Notes

Observations from 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Author: Greeting comes from Paul, Silas and Timothy It’s not clear if Paul wrote it alone or Silas and Timothy contributed to the letter, but it is clear that the author is also talking on behalf of other believers with him as he constantly uses first person pronouns in plural form such as “we” (v.2), “our” (v.5), “us” (v.6) and uses “men” instead of “man”. The author did not say anything about his identity The writer did not mention his location The writer did not mention anything about the time of writing The author greeted them in the name of the Father and Lord Jesus Christ Recipient(s): The letter is addressed to the church of the Thessalonians The author called them “brothers loved by God” in v. 4 The author mentioned that God has chosen them The author mentioned that they have the steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ They are constantly being mentioned in the prayer of the author Their act of turning to God from idols to serve the living and true God has been reported to the author. Author mentioned that they are waiting for the Son of God from heaven. Author stated that they became imitators of them (Paul, Silas and Timothy) and of God. As per the author, they received the message with joy Author mentioned that they experience great afflictions when they receive the Word Author mentioned that their faith in God has become known everywhere Relationship: Paul is their example. They are trying to imitate Paul Occasion: Thanksgiving to God, prayer and commendation for the church of Thessalonians as they became imitators of them and of God. Themes: Paul’s confidence in the Gospel The power of the Gospel to believers through the work of the Holy Spirit. Great joy brought by the good news of Thessalonians faith & example Paul’s concern for the church Tone: From the chapter, it seems like the author has an encouraging tone or doesn’t seem to have a rebuking tone. Purpose: The purpose of the letter is to show them that Paul and others with him cares for the church (by always mentioning them in their prayers, by remembering their labor for the Lord and by reminding them as how they walked as an example to them) Keywords: Faith, love, hope, steadfastness, gospel, Holy Spirit, joy General: The author called the Father “God” while Jesus, he addressed as “Lord” in the greeting part of the letter There is a wrath to come There is a living and true God The author mentioned that Jesus delivers them from the wrath to come. The author addressed Jesus as the Son of the living and true God. The Son of God is from heaven. The author mentioned that this living and true God is the One who raise Jesus from the dead. There is a message that the recipients received with joy as per the author Compare Versions: Verse 1 NET version is much clearer about the source of the letter (compared to ESV, NASB and NIV), by providing the preposition “from” though it’s still unclear whether Paul is the sole author of the passage. While the MSG version specifically mentioned that Paul is the writer (because of the personal pronoun “I”) and that he is with Silas and Timothy wherever he is that time. In MSG, Jesus Christ was addressed as the Master, instead of “Lord” from all other 4 translations that are present in this observation. Verse 2 No major translation issues seem to be present here because the adverbs used for ESV, NET & NIV translations (constantly, continually ) are synonymous with each other and though MSG used the phrase ‘day and night’, for it brings the same sense referring to the manner of praying the author has towards the church. However, there is only one thing that seems to be different. I noticed that the same adverb “constantly” is not present in NASB in the same verse but rather pushed to verse 3 modifying the phrase bearing in mind. Verse 3 All translations seem to have harmony in terms of its meaning (highlighted yellow). The only thing is that we can notice that NIV replaced the preposition ‘of’ by modifiers that makes the thought clearer (e.g. labor of love (ESV, NASB, NET, MSG) labor prompted by love (NIV)) Verse 4 There is only slight difference among the four translations (ESV, NASB, NET, NIV) because of the word “beloved” used by NASB version, but all have mentioned the word “chose” or “chosen” referring to the recipients. However, in MSG version, it’s seems that it was totally a different translation because it neither uses the word “beloved” nor “chosen” but only says “put his hand on you for something special”. Verse 5 I didn’t see any major issues since all have come up with the same common idea though uses different way of saying things. Verse 6 The same with verse five, all are saying the same thought and no major differences in all translations. Verse 7 Only the MSG used rhetorical question Verse 8 ESV, NASB – the Word of the Lord NET, NIV – The Message of the Lord, The Lord’s message MSG - The news of your faith; You’re the message All other versions except the MSG did not mention ‘the Word of the Lord or the message of the Lord Verse 9 No major differences. Verse 10 ESV, NET - deliver NASB, NIV, MSG - rescue Only in MSG translation that the word “wrath” was replaced by the word “doom”. It has totally different meaning because the word wrath refers to a condition of state of a person or in this sense, a divine chastisement while doom means a destruction or the condition itself. QUESTION: · Does the word “doom” can be an equivalent word for “wrath”?

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