Preface to the First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessal
CLA_1TH.PDF, source PDF p. 3
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE
APOSTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.
THESSALONICA, now called by the Turks Salonichi, a mere corruption of its ancient name, is a seaport town of Turkey in Europe, situated on what was called the Thermaic Gulf, and was anciently the capital of Macedonia. According to Stephanus Byzantinus, it was embellished and enlarged by Philip, king of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, who called it Thessalonica, or the Victory of Thessalia, on account of the victory he obtained there over the Thessalians; prior to which it was called Thermæ. Strabo, Tzeizes, and Zonaras say that it obtained the name of Thessalonica from Thessalonica, wife of Cassander, and daughter of Philip. In 1431, it was taken from the Venetians by the Turks, in whose possession it still continues. It is still a large, rich, and populous city, being ten miles in circumference, and carrying on an extensive trade in silk, the principal merchants being Greek Christians and Jews.
Christianity has never been extinct in Thessalonica since the year 51 or 52, in which it was planted there by the Apostle Paul; see Acts 17, &c. It contains at present thirty churches belonging to the Greek Christians, and as many Jewish synagogues, besides some Mohammedan mosques. Thessalonica is the see of an archbishop; and is well fortified, being surrounded with walls flanked with towers, and defended on the land side by a citadel; and near the harbour, with three forts.
St. Paul, in company with Silas, first preached the Gospel in this city and the adjacent country, about A. D. 52 or 53. Though the Jews, who were sojourners in this city, rejected the Gospel in general, yet a great multitude of the devout Greeks, i.e., such as were proselytes to Judaism, or the descendants of Jewish parents, born and naturalized in Greece, believed and associated with Paul and Silas, and not a few of the chief women of the city embraced the Christian faith. Acts 17:4. As the Jews found that, according to the doctrine of the Gospel, the Gentiles were called to enjoy the same privileges with themselves, without being obliged to submit to circumcision and other ordinances of the law, they persecuted that Gospel, and those who proclaimed it; for, moved with indignation, they employed certain lewd fellows of the baser sort-the beasts of the people, set the city on an uproar, assaulted the house of Jason, where the apostles lodged, dragged him and certain brethren before the rulers, and charged them with seditious designs and treason against the Roman emperor! The apostles escaped, and got to Berea, where they began anew their important evangelical labours: thither the Jews of Thessalonica, pursuing them, raised a fresh tumult; so that the apostle, being counselled by the brethren, made his escape to Athens; Acts 17:5-15. Thus he followed the command of his Master: Being persecuted in one city, he fled to another; not to hide himself, but to proclaim, in every place, the saving truths of the Gospel of Christ.
It does not appear that St. Paul stayed long at Athens; he soon went thence to Corinth, where Timothy and Silas were, but probably not before Timothy met him, for whom he had sent, Acts 17:15, to come to him speedily; and whom, it appears, he sent immediately back to Thessalonica, to establish the believers there, and comfort them concerning the faith; 1 Thessalonians 3:2. While Paul abode at Corinth, Timothy and Silas came to him from Thessalonica, and hearing by them of the steadfastness of the Thessalonian converts in the faith of Christ, he wrote this epistle, and shortly after the second, to comfort and encourage them; to give them farther instructions in the doctrines of Christianity, and to rectify some mistaken views, relative to the day of judgment, which had been propagated amongst them. See the preface to the second epistle. Who the persons were who formed the apostolic Church at Thessalonica is not easy to determine. They were not Jews, for these in general persecuted the apostle and the Gospel in this place. We are therefore left to infer that the Church was formed, 1st, of Jewish proselytes, called, Acts 17:4, devout Greeks. And 2dly, of converts from heathenism; for, on the preaching of the Gospel to them, it is said; 1 Thessalonians 1:9, that they turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God. Though some of the Jews believed on the preaching of Paul and Silas, Acts 17:3, 4, yet it is evident that the great bulk of the Church was composed of Grecian proselytes and converts from heathenism. Hence we find in this epistle but few allusions to the Jews, and but few references to the peculiarities of their religious or civil institutions.
There is a remarkable reading in the text of Acts 17:4, which I neglected to quote in the note on that place: instead of των σεβομενων, ελληνων πολυ πληθος, of devout Greeks a great multitude; the Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Bezæ, both in the Greek and Latin, two others, with the Vulgate, read των σεβομενων και ἑλληνων, of the devout, i.e., those who worshipped the true God; AND of the Greeks, i.e., those who were previously heathens, a great multitude; so that, 1. Some few Jews; 2. A great number of those who acknowledged the true God; and 3. A great multitude of heathens, besides many of the chief women, received the doctrine preached by the apostle, and became members of the Church at Thessalonica. See Dr. Paley’s remarks on this various reading. The First Epistle to the Thessalonians is allowed on all hands to be the first epistle that St. Paul wrote to any of the Churches of God; and from it two things may be particularly noted: 1. That the apostle was full of the Spirit of love; 2. That the Church at Thessalonica was pure, upright, and faithful, as we scarcely find any reprehension in the whole epistle: the Thessalonian converts had FAITH that worked, a LOVE that laboured, and a HOPE which induced them to bear afflictions patiently and wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This epistle has been divided into different parts by commentators; but these are arbitrary, the apostle having made no division of this kind; for, although he treats of several subjects, yet he has not so distinguished them from each other as to show that he had any formal division in his mind. In the divisions imposed on this epistle by commentators we do not find two of them alike; a full proof that the apostle has made no divisions, else some of these learned men would have certainly found them out. Technical distinctions of this nature are of little use to a proper understanding of the contents of this epistle.
