CHAPTER 1
1. Paulus and Silwanus and Timotheos to the congregation of the Thessalonians, called out by Elohim and [by] the Master, Yeshua the Messiah: [Empowering] favor to you, and shalom!
2. We always give thanks to the Elohim concerning all of you, making mention of you upon our prayers,
3. without fail, remembering your faithful work and your labor of love and your steadfast expectation of our Master, Yeshua the Messiah before our Elohim and Father,
4. appreciating Elohim’s selection of you, beloved brothers,
5. because our glad message did not only come to you with words, but with [life-changing] power and in the spirit of being set apart, and with much conviction, just as you know what sort [of people] we became among you, because of [what] you [were].
Much conviction: or complete follow-through, full assurance.
6. You also became imitators of us and of the Master, having welcomed the Word in the midst of much pressure with [the] joy [that comes with] the spirit of being set apart
Set apart: or holy. We must remember not to characterize holiness as something dour, stiff, and depressing; this verse reminds us again that “the fruit of the spirit is joy.” (Gal. 5:22) The fact that YHWH has put us in a separate category from those who live for the flesh is an exciting prospect, because it means we can be free from the downward drag of selfishness, hopelessness, and sin in general, because we have “life-changing power” (v. 5) to overcome these things.
7. so that you came to be an example to all the believers in Makedonia and Akhaia,
Example: a model or blueprint for others to follow. Makedonia and Akhaia constitute most of what was then called Greece.
8. since from you the word of YHWH has [clearly] sounded forth, not only in Makedonia and Akhaia, but in every place your faithfulness toward Elohim has spread abroad, so that there is no need for us to say anything [else].
9. They themselves reported to us what kind of reception we had from you, and how you turned to Elohim from idols—to be devoted to the living and true Elohim
10. and to await His Son from out of the heavens, whom He raised out from [among] the dead—Yeshua the Messiah, the one who is delivering us from the coming wrath.
Is delivering: He is still active in whatever part of this process we need this very day.
CHAPTER 2
1. For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you has not been in vain.
2. But, having previously suffered and been mistreated, as you know, in Filippi, we had boldness through our Elohim to speak [freely] to you of the glad news in the midst of much conflict,
Boldness: or confidence. Conflict: or anxiety.
3. because that which we exhort [you with] is not out of fraudulent or impure [motives] or through trickery,
4. but in the same way that we have been [tried and] approved under Elohim to be entrusted with the glad news, this is how we speak: not as pleasing human beings but Elohim, the one who examines our hearts.
5. For we never even began to use flattery, as you know, nor [did we speak] with a pretext for greed—Elohim is witness--
6. nor seeking honor from humans—either from you or from others—though we were able to be, through our authority as Messiah’s envoys.
7. Rather, we became as if simple-minded [and gentle] among you, like a nursing mother who nurtures her own children.
8. Having such a strong affection for you, we were pleased to share with you not only the glad news of Elohim, but also our own lives, because you had become beloved to us.
9. For remember, brothers, our labor and wearisome toil; working night and day, so as not to be a burden to any of you [is how] we proclaimed to you the glad news of Elohim.
10. You are witnesses—along with Elohim—how holy, just, and above reproach we were toward you who believed,
11. just as each one of you knows [exactly] how, like a father to his own children,
12. [I was] inviting you and encouraging you and giving you personal examples of how to walk in a manner worthy of the Elohim who calls you into His own Kingdom and good graces.
13. And because of this, too, we give thanks without ceasing that, having received the word of Elohim through hearing [it] from us, you accepted [it] not as a human message, but for what it really is—the word of Elohim, which is also actively effective in you who have faith.
14. Because you, brother, became imitators of the called-out congregations of Elohim which are in Judea by means of Yeshua the Messiah. For just like them, you also experienced ill treatment under [your] own countrymen, as they did under the Judeans,
For the first time since then, many congregations are again imitating the Jewish believers in Messiah.
