1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, to the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

4 Knowing, brothers beloved, your election of God.

5 For our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

6 And you became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.

7 So that you were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.

8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.

9 For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;

10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Thanksgiving for the Past. As in all his epistles except Gal., Paul commences with a paragraph of congratulation, singling out for special praise the work of faith, the labour of love, and the patience of hope exhibited by the Thessalonians, and describing them as a model Church.

1Th 1:1. Silvanus: the Silas of Acts. He and Timothy were the constant companions of Paul during the second missionary journey.

1Th 1:3. work of faith, etc.: note the combination of the three great Pauline words faith, hope, and love (cf. 1Co 13:13). This sentence is a kind of hall-mark setting the stamp of genuineness upon the epistle. Note also the combination of works and faith in the phrase work of faith (cf. Gal 5:6). labour of love: toil of love. patience of hope: the endurance or the constancy of hope; the hope that never fails or flags.

1Th 1:6. having received. in affliction: a reference to the persecution organised by certain vile fellows of the rabble ( Act 17:5-9 *).

1Th 1:7. an ensample: a model. The phrase model Church is applied only to Thessalonica.

1Th 1:8. sounded forth: reverberated. No details have been preserved with regard to this missionary activity.

1Th 1:9. from idols: this phrase indicates that the Church was mainly composed of Gentiles who had been converted from paganism.

1Th 1:10. The two principal items of their faith are: (a) to serve a living and true God, (b) to wait for the Parousia of Christ. the wrath to come: the impending judgment which is to fall on the world at the Parousia.