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLETO THE
THESSALONIANS.
Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.
-Year of the Constantinopolitan era of the world, or that used by the Byzantine historians, 5560.
-Year of the Alexandrian era of the world, 5554.
-Year of the Antiochian era of the world, 5544.
-Year of the Julian period, 4762.
-Year of the world, according to Archbishop Usher, 4056. -Year of the world, according to Eusebius, in his Chronicon, 4280. -Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, or that in common use, 3812. -Year of the Greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4411.
-Year from the Flood, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 2400.
-Year of the Cali yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3154. -Year of the era of Iphitus, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 992.
-Year of the era of Nabonassar, king of Babylon, 799.
-Year of the CCVIIth Olympiad, 4.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Fabius Pictor, 799. -Year from the building of Rome, according to Frontinus, 803. -Year from the building of Rome, according to the Fasti Capitolini, 804. -Year from the building of Rome, according to Varro, which was that most generally used, 805.
-Year of the era of the Seleucidæ, 364.
-Year of the Cæsarean era of Antioch, 100.
-Year of the Julian era, 97.
-Year of the Spanish era, 90.
-Year from the birth of Jesus Christ according to Archbishop Usher, 56. -Year of the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 52.
-Year of Ventidius Cumanus, governor of the Jews, 4.
-Year of Vologesus, king of the Parthians, 3.
-Year of Caius Numidius Quadratus, governor of Syria, 2. -Year of Ananias, high priest of the Jews, 8.
-Year of the Dionysian period, or Easter Cycle, 53.
-Year of the Grecian Cycle of nineteen years, or Common Golden Number, 15; or the first after the fifth embolismic.
-Year of the Jewish Cycle of nineteen years, 12, or the first after the fourth embolismic.
-Year of the Solar Cycle, 5.
-Dominical Letters, it being Bissextile, or Leap Year, BA. -Day of the Jewish Passover, according to the Roman computation of time, the Calends of April, i.e. April 1st, which happened in this year on the Jewish Sabbath.
-Easter Sunday, April 2.
-Epact, or the moon’s age on the 22d of March, or the Xth of the Calends of April, 4
-Epact, according to the present mode of computation, or the moon’s age on New Year’s day, or the Calends of January, 11.
-Monthly Epacts, or the moon’s age on the Calends of each month respectively, (beginning with January,) 11, 13, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 18, 20, 20.
-Number of Direction, or the number of days from the twenty-first of March (or the XIth of the Calends of April) to the Jewish Passover, 10. -Year of Claudius Cæsar, the fifth emperor of the Romans, 12. -Roman Consuls, Publius Cornelius Sylla Faustus, and Lucius Salvius, Otho Titianus; and for the following year, (which is by some supposed to be the date of this epistle,) Decimus Junius Silanus, and Quintus Haterius Antoninus.
Joseph Benson
Preface
BEN_VOL8.PDF, source PDF p. 316
FIRST EPISTLE TO THE
THESSALONIANS.
PREFACE
Of Thessalonica, and the first introduction of the gospel into that city, see notes on Acts 18:1-9. In St. Paul’s time it was the metropolis of all the countries comprehended in the Roman province of Macedonia. It was the residence of the proconsul who governed the province, and the questor who had the care of the emperor’s revenues. It was also the seat of the courts of justice, and the place where the affairs of the province were managed; and as it carried on an extensive commerce by its merchants, it was full of inhabitants, among whom were many philosophers and men of genius. To this city there was likewise a constant resort of strangers from various quarters, so that it was remarkable for the number, the wealth, and the learning of its inhabitants. But, like all other cities of the Greeks, it was in a state of deplorable ignorance as to matters of religion, and sunk in idolatry and all sorts of vice and wickedness. It therefore stood in peculiar need of that gospel which is designed to enlighten and reform the world. Hence, after the persecution at Philippi, the apostle, accompanied by Silas and Timothy, went directly to this city, with a view to call its inhabitants to repentance, and to faith in the Saviour of sinners. And as there was a Jewish synagogue in the city, he entered into it soon after his arrival, according to his custom, and three sabbath days reasoned with the Jews out of the Scriptures. His discourses, however, had not that success with the Jews which might have been expected, a few of them only believing; but a great number of religious proselytes embraced the truth, and were made new creatures in Christ Jesus, among whom were many women of the first distinction in the city. The greatest part, however, of the Thessalonian converts were such as had been idolatrous Gentiles, as appears from this epistle, in which he speaks to their church in general, as having “turned from idols to serve the living God.”
But St. Paul had not preached long in Thessalonica before the unbelieving Jews raised a tumult against him, Silas, and Timotheus; his success among the proselytes and idolatrous Gentiles having excited their indignation and envy. They gathered a company, and even brake into the house of Jason, where the apostle and his assistants lodged, intending to bring them forth to the people, that they might be put to death in the tumult. Divine Providence, however, preserved them; and the brethren, by night, sent them away to Berœa, a neighbouring city of note, where likewise they were instrumental of converting numbers of religious proselytes and idolatrous Gentiles, and even many of the Berœan Jews. But the Jews of Thessalonica, hearing of the success of the gospel in Berœa, hastened thither, and stirred up the idolatrous multitude, so that Paul was constrained to depart. Silas, however, and Timothy, not being so obnoxious to these Jews, abode there still. In this flight from Thessalonica the apostle was accompanied by some of the Berœan brethren, who conducted him to Athens, and who, when they departed, carried his order to Timothy to come to him forthwith; which he did, but was soon sent back by the apostle to Thessalonica, to exhort and comfort the new converts there.
