1 Thessalonians 3
LenskiCHAPTER III
The Sending of Timothy
1 Thessalonians 3:1
1 The Thessalonians know, of course, that Timothy had come to them and had returned to Paul. This paragraph contains nothing that is especially new to them. The idea that what Paul writes is intended to allay suspicions in the minds of the Thessalonians is untenable. The Thessalonians had no supicions. This paragraph is to be closely connected with the preceding (2:17–20); we should also note what follows (3:11–13).
Opponents in Thessalonica vilified Paul and tried to present him as a religious charlatan who looked out only for himself, of whom the believers in Thessalonica had seen the last. Paul has obtained this information from Timothy who had just returned from his mission to Thessalonica. While he was in Thessalonica, Timothy had certainly answered these vilifications. This letter from all three (Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, 1:1) corroborates all that Paul had already told the Thessalonians, probably also says even more than Timothy had said while he was in Thessalonica. It reveals even the inmost feelings and motives that actuated the three. A few of the Thessalonian converts might give ear to the slanderers; this letter aims to make even that impossible. The kind of men the writers were when they were with the Thessalonians (1:5–2:12), that kind they still are and remain (2:17–3:13): wholly devoted to the Thessalonians.
All three intended to return to Thessalonica; when this plan was frustrated by Satan (2:18), at least Timothy was sent. Wherefore, no longer standing it, we thought it best to be left alone in Athens and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s minister in the gospel of Christ, to make you solid and to encourage you in behalf of your faith that no one let himself be fooled in these afflictions, for you yourselves know that we are appointed for this thing.
The previous plans had been frustrated (2:17, 18). The writers could endure it no longer. Thus Timothy was sent. The verb στέγω does not only mean, “to cover up”; “no longer hiding our concern for you”; the verb also means “to stand something,” to endure. In μηκέτι the μή is the regular negative with participles and not οὐ. The present tense means: “no longer standing it without doing something.” It was a relief to act, to dispatch at least Timothy.
Three persons were involved in the decision to act. When they thus write: “We thought it best to be left alone in Athens and to send Timothy, our brother,” the force of this “we” and of the plural μόνοι is plain. All three agreed on the mission of Timothy to Thessalonica. Timothy was not a mere ὑπηρέτης such as Mark had been when he was with Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:5, an “underling” or servant); Paul never calls him anything else than an assistant and associate like Silvanus, Luke, and Titus. The reason for choosing Timothy was not because of his inferior position but because Paul and Silvanus had been driven out of Thessalonica while Timothy had not been. Timothy would encounter fewer difficulties.
That the “we” who were left behind were Paul and Silvanus needs no further proof. The remark that Paul and Silvanus, both older men, could well spare the much younger Timothy adds nothing of value to an understanding of this passage.
A number of Bereans took Paul to Athens (Acts 17:15). Paul told them that when they got back to Berea they should forthwith send Silvanus and Timothy to him in Athens, and Luke’s aorists imply that the two came to Athens as had been ordered. What Paul did while he was waiting for them Acts 17:16, etc., records. Paul wanted to take both men with him as he advanced from Athens to Corinth. Acts 18:5 shows that he was able to take neither of them. Our passage shows that the anxiety about Thessalonica had grown so great that, when Silvanus and Timothy came to Athens, all agreed that Timothy should hurry back to Thessalonica.
That left only Paul and Silvanus in Athens, and these two might well have gone on to Corinth together although Timothy, too, would be greatly needed for the work in Corinth. But Acts 18:5 shows that Paul did not even have Silvanus with him when he went to Corinth. We have no further information regarding Silvanus except that it was imperative for him to go back to Macedonia. To what congregation he went no one knows, it was probably to Philippi although this is only conjectural. We thus see what the writers mean by the statement that only two of them were left behind “alone” in Athens. How soon also Silvanus had to leave is unknown.
Eventually Silvanus and Timothy rejoined Paul in Corinth. What is said in our passage is that somebody simply had to relieve the anxiety about Thessalonica, and Timothy was selected as the man for this.
