¹tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter
²map For the location of Thessalonica see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.
³tc The majority of witnesses, including several early and important ones (Í A [D] I 33 Ï bo), have ajpoV qeou' patroV" hJmw'n kaiV kuriou' Ihsou' Cristou' (apo qeou patro" Jhmwn kai kuriou Ihsou Cristou, “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”) at the end of v. 1. The more abrupt reading (“Grace and peace to you”) without this addition is supported by B F G Y 0278 629 1739 1881 pc lat sa. Apart from a desire to omit the redundancy of the mention of God and Christ in this verse, there is no good reason why scribes would have omitted the characteristically Pauline greeting. (Further, if this were the case, why did these same scribes overlook such an opportunity in 2 Thess 1:1-2?) On the other hand, since 1 Thessalonians is one of Paul’s earliest letters, what would become characteristic of his greetings seems to have been still in embryonic form (e.g., he does not yet call his audience “saints” [which will first be used in his address to the Corinthians], nor does he use ejn (en) plus the dative to refer to the location of the church). Thus, the internal evidence is overwhelming in support of the shorter reading, for scribes would have been strongly motivated to rework this salutation in light of Paul’s style elsewhere. And the external evidence, though not overwhelming, is supportive of this shorter reading, found as it is in some of the best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes.
tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”
⁴tn Or “mention you in our prayers, because we recall constantly…”
⁵tn Grk “making mention…recalling.” The participle poiouvmenoi (poioumenoi) in v. 2 has been translated as temporal, and mnhmoneuvonte" (mnhmoneuonte") in v. 3 has been translated as causal.
⁶tn Or the phrase may connect at the end of the verse: “hope…in the presence of our God and Father.”
⁷tn These phrases denote Christian virtues in action: the work produced by faith, labor motivated by love, and endurance that stems from hope in Christ.
⁸tn Grk “knowing.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle eijdovte" (eidotes) has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence started here in the translation.
⁹tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ajdelfov" 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ajdelfoiv [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
¹⁰tn Grk “your election.”
¹¹tn Or “because.”
¹²tn Or “speech,” or “an act of speaking.”
¹³tn Grk “just as you know what sort of people we were among you for your sakes.” Verse 5 reflects on the experience of Paul and his fellow preachers; v. 6 begins to describe the Thessalonians’ response.
¹⁴tn Or “after you received.”
¹⁵tc Most mss (Í A C D2 F G Y 0278 Ï) have the plural tuvpou" (tupou", “examples”) here, while a few important witnesses have the singular tuvpon (tupon, “example”; B D*^,c 6 33 81 104 1739 1881 pc lat). With uJma'" (Jumas, “you”) immediately preceding, the plural form looks motivated: Scribes would be expected to change the singular to the plural here. Although the external evidence for the singular reading is not overwhelming, the internal evidence for it is compelling.
¹⁶tn Or “the word of the Lord.”
sn “The word of the Lord” is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as rJh'ma tou' kurivou (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as lovgo" tou' kurivou (logo" tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said. Here the phrase has been translated “the message of the Lord” because of the focus upon the spread of the gospel evident in the passage.
¹⁷tn Grk “your faith in God has gone out.”
¹⁸tn Grk “they themselves,” referring to people in the places just mentioned.
¹⁹tn Grk “what sort of entrance we had to you” (an idiom for how someone is received).
²⁰sn The coming wrath. This wrath is an important theme in 1 Thess 5.