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I Thessalonians
Paul wrote this on his second missionary journey in the South of Greece when Timothy brought him the news that the Church in Thessalonica was very confused on a number of doctrinal issues.
Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia in Greece. It was famous as a wealthy city and had a great seaport.
This epistle is Eschatological (references future things - prophesy) in nature - Second Advent or the rapture. This is the only Pauline epistle without any Old Testament citations and indicates the Church in Thessalonica is probably a purely 'Gentile' church. It is FILLED with doctrine. And, it discusses the oral teaching of the apostles - which had divine authority until the canon was completed.
I and II Thessalonians were Paul's first letters. They are both Eschatological in nature. Eschatological means "a belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment."
Paul uses a number of Greek words that are technical in their use. Each is very important for the mature believer to understand.
Every Koine Greek verb and participle has a tense, voice, and mood. They make a great difference in understanding the action of the sentence. See www.blueletterbible.org for a good on-line reference.
Chapter
1
1a~~
Paul {Saul Paulus of Tarsus} [Paulos]
and
Silas [kai Silouanos]
{Silvanus - a member of Paul's missionary team and
a scribe mentioned in I Peter 5:12}
and
Timothy [kai Timotheos]
{Timotheos - another member of Paul's team. Timothy
was a pastor-teacher and initially "weak". Paul had
to deal stearnly with him but he grows to become a
very mature believer and leader of the early Church},
[unto]
the church of the Thessalonians
[ekklesia Thessalonikeus]
in/by/with
[en]
God
the Father [Theos Pater]
and
[kai]
the
Lord Jesus Christ. [Kurios Iesous Christos]
1b~~
Grace
[charis - Plan of God - all God can do
for you]
[to]
you,
and
[kai] peace
[eirene - inner happiness],
from
the ultimate source of [apo]
God
our Father,
[Theos hemon Pater]
and
[kai] the Lord Jesus Christ.
[Kurios Iesous Christos]
2~~
We thank
[eucharisteo (present active indicative)]
The
God [Theos]
always
concerning you all,
[pantote peri humon pas]
ourselves
making mention
[poieo (present middle participle)
mneia]
of
you [humon]
upon/in
[epi] our prayers.
[hemon proseuche]
3~~Always
remembering habitually
[mnemoneuo (present active participle) adialeiptos -
means "with the rapidity of a hacking cough"]
your
"Divine Good Production"
[humon ergon (its "good" use)]
from
the source of faith/doctrine,
[pistis]
and
[kai] "intense labor united with trouble" [kopos]
of
"impersonal agape type love" [agape]
and
patience/"'honorable endurance under pressure"
[hupomone - see Romans
5:3]
of
hope/"absolute confidence"
[elpis]
of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
[hemon Kurios Iesous Christos ]
"in
the sight/presence of" God
[emprosthen Theos]
and
our Father.
[kai hemon Pater]
4~~
"Knowing from experience with results that last forever"
[oida (perfect
active participle)]
brethren
[adelphos] . . .
{adelphos - brother - fellow "family members" in the
Family of God}
"loved
in the past from the ultimate source of God
with
the result that we are agape loved by God (based on Who and
what He is) . . . forever" . . .
[agape (perfect passive participle) apo Theos]
your
election/choice. [ekloge]
5a~~Because/That
[hoti]
our
gospel/'good news'
[hemon euaggelion]
absolutely
did not come/"become what it was not before"
[ouk ginomai - aorist
passive indicative]
to/toward
[eis] you [humas]
in/by/with
[en] word only [logos monon],
but,
in contrast, [alla]
also/and/even
[kai]
in/by/with
[en] "inner power" . . . [dunamis]
also/and/even
[kai]
in/by/with
[en] the Holy Spirit [hagios pneuma]
. . .
also/and/even
[kai]
much/many
"full assurance"/"full conviction".
[polus plerophoria]
5b~~"Just
as"/"According as" [kathos]
you
know with results that are permanent
[oida (perfect active indicative)]
"what
kind of [men]"/"what manner of [men]" [hoios]
we
became
[ginomai
(aorist passive indicative)]
in/by/with/among
[en] you [humin]
"for
your sake"/on account of you". [dia humas]
[Note: In the following verses, we learn that the kind of men they became were teachers of doctrine. They taught students who eventually became teachers themselves. Indigenous peoples respond best to people of their own race and culture. It is best for foreigners to teach local teachers who then teach their own people.]
6~~And,
[kai]
having
received ourselves the Word
{Paul taught them doctrine - they were his students}
[dechomai (aorist middle participle - the action of the participle
precedes that of the main verb)]
in/by/with/"in
the sphere of" [en ]
much/many
pressures/adversity
[polus thlipsis]
"accompanied
by"/with [meta]
the
"inner happiness"/joy [chara]
of
the Holy Spirit . . . [hagios pneuma]
you
"became what you were not before"
[humeis
ginomai (aorist passive indicative)]
imitators
[mimetes - a "mime" comes from this word]
of
us and of the Lord.
