{"commentary":{"id":"adam-clarke","name":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clarke","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"92e28c9363c876d215e296f2fe04abb3ab7e34a2aacebdf06bd62ae79c6e3dba","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":57,"totalNumberOfChapters":854,"totalNumberOfVerses":13318,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"1TH","commentaryId":"adam-clarke","name":"1 Thessalonians","commonName":"1 Thessalonians","introduction":"Preface to the First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians Thessalonica, now called by the Turks Salonichi, a mere corruption of its ancient name, is a seaport town of Turkey in Europe, situated on what was called the Thermaic Gulf, and was anciently the capital of Macedonia. According to Stephanus Byzantinus, it was embellished and enlarged by Philip, king of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, who called it Thessalonica, or the Victory of Thessalia, on account of the victory he obtained there over the Thessalians; prior to which it was called Thermae. Strabo, Tzetzes, and Zonaras say that it obtained the name of Thessalonica from Thessalonica, wife of Cassander, and daughter of Philip. In 1431, it was taken from the Venetians by the Turks, in whose possession it still continues. It is still a large, rich, and populous city, being ten miles in circumference, and carrying on an extensive trade in silk, the principal merchants being Greek Christians and Jews. Christianity has never been extinct in Thessalonica since the year 51 or 52, in which it was planted there by the Apostle Paul; see Acts 17, etc. It contains at present thirty churches belonging to the Greek Christians, and as many Jewish synagogues, besides some Mohammedan mosques. Thessalonica is the see of an archbishop; and is well fortified, being surrounded with walls flanked with towers, and defended on the land side by a citadel; and near the harbor, with three forts. St. Paul, in company with Silas, first preached the Gospel in this city and the adjacent country, about a.d. 52 or 53. Though the Jews, who were sojourners in this city, rejected the Gospel in general, yet a great multitude of the devout Greeks, i.e., such as were proselytes to Judaism, or the descendants of Jewish parents, born and naturalized in Greece, believed and associated with Paul and Silas, and not a few of the chief women of the city embraced the Christian faith. Act 17:4. As the Jews found that, according to the doctrine of the Gospel, the Gentiles were called to enjoy the same privileges with themselves, without being obliged to submit to circumcision and other ordinances of the law, they persecuted that Gospel, and those who proclaimed it; for, moved with indignation, they employed certain lewd fellows of the baser sort - the beasts of the people, set the city on an uproar, assaulted the house of Jason, where the apostles lodged, dragged him and certain brethren before the rulers, and charged them with seditious designs and treason against the Roman emperor! The apostles escaped, and got to Berea, where they began anew their important evangelical labors: thither the Jews of Thessalonica, pursuing them, raised a fresh tumult; so that the apostle, being counselled by the brethren, made his escape to Athens; Act 17:5-15. Thus he followed the command of his Master: Being persecuted in one city, he fled to another; not to hide himself, but to proclaim, in every place, the saving truths of the Gospel of Christ. It does not appear that St. Paul stayed long at Athens; he soon went thence to Corinth, where Timothy and Silas were, but probably not before Timothy met him, for whom he had sent, Act 17:15, to come to him speedily; and whom, it appears, he sent immediately back to Thessalonica, to establish the believers there, and comfort them concerning the faith; Th1 3:2. While Paul abode at Corinth, Timothy and Silas came to him from Thessalonica, and hearing by them of the steadfastness of the Thessalonian converts in the faith of Christ, he wrote this epistle, and shortly after the second, to comfort and encourage them; to give them farther instructions in the doctrines of Christianity, and to rectify some mistaken views, relative to the day of judgment, which had been propagated amongst them. See the preface to the second epistle. Who the persons were who formed the apostolic Church at Thessalonica is not easy to determine. They were not Jews, for these in general persecuted the apostle and the Gospel in this place. We are therefore left to infer that the Church was formed, 1st, of Jewish proselytes, called, Act 17:4, devout Greeks. And 2dly, of converts from heathenism; for, on the preaching of the Gospel to them, it is said; Th1 1:9, that they turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God. Though some of the Jews believed on the preaching of Paul and Silas, Act 17:3, Act 17:4, yet it is evident that the great bulk of the Church was composed of Grecian proselytes and converts from heathenism. Hence we find in this epistle but few allusions to the Jews, and but few references to