St. Paul, meeting with little success at Athens, left that place before Timothy returned from Thessalonica, and went forward to Corinth, the chief city of the province of Achaia, where he was soon made the happy instrument of converting many to the faith of Christ, and of establishing a large and flourishing Christian church. He had not been long at Corinth when Timothy came to him from Thessalonica, (Acts 18:5,) and, no doubt, gave him such an account of affairs there, as made him sensible that his presence was greatly wanted in that city. But the success which attended his preaching rendering it improper for him to leave Corinth at that time, to supply the want of his presence, he immediately wrote to the Thessalonian brethren this epistle, (the first of all the epistles which he wrote,) in which he doubtless treated of those matters which would have made the subject of his discourses had he been present with them. From these facts and circumstances, all which are related in the history of the Acts, it appears that this first epistle to the Thessalonians was written, not from Athens, as is said in the interpolated postscript at the end of the epistle, but from Corinth, not long after the publication of Claudius’s edict against the Jews, mentioned Acts 18:2, about A.D. 54. As to the design of this epistle, Dr. Macknight supposes that the apostle’s principal object in writing it was to prove the divine authority of Christianity, by a regular chain of arguments, in answer to some objections which the heathen philosophers had advanced against the gospel; but this supposition, as Mr. Scott justly observes, seems to be “grounded on a mistaken notion that the philosophers deigned, at so early a period, to enter into a regular disputation with the Christians, when, in fact, they derided them as enthusiasts, and their doctrine as foolishness.” But though there seems little probability that the apostle intended this epistle to be a regular defence of the Christian religion, yet it furnishes us with four convincing arguments of its divine original. For it proves, “1. That many and great miracles were wrought by the preachers of the gospel, professedly for the purpose of demonstrating that they were commissioned by God to preach it to the world. 2. That the apostles and their assistants, by preaching the gospel, brought upon themselves, everywhere, all manner of present evils, without obtaining the least worldly advantage, either in possession or in prospect: that in preaching this new doctrine they did not, in any respect, accommodate it to the prevailing inclinations of their hearers, nor encourage them in their vicious practices: that they used none of the base arts peculiar to impostors for gaining belief, but that their manner of preaching and acting was in all respects suitable to the character of missionaries from God; so that, on account of their personal character, they were entitled to the highest credit as teachers. 3. That the first preachers of the gospel delivered to their disciples, from the very beginning, precepts of the greatest strictness and holiness; so that by the sanctity of its precepts, the gospel is shown to be a scheme of religion every way worthy of the true God, and highly beneficial to mankind. 4. That Jesus, the author of our religion, was declared to be the Son of God, and the Judge of the world, by his resurrection from the dead; and that by the same miracle his own promise, and the predictions of his apostles concerning his return from heaven, to reward the righteous and punish the wicked, especially them who obey not his gospel, are rendered absolutely certain.” To these arguments in proof of the gospel revelation little can be added, as the same writer observes, except what arises from the fulfilment of the Old Testament predictions; and therefore the very same arguments have, since the apostle’s days, been often urged by those who have undertaken the defence of the Christian religion. But it is proper to remark, that, “in the mouth of the apostle and his assistants, these arguments have double weight; for the miracles, the character, and the precepts to which they have appealed were not those of other persons, but their own. And as in this epistle they have affirmed, in the most direct terms, that the Thessalonians were eye-witnesses of the miracles which they wrought for the confirmation of the gospel, and that they knew the sanctity both of their manners and of their precepts, no doubt can be entertained of these things. For it is not to be supposed that three men of common understanding would have joined in writing after this manner to such numerous societies as the Thessalonian church, and the other churches in which they ordered this epistle to be read, unless the things which they affirm were done in their presence had really been true. And if they are true, there can be no doubt that Paul and his assistants were commissioned of God, and that the gospel which they preached is of divine original, and of universal obligation.”
There is, however, no satisfactory evidence that the apostle, in writing this epistle, had any such thing in view as to prove the truth of Christianity by a regular chain of argument against the heathen philosophers. His chief design rather was to confirm the faith and hope of the Thessalonian believers, and to prevent their being shaken by the persecutions they met with, and to engage them, from what they had already suffered in the cause of Christ, and the extraordinary character they had hitherto maintained, to make still greater advances in the holy religion which they had embraced. Accordingly, after the inscription and benediction, (1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2,) he, I. Celebrates the grace of God toward them, verses 3-10. II. He reminds them of the courage and fidelity with which he had preached the gospel at his first entrance among them, in spite of all the danger to which his zeal had exposed him, and appeals to them for the unexceptionable and disinterested manner in which he had conducted himself, and the tender affection and concern he had always manifested for their spiritual interests, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12. III. He acknowledges the happy success which had attended his labours in their conversion to the Christian faith, which they had openly and courageously professed, notwithstanding the persecutions to which they were thereby exposed; observing that he himself, and his fellow-Christians in Judea, had met with the same ill treatment from the perverseness of their own countrymen; and assuring them, that though he had been unwillingly detained from them longer than he intended, his affection for them was not decreased, but that he still rejoiced in them as his glory and his crown, verses 13-20. IV. He assigns the reason of his sending Timothy to them, and speaks of the great comfort he had received from the pleasing account which Timothy had given of them, adding that he was continually praying for their further increase and establishment in grace, and for an opportunity of making them another visit, chap. 3. V. He proceeds to renew the practical exhortations he had given them while he continued with them; recommending especially chastity, in opposition to all kinds of uncleanness; justice, in opposition to all manner of fraud and dishonesty; charity, in which he acknowledges they had already excelled; and a diligent application to their proper business, joined with a prudent behaviour toward their heathen neighbours, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12. VI. To comfort them under the loss of some of their Christian friends, he assures them that those who were fallen asleep in Jesus should be raised again at the last day, and, together with those that remained alive, should be caught up to meet the Lord, and share his triumph. And, having thus laid a foundation on which to build their hope, he takes occasion to urge the necessity of preparing for so awful an event, that it might not take them unawares; representing the peculiar obligations they were under to sobriety and watchfulness, from the superior light and knowledge they enjoyed, verse 13 to 1 Thessalonians 5:11. Lastly, he recommends to them a respectful behaviour to their ministers, and gives some directions for their conduct toward persons of different tempers and characters in the church, adding other practical precepts of a more general nature; and having offered up a solemn petition for their perfect sanctification and preservation in holiness, he concludes with his usual benediction, verses 12-28.
