to the
suddenness of his unexpected departure), we the more abundantly
(the shorter was our separation; for the desire of meeting again is the more
vivid, the more recent has been the parting) endeavored," &c.
(Compare @2Ti 1:4).
He does not hereby, as many explain, anticipate a short
separation from them, which would be a false anticipation; for he did
not soon revisit them. The Greek past participle also forbids their
view.
18. Wherefore--The oldest manuscripts read, "Because," or "Inasmuch
as."
we would--Greek, "we wished to come"; we intended to come.
even I Paul--My fellow missionaries as well as myself wished to
come; I can answer for myself that I intended it more than once. His
slightly distinguishing himself here from his fellow missionaries, whom
throughout this Epistle he associates with himself in the plural,
accords with the fact that Silvanus and Timothy stayed at Berea when
Paul went on to Athens; where subsequently Timothy joined him, and was
thence sent by Paul alone to Thessalonica (@1Th 3:1).
Satan hindered us--On a different occasion "the Holy Ghost, the
Spirit of Jesus" (so the oldest manuscripts read), @Ac 16:6,7,
forbad or hindered them in a missionary design; here it is Satan, acting perhaps by wicked men, some of whom had already driven him out of
Thessalonica (@Ac 17:13,14; compare @Joh 13:27), or else by some
more direct "messenger of Satan--a thorn in the flesh" (@2Co 12:7;
compare @2Co 11:14). In any event, the Holy Ghost and the providence
of God overruled Satan's opposition to further His own purpose. We cannot, in each case, define whence hindrances in good undertakings
arise; Paul in this case, by inspiration, was enabled to say; the
hindrance was from Satan. GROTIUS thinks Satan's mode of hindering
Paul's journey to Thessalonica was by instigating the Stoic and
Epicurean philosophers to cavil, which entailed on Paul the necessity of
replying, and so detained him; but he seems to have left Athens
leisurely (@Ac 17:33,34 18:1). The Greek for "hindered" is
literally, "to cut a trench between one's self and an advancing foe, to
prevent his progress"; so Satan opposing the progress of the
missionaries.
19. For--giving the reason for his earnest desire to see them.
Are not even ye in the presence of . . . Christ--"Christ" is omitted
in the oldest manuscripts. Are not even ye (namely, among others; the
"even" or "also," implies that not they alone will be his crown) our
hope, joy, and crown of rejoicing before Jesus, when He shall come
(@2Co 1:14 Php 2:16 4:1)? The "hope" here meant is his hope
(in a lower sense), that these his converts might be found in Christ at His
advent (@1Th 3:13). Paul's chief "hope" was
JESUS
CHRIST (@1Ti 1:1).
20. Emphatical repetition with increased force. Who but ye and our other converts are our hope, &c., hereafter, at Christ's coming? For it is ye who ARE now our glory and joy.