15. who had both put to death the Master, Yeshua, and the prophets and driven us out, [who] were not pleasing to Elohim and antagonistic to all humanity,
Sadly, this was the condition in this time just before the second Temple was destroyed, when according to Jewish sources, there were even many brothers who hated their own brothers without a valid reason.
16. forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles so that they might be saved, [leading] to the fullest measure of their sins ever, but wrath has caught up with them, bringing closure.
Saved: delivered, rescued, or healed—all things the Gentiles were eager for by this time, recognizing the bankruptcy of their own systems, but those with the only workable solution were shutting off the supply. Closure: Paulus was apparently satisfied that justice would be adequately served as he saw the “handwriting on the wall” looming on the horizon just as the prophets in former generations had.
17. We, however, brothers, being bereaved of you for the season of an hour—in presence, not in heart—were all the more eager to see your faces, with great desire.
18. That’s why we wanted to come to you—I, Paulus, indeed, not once but twice—but the adversary hindered us.
19. Who is the hope, the joy, the prize of which we would be able to boast in the presence of our Master, Yeshua, at his arrival? Is it not indeed you?
20. For you are what is important to us, and [what brings] us joy.
CHAPTER 3
1. So, being unable to bear it any longer, we thought it best to be left alone in Athens,
2. and we sent our beloved brother and co-worker of Elohim in the glad proclamation—Timotheos—in order to firmly establish you and bring encouragement for the sake of your confidence
3. so that no one would be shaken by these pressures, for you yourselves know that we are specially-appointed for this.
4. And indeed, while we were with you, we told you in advance that we were about to suffer persecution, just as it also turned out, [as] you can indeed see.
With you: literally, right in front of you.
5. Because of this, I too, being able to stand it no longer, sent [him] to be sure of your faith, in case somehow the tempter had enticed you, and our labor had come to nothing.
6. But now that Timotheos has come to us from you, and, having brought us the good news of your faith and love (also that you always have positive memories of us), [and] that you eagerly yearn to see, exactly as we do you.
7. For this reason we were encouraged in regard to you, brothers, superseding all of our constraint[s] and pressure, through your faithfulness,
8. because we are alive now, as long as you are standing firm through the Master.
9. For what thanks we are able to give back to Elohim concerning you on the basis of all the joy with which we rejoice because of you in the presence of our Elohim
10. night and day, begging to the point of excess to see your face and to supply the things lacking in your faith.
Supply what is lacking: or adjust, repair the deficits.
11. Now may our Elohim and Father Himself and our Master, Yeshua, direct our way toward you.
12. But may the Master make you increase and superabound in love toward one another and toward everyone, exactly as we [have] toward you,
13. in order to make your hearts resolute, irreproachable in holiness before our Elohim and Father at our Master Yeshua’s arrival, along with all of those He has set apart.
CHAPTER 4
1. So from now on, brothers, we ask you and invite you in the Master, Yeshua, that, just as you have received from us how you need to walk and willingly please Elohim, just as you are [already] walking even [now], so that you should abound all the more,
2. because you know the instructions which we gave you through the Master Yeshua.
3. This is what YHWH desires: your consecration—that you keep away from prostitution,
Consecration: or holiness, sanctification—being set apart for a special purpose, but this also involves being set apart from certain things. Prostitution: most properly, selling oneself. It covers a variety of forms of sexual immorality or promiscuity, but also extends into the spiritual realm, such as idolatry or any way in which we sell off what is meant exclusively for YHWH’s purposes for lesser purposes of any kind.
4. for each of you to know how to master his own vessel in purity and dignity,
Purity: being dedicated to one spouse. Dignity: or honor, keeping decorum intact in every public situation, and reserving private things for their proper use.
5. not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know Elohim,
6. not to defraud or take advantage of one’s brother in [this] matter, because [He is] and avenging Master concerning all of these things, just as indeed we forewarned you and provided solemn evidence,
7. since Elohim has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but into holiness.
8. Consequently, the one who sets this aside disregards not a human being but Elohim, the One who puts His spirit—the different one—into you.