It appears from Acts 20:1, 2, that St. Paul afterward visited Thessalonica, but we find nothing more in the Scriptures respecting this church except the second epistle which the apostle wrote to it. Christianity, however, has never been quite extinct in that city since it was first planted there by St. Paul. There are in it at present thirty Christian churches belonging to the Greek Christians, about forty Jewish synagogues, and forty-eight Mohammedan mosques. The city, being now under the dominion of the Turks, is called by them “Salonichi,” which is a corruption of its ancient name.
Daniel Whedon
Introduction to First Thessalonians.
WHD_CO13.PDF, source PDF p. 504
1 THESSALONIANS
INTRODUCTION TO FIRST THESSALONIANS.
FIRST written of St. Paul’s thirteen apostolical epistles, it stands first in those editions of the Greek Testament, like Wetstein’s and Wordsworth’s, which give the epistles in chronological order. It exhibits the freshness of the apostle’s manhood in its style. It deals with the earlier foes of his preaching, the pagans and the hostile Jews, not with the later, the Judaizers and the Gnostics. It states glowingly the first principles of the blessed gospel; it teaches by vivid picture the doctrine of the resurrection, the advent, and the retribution; but enters into no full elaborations, like the epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Corinthians. It is not only in time Paul’s earliest epistle, but it is in freshness, simplicity, and vigour, his youngest epistle.
Thessalonica was St. Paul’s second European Church. Of his first entrance there, after his shameful inflictions at Philippi; his holy life, arduous manual labour, and impressive preaching; his descriptions of Christ’s second advent, so vivid as to create its “ideal presence” in the imagination of his hearers; his exaltation of Christ on the throne of the world so lofty as to provoke the mobocrats to arraign him before the Demos on charge of treason against Cesar; and of his final discharge on bail by Jason, obliging his exile from the city, the brief history is given in Acts 17:4-9, where see our Notes.
The TIME of the writing of the epistle (as noted Acts 18:5) was but a few months after this banishment. His Thessalonian converts were inscribed upon his memory. He left Silas to sustain them, and sent Timothy to examine, and report to him, their state. He passed by sea to Athens, thence to Corinth, and there waited the coming of Timothy to learn the fate of his young Church. The joyful report brought by this “son in the gospel,” narrating persecutions indeed, yet persecutions heroically endured, inspired the apostle to take up his pen. Hence his whole letter consists, first, of an exulting retrospective history of their Christian birth, life, and triumphs;
Plan of the Epistle.
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and, second, of a prospective encouragement and confirmation of their Christian future.
And this city and Church were destined to a great history in the future. It was a great metropolis under the power of Rome, in the age of St. Paul. Looking down upon the Thermaic Gulf from her central position, Thessalonica commanded a large share of the commerce of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Her Christianity was adorned with learning, doctrine, and wide-swaying power. She was for ages the eastern bulwark of the faith. Long and bravely did she maintain the contest against the invasions of Mohammedan conquest; and Christian Europe was dismayed to the center when, in 1430, it was announced: “Thessalonica has fallen!” Under the diminished name of Saloniki she is the second city of European Turkey, containing 70,000 inhabitants. Even at this day the majority of her population is said to be Christians of the Greek Church. Both of the Epistles to the Thessalonians are to be numbered, as Eusebius rightly affirms, and even Renan confesses, among Paul’s undoubted productions. They are found in the earliest translations, the Peshito and the Itala, and in the earliest catalogue, Muratori’s. Though not very certainly quoted by the earliest fathers, they are quoted with great clearness in the earliest golden age of Christian literature by Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria. The internal evidence, arising from the true Pauline mind and style pervading the epistles, the vivid picture they afford of this early Church, and the clear yet occult coincidences with the Acts of the Apostles, are conclusive. Their genuineness is conclusively maintained against the captious objections of one or two extreme assailants by Lunemann, Alford and Gloag.
3. Exhortation to composure in regard to lately deceased brethren, since they will not be overlooked at Christ’s coming, now vividly described 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
4. The second advent, though not at hand, will be a sudden surprise to those upon whom it does come 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Adam Clarke
Preface to the First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessal
CLA_1TH.PDF, source PDF p. 3
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE
APOSTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.
