1 Thessalonians 2

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For ye, brethren, without my affirming it, know sufficiently that our coming and preaching was far from being deceitful, or to any treacherous aim of advantage or gain upon you.

[a] in vain] The word κενός, empty, idle, vain, is known to be proportionable to the Hebrew אור, which (in the third commandment and many other places) being rendered vain, doth yet signify false, viz. empty, or void of truth. And so here being applied to St. Paul’s ἐσόδος, entrance unto them, that is, his first preaching the gospel to them, it doth not signify the uneffectualness of it, or want of success among them, for that he had spoken of ch. i. 9, but, as the consequents here manifest, the fallaciousness or treacherousness of his aim in coming, which that it was not imputable to him he here proves, ver. 2, by remembering them of the entertainment which he found at Philippi, very far from such as would encourage a worldly designer from going any further, nothing but persecution and tribulations: and then, ver. 3, he expressly adds to this matter, ἡ παράκλησις ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐκ πλάνης, our exhortation was not out of deceit, or that I might deceive.

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But having had discouragements sufficient at Philippi, most reproachfully handled there, we yet took courage to proceed, (see note [a] John vii,) and came to your city, and preached the gospel there, though we were very much opposed there also.

[b] contention] The word ἀγὼν, strife or contention, may be taken in an active or in a passive sense, that is, either for labour, or sufferance, both in an high degree. In the former sense it is, when Christ commands us ἀγωνίζεσθαι, to strive to enter in at the strait gate, that is, to be very diligent and industrious. In the latter it is, Heb. xii. 1, being joined with ὑπομονή, sufferance, and persevering, and afflictions, mentioned before, ch. xi, and after, ver. 2, &c.; so Phil. i. 30, and Col. i. 29, where ἀγωνιζόμενος, striving, is bearing, suffering afflictions, and so more fit to be joined with κοπῶ, toiling or suffering hardship there; for so κόπος signifies, the toil or pains in bearing, as μύχθος, in doing, ver. 9. So 1 Tim. iv. 10, where we ordinarily read ὀνειδιζόμεθα, suffer reproaches, the king’s MS. reads ἀγωνιζόμεθα, we combat, that is, suffer persecutions, (which is joined with κοπῶμεν also,) which they that do, do it in hope, and trust in the living God, which can and will reward all their sufferings. And this is agreeable to the nature of the agones, “combats or games” among the Grecians, whereof the poet saith,

Multa tulit fecitque—

it is made up of doing and suffering both. And so we have ἄθλησω παθημάτων, combat of sufferings, Heb. x. 32, and of the women, Phil. iv. 3. ἀτίνες ἐν εὐαγγελίᾳ συνήθλησάν μοι, which combated or contended, that is, suffered persecutions, together with me in the gospel. And so here it is to be taken in this latter sense, though that also added to the former, endurance and diligence both, great industry and labour in preaching the gospel to them, and withal great persecution for so doing. For so it is in the beginning of the verse, προπαθόντες καὶ ὑβρισθέντες, sufferings and contunelious reproachful usage, such are scourgings, &c.; and thus Phil. i. 30. τὸν αὐτὸν ἀγῶνα, the same combat, is the

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For my preaching the gospel unto you was not to seduce any, nor to corrupt any, (as the Gnostics do their converts,) nor out of any wily worldly end or design to raise seditions, &c. as many of their false Christs had done:

[c] deceit] That πλάνη, which signifies deceit, error, is used not only passively for being deceived by others, but especially actively for deceiving and seducing others, will appear at large, note [f] on Jude. And so also that in the Epistles it refers especially to these grand seducers that were then afoot, so rife in the churches, the Gnostics, whose heresy being accompanied with so much uncleanness and carnality, wheresoever the πλάνη or seduction is joined with words that express or intimate that, there is great reason thus to interpret it. Thus Theophylact’s gloss intimates, οὐκ ἀκάθαρτον τι διδάσκω, saith he, οἷα τὰ τῶν μάγων καὶ γοητῶν, “I teach not any impurity, such as are the doctrines or practices of the magi and sorcerers.” And accordingly here ἀκαθαρσία, uncleanness, (and that word signifies all manner of unnatural lusts,) being subjoined to πλάνη, deceit or seduction, it must be thought to refer to these practices of those seducing heretics, to whom St. Paul desireth to oppose his own dealing among them, at once vindicating his own simplicity and uprightness, and accusing them for the contrary. He came merely to convert them from all the villanies that they, while they were idolaters, had lived in, and doing so, suffered great hardship of persecutions; but they (which took sure care not to be persecuted) infused into them all false heretical doctrines and corrupt practices, uncleanness and villany. They slily stole in ἐν δόλῳ, in cunning, but he παρρησιαζόμενος, ver. 2, took all boldness and confidence to preach publicly the gospel unto them.