[hemon kai Kurios]
[Note: One of the purposes of Jesus' 1st Incarnation was to act as our "prototype" or "copy-head". He studied and developed pure Divine Viewpoint. He then applied that to His life's experiences. We are to learn the "doctrines of Jesus" and allow His Thinking to guide our lives also. We are to "imitate" Him.]
7~~So
then [hoste]
you
[were] to become yourself what you were not before
[ginomai (aorist middle infinitive)]
an
example/"blueprint" [tupos]
[a pattern or mold to follow - Jesus learned and applied Divine
viewpoint to His "Way" of life - we are to follow His Way]
[to]
all believing
[pas pisteuo (present active participle)]
in/by/with
[en] Macedonia
[Makedonia - a country bounded on the south by Thessaly
and Epirus, on the east by Thrace and the Aegean Sea,
on the west by Illyria, and on the North by Dardania and Moesia]
and
[kai] Achaia.
[Achaia - in a restricted sense, the maritime region of northern
Peloponnesus. In a broader sense, a Roman province embracing
all Greece except Thessaly.]
8~~For
. . . [gar]
from
the ultimate source of you [apo humon]
{they taught people who taught people who taught others} . . .
"a sound/report went out with results that last forever" .
. .
[execheomai (perfect passive indicative)]
the
Word of the Lord [logos Kurios]
absolutely
not [ouk] only [monon]
in/by/with
[en] Macedonia and [kai] Achaia
but,
in contrast also/and . . . [alla kai]
in
every place . . .
{they Turned the World upside down - Acts 17:6 -
World Wide Evangelism}
your
faith/doctrine
[humon pistis - their faith in God - then their
faith in the doctrines in the Bible]
"with
regard to"/"face to face with" [pros]
God
[Theos]
"is
spread abroad"/"goes forth" with results that last forever
[exerchomai (perfect active indicative)]
so
that/then [hoste]
we
do not have a need
[hemas chreia me]
to
speak any thing.
[echo laleo (present active infinitive) tis]
{Note: Paul taught the Thessalonians doctrine. They taught people who taught people on and on. Paul was now in Corinth and the towns around that area and kept running into believers! He asked them who gave them the word. The line of teaching went from one trader to another traveler until the source was traced back to the Thessalonians and Paul was thrilled with their evangelistic work!}
9a~~For
[gar] they [autos]
[the believers that Paul was encountering in his journey]
openly
declare
[apaggello (present active indicative)]
near/around
us [peri hemon]
what
manner of [hopoios]
"entering
into a Way"
[eisodos - a gate opening - Paul's teaching about God and His
Son and the doctrines of Jesus - a new Way of living]
we
had face to face with you.
[echo pros humas]
9b~~And
how/"in what way" [kai pos]
you
turned [epistrepho (aorist active indicative)]
face
to face with God [pros Theos]
out
from the ultimate source of idols [apo eidolon] . . .
to
serve/"to be a slave of"
[douleuo (present active indicative) - the best job in the World
is to be the slave of the Perfect Master - it is His responsibility
to care for His slaves!]
the
living
[zao (present active participle) - zao is the form of
living that emphasizes the act of living or the Way of Life]
and
true God.
[kai
alethinos Theos - alethinos is the "opposite to what is fictitious,
counterfeit, imaginary, simulated or pretended"]
[Note: If you read the Ten Commandments closely, you will find that it does NOT say there is only one god! It says "thou shalt have no other god before me." (Deuteronomy 5:7) It was not until we get to the New Testament where the mystery again is revealed that there really is only One True God (see I Corinthians 8:4).]
10~~And
[kai]
to
wait "with patience and trust"/"eager
anticipation" for
[anemeno (present active infinitive)]
His
Adult Son . . . [autos huios]
out
from [ek] heaven [ouranos] . . .
{2nd Advent of Christ}
Whom
He [God] raised
[hos egeiro (aorist active indicative)]
out
from the physically dead
[ek nekros - nekros is used for the death of a physical body] . . .
[even]
Jesus . . .
{referring back to the 1st Advent of Christ}
which
[death] itself delivered us
[ho rhoumai (present middle/passive indicative)]
out
from the ultimate source of [apo]
the
wrath itself about to receive coming.
[orge erchomai (present middle/passive indicative)]
[Note: God delivers believers THROUGH or OUT FROM disaster. Noah was delivered through the flood. The Church will be raptured OUT FROM the Tribulation. That means the Church will be raptured before the Tribulation.]
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