THESSALONICA, now called by the Turks Salonichi, a mere corruption of its ancient name, is a seaport town of Turkey in Europe, situated on what was called the Thermaic Gulf, and was anciently the capital of Macedonia. According to Stephanus Byzantinus, it was embellished and enlarged by Philip, king of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, who called it Thessalonica, or the Victory of Thessalia, on account of the victory he obtained there over the Thessalians; prior to which it was called Thermæ. Strabo, Tzeizes, and Zonaras say that it obtained the name of Thessalonica from Thessalonica, wife of Cassander, and daughter of Philip. In 1431, it was taken from the Venetians by the Turks, in whose possession it still continues. It is still a large, rich, and populous city, being ten miles in circumference, and carrying on an extensive trade in silk, the principal merchants being Greek Christians and Jews.
Christianity has never been extinct in Thessalonica since the year 51 or 52, in which it was planted there by the Apostle Paul; see Acts 17, &c. It contains at present thirty churches belonging to the Greek Christians, and as many Jewish synagogues, besides some Mohammedan mosques. Thessalonica is the see of an archbishop; and is well fortified, being surrounded with walls flanked with towers, and defended on the land side by a citadel; and near the harbour, with three forts.
St. Paul, in company with Silas, first preached the Gospel in this city and the adjacent country, about A. D. 52 or 53. Though the Jews, who were sojourners in this city, rejected the Gospel in general, yet a great multitude of the devout Greeks, i.e., such as were proselytes to Judaism, or the descendants of Jewish parents, born and naturalized in Greece, believed and associated with Paul and Silas, and not a few of the chief women of the city embraced the Christian faith. Acts 17:4. As the Jews found that, according to the doctrine of the Gospel, the Gentiles were called to enjoy the same privileges with themselves, without being obliged to submit to circumcision and other ordinances of the law, they persecuted that Gospel, and those who proclaimed it; for, moved with indignation, they employed certain lewd fellows of the baser sort-the beasts of the people, set the city on an uproar, assaulted the house of Jason, where the apostles lodged, dragged him and certain brethren before the rulers, and charged them with seditious designs and treason against the Roman emperor! The apostles escaped, and got to Berea, where they began anew their important evangelical labours: thither the Jews of Thessalonica, pursuing them, raised a fresh tumult; so that the apostle, being counselled by the brethren, made his escape to Athens; Acts 17:5-15. Thus he followed the command of his Master: Being persecuted in one city, he fled to another; not to hide himself, but to proclaim, in every place, the saving truths of the Gospel of Christ.
It does not appear that St. Paul stayed long at Athens; he soon went thence to Corinth, where Timothy and Silas were, but probably not before Timothy met him, for whom he had sent, Acts 17:15, to come to him speedily; and whom, it appears, he sent immediately back to Thessalonica, to establish the believers there, and comfort them concerning the faith; 1 Thessalonians 3:2. While Paul abode at Corinth, Timothy and Silas came to him from Thessalonica, and hearing by them of the steadfastness of the Thessalonian converts in the faith of Christ, he wrote this epistle, and shortly after the second, to comfort and encourage them; to give them farther instructions in the doctrines of Christianity, and to rectify some mistaken views, relative to the day of judgment, which had been propagated amongst them. See the preface to the second epistle. Who the persons were who formed the apostolic Church at Thessalonica is not easy to determine. They were not Jews, for these in general persecuted the apostle and the Gospel in this place. We are therefore left to infer that the Church was formed, 1st, of Jewish proselytes, called, Acts 17:4, devout Greeks. And 2dly, of converts from heathenism; for, on the preaching of the Gospel to them, it is said; 1 Thessalonians 1:9, that they turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God. Though some of the Jews believed on the preaching of Paul and Silas, Acts 17:3, 4, yet it is evident that the great bulk of the Church was composed of Grecian proselytes and converts from heathenism. Hence we find in this epistle but few allusions to the Jews, and but few references to the peculiarities of their religious or civil institutions.
There is a remarkable reading in the text of Acts 17:4, which I neglected to quote in the note on that place: instead of των σεβομενων, ελληνων πολυ πληθος, of devout Greeks a great multitude; the Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Bezæ, both in the Greek and Latin, two others, with the Vulgate, read των σεβομενων και ἑλληνων, of the devout, i.e., those who worshipped the true God; AND of the Greeks, i.e., those who were previously heathens, a great multitude; so that, 1. Some few Jews; 2. A great number of those who acknowledged the true God; and 3. A great multitude of heathens, besides many of the chief women, received the doctrine preached by the apostle, and became members of the Church at Thessalonica. See Dr. Paley’s remarks on this various reading. The First Epistle to the Thessalonians is allowed on all hands to be the first epistle that St. Paul wrote to any of the Churches of God; and from it two things may be particularly noted: 1. That the apostle was full of the Spirit of love; 2. That the Church at Thessalonica was pure, upright, and faithful, as we scarcely find any reprehension in the whole epistle: the Thessalonian converts had FAITH that worked, a LOVE that laboured, and a HOPE which induced them to bear afflictions patiently and wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This epistle has been divided into different parts by commentators; but these are arbitrary, the apostle having made no division of this kind; for, although he treats of several subjects, yet he has not so distinguished them from each other as to show that he had any formal division in his mind. In the divisions imposed on this epistle by commentators we do not find two of them alike; a full proof that the apostle has made no divisions, else some of these learned men would have certainly found them out. Technical distinctions of this nature are of little use to a proper understanding of the contents of this epistle.
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLETO THE
THESSALONIANS.
Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.
-Year of the Constantinopolitan era of the world, or that used by the Byzantine historians, 5560.
-Year of the Alexandrian era of the world, 5554.
-Year of the Antiochian era of the world, 5544.
-Year of the Julian period, 4762.