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But as God was pleased to choose me to be an apostle, to think me meet for so great a trust, so have I endeavoured to approve myself to God in the discharge of it, not mentioning those things to you which you were likely to be most pleased with, (for I knew that the gospel, which cost me so many persecutions, would cost you so too, and that, requiring all purity, it hath nothing in it grateful to flesh and blood,) but those which are most likely to approve us all to God, which approveth nothing but purity and sincerity.

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For I believe no man ever accused me of flattering you with pleasing doctrines, (as the Gnostics do,) or of indulging to you any kind of inordinate lust or filthiness, v. 3. (see note [i] Rom. i.) This you know, and God is witness that I was far from being guilty of it.

[d] used we flattering—] Λόγος signifies talk, discourse of men, and so ἐν λόγῳ εἶναι, to be on the tongues of men, and ἐν λόγῳ κολακείας γενέσθαι, to be talked of for flattery, to be accused by men for this fault.

[e] cloke of covetousness] Πρόφασις signifies not only an occasion and pretence, but also an accusation or charge against any. So saith Phavorinus, Πρόφασις, αἰτία, ἀφορμή, it is a charge, an occasion against any; and again, Προτεινόμενος εὐπρόσωπος λόγος ἐπὶ κατηγορίᾳ τινός, “a long specious oration in accusation of any man:” and therefore the rendering προφασίζω by λατινιστὶ ἑκκούσω, may be a false print for ἀκκούσω, accuso, for that will best agree with προσβάλλουμαι, ὑπολογίζομαι, ὑπονοῶ, words that note accusing and suspecting, that went before. And so again, πρόφασις καὶ ἡ ἀληθής καὶ ἡ ψευδής αἰτία, it is either a true or false accusation. So προφασιστικοὶ λόγοι, ἀνέβητες, are clancular depravings of men’s reputations, raising suspicions of them: so Dan. vi. 4. ἐζήτουν πρόφασιν εὑρεῖν κατὰ τοῦ Δανιήλ, they sought some occasion, that is, accusation against Daniel. As for the πλεονεξία that is joined with it, that signifies sometimes unnatural lusts and filthiness, as hath been formerly shewed, note [h] on Rom. i.; and so it seems to signify here, and to answer ἀκαθαρσία, uncleanness, ver. 3, so notorious among the Gnostics, which were the pest of Christianity at that time.

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Neither did we desire to appear before you or ⁶ proclaim, ἀπαγγέλλουσιν. ¹ vain. approved by God, δεδοκιμάσμεθα ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ. ⁵ nor accused of inordinate desire. ² pleading, παράκλησις. ³ have been ⁴ were we spoken of for flattering.

[f] burdensome] Βάρος, weight, is here taken for the censures of the church, the exercise of that apostolical authority and severity; so 2 Cor. x. 10. ἐπιστολαὶ βαρεῖαι, letters that had a great deal of weight,

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But I have still dealt with you in all mildness and tenderness imaginable, the same which is discernible in a nurse to a child, of which, by feeding and making much of him, she becomes extremely fond:

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In like manner I confess myself to have a huge tenderness and fondness of love toward you, so that now having done you that greatest good, preached the gospel to you, and nourished you up in the faith, I have nothing too dear for you, not my life itself, (which is frequently called the soul in these books, see note [f] ch. v,) if it may stand you in any stead.

[g] affectionately desirous] Theophylact is so peremptory for another reading in this place, ὁμειρόμενοι, instead of ἡμειρόμενοι, that I cannot but set it down; Ὁμειρόμενοι ὑμῶν, saith he, τουτέστι προσδεδεμένοι ὑμῖν, καὶ ἐχόμενοι ὑμῶν, παρὰ τὸ ὁμοῦ καὶ τὸ εἴρω τὸ συμπλέκω. The phrase ὁμειρόμενοι ὑμῶν, signifies bound, or close, or near to you, from the word ὁμοῦ, together, and εἴρω, which signifies to bind together; adding, that some have read it ἡμειρόμενοι for ἐπιθυμοῦντες, desiring, οὐκ ἔστι δέ, but that it is not so. If his meaning be that ἡμειρόμενοι doth not so signify, I suppose his authority will not prevail against the known use of the word, and the express Glossary of Hesychius, Ἰμείρεται, ἐρᾷ, ἐπιθυμεῖ, ποθεῖ, it signifies to love, to desire. But if his meaning be that ἡμειρόμενοι is not the right reading, then, unless we know what copies he had to authorize that confidence, there will be no reason to consent to it, and yet as little cause to make a controversy of it, the sense being either way the same, the word ὁμείρονται rendered by Hesychius just as ἡμείρονται is: for so in him all that we find of that word is, Ὁμειρόμενοι, ὁμείρονται, ἐπιθυμοῦσιν, it signifies to desire, as the other before had done.

