Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
Two main sources help determine the letter’s date and circumstances. One is the letter’s first major section (1.2–3.13), in which Paul comments on his experience during the Macedonian mission (cf. Phil 4.16). The second, Acts 17.1–10, recounts Paul’s activity in Thessalonica. Acts and 1 Thessalonians disagree on several key points, including the length of Paul’s stay in Thessalonica and his outreach to the Jewish community, which Acts describes as a regular part of Paul’s missionary strategy but which the letter does not mention. This and other discrepancies between Paul’s writing and Acts—and the presumption that Paul writing about his own actions is more likely to be accurate than the author of Acts reporting about him—raise questions about the historical reliability of Acts. Both Acts and 1 Thessalonians, however, report Paul’s difficulties during his mission in Macedonia as well as his desire to support the churches he founded.
INTERPRETATION
The epistle first describes Paul’s general concern, perhaps exacerbated by his trials (2.18; 3.4,7), about how the church has fared since he left Thessalonica. After the formal address, Paul devotes three chapters to reviewing his relationship with the Thessalonians. He thanks God and praises the Thessalonians for their faithfulness. He reminds them of their time together and expresses how he had worried about them. Driven by lack of information and unable to go himself, he sends Timothy to the new church. Paul mentions Athens in 3.1, perhaps indicating that he wrote from there. However, it is more likely that he was in Athens when he dispatched Timothy, and then traveled to Corinth, where Timothy rejoined him. Timothy returns with a positive report (3.6–7), and Paul immediately writes this letter, primarily to encourage the Thessalonians to remain steadfast in their faith as they await the parousia (the “second coming” or return of Jesus to judge and rule) and, secondarily, to clarify and reinforce the matters of belief and conduct that Timothy has noted.
Paul’s relief on hearing good news from Timothy sets the stage for chs 4–5, in which Paul looks to the future and instructs the Thessalonians regarding the behavior that will enable believers to be saved when Jesus returns. Paul encourages the Thessalonians to continue to live according to God’s demands. He focuses on sexual morality, sobriety, and the maintenance of good relations both within the Thessalonian community and with other churches. He also urges them to live a simple and unobtrusive life.
Paul then turns to a number of questions about the parousia. Members of the church had died before Jesus’ return: if they were dead, how could they experience salvation? Paul reassures the Thessalonians that believers who had died would be resurrected on the “day of the Lord”—the new age when the kingdom of God would be established—to participate in the promised salvation. Paul then warns readers to avoid speculation about the date of the second coming, to live according to God’s will, and to trust that they will be saved because of their faith. The letter closes with a prayer for the salvation of the Thessalonians. A few months later, Paul writes a second letter to the Thessalonians.
David Fox Sandmel
1
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
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We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly
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remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
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For we know, brothers and sisters
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beloved by God, that he has chosen you,
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because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake.
6
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit,
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so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
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For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it.
9
For the people of those regions
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report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
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and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.
2
You yourselves know, brothers and sisters,
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that our coming to you was not in vain,
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but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition.
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For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery,
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but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts.
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As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed;
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nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others,
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though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle
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among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.
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So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.
DIATRIBE AGAINST THE JEWS
This passage (2.14–16) reflects Paul’s perspective on the tension between Jews who did not accept Jesus as messiah and the early followers of Jesus, whether Jews or Gentiles. These verses present a succinct summary of classical Christian anti-Judaism: the Jews killed Jesus, persecuted his followers, and threw them out of the synagogues; they are xenophobic and sinners, and God has rejected and punished them. The harshness of these words raises questions about Paul’s attitude toward his fellow Jews.
Because the Greek word for Jews, “Ioudaioi,” means both “Jews” and “Judeans,” Paul’s wrath may be directed at this geographically limited group. (See essay, “Ioudaios,” p.
524
.) Even were this Paul’s intention, neither the Thessalonian Gentile Christians nor later readers would grasp this distinction.
Some scholars argue that these verses are an interpolation: they are not consistent with Paul’s comments about Jews in Romans 9–11 nor are they integral to the letter; were they excised, the narrative flow would not be affected. However, no ancient manuscript excludes these verses, and they fit logically and stylistically into the epistle’s context. Paul elsewhere uses strong language about his opponents consistent with his apocalyptic worldview of the struggle between good and evil (e.g., Gal 5.2–26; 2 Thess 1.5–12). Thus, Pauline authorship of these verses should be presumed.
This passage has implications for the emergence of anti-Judaism in the Christian tradition. If Paul wrote these words, then he is inextricably associated with the promulgation of anti-Judaism, regardless of his intentions. The debate over Pauline authorship does not alter the role these verses have played in forming Christian attitudes towards Jews.
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You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters;
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we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
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You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers.
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As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children,
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urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
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We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.
14
For you, brothers and sisters,
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became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews,
15
who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets,
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and drove us out; they displease God and oppose everyone
16
by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been filling up the measure of their sins; but God’s wrath has overtaken them at last.
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17
As for us, brothers and sisters,
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when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you—in person, not in heart—we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face.
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For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again—but Satan blocked our way.
19
For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
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Yes, you are our glory and joy!
3
Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens;
2
and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming
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the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith,
3
so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for.
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In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know.
5
For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain.
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But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us— just as we long to see you.
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For this reason, brothers and sisters,
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during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith.
8
For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord.
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How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?
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Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
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Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.
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And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.
13
And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
4
Finally, brothers and sisters,
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we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more.
2
For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication;
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that each one of you know how to control your own body
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in holiness and honor,
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not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
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that no one wrong or exploit a brother or sister
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in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.
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For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness.
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Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.