1 Thessalonians 3:2
2 Paul speaks of Timothy as “our brother and God’s minister in the gospel of Christ,” not (as Chrysostom states it) in order to honor Timothy, but rather in order to honor the Thessalonian congregation to which he was sent. Paul does not say “your brother” but places him into relation with himself and Silvanus as “our brother” because Timothy is to go to Thessalonica to ease the anxiety of Paul and Silvanus. At the same time Timothy is put into relation to God as “God’s minister in the gospel of Christ” because he was to minister to the Thessalonians with the gospel of Christ: “to make you solid,” etc. “God’s minister” = one whom God appointed, not one whose ministration benefits God. The benefit of the διακονία was to go entirely to the Thessalonians. The genitive in “the gospel of Christ” is similar: the gospel which is Christ’s, which he ordered preached; the genitive does not mean that the gospel deals with Christ although this is true. Note that God—Christ—we are involved in Timothy’s mission: brotherly representation of Paul and Silvanus in Thessalonica—service to the Thessalonians under God’s appointment—gospel help under Christ’s command. The kind of men Paul and Silvanus had been when they were in Thessalonica (1:6) Timothy was to be for the Thessalonians in this mission of his.
Εἰςτό with its two infinitives states the contemplated result which Timothy was to achieve: “to make you solid (to fix or make steadfast) and to encourage you in behalf of your faith,” i.e., so that no opposition should destroy this faith. Both aorists are effective. Our versions have “to comfort” as a translation of παρακαλέσαι. The word may mean this, or it may mean to admonish, or to encourage, according to the context; we prefer the latter in the present connection. The second infinitive supplements the first: the Thessalonians were to be made firm and solid by being encouraged in regard to their faith. Ὑπέρ and περί are often used without much distinction, here the phrase states with what Timothy’s work was to be concerned: “concerning your faith,” πίστις combining both what the Thessalonians believed and their activity of believing, the truth in which they trusted and the trust in that truth.
1 Thessalonians 3:3
3 R. 1059 regards τὸμηδένασαίνεσθαι as an accusative of general reference, his W. P. adds that it is epexegetical. Others construe differently. B.-D. 399, 3 says it is a negative purpose clause with ἵναμή, “lest.” The meaning is plain: what Timothy is to achieve by confirming and encouraging the Thessalonians in regard to their faith is this: “that no one is to let himself be fooled in these tribulations.” The previous infinitives are active effective aorists to indicate what Timothy is to do; now the infinitive is passive and present to indicate what, as a result of Timothy’s work, the Thessalonians are not to let occur. We regard this passive as permissive: “that no one let himself be fooled,” the present tense being descriptive and also matching the iterative idea in “no one,” i.e., no one at any time, whether now or in the days to come. The writers do not want to lose a single sheep from the flock.
As the construction is debated, so also is the meaning of σαίνεσθαι and the phrase “in these afflictions.” The text that has this infinitive is assured so that we discard the decidedly inferior variant σιαίνεσθαι, “to become disheartened,” plus all other conjectural readings. The debate centers on the meaning of σαίνω which originally means to wag the tail, to fawn upon, to flatter, thus to fool with flattery. We see no reason for discarding this assured original meaning for the still more modified one “to move” (our versions), “to disturb, upset.” Paul wants no one to allow himself to be wheedled away from the faith, to be fooled by persuasive talk amid these afflictions. What is wrong about the expressive figure of a dog wagging his tail and seeking to ingratiate himself? Paul is not speaking of persecutors who would come like a dog with his fangs exposed but of pagan friends of the Thessalonians who are sorry to see them cling to their faith and to suffer the consequent persecutions. These well-meaning friends are the worst kind of a temptation. We may think of Peter remonstrating with Jesus (Matt. 16:21–23).
Does “in these afflictions” refer to afflictions suffered by the Thessalonians or by Paul and his assistants? Those who think of the latter point to the following “we” forms and construct their arguments accordingly. “These” afflictions is simply deictic and points to all of them, no matter when they may occur. The afflictions of the Thessalonians themselves are included. It is incongruous to think that Timothy is to fortify the Thessalonians only against what Paul, Silvanus, and he had to endure. In 2:14 we see that the Thessalonians themselves suffered when their church was established, and that the original churches in Judea had suffered the same things, both of them from their own countrymen. What Paul says in the following applies to Christians generally.
Thus we have the explanatory statement: “For you yourselves know that we are appointed for this thing.” Now Paul uses the comprehensive singular “this thing” which summarizes the plural “these afflictions.” “This” and “these” are deictic and point to the affliction. Κείμεθα (used as the passive of τίθημι) = “we are set,” i.e., appointed for this thing: God placed us in a position where we are bound to encounter affliction. The “we” suffix of the verb naturally refers to the writers and the Thessalonians. It is the first time in this epistle that the “we” is broadened in this way.
