1 and 2 Thessalonians, Volume 45
276
1 and 2 Thessalonians, Volume 45
276Hardcover(Reissue)
-
PICK UP IN STORECheck Availability at Nearby Stores
Available within 2 business hours
Related collections and offers
Overview
Overview of Commentary Organization
- Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology.
- Each section of the commentary includes:
- Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope.
- Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English.
- Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation.
- Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here.
- Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research.
- Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues.
- General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliographycontains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780310521990 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Zondervan Academic |
| Publication date: | 04/07/2015 |
| Series: | Word Biblical Commentary |
| Edition description: | Reissue |
| Pages: | 276 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author
Bruce M. Metzger (1914 – 2007) was a biblical scholar, textual critic, and a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. Metzger is widely considered one of the most influential New Testament scholars of the 20th century. He was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2007).
David Allan Hubbard (1928 – 1996), former president and professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, was a recognized biblical scholar. In addition to over 30 books, he has written numerous articles for journals, periodicals, reference works. He was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 1996).
Glenn W. Barker (d. 1984) was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 1984).
John D. W. Watts (1921 – 2013) was President of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Ruschlikon, Switzerland, and served as Professor of Old Testament at that institution, at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. His numerous publications include commentaries on Isaiah (2 volumes), Amos, and Obadiah. He was Old Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 2011).
James W. Watts is a professor and chair of the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. His teaching and research interests include biblical studies, especially the Torah/Pentateuch, ritual theories, rhetorical analysis, and comparative scriptures studies. He is a co-founder of the Iconic Books Project. He had served as the associate Old Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2011).
Ralph P. Martin (1925-2013) was Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Fuller Theological Seminary and a New Testament Editor for the Word Biblical Commentary series. He earned the BA and MA from the University of Manchester, England, and the Ph D from King's College, University of London. He was the author of numerous studies and commentaries on the New Testament, including Worship in the Early Church, the volume on Philippians in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series. He also wrote 2 Corinthians and James in the WBC series.
Lynn Allan Losie is Associate Professor of New Testament at Azusa Pacific University. A generalist in New Testament studies, Dr. Losie teaches courses in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Pauline Epistles, as well as in the background areas of Greek, early Judaism, and the greater Hellenistic World. He has published articles on the New Testament and had served as the associate New Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2013). Ordained as a Baptist minister, he has also served in pastoral ministry in Southern California and Oregon.
Read an Excerpt
1 and 2 Thessalonians, Volume 45
By F. F. Bruce, Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker
ZONDERVAN
Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-52199-0
CHAPTER 1
Prescript (1 Thess 1:1)
Form/Structure/Setting
The standard form of the initial salutation or prescript in ancient letters was "A to B, greetings." Cf. Ezra 7:12, "Artaxerxes, king of kings, ... to Ezra the priest, greetings"); Cicero, Epistulae ad Quintum fratrem, 1.2 (M. Cicero Q. fratri s[alutem], "Marcus Cicero to Quintus his brother, health"); P. Oxy. 119.1 ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] "Theon to Theon his father, greetings"). Here A comprises the three names Paul, Silvanus and Timothy; B is "the church of the Thessalonians ..."; the greetings take the form "grace to you and peace." This is the shortest prescript among the Pauline homologoumena.
Comment
1:1. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "Paul and Silvanus and Timothy." The same three names appear in the prescript of 2 Thessalonians. It is not unusual to find Paul's name combined with others in the prescripts of the Pauline letters; cf. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "Paul ... and Sosthenes the brother" (1 Cor 1:1); [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (2 Cor 1:1; similarly Phil 1:1; Col. 1:1; Phlm 1); [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "Paul ... and all the brothers with me" (Gal. 1:1, 2). Only in Romans, Ephesians and the Pastoral Letters does Paul's name stand unaccompanied in the prescript.
Here the sequence of names may reflect seniority. But while Paul was the senior partner, the inclusion of the other two names need not be a matter of courtesy only: both Silvanus and Timothy, and especially Silvanus (see 3:2, with comment), may have participated responsibly in the composition of the letter.
