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Acts 18:12-18, Bromiley and others date it no “later than 51.” Based on Acts 18:1, 5; 1 Thess. 1:8, Carson and Moo
15
16
date it “in AD 50.” External evidence, based on finding an inscription “in Delphi in 1906;” containing “a letter” by
Claudius “to Gallio,” which “dates the” reign of Gallio to “August, A.D 52,” and dates Paul’s date of writing to AD
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52. The best conjecture on the date of writing should be between 50 and 52 A.D. during Paul’s Second Missionary

Journey (Acts 15:36—18:22).

About the City
The city itself was populated by a large group of Gentiles. But the city also attracted Jewish merchants of

the dispersion from Jerusalem and they had established a synagogue within it (Acts 17:1). It was a free city ruled by
its own council of citizens. Since 146 BC it was established as the seat of the Roman government for Macedonia.

The city was known as the “mother of Macedonia.” The city was administered by five officials called “politarchs.”
(Acts 17:6). The presence of the synagogue offered Paul an obvious place to begin sharing the Gospel. He shared

with the Jewish groups that the Messiah must suffer and be raised from the dead and that Jesus Christ is the
Messiah. For three consecutive Sabbaths Paul spoke at the synagogue but met with strong Jewish resistance. Paul

then, as was his custom, turned away from sharing with the Jews, and began to preach the Gospel to the Gentile
majority in the city.

We know Paul was by trade a tent maker. He probably engaged in his trade to provide necessary funds for
his own keep and that of Silas. Upon his departure from the city, Paul left a sizable thriving church of believers

fresh from their heathen idolatry (I Thess. 1:9). Therefore, he was probably in Thessalonica for some time, more
than a couple of weeks.

Addressees

The letter was written “to the church of the Thessalonians. . .” (1 Thess. 1:1b). Based on Dr. Luke’s account,

the majority of believers in the church at Thessalonica appear to be Greeks [Acts 17:4; cf. 1 Thess. 1:9b]). Leon
Morris maintained also that “the largest group among the converts was thus derived from the Gentiles.”
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Commenting on the response to the proclamation of good news to the Thessalonians, Gene L. Green explains that

15 Geoffrey W. Bromiley, et al., eds., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Illustrated in Four Volumes, Vol. 4:
Q-Z, Fully Rev. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), 833.

nd
16 Carson and Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament, 2 ed., 543.
17 Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 833.

18 Leon Morris, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The First and Second Epistles to the
Thessalonians, eds. Ned B. Stonehouse, F.F. Bruce, and Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1991), 4.

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