1 Thessalonians 3:4
4 A second γάρ elucidates still further: For also when we were with you we kept telling you in advance that we were (the Greek retains the present tense of the direct discourse: “we are”) about to be afflicted (compelled to suffer affliction) even also as it occurred and you know. Like Jesus, Paul and Silvanus warned their hearers in advance that affliction was impending. It came quickly as the Thessalonians well know and involved both the Thessalonians and Paul and Silvanus (2:14; Acts 17:5–10). We have no report as to what happened after Paul and Silvanus left the city, but we can be quite sure that the opposition continued to the distress of the Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 3:5
5 Reverting to v. 1 but now speaking of himself alone, Paul continues: On account of this also I myself, no longer able to stand it, sent to know your faith lest in some way the tempter tempted you, and our toil got to be for nothing.
“On account of this” refers back to the whole of v. 4, to Paul’s advance warnings about coming afflictions as well as to what happened then. The warnings had not deterred the Thessalonians from believing; but it was quite another matter when the warnings came true, when afflictions actually set in; then the real test came. But Paul and Silvanus were forced to leave when the uproar occurred, and no further news had reached them save that the implacable Jews of Thessalonica followed Paul and Silvanus to Berea and tried to stir up a mob also there (Acts 17:13, 14). Judging from this act of the Thessalonian Jews, things must have gone hard with the Christians in Thessalonica. If these Jews pursued Paul to Berea, Paul could not but believe that they continued to harass the Christians in their own city. So in Athens, whither Paul had gone after being driven from Berea, having had no news at all from Thessalonica, Paul worried not a little. Although he had left Silvanus and Timothy in Berea for the sake of the Bereans he ordered them to come to him at once and then sent Timothy back to Thessalonica.
In v. 1 we learned that all three could endure the uncertainty no longer. When Paul now speaks of himself and uses the same participle: “also I myself no longer able to stand it,” this individualization is entirely natural because Paul was the leader to whom Silvanus and Timothy looked and under whose direction they worked. Yet he writes κἀγώ, “also I myself,” which, of course, refers to the other two (Silvanus and Timothy) but in a way that implies that, as he was the leader, even he could not resist the anxiety. The implication is that the other two might worry more easily, but that when also Paul himself could stand it no longer, something had to be done. So he now writes “I sent” whereas in v. 1 he stated “we sent,” and the simple verb is enough. The idea that this “I sent” refers to a second sending, to some second messenger who is not named, who was dispatched by Paul alone after Timothy had gone and after Silvanus had also left, is scarcely worth noting.
The fact that Timothy was sent has already been stated, also what he was to do in Thessalonica (v. 2, 3). Now Paul adds what Timothy was to do for him personally: he was to bring him the news from Thessalonica without which Paul could stand it no longer. For we should note that Silvanus, too, left at this time, and that Timothy would thus in all probability return to Paul alone. It happened, however, that Timothy and Silvanus returned at the same time or nearly so, one can hardly decide (Acts 18:5); at least this epistle was sent by all three (1:1).
The aorist in εἰςτὸγνῶναι = “so that I might get to know (ingressive) your faith.” And γνῶναι means more than εἰδέναι; the latter would be used to indicate information only (like the οἴδατε occurring in v. 4, 5), the former implies Paul’s concern in this information (see C.-K. 388 for the distinction). “Your faith” has the same force it had in v. 2.
Μήπως is construed with an indicative aorist and then with a subjunctive (the two are reversed in Gal. 2:2). This double construction is a source of worry to the grammarians. B.-D. 370, 2 supplies little; Moulton, Einleitung 318 regards it as an indirect question, but this is not convincing; R. 988 is most satisfactory. He says that the clause denotes purpose, and that in purely final sentences the ancient idiom used a past indicative to express a purpose that was not attained, and that this is precisely the case here and in Gal. 2:2. In Gal. 2:2 Paul did not run in vain; in our passage the tempter did not succeed with his temptation. “It is thus unfulfilled purpose that Paul neatly expresses in accord with the Attic diction.” Moulton rejects this view because the New Testament would have only two instances of this kind. But how many instances need occur in order to establish an idiom?
One is enough. We may add that Paul had Timothy’s report and that all three writers know that the tempter had not succeeded. The subjunctive γένηται needs no explanation. It is punctiliar (ingressive) and future in meaning, but a future dating from what Timothy would find in Thessalonica on his arrival: “lest our toil got to be (as Timothy might find) for nothing,” εἰςκενόν, “for something empty” (a nut without a kernel).