Silvanus is mentioned in 2 Cor 1:19 as having shared with Paul and Timothy in the evangelization of Corinth, and the implication of the repeated "we" in this letter is that he similarly shared in the evangelization of Thessalonica. It is uncertain if he is identical with the Silvanus of 1 Pet 5:12. But it is certain that he is identical with the Silas of Acts. Silas was associated with Paul and Timothy in the evangelization of Thessalonica (Acts 17:1–9) and Corinth (Acts 18:5).
If further evidence may be adduced from Acts to fill in our knowledge of Silvanus, Silas was a member of the Jerusalem church, deputed (along with one Judas Barsabbas) to convey the letter containing the apostolic decree to Antioch (Acts 15:22, 27, 32). Not long afterward, he was co-opted by Paul as his colleague for a missionary journey which took them from Antioch through Asia Minor to Alexandria Troas on the northwest coast of the peninsula and from there by sea to Macedonia, where he was involved in the evangelization of Philippi, Thessalonica and Beroea; later he rejoined Paul in Corinth. If it is a reasonable inference from Acts 16:37, where Paul describes Silas and himself as [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "Romans," that Silas was a Roman citizen as well as Paul, then Silvanus might be his Roman cognomen, while Silas is a hypocoristic (as Epaphras to Epaphroditus) or else represents his Aramaic name (cf. Talmudic [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], Palmyrene [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]).
Timothy receives more frequent mention in Paul's letters. He was plainly an associate in whom Paul had complete confidence, entrusting him with responsible missions, e.g. to Thessalonica (3:2, 6), to Corinth (1 Cor 4:17; 16:10) and to Philippi (Phil 2:19). According to Acts he was a native of a South Galatian city (probably Lystra), the son of a Jewish mother and a Greek father, and was converted to Christianity during Barnabas and Paul's first visit to that region. When Paul later revisited the region with Silas, he circumcised Timothy and took him along as a junior colleague. Timothy accompanied Paul and Silas on their journey to Macedonia (Acts 16:1–10; 17:14, 15) and later rejoined Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5). The picture of his companionship with Paul in Acts is confirmed by Paul's own account in Phil 2:20–22: "I have no one like him, who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare.... But Timothy's worth you know, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel."
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "to the church of the Thessalonians." Paul's earlier letters are explicitly addressed to churches (cf. 2 Thess 1:1; Gal 1:2; 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1), but his later letters to churches are variously addressed to "all God's beloved ..., called to be saints" (Rom 1:7); "all the saints" (Phil 1:1); "the saints and faithful brethren in Christ" (Col 1:2); "the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus" (Eph 1:1). For "saints" see comment on 2 Thess 1:10.
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." This phrase probably qualifies [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. Classical usage would require [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] to be repeated before [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] to maintain the phrase in the attributive position, but Hellenistic usage is less strict. The church of the Thessalonians has its being "in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (cf. 2 Thess 1:1). We may compare the collocation of God and Christ in a similar expression in 2:14, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] "the churches of God ... in Christ Jesus").
The noun [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "church, assembly" would not have any sacral association in the minds of recent converts from paganism: hence it is qualified by words which declare plainly whose "assembly" it is to which the converts now belong. Gk. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] was quickly specialized among Gentile Christians to designate a company of believers in Jesus; its synonym [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "synagogue" was increasingly reserved to denote a Jewish congregation. The phrase [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] is found occasionally in LXX to denote the people of Israel as "the assembly of the Lord" (Heb. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII])—repeatedly so in the early part of Deut 23. But God's [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] in the New Testament age has no national frontiers; it comprises Jewish and Gentile believers without distinction.
Here, however, the believing community in Thessalonica is not called the church of God, but the church "in God." This is an unusual expression in the Pauline corpus, where otherwise "in God" is used of boasting in God (Rom 2:17; 5:11) or of being hidden in God (Eph 3:9; Col 3:3). On the other hand, "in Christ," "in Christjesus" or "in the Lord" is a characteristic Pauline expression, especially when it has "incorporative" force, pointing to believers* participation in Christ's risen life or their membership in his body. If this is the force of the words "in ... the Lord Jesus Christ" here, then "in God the Father" must be understood in the same way. This is so uncharacteristic of Paul that Best (62) thinks the preposition [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] must have instrumental force: "the Christian community brought into being by God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ." (The affirmation of Acts 17:28, "in him we live and move and have our being," perhaps quoted from Epimenides of Crete, refers to the old creation and not to the new order of grace.) Possibly Silvanus rather than Paul is responsible for the present wording, which designates God and Christ as the sphere in which the church exists.