-Year of the world, according to Archbishop Usher, 4056. -Year of the world, according to Eusebius, in his Chronicon, 4280. -Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, or that in common use, 3812. -Year of the Greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4411.
-Year from the Flood, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 2400.
-Year of the Cali yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3154. -Year of the era of Iphitus, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 992.
-Year of the era of Nabonassar, king of Babylon, 799.
-Year of the CCVIIth Olympiad, 4.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Fabius Pictor, 799. -Year from the building of Rome, according to Frontinus, 803. -Year from the building of Rome, according to the Fasti Capitolini, 804. -Year from the building of Rome, according to Varro, which was that most generally used, 805.
-Year of the era of the Seleucidæ, 364.
-Year of the Cæsarean era of Antioch, 100.
-Year of the Julian era, 97.
-Year of the Spanish era, 90.
-Year from the birth of Jesus Christ according to Archbishop Usher, 56. -Year of the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 52.
-Year of Ventidius Cumanus, governor of the Jews, 4.
-Year of Vologesus, king of the Parthians, 3.
-Year of Caius Numidius Quadratus, governor of Syria, 2. -Year of Ananias, high priest of the Jews, 8.
-Year of the Dionysian period, or Easter Cycle, 53.
-Year of the Grecian Cycle of nineteen years, or Common Golden Number, 15; or the first after the fifth embolismic.
-Year of the Jewish Cycle of nineteen years, 12, or the first after the fourth embolismic.
-Year of the Solar Cycle, 5.
-Dominical Letters, it being Bissextile, or Leap Year, BA. -Day of the Jewish Passover, according to the Roman computation of time, the Calends of April, i.e. April 1st, which happened in this year on the Jewish Sabbath.
-Easter Sunday, April 2.
-Epact, or the moon’s age on the 22d of March, or the Xth of the Calends of April, 4
-Epact, according to the present mode of computation, or the moon’s age on New Year’s day, or the Calends of January, 11.
-Monthly Epacts, or the moon’s age on the Calends of each month respectively, (beginning with January,) 11, 13, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 18, 20, 20.
-Number of Direction, or the number of days from the twenty-first of March (or the XIth of the Calends of April) to the Jewish Passover, 10. -Year of Claudius Cæsar, the fifth emperor of the Romans, 12. -Roman Consuls, Publius Cornelius Sylla Faustus, and Lucius Salvius, Otho Titianus; and for the following year, (which is by some supposed to be the date of this epistle,) Decimus Junius Silanus, and Quintus Haterius Antoninus.
Joseph Benson
Preface
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FIRST EPISTLE TO THE
THESSALONIANS.
PREFACE
Of Thessalonica, and the first introduction of the gospel into that city, see notes on Acts 18:1-9. In St. Paul’s time it was the metropolis of all the countries comprehended in the Roman province of Macedonia. It was the residence of the proconsul who governed the province, and the questor who had the care of the emperor’s revenues. It was also the seat of the courts of justice, and the place where the affairs of the province were managed; and as it carried on an extensive commerce by its merchants, it was full of inhabitants, among whom were many philosophers and men of genius. To this city there was likewise a constant resort of strangers from various quarters, so that it was remarkable for the number, the wealth, and the learning of its inhabitants. But, like all other cities of the Greeks, it was in a state of deplorable ignorance as to matters of religion, and sunk in idolatry and all sorts of vice and wickedness. It therefore stood in peculiar need of that gospel which is designed to enlighten and reform the world. Hence, after the persecution at Philippi, the apostle, accompanied by Silas and Timothy, went directly to this city, with a view to call its inhabitants to repentance, and to faith in the Saviour of sinners. And as there was a Jewish synagogue in the city, he entered into it soon after his arrival, according to his custom, and three sabbath days reasoned with the Jews out of the Scriptures. His discourses, however, had not that success with the Jews which might have been expected, a few of them only believing; but a great number of religious proselytes embraced the truth, and were made new creatures in Christ Jesus, among whom were many women of the first distinction in the city. The greatest part, however, of the Thessalonian converts were such as had been idolatrous Gentiles, as appears from this epistle, in which he speaks to their church in general, as having “turned from idols to serve the living God.”
But St. Paul had not preached long in Thessalonica before the unbelieving Jews raised a tumult against him, Silas, and Timotheus; his success among the proselytes and idolatrous Gentiles having excited their indignation and envy. They gathered a company, and even brake into the house of Jason, where the apostle and his assistants lodged, intending to bring them forth to the people, that they might be put to death in the tumult. Divine Providence, however, preserved them; and the brethren, by night, sent them away to Berœa, a neighbouring city of note, where likewise they were instrumental of converting numbers of religious proselytes and idolatrous Gentiles, and even many of the Berœan Jews. But the Jews of Thessalonica, hearing of the success of the gospel in Berœa, hastened thither, and stirred up the idolatrous multitude, so that Paul was constrained to depart. Silas, however, and Timothy, not being so obnoxious to these Jews, abode there still. In this flight from Thessalonica the apostle was accompanied by some of the Berœan brethren, who conducted him to Athens, and who, when they departed, carried his order to Timothy to come to him forthwith; which he did, but was soon sent back by the apostle to Thessalonica, to exhort and comfort the new converts there.