“The tempter” agrees with the mention of Satan in 2:18, the greatest enemy of the gospel who is back of all opposition to its success; but the idea in temptation accords also with the σαίνεσθαι used in v. 3, the deception by which the Thessalonians were not to allow themselves to be fooled. In “our toil” we once more have the plural, the toil spent on the Thessalonians by Paul and Silvanus when they were founding the congregation, not excluding Timothy who was sent on this mission.
1 Thessalonians 3:6
6 After having stated how all of them, in particular Paul, felt when they sent Timothy to Thessalonica, we now hear how they feel since Timothy has returned and has reached them in Corinth. It seems as though Silvanus had returned just a little before Timothy, but one cannot be sure (Acts 18:5).
But Timothy, having just come to us from you and having brought us good news of your faith and love, also that you always have good remembrance of us, longing to see us just as also we you, because of this we were comforted, brethren, over you in all our distress and affliction by means of your faith, seeing that now we live if you on your part keep standing fast in the Lord.
Instead of merely saying that Timothy has just returned, Paul says that he has just come “to us from you,” as if to say that the bond which was broken by the forced departure has now been knit again. Εὐαγγελίζομαι is used in its ordinary sense of bringing good news, here with the accusative and also with ὅτι. Paul gives a condensed but rather complete report of the news brought by Timothy: 1) about the faith and love of the Thessalonians (see 1:3), i.e., about their spiritual state; 2) about their feeling for Paul and Silvanus, that this was as deep as ever: “also that you always have good remembrance of us (the past), longing to see us” (in the future). “Remembrance” is a vox media; one may have a bad remembrance of someone, hence “good” is added. The longing to see each other was strong on both sides: you us as also we you. The two points: the Thessalonian faith and love and their feeling for Paul and his assistants really belong together; lack in either would show in the other. To say that Paul was most concerned about the latter is incorrect, for Paul lists “your faith and love” first.
1 Thessalonians 3:7
7 Διὰτοῦτο, “for this reason or cause,” resumes all that Timothy reports. In good Greek fashion Paul uses a phrase because the main verb is passive, the sense is: all this comforted us. The address, “brethren,” is expressive of the deep, fraternal feeling thus strengthened. Παρεκλήθημεν here means, “we were comforted.” The feeling of anxiety and concern that we could not stand indefinitely had disappeared. The two ἐπί phrases are alike in force, both mean “over”; yet the one phrase tops the other: “over all our distress and affliction” is covered by “over you.” One article combines “the distress and affliction,” the two express one idea: ἀνάγκη, “necessity” that forces itself upon one, θλῖψις, “pressure” that crushes.
This does not refer to Paul’s past worries about the Thessalonians, which were shared by Silvanus and Timothy, for these had now disappeared; these are the other troubles of Paul, and he calls them “great.” They are not due to finances as some suppose (while he was in Corinth Paul had found employment with Aquila), nor to opposition from the Corinthian Jews (this came later, Acts 18:5–17), but to the situation in Galatia (Paul had just recently received a delegation from Galatia and had written his epistle to the Galatians) and to other exigencies and difficulties in his work, which are not further indicated here (2 Cor. 11:28). Moreover, since he had come to Corinth he had been alone, even without the comfort of his companions. The good news from Thessalonica refreshed him like a cool drink does a weary man. He says “our distress,” etc., but we know that Paul bore the brunt of it.
Paul does not often give us a glimpse into what oppressed him in his labors. We have such a glimpse here. When one sits in a comfortable study and reads this short phrase he may wonder at the fervor with which the apostle writes about the comfort the Thessalonian firmness and loyalty afforded him; if one could sit for a while in Aquila’s shop where these lines were written he would rather wonder how Paul could write with so much restraint and would catch something of the mighty spirit throbbing in Paul’s great heart.
“We were comforted … through (by means of) your faith” singles out the main point: the faith of the Thessalonians. For their faith’ produced their love and also their loyalty and their desire to see him and his helpers again. Their steadfast faith was Paul’s greatest joy, faith that was unshaken by opposition, so young as yet and nevertheless so true. Διὰτοῦτο (accusative) at the head and διὰτῆςὑμῶνπίστεως (genitive) at the end do not conflict, the one is the cause, the other the means, for the causal idea of the former is very slight, its main force is resumptive. But we see that “your faith” is mentioned twice; this was the feature that cheered Paul and his assistants.
