1 and 2 Thessalonians, Volume 45

F. F. Bruce, Bruce M. Metzger, David Allen Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker, John D. W. Watts, James W. Watts, Ralph P. Martin, Lynn Allan Losie, Bruce M. Metzger, David Allen Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker, John D. W. Watts, James W. Watts, Ralph P. Martin, Lynn Allan Losie

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780310586371
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.

Overview of Commentary Organization

• Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology.
• Each section of the commentary includes:
• Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope.
• Translation—the author's own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English.
• Notes—the author's notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation.
• Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here.
• Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research.
• Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues.
  • General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliographycontains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.

The First Letter to the Thessalonians

Structure

1. 1. PRESCRIPT (1:1)
2. 2. THANKSGIVING (1:2–10)
3. 3. APOSTOLIC DEFENSE (2:1–12)
   1. (a) The Missionaries’ Visit (2:1–4)
   2. (b) The Missionaries’ Behavior (2:5–8)
   3. (c) The Missionaries’ Example (2:9–12)
4. 4. FURTHER THANKSGIVING (2:13–16)
5. 5. PLANS FOR A SECOND VISIT (2:17–3:13)
   1. (a) Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind (2:17–20)
   2. (b) Mission of Timothy (3:1–5)
   3. (c) Joy and Thanksgiving at Timothy’s Report (3:6–10)
   4. (d) First Wish-Prayer for the Thessalonian Christians (3:11–13)
6. 6. EXHORTATION (4:1–5:24)
   1. (a) On Keeping the Traditions (4:1, 2)
   2. (b) On Sexual Purity (4:3–8)
   3. (c) On Brotherly Love (4:9–12)
   4. (d) On the Faithful Departed (4:13–18)
   5. (e) On Times and Seasons (5:1–11)
   6. (f) On Recognition of Leaders (5:12, 13)
   7. (g) On Various Christian Duties (5:14–22)
   8. (h) Second Wish-Prayer for the Thessalonian Christians (5:23, 24)
7. 7. LETTER CLOSING (5:25–28)

Prescript (1 Thess 1:1)

Bibliography

Lohmeyer, E. “Probleme paulinischer Theologie. I. Briefliche Grussüberschriften.” ZNW 26 (1927) 158–173; with Friedrich, G. “Lohmeyers These über’das paulinische Briefpräskript’kritisch beleuchtet.” ZNW 46 (1955) 272–274. Roller, O. Das Formular der paulinischen Briefe: Ein Beitrag zur Lehre vom antiken Briefe. BWANT 4/6 (58). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1933. White, J. L. The Form and Function of the Body of the Greek Letter. SBL Dissertation Series, 2. Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1972.

Translation

1Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God thea Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace.b

Notes

a. ἡμῶν (“our”) added by A 81 pc lat^{a r vg.codd} cop^sa.codd.

b. ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ added by

A I byz lat^vg.codd syr^hcl** (from 2 Thess 1:2).

Form/Structure/Setting

The standard form of the initial salutation or prescript in ancient letters was “A to B, greetings.” Cf. Ezra 7:12, “Artaxerxes, king of kings, . . . to Ezra the priest, greetings”); Cicero, Epistulae ad Quintum fratrem, 1.2 (M. Cicero Q. fratri s[alutem], “Marcus Cicero to Quintus his brother, health”); P. Oxy. 119.1 (Θέων Θέωνι τῷ πατρὶ χαίρειν, “Theon to Theon his father, greetings”). Here A comprises the three names Paul, Silvanus and Timothy; B is “the church of the Thessalonians . . .”; the greetings take the form “grace to you and peace.” This is the shortest prescript among the Pauline homologoumena.

Comment

1:1. Παῦλος καὶ Σιλουανὸς καὶ Τιμόθεος, “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy.” The same three names appear in the prescript of 2 Thessalonians. It is not unusual to find Paul’s name combined with others in the prescripts of the Pauline letters; cf. Παῦλος . . . καὶ Σωσθένης ὁ ἀδελφός, “Paul . . . and Sosthenes the brother” (1 Cor 1:1); Παῦλος . . . και Τιμόθεος (2 Cor 1:1; similarly Phil 1:1; Col. 1:1; Phlm 1); Παῦλος . . . καὶ οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ πάντες ἀδελφοί, “Paul . . . and all the brothers with me” (Gal. 1:1, 2). Only in Romans, Ephesians and the Pastoral Letters does Paul’s name stand unaccompanied in the prescript.

Here the sequence of names may reflect seniority. But while Paul was the senior partner, the inclusion of the other two names need not be a matter of courtesy only: both Silvanus and Timothy, and especially Silvanus (see 3:2, with comment), may have participated responsibly in the composition of the letter.