St. Paul, meeting with little success at Athens, left that place before Timothy returned from Thessalonica, and went forward to Corinth, the chief city of the province of Achaia, where he was soon made the happy instrument of converting many to the faith of Christ, and of establishing a large and flourishing Christian church. He had not been long at Corinth when Timothy came to him from Thessalonica, (Acts 18:5,) and, no doubt, gave him such an account of affairs there, as made him sensible that his presence was greatly wanted in that city. But the success which attended his preaching rendering it improper for him to leave Corinth at that time, to supply the want of his presence, he immediately wrote to the Thessalonian brethren this epistle, (the first of all the epistles which he wrote,) in which he doubtless treated of those matters which would have made the subject of his discourses had he been present with them. From these facts and circumstances, all which are related in the history of the Acts, it appears that this first epistle to the Thessalonians was written, not from Athens, as is said in the interpolated postscript at the end of the epistle, but from Corinth, not long after the publication of Claudius’s edict against the Jews, mentioned Acts 18:2, about A.D. 54. As to the design of this epistle, Dr. Macknight supposes that the apostle’s principal object in writing it was to prove the divine authority of Christianity, by a regular chain of arguments, in answer to some objections which the heathen philosophers had advanced against the gospel; but this supposition, as Mr. Scott justly observes, seems to be “grounded on a mistaken notion that the philosophers deigned, at so early a period, to enter into a regular disputation with the Christians, when, in fact, they derided them as enthusiasts, and their doctrine as foolishness.” But though there seems little probability that the apostle intended this epistle to be a regular defence of the Christian religion, yet it furnishes us with four convincing arguments of its divine original. For it proves, “1. That many and great miracles were wrought by the preachers of the gospel, professedly for the purpose of demonstrating that they were commissioned by God to preach it to the world. 2. That the apostles and their assistants, by preaching the gospel, brought upon themselves, everywhere, all manner of present evils, without obtaining the least worldly advantage, either in possession or in prospect: that in preaching this new doctrine they did not, in any respect, accommodate it to the prevailing inclinations of their hearers, nor encourage them in their vicious practices: that they used none of the base arts peculiar to impostors for gaining belief, but that their manner of preaching and acting was in all respects suitable to the character of missionaries from God; so that, on account of their personal character, they were entitled to the highest credit as teachers. 3. That the first preachers of the gospel delivered to their disciples, from the very beginning, precepts of the greatest strictness and holiness; so that by the sanctity of its precepts, the gospel is shown to be a scheme of religion every way worthy of the true God, and highly beneficial to mankind. 4. That Jesus, the author of our religion, was declared to be the Son of God, and the Judge of the world, by his resurrection from the dead; and that by the same miracle his own promise, and the predictions of his apostles concerning his return from heaven, to reward the righteous and punish the wicked, especially them who obey not his gospel, are rendered absolutely certain.” To these arguments in proof of the gospel revelation little can be added, as the same writer observes, except what arises from the fulfilment of the Old Testament predictions; and therefore the very same arguments have, since the apostle’s days, been often urged by those who have undertaken the defence of the Christian religion. But it is proper to remark, that, “in the mouth of the apostle and his assistants, these arguments have double weight; for the miracles, the character, and the precepts to which they have appealed were not those of other persons, but their own. And as in this epistle they have affirmed, in the most direct terms, that the Thessalonians were eye-witnesses of the miracles which they wrought for the confirmation of the gospel, and that they knew the sanctity both of their manners and of their precepts, no doubt can be entertained of these things. For it is not to be supposed that three men of common understanding would have joined in writing after this manner to such numerous societies as the Thessalonian church, and the other churches in which they ordered this epistle to be read, unless the things which they affirm were done in their presence had really been true. And if they are true, there can be no doubt that Paul and his assistants were commissioned of God, and that the gospel which they preached is of divine original, and of universal obligation.”
There is, however, no satisfactory evidence that the apostle, in writing this epistle, had any such thing in view as to prove the truth of Christianity by a regular chain of argument against the heathen philosophers. His chief design rather was to confirm the faith and hope of the Thessalonian believers, and to prevent their being shaken by the persecutions they met with, and to engage them, from what they had already suffered in the cause of Christ, and the extraordinary character they had hitherto maintained, to make still greater advances in the holy religion which they had embraced. Accordingly, after the inscription and benediction, (1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2,) he, I. Celebrates the grace of God toward them, verses 3-10. II. He reminds them of the courage and fidelity with which he had preached the gospel at his first entrance among them, in spite of all the danger to which his zeal had exposed him, and appeals to them for the unexceptionable and disinterested manner in which he had conducted himself, and the tender affection and concern he had always manifested for their spiritual interests, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12. III. He acknowledges the happy success which had attended his labours in their conversion to the Christian faith, which they had openly and courageously professed, notwithstanding the persecutions to which they were thereby exposed; observing that he himself, and his fellow-Christians in Judea, had met with the same ill treatment from the perverseness of their own countrymen; and assuring them, that though he had been unwillingly detained from them longer than he intended, his affection for them was not decreased, but that he still rejoiced in them as his glory and his crown, verses 13-20. IV. He assigns the reason of his sending Timothy to them, and speaks of the great comfort he had received from the pleasing account which Timothy had given of them, adding that he was continually praying for their further increase and establishment in grace, and for an opportunity of making them another visit, chap. 3. V. He proceeds to renew the practical exhortations he had given them while he continued with them; recommending especially chastity, in opposition to all kinds of uncleanness; justice, in opposition to all manner of fraud and dishonesty; charity, in which he acknowledges they had already excelled; and a diligent application to their proper business, joined with a prudent behaviour toward their heathen neighbours, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12. VI. To comfort them under the loss of some of their Christian friends, he assures them that those who were fallen asleep in Jesus should be raised again at the last day, and, together with those that remained alive, should be caught up to meet the Lord, and share his triumph. And, having thus laid a foundation on which to build their hope, he takes occasion to urge the necessity of preparing for so awful an event, that it might not take them unawares; representing the peculiar obligations they were under to sobriety and watchfulness, from the superior light and knowledge they enjoyed, verse 13 to 1 Thessalonians 5:11. Lastly, he recommends to them a respectful behaviour to their ministers, and gives some directions for their conduct toward persons of different tempers and characters in the church, adding other practical precepts of a more general nature; and having offered up a solemn petition for their perfect sanctification and preservation in holiness, he concludes with his usual benediction, verses 12-28.