In any case, the spontaneous joining of "God the Father" and "the Lord Jesus Christ" under a single preposition bears witness to the exalted place which the risen Christ occupies in the thoughts of Paul and his colleagues (cf. 3:11). In resurrection Christ wears a heavenly humanity as "a life-giving spirit" (1 Cor 15:45–49) and has been invested by God with the title [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] "lord," "the name which is above every name" (Phil 2:9). God and Christ are entirely at one in the salvation of believers and in their maintenance in a spiritual fellowship.
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "grace and peace to you." "Peace" (Heb. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) was (and is) the normal Jewish greeting, as "rejoice" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) was the normal Greek greeting. It is very doubtful if, as has often been suggested, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in the prescript of Pauline letters is a Christian adaptation of the greeting [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. The double form [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] is rather a variant on "mercy and peace" current in some Jewish circles (cf. 2 Bar 78:2). E. Lohmeyer (Probleme, 159) argues that the formula [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] was primarily liturgical and only secondarily epistolary. "[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] is the source of all real blessings, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] their end and issue" (Lightfoot, 8).
To [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Paul habitually adds and [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]—another instance of the joining of "God the Father" and "the Lord Jesus Christ" under a single preposition. The omission of these words (as here) is exceptional, and may perhaps be due to the heaviness of style which their inclusion would impart after [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in the preceding phrase (although that does not stand in the way of their inclusion in 2 Thess 1:2).
Explanation
Paul, Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy, the three missionaries who had first brought the gospel to Thessalonica and planted the church there, now send a letter to that church a few weeks or, at most, a few months after their departure from the city. They greet the church as "the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," perhaps in recognition of the fact that it consisted for the most part of former pagans who, as they are reminded below (vv 9, 10), had abandoned their false gods not only "to serve the living and true God" but also "to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus."
Thanksgiving (1 Thess 1:2–10)
Form/Structure/Setting
The thanksgiving following the prescript, attested occasionally in Greek epistolography, was developed as a special feature of Paul's epistolary style. The present thanksgiving report, which begins in v 2, appears to be interrupted by the apologia of 2:1-12 and the "apostolic parousia" of 2:173:8, but is resumed in 2:13 and again in 3:9. The note of thanksgiving permeates the first part of the letter as far as 3:10 at least; indeed, O'Brien (Thanksgiving, 144), following Schubert {Form, 17-27), sees "good reasons for considering that Paul's introductory thanksgiving stretches from chaps. 1:2 to 3:13."
The thanksgiving report includes a brief prayer report (vv 2b-4), which is mainly concerned with the Thessalonians' faith and which exhibits a rhythmical pattern marked by the three participial constructions [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ... ("mentioning ... calling to mind ... knowing"). Within the second of these three constructions we note the triple beat of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("your work of faith ... labor of love ... patience of hope," v 3).
The report of the Thessalonians' conversion in vv 9b–10 comprises two tristichs, beginning respectively with [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] "you turned" and [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "whom he raised" (see translation above).
Comment
1:2. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "we give thanks." The plural form implies that all three missionaries were in a real sense joint authors of the letter. In other letters where the name of one of Paul's companions is conjoined with his own in the prescript (e.g. Sosthenes in 1 Corinthians or Timothy in Philippians) the use of the singular [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "I give thanks," makes it plain that Paul himself is the author (1 Cor 1:4; Phil 1:3; in Col 1:3 [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] may indicate that Timothy is in some degree joint author). In 2 Thess 1:3, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] is replaced by [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "we are bound to give thanks." In Rom 1:8 [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], Paul indicates the importance which he attaches to thanksgiving. In 2 Cor 1:3 and Eph 1:3, the thanksgiving takes the form [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (cf. also 1 Pet 1:3). Only in Galatians is the note of thanksgiving absent; the news from the Galatian churches gave Paul nothing to be thankful about.
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "concerning you all," may be construed either with [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] or with [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (if [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] be omitted after [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]; see note a). If it is construed with [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] then the balance of the sentence requires that [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "unceasingly," be construed with [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (as in Nestie-Aland26). (For [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] cf. 2:13; 5:17.)