Sets aside: abrogates, rejects as invalid, disregards, breaks with, or removes from its proper place. Different spirit: possibly an allusion to Kalev, whose distinctiveness of spirit (Num. 14:24) gained him many rewards from YHWH.
9. Now concerning love for brothers, you have no need [for me] to write to you, because you are taught by Elohim into the loving of one another,
10. and you are carrying this out toward all the brothers who are in Makedonia. However, we invite you, brothers, to excel even further
11. and strive earnestly to live quietly and attend to [your] own business and work with your own hands, just as we transmitted to you,
Live quietly: specifically not being a meddlesome “busybody”. Instead, keep yourself truly busy with things that actually provide for one another’s needs:
12. so that you may act with decorum toward those on the outside, [and] also that no one may have lack [of anything].
Act: literally, walk—a Hebrew idiom. Decorum: i.e., decency, proper deportment, becomingly.
13. Now I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not be grieved like the rest [of the people] who have no hope,
Ignorant: or, thinking you are unable to know, for the word is the root for “agnostic”. Asleep: metaphorical for dead, but this also indicates that they can “wake up” again.
14. because if we are confident that Yeshua died and rose up again, it is the same [for] those who have fallen asleep through Yeshua; YHWH will also bring them [back along] with him.
15. Indeed, we tell you this through the word of the Master, that we who are alive—those who remain until the Master’s arrival—will not precede those who are asleep,
16. since the Master himself will step down out of the sky with a rousing signal, the voice of the chief messenger, and the trumpet of Elohim, and the dead in Messiah will rise up first.
Rousing signal: or commanding shout, hinting at the Hebrew t’ruah, which can mean a shout, trumpet blast, or alarm, as commanded on the first day of the seventh month, suggesting a connection with this particular festival (Lev. 23:24), especially in light of the rest of the verse.
17. Afterwards, we, the living—those who remain—will be snatched away together to accompany them in clouds into a meeting [with] the Master in the air, and thus we will always be accompanying the Master.
Clouds: not necessarily something in the sky (though we do not put that past YHWH); it is often used Hebraically as a metaphor for a large dense multitude (crowd) or throng. (Hebrews 12:1), particularly in prophetic reference to armies (Yirmeyahu 4:13; compare Y’hezq’el/Ez. 37:10-14) The way this is YHWH’s word (v. 15) is because it alludes to the language in Dani’el 7:13—“one like the Son of man arrived together with the clouds of the heavens.” Air: or atmosphere, particularly the lower and denser air as distinguished from the higher and rarer air (Strong), so again, this is not necessarily something above the clouds, but in the realm of those who are living and breathing as opposed to in the ground, where those who preceded us had just been. Since the Kingdom is to be upon the earth, this is probably not a “catching away” to a place in the sky, but to another place on earth where all Israel will be gathered. This may be the same event described in Yeshayahu/Isa. 26:19-20, a resurrection and yet a hiding away of those protected by YHWH until His indignation is over with. It parallels the week a bride is taken into her chamber (the same terminology used by Yeshayahu), out of sight of the public, and a wedding is another theme of Yom T’ruah.
18. So then, encourage one another with these words.
CHAPTER 5
1. Concerning the times and seasons, brothers, you have no need to be written to.
2. For you yourselves know specifically that the Day of YHWH is coming in the manner of a thief in the night.
Day of YHWH: the 1,000-year period of which the Sabbath is a foreshadowing, which will begin with a re-setting of the world to its original intent, and in the process that will spell the destruction of many institutions that now rule the world. (See Yeshayahu 2:12; 13:6-9; 34:8; Yirmeyahu 46:10; Y’hezq’El 30:3; Yo’el 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31,Ovadyah 15, et al.) Thief in the night: according to John Klein and Adam Spears, this does not mean “some kind of soundless, sly, cat-burglar infiltration. On the contrary this is a Hebrew idiom meaning that He will come boldly, like an armed intruder who kicks in the door and makes sure everyone in the neighborhood knows He’s there.”
3. Whenever they may say, “Peace and security!”, then unexpected doom will [suddenly] fall upon them, just like the acute pains [that come] to her who has [a child] in her womb, and by no means can they escape.
4. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that the Day should take you down aggressively like a thief,
I.e., you should know what signs to look for, because you have been forewarned; it is not a mystery to you.
5. because you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of night or of darkness.
The day: being above board and acting in broad daylight in general, but in particular, belonging to the Day of YHWH (v. 2), and therefore on the right side of all that is coming on the earth, as He comes to restore light to a darkened world. We are not part of what is to be destroyed, if we walk in the light. So although it will be sobering to all and not a fun time, at its arrival (Amos 5:18-20; Ts’fanyah 1:14-18), that Day is not a cause for fear if we are living as we should.
6. Therefore we should not be sleeping like the rest [of humanity], but rather we should be on the alert and sober.
On the alert: watchful, vigilant, staying awake; sober: calm, discreet, and aware of our surroundings.
7. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.
8. We, however, who belong to the day, should be sober, having put on the breastplate of faithfulness and love and [as a] helmet, the expectation of deliverance,
Helmet: compare Ephesians 6:17. This shows that we are on YHWH’s side when He comes to judge, because He Himself is said to put on a helmet of deliverance in Yeshayahu 59:17.
9. because Elohim has not appointed us to wrath, but to acquire deliverance as our own possession through our Master Yeshua the Messiah,
10. the one who died in regard to us, so that whether we may remain awake or go to sleep, we might live together with him.
Here the metaphor of sleep shifts to being a picture of death, picking up the theme from 4:13-15, after this fork in the road in which it took on a different contrast; now the two streams come back together.
11. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are [already] doing.
12. But we ask you, brothers, to show appreciation for those who work hard among you and those of you who diligently take the lead through the Master and give you well-thought-out counsel
Well-thought-out counsel: admonishing, correcting, exhorting, warning, reasoning, exerting positive pressure on their logical processes, urging them to choose YHWH’s best. (Thayer)
13. and hold them in highest esteem with loving commitment because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
Be at peace: or keep the peace.
14. But we call you aside, brothers, [urging you] to counsel the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient toward everyone.
Unruly: disorderly or insubordinate; literally, those who are disorganized or out of order.
15. See to it that no one repays evil for evil, but always pursue what is best for one another and for everyone.
16. Be joyful all the time.
17. Offer prayers unceasingly.
18. Give thanks in everything, because this is Elohim’s desire through Messiah Yeshua for you.
19. Do not thwart the Spirit.
Thwart: or quench, extinguish, suppress—i.e., do nothing to hinder what YHWH is leading you to do.
20. Do not despise prophecies.
Despise: or ignore, treat with contempt, count as nothing.
21. However, [do] test all things; hold fast to what is good.
22. Keep away from every form of evil.
23. Now may the Elohim of peace Himself set you completely apart, [making] your spirit and soul and body entirely sound at the arrival of our Master, Yeshua the Messiah.
24. The One who is calling you is faithful, and He will carry it out.
25. Brothers [and sisters], pray also in regard to us.
26. Greet all the brothers [and sisters] with a holy kiss.
Clearly this is different from one intended for sexual purposes, and culturally at that time would have been the way of greeting those of both genders.
27. I solemnly charge you by the Master to have this letter read to all the brothers [and sisters].
28. May the empowering favor of our Master, Yeshua the Messiah, be with you [all].
THE FIRST LETTER OF PAULUS
TO THE
Thessalonians
INTRODUCTION: Thessalonika was and still is an important city in Greece, located both on the coast and where two major Roman roads intersected, one leading from Italy eastward (Ignatia Way) and the other from the Danube to the Aegean. Now called Thessaloniki, it is Greece’s second-largest city, with a population of a million. At the time of this writing, it had already been the capital of Makedonia for about 200 years. In 42 BCE, after the battle of Philippi, it became a free city. Paulus had started his proclamation of the glad news here in a synagogue as usual, but persecution became severe very quickly (Acts 17), and continued after he left, so in both letters to the congregation he began here he addresses how to cope with it “not just somehow but triumphantly”.