It appears from Acts 20:1, 2, that St. Paul afterward visited Thessalonica, but we find nothing more in the Scriptures respecting this church except the second epistle which the apostle wrote to it. Christianity, however, has never been quite extinct in that city since it was first planted there by St. Paul. There are in it at present thirty Christian churches belonging to the Greek Christians, about forty Jewish synagogues, and forty-eight Mohammedan mosques. The city, being now under the dominion of the Turks, is called by them “Salonichi,” which is a corruption of its ancient name.
Daniel Whedon
Introduction to First Thessalonians.
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1 THESSALONIANS
INTRODUCTION TO FIRST THESSALONIANS.
FIRST written of St. Paul’s thirteen apostolical epistles, it stands first in those editions of the Greek Testament, like Wetstein’s and Wordsworth’s, which give the epistles in chronological order. It exhibits the freshness of the apostle’s manhood in its style. It deals with the earlier foes of his preaching, the pagans and the hostile Jews, not with the later, the Judaizers and the Gnostics. It states glowingly the first principles of the blessed gospel; it teaches by vivid picture the doctrine of the resurrection, the advent, and the retribution; but enters into no full elaborations, like the epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Corinthians. It is not only in time Paul’s earliest epistle, but it is in freshness, simplicity, and vigour, his youngest epistle.
Thessalonica was St. Paul’s second European Church. Of his first entrance there, after his shameful inflictions at Philippi; his holy life, arduous manual labour, and impressive preaching; his descriptions of Christ’s second advent, so vivid as to create its “ideal presence” in the imagination of his hearers; his exaltation of Christ on the throne of the world so lofty as to provoke the mobocrats to arraign him before the Demos on charge of treason against Cesar; and of his final discharge on bail by Jason, obliging his exile from the city, the brief history is given in Acts 17:4-9, where see our Notes.
The TIME of the writing of the epistle (as noted Acts 18:5) was but a few months after this banishment. His Thessalonian converts were inscribed upon his memory. He left Silas to sustain them, and sent Timothy to examine, and report to him, their state. He passed by sea to Athens, thence to Corinth, and there waited the coming of Timothy to learn the fate of his young Church. The joyful report brought by this “son in the gospel,” narrating persecutions indeed, yet persecutions heroically endured, inspired the apostle to take up his pen. Hence his whole letter consists, first, of an exulting retrospective history of their Christian birth, life, and triumphs;
Plan of the Epistle.
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and, second, of a prospective encouragement and confirmation of their Christian future.
And this city and Church were destined to a great history in the future. It was a great metropolis under the power of Rome, in the age of St. Paul. Looking down upon the Thermaic Gulf from her central position, Thessalonica commanded a large share of the commerce of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Her Christianity was adorned with learning, doctrine, and wide-swaying power. She was for ages the eastern bulwark of the faith. Long and bravely did she maintain the contest against the invasions of Mohammedan conquest; and Christian Europe was dismayed to the center when, in 1430, it was announced: “Thessalonica has fallen!” Under the diminished name of Saloniki she is the second city of European Turkey, containing 70,000 inhabitants. Even at this day the majority of her population is said to be Christians of the Greek Church. Both of the Epistles to the Thessalonians are to be numbered, as Eusebius rightly affirms, and even Renan confesses, among Paul’s undoubted productions. They are found in the earliest translations, the Peshito and the Itala, and in the earliest catalogue, Muratori’s. Though not very certainly quoted by the earliest fathers, they are quoted with great clearness in the earliest golden age of Christian literature by Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria. The internal evidence, arising from the true Pauline mind and style pervading the epistles, the vivid picture they afford of this early Church, and the clear yet occult coincidences with the Acts of the Apostles, are conclusive. Their genuineness is conclusively maintained against the captious objections of one or two extreme assailants by Lunemann, Alford and Gloag.
PLAN OF THE EPISTLE.
PART FIRST.
Retrospective and Historical 1 Thessalonians 1:3-3:13
1. Recollections of the Thessalonians’ Christian faithfulness 1 Thessalonians 1:3-10
2. Retrospect of the Apostle’s first incoming to Thessalonica 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12
3. Thessalonica’s reception and faithful retention of St. Paul’s gospel 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16
4. St. Paul’s anxiety to revisit the Thessalonians, but failure hitherto 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20
5. St. Paul sending Timothy (from Athens?) to visit and confirm his 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5
6. Timothy’s return and report; and St. Paul’s consequent feeling and present prayer for them 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13 PART SECOND.
Prospective and Hortatory 1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:28
1. Exhortation to sanctification 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
2. Exhortation to brotherly love and quietness 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
3. Exhortation to composure in regard to lately deceased brethren, since they will not be overlooked at Christ’s coming, now vividly described 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
4. The second advent, though not at hand, will be a sudden surprise to those upon whom it does come 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
5. Closing charges and admonitions, and farewell 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
a. Fulfilment of churchly duties 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 b. Duty of Christian joy 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 c. Precepts touching supernaturalisms 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22