Page 460 - Demo

This letter begins with the same words as the rst letter to the Thessalonians, but it is quite di erent in its content. Some have suggested that perhaps this letter is addressed to Jewish Christians in Thessalonica rather than to Gentiles, the recipients of the rst letter.
The author thanks God that
the Thessalonian Christians continue to grow in faith and love, in spite of the di culties
and su ering they are going through. The author lets them know that they continue to be an example for other churches.
Fresco, on the theme of the Last Judgment, from the o Medieval Monastery, founded in 1487. The frescoes were added in 1547.
a. [1:1] 1 Thes 1:1.
b. [1:3] 1 Cor 1:4; 1 Thes 1:2; 3:12.
c. [1:5] Phil 1:28; 1 Thes 2:12.
d. [1:8] Ps 79:5–6; Is 66:15; Jer 10:25.
e. [1:9] Is 2:10, 19, 21.
f. [1:10]Ps89:8;Dn7:18–22,27;1Thes3:13. g. [1:11] 1 Thes 1:2–3.
h. [1:12] Is 66:5.
448
 THESSALONIANS 
I. ADDRESS
1Greeting.*
1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in
a2
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace
from God [our] Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving. 3* We ought to thank God always for you, brothers, as is tting, because your faith ourishes ever more, and the love of every one of you for one another grows ever greater.b 4Accordingly, we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God regarding your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and the a ictions you endure.
5This is evidence of the just judgment of God, so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are su ering.c 6For it is surely just on God’s part to repay with a ictions those who are a icting you, 7and to grant rest along with us to you who are undergoing a ictions, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his mighty angels, 8in blazing re, in icting punishment on those who do not acknowledge God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.d 9These will pay the penalty of eternal ruin, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power,e 10when he comes to be glori ed among his holy ones* and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, for our testimony to you was believed.f
Prayer. 11To this end, we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to ful llment every good purpose and every e ort of faith,g 12* that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glori ed in you, and you in him,h in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.
* [1:1–2] On the address, see note on Rom 1:1–7 and cf. 1 Thes 1:1.
* [1:3–12] On the thanksgiving, see note on Rom 1:8 and cf. 1 Thes 1:2–10. Paul’s gratitude to
God for the faith and love of the Thessalonians (2 Thes 1:3) and his Christian pride in their faithful endurance (2 Thes 1:4–5) contrast with the condemnation announced for those who a ict them, a judgment to be carried out at the parousia (2 Thes 1:6–10), which is described in vivid language drawn from Old Testament apocalyptic. A prayer for the ful llment of God’s purpose in the Thessalonians (2 Thes 1:11–12) completes the section, as is customary in a Pauline letter (cf. 1 Thes 1:2–3).
* [1:10] Among his holy ones: in the Old Testament, this term can refer to an angelic throng (cf. also Jude 14), but here, in parallel with among all who have believed, it can refer to the triumphant people of God.
* [1:12] The grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ: the Greek can also be translated, “the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”