1 Thessalonians 3:8
8 We regard ὅτι as consecutivum and not as causal, not, “for” or “because” but “seeing that.” The fact that the writers “now live” is not the cause which produced their comfort but the thing that followed the comfort and is the evidence for the value of the comfort. You can see, Paul says, how we are comforted and what this comfort means by observing that “we now live,” etc. The figure is a strong one: before the good news came, there was deadness. We might picture it as a leaden weight, the heart seemed to have no life. Now, in consequence of the good news, there is once more life with all that this means to the writers in their arduous work. The implication is that, if the faith of the Thessalonians had failed, if the church had broken up, it would have been a deathblow to the writers.
One must see the importance of the church at Thessalonica as Paul sketches the effect of its faithfulness for all Macedonia and Achaia in 1:7–10 (see the exposition). Unfaithfulness would have had an equal opposite effect.
Paul says: “we now live if you on your part keep standing fast in the Lord.” Ἐάν looks to the future. Hence ζῶμεν also is durative: “we continue to live,” i.e., our living thus depends on your continuous standing fast; ὑμεῖς is emphatic. The verb “stand” is like the one used in Eph. 6:13, 14, but we now have a later form στήκω, which is formed from ἕστηκα, the perfect of ἵστημι. To stand “in the Lord” means “in connection with him” by unshaken faith. The Koine admits the use of the indicative after ἐάν (R. 1010; Moulton, Einleitung 263); in modern Greek ἄν is used with either indicative or subjunctive.
1 Thessalonians 3:9
9 The firm stand of the Thessalonians brought a great benefit to the Thessalonians themselves, but its influence went beyond them and became of the greatest benefit to Paul and his assistants and to their work in Macedonia and Achaia. Paul, therefore, continues with a mention of the thanks which he and his assistants owe to God for what the firm stand of the Thessalonians has done for them.
For what thanks are we able to give God in due return concerning you in all the joy wherewith we rejoice because of you before our God, the while asking by night and day exceedingly that we may see your face and may complete the backward things of your faith?
The force of the rhetorical question lies in the thought that the writers are unable to return adequate thanks to God for the joy God has given them in the Thessalonians. Ἀντί in the verb = in return; ἀπό refers to what is due “from” us: hence “to give in due return.” Paul views everything as coming from God. His first reaction is: “Thank God!” But how can any thanks be commensurate with the gift of joy he and his assistants have received?
Enter into Paul’s emotion. What would have been his distress of soul if, in addition to all the other loads resting upon his heart, there had come the report that the Thessalonian church had gone to pieces! It would have stunned his weary heart and left him as one dead. Now there comes the report that the young Thessalonian church has not only survived but is standing firm. What an emotional reversal for Paul’s heart, which causes him to reach the very heights of joy! Oh, that he could thank God as he ought! The intensity of feeling is augmented by this reversal from a great depth of depression to the loftiest height of jubilation.
Ἐπί is used as it was in v. 7: “on (or upon or over) all the joy with which we rejoice because of you before (or in the presence of) our God.” Note the cognate dative which emphasizes the idea of joy: “the joy with which we rejoice.” So also “concerning you” and “because of you” double this; and a third time: returning thanks “to God” and rejoicing “before our God.” As though standing in God’s presence, Paul and his helpers live and work; from God they receive this as they do every other blessing; their hearts ever automatically turn to God.
1 Thessalonians 3:10
10 The thanks expressed in 1:2 and 2:13 were prompted by the auspicious beginning made in Thessalonica; the thanks voiced in 3:9 are due to what has occurred in Thessalonica since Paul and Silvanus left there. Paul continues with a present participle, which means that what he now asks of God is subsidiary to his efforts to thank God as he should and also that his asking and his thanking are simultaneous, thanks and petitions are mingled. The participle is temporal; v. 9 is a unit so that the nominative participle modifies the subject and thus the entire unit: “the while asking,” etc. “By night and day” has the same force as in 2:9 (time within which); it is our “day and night.” The Greek idiom places night first as we also do at times. The fervor of Paul’s feeling is made evident by the strong complex adverb “exceedingly,” (literally, “more than out of abundance”). The joy God has granted causes the new petitioning to go beyond all the bounds that would otherwise apply. Answered petitions produce still more earnest petitions.
