Paul’s Conduct
1 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our visit z with you was not without result. 2 On the contrary, after we had previously suffered a and were treated outrageously in Philippi, b as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition. 3 For our exhortation didn’t come from error or impurity c or an intent to deceive. d 4 Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted e with the gospel, f so we speak, not to please people, but rather God, g who examines our hearts. h 5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy i motives j—God is our witness k— 6 and we didn’t seek glory l from people, either from you or from others. 7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, m instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working n night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. 10 You are witnesses, o and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, p and blamelessly q we conducted ourselves with you believers. 11 As you know, like a father with his own children, r 12 we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, s who calls you into his own kingdom t and glory. u
Reception and Opposition to the Message
13 This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, v the word of God, w which also works effectively in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, x since you have also suffered y the same things from people of your own country, z just as they did from the Jews 15 who killed the Lord Jesus a and the prophets and persecuted us. b They displease God and are hostile to everyone, 16 by keeping us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. As a result, they are constantly filling up their sins to the limit, c and wrath has overtaken them at last.
Paul’s Desire to See Them
17 But as for us, brothers and sisters, after we were forced to leave you for a short time (in person, not in heart d ), we greatly desired and made every effort to return e and see you face to face. 18 So we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan f hindered us. 19 For who is our hope or joy g or crown h of boasting i in the presence of our Lord j Jesus at his coming? k Is it not you? l 20 Indeed you are our glory m and joy!
2:1–2. While Paul may refer either to the character of the apostolic mission or its results among the Thessalonians (as 3:5), the emphasis in this section (2:1–12) is on the character of the ministers. Paul and Silvanus had suffered by being beaten and jailed before coming to Thessalonica (2:2; see Ac 16:19–40; Php 1:30). The treatment also publicly dishonored and insulted them. Despite this socially weakened position, they “were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel.”
2:3–6. The gospel proclamation was not simply a presentation of facts but a call to respond to the divine initiative (cf. Lk 3:18; Ac 2:40). The apostles’ exhortation was not based on a false message, nor was it preached with impure or immoral motives (2:3) such as greed or glory (2:5–6; “glory” is the honor, prestige, or fame that a person might receive). Neither did they use deceitful methods, employing rhetorical trickery to persuade their audience (cf. 1 Co 2:4). The apostles were not flatterers who sought their own gain.
2:7–9. The apostles’ care for the Thessalonians was in fact like that of a nurse for a child (2:7). Although the term “burden” could refer to a financial obligation placed on someone (as in 2:9), here as in other contexts it suggests a weight of authority that someone exercises over others. They did not impose their apostolic authority when they ministered to the Thessalonians (see 2 Co 10:8; 13:10; 1 Pt 5:3). Rather, they were “gentle among you” as a wet nurse. Here Paul compares his nurture of the Thessalonians with the tenderness of a wet nurse who feeds and cares for her own children, not those of another.
2:10–12. Paul once again invokes the Thessalonians and God as two witnesses (as in 2:5) who can testify to the character of the apostles’ conduct (2:10). Their conduct was holy, or pure. They also behaved righteously, or justly; that is, their conduct conformed to human and divine norms. The apostles acted in conformity with both divine and human law and fulfilled all their obligations to both.
2:13. This section (2:13–16) opens with the epistle’s second thanksgiving (cf. 1:2–10). The apostles leave the explanation of the apostolic mission (2:1–12), focus on the Thessalonians’ response (2:13), and then move to reflect on their sufferings (2:14). This final note leads the authors to compare the sufferings of the Thessalonians with those of the churches of Judea at the hands of the Jewish community there. Paul follows with a severe critique of his Jewish contemporaries (2:15–16).
2:14–16. Paul introduces one of the evidences that demonstrated their true reception of the gospel (2:14): their suffering persecution (3:3–4). While many early congregations suffered for their adherence to the gospel (Ac 14:22; 1 Pt 5:9), the churches in Judea were the first (Ac 8:1–3; 9:1; 12:1–5), with Paul even perpetrating their sufferings before his own conversion (Ac 8:3; Gl 1:22–23; 1 Tm 1:13).
2:17–20. The founders of the church were torn away from the new converts in Thessalonica (2:17; cf. Ac 17:5–10). The Greek phrase translated as “forced to leave you” is an expression that in Paul’s day could indicate a child’s loss of parents or the tragedy of losing one’s children (see the CSB footnote), reinforcing the familial ties Paul felt to the church. The longing for the Thessalonians prompted great, even extreme, efforts to return. But Paul simply states, “Satan hindered us” (2:18).