Silvanus is mentioned in 2 Cor 1:19 as having shared with Paul and Timothy in the evangelization of Corinth, and the implication of the repeated “we” in this letter is that he similarly shared in the evangelization of Thessalonica. It is uncertain if he is identical with the Silvanus of 1 Pet 5:12. But it is certain that he is identical with the Silas of Acts. Silas was associated with Paul and Timothy in the evangelization of Thessalonica (Acts 17:1–9) and Corinth (Acts 18:5).

If further evidence may be adduced from Acts to fill in our knowledge of Silvanus, Silas was a member of the Jerusalem church, deputed (along with one Judas Barsabbas) to convey the letter containing the apostolic decree to Antioch (Acts 15:22, 27, 32). Not long afterward, he was coopted by Paul as his colleague for a missionary journey which took them from Antioch through Asia Minor to Alexandria Troas on the northwest coast of the peninsula and from there by sea to Macedonia, where he was involved in the evangelization of Philippi, Thessalonica and Beroea; later he rejoined Paul in Corinth. If it is a reasonable inference from Acts 16:37, where Paul describes Silas and himself as Ῥωμαῖοι, “Romans,” that Silas was a Roman citizen as well as Paul, then Silvanus might be his Roman cognomen, while Silas is a hypocoristic (as Epaphras to Epaphroditus) or else represents his Aramaic name (cf. Talmudic

, Palmyrene

).

Timothy receives more frequent mention in Paul’s letters. He was plainly an associate in whom Paul had complete confidence, entrusting him with responsible missions, e.g. to Thessalonica (3:2, 6), to Corinth (1 Cor 4:17; 16:10) and to Philippi (Phil 2:19). According to Acts he was a native of a South Galatian city (probably Lystra), the son of a Jewish mother and a Greek father, and was converted to Christianity during Barnabas and Paul’s first visit to that region. When Paul later revisited the region with Silas, he circumcised Timothy and took him along as a junior colleague. Timothy accompanied Paul and Silas on their journey to Macedonia (Acts 16:1–10; 17:14, 15) and later rejoined Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5). The picture of his companinonship with Paul in Acts is confirmed by Paul’s own account in Phil 2:20–22: “I have no one like him, who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare. . . . But Timothy’s worth you know, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.”

τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεσσαλονικέων, “to the church of the Thessalonians.” Paul’s earlier letters are explicitly addressed to churches (cf. 2 Thess 1:1; Gal 1:2; 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1), but his later letters to churches are variously addressed to “all God’s beloved . . . , called to be saints” (Rom 1:7); “all the saints” (Phil 1:1); “the saints and faithful brethren in Christ” (Col 1:2); “the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph 1:1). For “saints” see comment on 2 Thess 1:10.

ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ καὶ κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ, “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This phrase probably qualifies τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεσσαλονικέων. Classical usage would require τῇ to be repeated before ἐν θεῷ to maintain the phrase in the attributive position, but Hellenistic usage is less strict. The church of the Thessalonians has its being “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (cf. 2 Thess 1:1). We may compare the collocation of God and Christ in a similar expression in 2:14, τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ . . . ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ “the churches of God . . . in Christ Jesus”).

The noun ἐκκλησία, “church, assembly” would not have any sacral association in the minds of recent converts from paganism: hence it is qualified by words which declare plainly whose “assembly” it is to which the converts now belong. Gk. ἐκκλησία was quickly specialized among Gentile Christians to designate a company of believers in Jesus; its synonym συναγωγή, “synagogue” was increasingly reserved to denote a Jewish congregation. The phrase ἐκκλησία κυρίου is found occasionally in LXX to denote the people of Israel as “the assembly of the Lord” (Heb.

)—repeatedly so in the early part of Deut 23. But God’s ἐκκλησία in the New Testament age has no national frontiers; it comprises Jewish and Gentile believers without distinction.

Here, however, the believing community in Thessalonica is not called the church of God, but the church “in God.” This is an unusual expression in the Pauline corpus, where otherwise “in God” is used of boasting in God (Rom 2:17; 5:11) or of being hidden in God (Eph 3:9; Col 3:3). On the other hand, “in Christ,” “in Christ Jesus” or “in the Lord” is a characteristic Pauline expression, especially when it has “incorporative” force, pointing to believers’ participation in Christ’s risen life or their membership in his body. If this is the force of the words “in . . . the Lord Jesus Christ” here, then “in God the Father” must be understood in the same way. This is so uncharacteristic of Paul that Best (62) thinks the preposition ἐν must have instrumental force: “the Christian community brought into being by God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (The affirmation of Acts 17:28, “in him we live and move and have our being,” perhaps quoted from Epimenides of Crete, refers to the old creation and not to the new order of grace.) Possibly Silvanus rather than Paul is responsible for the present wording, which d...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Editorial Preface
• Author’s Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• The First Letter to the Thessalonians
• The Second Letter to the Thessalonians
• Indexes