Εἰςτό = ἵνα (non-final), B.-D. 402, 2, and states the contents of the petitions (compare 2:12): “the object of verbs of command or entreaty giving the content of the verb” (R. 1072) in place of an unmodified infinitive or of ἵνα or ὅπως. What the writers ask of God is that they may again see the face of the Thessalonians and may again work among them in order to bring to completion the things in which the Thessalonians are behind in their faith.
Ἰδεῖν and καταρτίσαι are to be construed with the one article τό and thus form a unit: the seeing of the Thessalonians is desired not merely for the pleasure this affords but for the opportunity to supply any lack in the faith of the Thessalonians. This expression does not suggest the idea that Timothy has had to report some adverse things about the Thessalonians, or that Paul injects a gentle reminder to the effect that they must not think that, because Paul is so overjoyed concerning them, they have already reached the highest Christian perfection of faith. Such a suggestion might cause them to fall into dangerous pride. We must remember that Paul and Silvanus had worked approximately four weeks in Thessalonica. Even if all the members had had the benefit of all the work of these four weeks, the time was too short to give them all the instruction they needed and themselves knew that they needed. They longed to have the missionaries return for a much longer stay just as the missionaries longed to make this stay (v. 6).
The work that had been done in Thessalonica was incomplete. It is a wonder that so much thorough work had been accomplished with such permanent results. The last man to be satisfied to leave any lack (ὑστερήματα, “shortcomings”) was Paul, and Silvanus and Timothy were like him in this respect. They burned with desire to make everything complete (καταρτίσαι, from which we have “artisan”), like good, skilled artisans to finish their task shipshape. Faith is the one thing mentioned (both in the objective and the subjective sense) just as in v. 5 and 7, the basis and ground of all that constitutes Christianity. This epistle itself is an effort to add at least a few additional incentives to the faith of the Thessalonians.
The Concluding Prayerful Wishes
1 Thessalonians 3:11
11 The two wishes are presented in this form because they are being written to the Thessalonians; they are in reality the prayers which Paul, according to v. 10, addresses to God. So also this brief paragraph amplifies v. 10 and brings the first part of the epistle to its close. Now may he, our God and Father and our Lord Jesus, direct our way unto you! i. e., may he so guide the course of our missionary work that we may get to you Thessalonians to do the further work we have indicated. Like the two verbs used in v. 12, κατευθύναι is the third person singular aorist optative of wish (not the aorist infinitive or the aorist middle imperative, R. 940). The verb means to make a way straight toward a goal. Some, like our versions, consider αὐτός reflexive: “our God and Father himself.” They support their view by the argument that, if the writers alone attempted to direct their way, Satan might cut them off as he had done hitherto (2:18). This argument overlooks several points, for hitherto the writers had never tried to direct their own way, nor had Satan for that reason been able to cut them off (see 2:18). Αὐτός is intensive: “he, our God and Father and our Lord Jesus,” and is thus followed by the singular verb κατευθύναι, a plural would not be proper after αὐτός.
This means that αὐτός refers to the Father and to Jesus as one just as the singular verb does. The fact that the verb does this is generally recognized, but not so the fact that αὐτός also does this and really makes the use of the singular verb possible. Moreover, why should “himself” be added to “our God and Father” and not to “our Lord Jesus”? Why not αὐτοί so as to include both our Father and Jesus “themselves” with a plural verb? To treat the two divine persons as one as Paul does here is striking, but it offers no difficulty to those who recognize the deity of both, their unity of will and work. Paul’s form of statement has precipitated a dogmatical debate with a sharp pro and con regarding the relation of the two persons to each other.
The whole New Testament and even the Old Testament settle this question, which is more than enough. Second Thessalonians 2:16 does exactly what our passage does, but it places Jesus first and the Father second; add 1 Thess. 5:25, which has God alone.
Even this causes discussion as to whether “our” belongs to both “God” and “father” or only to the latter. One article combines the nouns, and “our” belongs to the combination. But ὁΚύριοςἡμῶνἸησοῦς is “our Lord, Jesus,” and “Jesus” is an apposition to “our Lord.” The two “our” are confessions of faith even as the divine names are soteriological, indicative of the true knowledge of faith.
