On 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12

“ὑμεῖς μάρτυρες καὶ ὁ θεός, ὡς ὁσίως καὶ δικαίως καὶ ἀμέμπτως ὑμῖν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐγενήθημεν, καθάπερ οἴδατε ὡς ἕνα ἕκαστον ὑμῶν ὡς πατὴρ τέκνα ἑαυτοῦ παρακαλοῦντες ὑμᾶς καὶ παραμυθούμενοι καὶ μαρτυρόμενοι εἰς τὸ περιπατεῖν ὑμᾶς ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ καλοῦντος ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ βασιλείαν καὶ δόξαν.” 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 At a first glimpse, this

On 1 Thessalonians 2:9

Now in verse 9, it is written: “μνημονεύετε γάρ, ἀδελφοί, τὸν κόπον ἡμῶν καὶ τὸν μόχθον· νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ἐργαζόμενοι πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐπιβαρῆσαί τινα ὑμῶν ἐκηρύξαμεν εἰς ὑμᾶς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ.” Thus, it first starts with addressing the community personally: You remember brothers (μνημονεύετε … ἀδελφοί). What is most intriguing is the function

On 1 Thessalonians 2:5-8

“οὔτε γάρ ποτε ἐν λόγῳ κολακείας ἐγενήθημεν, καθὼς οἴδατε, οὔτε ἐν προφάσει πλεονεξίας, θεὸς μάρτυς, οὔτε ζητοῦντες ἐξ ἀνθρώπων δόξαν, οὔτε ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν οὔτε ἀπ᾽ ἄλλων, δυνάμενοι ἐν βάρει εἶναι ὡς χριστοῦ ἀπόστολοι, ἀλλὰ ἐγενήθημεν νήπιοι ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν. ὡς ἐὰν τροφὸς θάλπῃ τὰ ἑαυτῆς τέκνα, οὕτως ὁμειρόμενοι ὑμῶν εὐδοκοῦμεν μεταδοῦναι ὑμῖν οὐ μόνον τὸ

On 1 Thessalonians 2:1-4

“αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἴδατε, ἀδελφοί, τὴν εἴσοδον ἡμῶν τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὅτι οὐ κενὴ γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ προπαθόντες καὶ ὑβρισθέντες καθὼς οἴδατε ἐν φιλίπποις ἐπαρρησιασάμεθα ἐν τῶ θεῶ ἡμῶν λαλῆσαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν πολλῶ ἀγῶνι.” 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2 So after Paul cherishes the efforts of the community, he reminds them of their hard

On 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10

Now in the last two verses of Chapter 1, it is written: “αὐτοὶ γὰρ περὶ ἡμῶν ἀπαγγέλλουσιν ὁποίαν εἴσοδον ἔσχομεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ πῶς ἐπεστρέψατε πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων δουλεύειν θεῶ ζῶντι καὶ ἀληθινῶ, καὶ ἀναμένειν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ [τῶν] νεκρῶν, ἰησοῦν τὸν ῥυόμενον ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς

On 1 Thessalonian 1:8

Now verse 8 is even a superlative from what was stated in verse 7. Verse 8 reads: “ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν γὰρ ἐξήχηται ὁ λόγος τοῦ κυρίου οὐ μόνον ἐν τῇ μακεδονίᾳ καὶ [ἐν τῇ] ἀχαΐᾳ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἐξελήλυθεν, ὥστε μὴ χρείαν ἔχειν ἡμᾶς λαλεῖν τι·“. While the

On 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7

After Paul emphasized that the community of Thessaloniki has achieved a spiritually evolved level indicating that God is with them, he explains in verses 6-7 how they evolved: “καὶ ὑμεῖς μιμηταὶ ἡμῶν ἐγενήθητε καὶ τοῦ κυρίου, δεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον ἐν θλίψει πολλῇ μετὰ χαρᾶς πνεύματος ἁγίου, ὥστε γενέσθαι ὑμᾶς τύπον πᾶσιν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐν τῇ μακεδονίᾳ

On 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5

We stopped in analyzing 1 Thessalonians 1 after verse 3, and thus, in the middle of the sentence, but it can be justified with the fact that verse 2 and 3 already give the outlook of what Paul wants to tell us in the very beginning: He reminded us not to forget the others who

On 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

In 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3, it is written: “εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῶ θεῶ πάντοτε περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν, μνείαν ποιούμενοι ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν ἡμῶν, ἀδιαλείπτως μνημονεύοντες ὑμῶν τοῦ ἔργου τῆς πίστεως καὶ τοῦ κόπου τῆς ἀγάπης καὶ τῆς ὑπομονῆς τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἡμῶν”. Paul, Silvanos and Timothy start with an

My reflections on the Sermon on the Mount in a few bullet points

Timo Schmitz, 12 April 2023