1 Thessalonians 2:9

Every man’s mouth being full of it, how readily we were entertained by you, and how really and effectually ye converted from heathenism to Christianity,

An evidence of which I then gave you, and ye cannot but remember it, how that beside the sufferings which I bare, (see note [b].) I always laboured in my trade extremely hard, that so I might preach the gospel to you, and yet not put you to charges.

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In full belief in Christ, and assurance of hope that Christ, that was by God’s infinite power raised from the dead, will protect and deliver his faithful servants from that vengeance which will finally and eternally involve all others: an essay of which vengeance and deliverance he will ere long shew on the persecutors, and the believers which are now persecuted by them.

FOR yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not [a] in vain:

You, I say, know and can witness, and I doubt not of God’s testimony, how I and the rest of us, Silvanus and Timothy, have behaved ourselves toward you that have received the faith, in the performance of all duties toward God and man, so as we cannot be blamed or charged by any:

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Dealing with you as a father doth with his own children, every one of you single, as if every one of you were my child, calling upon you to do your duty, and cheering you up to persevere against all discouragements;

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And conjuring you by all the obligations imaginable, that your conversation should be some way proportionable to what God hath done for you in calling you to the honour and privilege of being Christians here, and, if you continue constant in the faith, glorified saints in heaven.

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And herein we have matter of continual joy and thanksgiving to God on your behalf, that when we thus preached the gospel to you ye received it readily, not as any doctrine of ours, but as the gospel of Christ sent by God from heaven; and which being thus embraced and believed by you hath also attained that end, that perfection, that accomplishment among you, which every where be-

[h] effectually worketh] That ἐνεργεῖσθαι is to be rendered in a passive not active sense, and that it signifies τελειοῦσθαι, to be perfected or accomplished, hath been largely shewn, note [b] on Gal. v. But to what the accomplishment of the word or gospel here refers particularly, must be concluded from ver. 14. There the proof is set down of that which is here affirmed, and that with the particle for, ὑμεῖς γὰρ, for you, &c., and therefore in all reason that must interpret this. Now that which is there mentioned is the Thessalonians suffering persecution after the manner that other Christians had done before them, which, as it is an evidence of their constancy in the faith, so is that of their proficiency to the highest degree of perfection which this life is capable of. And besides, it being foretold by Christ, that they which will receive the faith, and live according to his prescriptions, shall suffer persecutions, their sufferings are a completion of that word of his.

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For as it fell out with the churches of Christ in Judæa, all that believed and held fast to Christ have still been persecuted by the unbelieving Jews; so hath it fallen out to you, your own countrymen, the unbelieving Jews among you, have in like manner persecuted you, as the Jewish unbelievers have persecuted the Christian Jews.

[i] countrymen] Συμφυλέται, men of the same tribe, or race, or country with the Thessalonian Christians, to whom he writes, may not be resolved to be the heathen inhabitants of that city or country, but the unconverted Jews which were dispersed there. For at the apostle’s coming to that city, Acts xvii, the first thing we read of there, is a synagogue of the Jews, ver. 1; thither Paul went unto them, that is, to the Jews, and preached Christ unto them, and some of them received the faith, and of devout Greeks, or Gentile proselytes, a great multitude, &c., ver. 4. And immediately the unbelieving Jews, making use of the officers of the courts of the city, raised a tumult against them, ver. 5; and the apostle and Silas escaping, they seized upon Jason and other brethren, that is, Christians that had received the faith, and haled them to the magistrates of the city, and accused them for doing contrary to Cæsar’s orders, ver. 7. And so the persecution thus early

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And this which I say of the Jews in Judæa was practised by them on Christ himself, and before him on the prophets sent unto them, Mat. xxiii. 37, and now is accordingly fallen on us; it being reasonable that they which have cast off obedience to God should persecute all men that come to tell them of their duty.

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And this generally is the ground of their quarrel to us, that, in spite of their prohibition, we preach to the Gentiles, use means that they might repent of their idolatries, &c. by which, and the former things, the Jews do so fill up the measure of their sins, that the wrath of God, to the utter destruction of them, is now come out upon them, already denounced, and within a very little while most certain to overtake them.

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And being detained from coming to you personally ever since I was first with you and driven suddenly from you, Acts xvii. 5, 10, we are nevertheless very kind to you, and heartily desire and wish for an opportunity of visiting you.

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And accordingly I Paul had once or twice a full resolution to visit you, but by some difficulty or other from time to time interposed by the instruments of Satan, the obstructors and persecutors of the gospel, I was kept from coming unto you.

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For what greater matter of hope of a reward from God at the day of doom, and consequently of present rejoicing, can I have? what greater ornament of which I could boast, than the good success of the gospel which I have preached among you?

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For you are a prime congregation of Christians, (as Philippi another, Phil. iv. 1,) wholly converted by me, and observable for very great proficiency in

¹³ hath come hastily upon them to the end, ἔφθασε ¹⁴ for some time, for a space, πρὸς καιρὸν ἔφρα. ¹⁵ in person,