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "making mention" (cf. Rom 1:9; Eph 1:16; Phlm 4). In Plato (Phaedrus 254a; Protagoras 3l7e) and other Attic writers [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] means "to mention" and it probably has the same meaning in Paul. Cf. 3:6 for [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII].
3. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "remembering ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], 'unceasingly')." In the Pauline corpus [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] regularly means "remember" (cf. 2:9; 2 Thess 2:5; Gal 2:10; Eph 2:11; Col 4:18; 2 Tim 2:8). Here the object of the verb is the threefold genitive [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII].
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "your"—genitive in dependence on [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("your work of faith ...").
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. For the triad of graces, "faith, love, hope" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], cf. 5:8; Gal 5:5, 6; Rom 5:1–5; Col 1:4, 5, in addition to the well-known 1 Cor 13:13. (Instances outside the Pauline corpus are Heb 10:22–24; 1 Pet 1:21, 22.) The writers rejoice that these graces are manifested in the life and activity of the Thessalonian Christians. "The triad of faith, hope and love is the quintessence of the God-given life in Christ" (Bornkamm, Paul 219). Hunter (33–35) and others have maintained that the triad belongs to the vocabulary of pre-Pauline Christianity. Faith is based on the assurance that God has acted for his people's salvation in Christ; love is the present (and continuing) relationship between God and his people through Christ; hope is bound up with the conviction that "he who has begun a good work" in them "will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6).
Faith shows itself in work (cf. Gal 5:6, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "faith working through love") and love in labor, but the distinction between [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] and [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] here is more rhetorical than substantial. As for [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], while it is formally parallel to [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] and [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], it "more likely expresses subjectively the patient hope which accompanies active faith ... and laboring love" (BDF § 163).
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "of our Lord Jesus Christ," is objective genitive after [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. It is in him that his people's hope is placed, and their hope will be realized at his Parousia. Cf. 5:8, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "hope of salvation," the "salvation" being that to which God has appointed his people "through our Lord Jesus Christ" (5:9). The same hope is described in Rom 5:2 as "hope of the glory of God" (cf. Col 1:27, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "Christ in you, the hope of glory"). Perhaps "hope" has the emphatic position at the end of the triad here because of the eschatological note of the whole letter (just as the context of 1 Cor 13:13 requires that "love" should occupy that emphatic position there).
For the nouns which respectively govern the three graces in the genitive cf. Rev 2:2, where the Lord says to the church of Ephesus, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("I know your works, your labor and your enduring").
[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "in the presence of our God and Father." It is uncertain how much of the preceding construction is to be taken together with this phrase. It is too distant from [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] to be construed with that participle; it is more natural to suppose that the Thessalonians' work, labor and patient hope are exercised in the presence of God—not only in awareness of their responsibility to him but also in view of the Parousia (cf. 3:13, where the same phrase, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], is closely associated with "the Parousia of our Lord Jesus").
(Continues...)
Excerpted from 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Volume 45 by F. F. Bruce, Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker. Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Editorial Preface, ix,Author's Preface, xi,
Abbreviations, xiii,
Introduction, xix,
I. Background to the Thessalonian Letters, xix,
Bibliography, xix,
1. Macedonia, xx,
2. The Gospel Comes to Macedonia, xxi,
3. Christianity at Thessalonica, xxii,
4. Paul's Plan of Action, xxvi,
5. Paul and the Churches of Macedonia, xxvii,
II. The Thessalonian Letters, xxviii,
Bibliography, xxviii,
1. Authorship, xxxii,
2. Date and Occasion, xxxiv,
3. Early Christian Experience at Thessalonica, xxxv,
4. Eschatology at Thessalonica, xxxvi,
5. Relation Between the Two Letters, xxxix,
6. Miscellaneous Solutions, xliv,
7. Christian Doctrine in Thessalonians, xlvi,
The First Letter to the Thessalonians, 1,
Structure, 3,
Chapter 1, 5,
Chapter 2, 23,
Chapter 3, 58,
Chapter 4, 77,
Chapter 5, 105,
The Second Letter to the Thessalonians, 137,
Structure, 139,
Chapter 1, 141,
Chapter 2, 159,
Excursus on Antichrist, 179,
Chapter 3, 197,
Indexes, 219,