the peculiarities of their religious or civil institutions. There is a remarkable reading in the text of Act 17:4, which I neglected to quote in the note on that place: instead of των σεβομενων, Ελληνων πολυ πληθος, of devout Greeks a great multitude; the Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Bezae, both in the Greek and Latin, two others, with the Vulgate, read των σεβομενων και Ἑλληνων, of the devout, i.e., those who worshipped the true God; And of the Greeks, i.e., those who were previously heathens, a great multitude; so that, 1. Some few Jews; 2. A great number of those who acknowledged the true God; and 3. A great multitude of heathens, besides many of the chief women, received the doctrine preached by the apostle, and became members of the Church at Thessalonica. See Dr. Paley's remarks on this various reading. The First Epistle to the Thessalonians is allowed on all hands to be the first epistle that St. Paul wrote to any of the Churches of God; and from it two things may be particularly noted: 1. That the apostle was full of the Spirit of love; 2. That the Church at Thessalonica was pure, upright, and faithful, as we scarcely find any reprehension in the whole epistle: the Thessalonian converts had Faith that worked, a Love that labored, and a Hope which induced them to bear afflictions patiently and wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This epistle has been divided into different parts by commentators; but these are arbitrary, the apostle having made no division of this kind; for, although he treats of several subjects, yet he has not so distinguished them from each other as to show that he had any formal division in his mind. In the divisions imposed on this epistle by commentators we do not find two of them alike; a full proof that the apostle has made no divisions, else some of these learned men would have certainly found them out. Technical distinctions of this nature are of little use to a proper understanding of the contents of this epistle.","order":52,"numberOfChapters":5,"sha256":"c396bf5762abcc9fcd7752ed3a5eb4adad44f2cc828e72fe9a7d46db34cbdd5e","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/1TH/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"1TH","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":5,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/1TH/5.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"1TH","chapter":5},"totalNumberOfVerses":86},"chapter":{"number":3,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["Wherefore, when we could no longer, etc. - The apostle was anxious to hear of their state, and as he could obtain no information without sending a messenger express, he therefore sent Timothy from Athens; choosing rather to be left alone, than to continue any longer in uncertainty relative to their state. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["Timotheus, our brother - It appears that Timothy was but a youth when converted to God; he had now however been some years in the work of God; Paul therefore calls him his brother, being one of the same Christian family, a son of God by adoption: elsewhere he calls him his own son, Ti1 1:2; and his dearly beloved son, Ti2 1:2; because he was brought to the knowledge of the true God, and to salvation by Christ, through the apostle's instrumentality. See the preface to the First Epistle to Timothy.\nMinister of God - Employed by God to preach the Gospel; this was God's work, and he had appointed Timothy to do it, and to do it at this time in conjunction with St. Paul; and therefore he calls him his fellow laborer. There were no sinecures then; preaching the Gospel was God's work; the primitive preachers were his workmen, and labored in this calling. It is the same still, but who works? \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["That no man should be moved - That is, caused to apostatize from Christianity.\nWe are appointed thereunto - Εις τουτο κειμεθα· We are exposed to this, we lie open to such, they are unavoidable in the present state of things; as the Latins say, sic est sors nostra, \"this is our lot.\" God appoints nothing of this kind, but he permits it: for he has made man a free agent. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["That we should suffer tribulation - I prepared you for it, because I knew that it was according to their nature for wicked men to persecute the followers of God. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["For this cause - Knowing that you would be persecuted, and knowing that your apostasy was possible, I sent to know your faith - whether you continued steadfast in the truth, lest you might have been tempted by Satan to consult your present ease, and abandon the Gospel, for which you suffered persecution. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["When Timotheus came - We have already seen that he and Silas stayed behind at Thessalonica, when Paul was obliged to leave it; for the persecution seems to have been principally directed against him. When Paul came to Athens, he sent pressingly to him and Silas to come to him with all speed to that city. We are not informed that they did come, but it is most likely that they did, and that Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to comfort and build up these new converts. After Paul had sent away Timothy, it is likely he went himself straight to Corinth, and there Timothy soon after met him, with the good news of the steadiness of the Thessalonian Church.\nYour faith and charity - The good tidings which Timothy brought from Thessalonica consisted of three particulars:\n1. Their faith; they continued steadfast in their belief of the Gospel.\n2. Their charity; they loved one another, and lived in unity and harmony.\n3. They were affectionately attached to the apostle; they had good remembrance of him, and desired earnestly to see him. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["Therefore - we were comforted - My afflictions and persecutions seemed trifles when I heard of your perseverance in the faith. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["For now we live - Your steadfastness in the faith gives me new life and comfort; I now feel that I live to some purpose, as my labor in the Lord is not in vain. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["What thanks can we render to God - The high satisfaction and uncommon joy which the apostle felt are strongly depicted in the language he uses. How near his heart did the success of his ministry lie! It was not enough for him that he preached so often, labored so hard, suffered so much; what were all these if souls were not converted? And what were all conversions, if those who embraced the Gospel did not walk steadily in the way to heaven, and persevere? \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["Night and day praying exceedingly - Supplicating God at all times; mingling this with all my prayers; ὑπερεκπερισσου δεομενοι, abounding and superabounding in my entreaties to God to permit me to revisit you. How strong was his affection for this Church!\nMight perfect that which is lacking - That I might have the opportunity of giving you the fullest instructions in the doctrine of Christ, that ye might have every thing in the most ample detail; so that the great outlines of truth which you already know may be filled up, that ye may be perfectly fitted to every good word and work. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["Now God himself and our Father - That is: God who is our Father, who has adopted us into the heavenly family, and called us his sons and daughters.\nDirect our way - As he was employed in God's work he dared not consult his own inclinations, he looked for continual directions from God, where, when, and how to do his Master's work. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["Make you to increase and abound in love - They had already love to each other, so as to unite them in one Christian body; and he prays that they may have an increase and an abundance of it; that they might feel the same love to each other which he felt for them all. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["To the end he may establish your hearts - Without love to God and man, there can be no establishment in the religion of Christ. It is love that produces both solidity and continuance. And, as love is the fulfilling of the law, he who is filled with love is unblamable in holiness: for he who has the love of God in him is a partaker of the Divine nature, for God is love.\nAt the coming of our Lord - God is coming to judge the world; every hour that passes on in the general lapse of time is advancing his approach; whatsoever he does is in reference to this great event: and whatsoever we do should be in reference to the same. But who in that great day shall give up his accounts with joy? That person only whose heart is established in holiness before God; i.e., so as to bear the eye and strict scrutiny of his Judge. Reader, lay this to heart, for thou knowest not what a moment may bring forth. When thy soul departs from thy body it will be the coming of the Lord to thee.\n\n"]}],"introduction":"St Paul informs them how, being hindered himself from visiting them, he had sent Timothy to comfort them, of whom he gives a high character, Th1 3:1, Th1 3:2. Shows that trials and difficulties are unavoidable in the present state, Th1 3:3, Th1 3:4. Mentions the joy he had on hearing by Timothy of their steadiness in the faith, for which he returns thanks to God; and prays earnestly for their increase, Th1 3:5-10. Prays also that God may afford him an opportunity of seeing them, Th1 3:11. And that they may abound in love to God and one another, and be unblamable in holiness at the coming of Christ, Th1 3:12, Th1 3:13. \n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/1TH/3.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"1TH","chapter":3},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/1TH/4.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"1TH","chapter":4},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/1TH/2.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"1TH","chapter":2},"numberOfVerses":13}