This wish and prayer was not fulfilled except that the writers did, indeed, revisit Thessalonica, but not for a period of intensive work such as v. 10 evidently contemplates. The Father and the Lord manage the church; they directed Paul and his workers: four weeks in Thessalonica, eighteen months in Corinth. The results were good. The wishes and prayers of Paul were uttered in submission to the divine will. Let us learn from him also in regard to our missionary work.
1 Thessalonians 3:12
12 And you may the Lord increase and make to abound with the love toward one another and toward all just as also we toward you so that he may stablish your hearts as blameless in holiness before our God and Father in connection with the Parousia of our Lord Jesus together with all his saints!
The wish expressed in v. 11 pertains to the writers, to having their way directed to Thessalonica; the added wish pertains to the Thessalonians, and hence ὑμᾶς is placed emphatically forward. When Paul now writes only ὁκύριος, this should be understood in the same sense as it was in v. 11 where both divine persons are named; the fact that he has both persons in mind we see from v. 13 where both are again mentioned. “The Lord” thus means: this same person, “our Lord Jesus” who ever works as one with “our God and Father.”
The prayerful wish for the writers themselves is expressed by only one verb and in a very brief form; the wish for the readers is expressed more intensively by two verbs and in a longer and thus a weightier form. “May increase and may make you abound” (both aorist optatives of wish) convey one idea. The verbs are synonyms; either one alone might be sufficient, but the doubling makes the wish stronger: πλεονάζω (here transitive), “to make more and more,” περισσεύω (also transitive), “to make abound,” both are construed with the dative of the thing: “with the love toward one another and toward all (men).”
This is the same intelligent and purposeful love mentioned already in 1:3 and 3:6, but it is now named with its personal objects. Such love the Thessalonians already have; it is to increase in richest abundance, there is to be more and more of it, so much that it abounds and excels. This dative is to be construed with both verbs and not only with the second. “That you may increase” does not refer to an increase in numbers.
The question is asked as to why love and not faith is made prominent. The conclusion that love is more essential than faith is refuted by 1:3 and likewise by 3:2, 5, where faith alone is mentioned and by all that we know about the relation between these two. This love can increase and abound only as faith grows in power. Paul knows love only as the fruit of faith. He speaks of the great increase of love because it is the tangible evidence of faith and as such reacts so strongly, not only between the members themselves, but even between them and other men; hence the two εἰς phrases: “toward one another (in your own midst) and toward all men,” no matter who they are. The fact that this includes also the opponents and persecutors goes without saying (Matt. 5:44–47).
This ἀγάπη will see the evil in men and will seek to overcome and to free them from this evil. Love is the power to destroy hate and persecution. It wins great victories even in the midst of Christ’s enemies. Yet the writers do not demand this love of the Thessalonians as though they themselves are able to produce it; they ask the Lord to bestow it even as he is the fount of this love. Without him and the power of his love we are able to do nothing.
“Just as also we toward you” is without a verb, which fact causes a debate among the commentators as to what verb is to be supplied. Shall we say: “just as also we increase and abound with this love toward you” and change the transitive verbs into intransitives or: “just as also we have love for you,” and supply a verb ad sensum? Both have the same sense. We prefer the latter because the writers make the love they have for the Thessalonians the model for the Thessalonians and scarcely the increasing abundance of their love.
But why make themselves the model, why not Christ and his supreme love, which is the model for us all: “just as the Lord (loves) you”? Because the Lord is here presented as the source of our love, and because the Thessalonians have seen the love of Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, actual examples of the love produced by the Lord in the hearts of his true followers. If the Lord filled these three with such love, the Thessalonians will see that the Lord can do this also for them. As the Thessalonians became imitators of these three in the way in which they endured affliction (1:6), imitators also of the first churches (2:14), so they will want to imitate also the love of the writers since they themselves had experienced the power and the sweetness of the love of these writers from the very first day they began their work in Thessalonica.
1 Thessalonians 3:13
13 Εἰςτό might denote purpose, but contemplated result seems more in line with the thought of a prayerful wish: “so that he may stablish your hearts as blameless in holiness,” etc., make firm and solid (as in v. 2). Paul writes “your hearts” and not merely “you” because holiness pertains to the heart. The adjective “blameless” is predicative, and “blameless in holiness before our God and Father in connection with the Parousia,” etc., belong together. “Holiness” is the quality of being holy, and when it is used with reference to us, it, like the adjective “holy” or ἅγιος, implies our separation from sin and our devotion to God.
