1 Tesalonika 1:6

1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received ¹  the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great affliction.

1 Tesalonika 2:12

2:12 exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you live in a way worthy of God who calls you to his own kingdom and his glory.

1 Tesalonika 3:10-11

3:10 We pray earnestly night and day to see you in person ²  and make up what may be lacking in your faith.

3:11 Now may God our Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.

1 Tesalonika 4:14

4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that ³  God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians. ⁴ 

1 Tesalonika 4:16

4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, ⁵  and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

1 Tesalonika 5:3

5:3 Now when ⁶  they are saying, “There is peace and security,” ⁷  then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains ⁸  on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.

1 Tesalonika 5:12

Final Instructions

5:12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, ⁹  to acknowledge those who labor among you and preside over you in the Lord and admonish you,

[1:6]  ¹ tn Or “after you received.”

[3:10]  ² tn Grk “to see your face.”

[4:14]  ³ tn “we believe that” is understood from the first clause of the verse, which is parallel. Grk “so also God will bring.”

[4:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.” It is possible that “through Jesus” describes “bring,” but this gives the unlikely double reference, “through Jesus God will bring them with Jesus.” Instead it describes their “falling sleep,” since through him their death is only sleep and not the threat it once was. Also Christians are those whose total existence – life and death – is in and through and for Christ (1 Cor 8:6).

[4:16]  ⁵ tn Neither noun in this phrase (ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου, ejn fwnh ajrcangelou, “with the voice of the archangel”) has the article in keeping with Apollonius’ Canon. Since ἀρχάγγελος (ajrcangelo") is most likely monadic, both nouns are translated as definite in keeping with Apollonius’ Corollary (see ExSyn 250-51).

[5:3]  ⁶ tc ‡ δέ (de, “now”) is found in א² B D 0226 6 1505 1739 1881 al, but lacking in א* A F G 33 it. γάρ (gar, “for”) is the reading of the Byzantine text and a few other witnesses (Ψ 0278 Ï). Although normally the shorter reading is to be preferred, the external evidence is superior for δέ (being found in the somewhat better Alexandrian and Western witnesses). What, then, is to explain the γάρ? Scribes were prone to replace δέ with γάρ, especially in sentences suggesting a causal or explanatory idea, thus making the point more explicit. Internally, the omission of δέ looks unintentional, a case of homoioarcton (otandelegwsin). Although a decision is difficult, in this instance δέ has the best credentials for authenticity.

[5:3]  ⁷ tn Grk “peace and security,” with “there is” understood in the Greek construction.

[5:3]  ⁸ tn Grk a singular “birth pain.”

[5:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.