The Thessalonians were to be blameless or unblamable in holiness “in the presence of God in connection with (or at) the Parousia of our Lord Jesus,” i.e., before God’s judgment bar at the time of Christ’s arrival and presence to execute the judgment of the last day (compare 2:19 on the Parousia). In Matt. 25:34–40 Jesus has described how we are to stand blameless in holiness at that day. This is not the total sanctification of perfectionism even as ἅγιοι, “saints,” the common New Testament term for true Christians (see the last phrase), never signifies persons who no longer sin. Justified believers do live holy lives, and any stains of sin they may acquire are removed daily by Christ’s blood. Thus they will stand “as blameless in holiness” at the last day.
Compare the ἔμπροσθεν in 1:3 (God) and in 2:19 (Christ) and now again God; and note how God and Christ are united in v. 11. The two are equal, yet three times Paul writes “our Lord Jesus,” the name “Jesus” referring to his human nature, Acts 1:11: “this same Jesus” who, as he went into heaven, shall so come again.
The debate centers on the last phrase: μετὰπάντωντῶνἁγίωναὐτοῦ. Does this mean “together with all his saints” in the sense of with his “holy ones,” the angels, or with his “holy ones,” both the saints and the angels? Does the phrase modify the main statement “establish you blameless in holiness … with all his saints,” or the minor phrases: “in connection with his Parousia with all his saints”? As far as ἅγιοι is concerned, this is the standard New Testament word for “saints,” and it does not once occur in the New Testament as the word for “angels” unless it would have that meaning in this passage. This fact is rather decisive. Add the fact that ἐνἁγιωσύνη and μετὰἁγίων are undoubtedly to correspond: “in holiness”—“together with holy ones.” We thus cannot escape the meaning: “your hearts blameless in holiness (before our God and Father at the Parousia of our Lord) together with all his saints,” i.e., you holy ones together with all the other holy ones, you being in their great body.
We are told that Paul here alludes to Zech. 14:5 which the LXX render: καὶἥξειΚύριοςὁΘεόςμουκαὶπάντεςοἱἅγιοιμετʼ αὐτοῦ. The Hebrew is: “And the Lord, my God, shall come, and all the saints with thee.” We doubt that this is an allusion, the wording is quite different; the claim that Zech. 14:5 decides for the meaning angels in this passage is unwarranted. Jude 14 has: ἐνἁγίαιςμυρίασιναὐτοῦ, “amid holy myriads,” “holy ten thousands.” To point out the fact that the LXX make ὅσιοι = saints and ὅσιοι = angels is beside the mark. In the first place, the latter is not true; when angels are referred to, ἄγγελοι is the regular term employed. The remarkable fact is that, while ὅσιοι is the standard term for die Frommen in the Old Testament, this word is rarely found in the New Testament where ἅγιοι is the standard designation for the godly. The reason that the New Testament could not follow the LXX in using ὅσιοι is sketched in C.-K. 53 and 824. Those who think our passage refers to angels find no support in the New Testament.
What influences some is the idea that Paul conceives all the Lord’s ἅγιοι as coming with him at his Parousia. It is this conception that leads some to believe that these ἅγιοι consist of both angels and saints. We are thus referred to all the passages which describe Christ’s coming for judgment with all his holy angels and told that their presence enhances his glory. Those who think of the saints also think of their coming out of heaven with the Lord and add that already here Paul anticipates and hints at what he says about the departed in 4:13, etc. But even when this μετά phrase is construed with the preceding ἐν phrase, Paul says nothing about a coming of either saints or angels in company with Christ; the Parousia is the Lord’s presence and not his coming out of heaven.
This last phrase should, however, be separated by a comma, for its purpose appears to be, not to connect the Lord with these saints, but to connect the Thessalonians as blameless in their sainthood (holiness) with all the Lord’s saints at his final presence. This is the great result the writers pray for, that on the last great day the Thessalonians may be found together with all the Lord’s saints as belonging in their blessed company (μετά). How fitting and satisfactory this thought is here at the close of the first part of the letter we need hardly say. Important texts add “amen” as the seal of verity and assurance, which our versions omit.
R A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research. 4th edition..
B.-D Friedrich Blass’ Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch, vierte, voellig neugearbeitete Auflage, besorgt von Albert Debrunner.
C.-K Biblisch-theologisches Woerterbuch der Neutestamentlichen Graezitaet von D. Dr. Hermann Cremer, zehnte, etc., Auflage, herausgegeben von D. Dr. Julius Koegel.