1 Thessalonians 2
Our entrance to you was not empty — after suffering and insult in Philippi we spoke the gospel of God openly in much contest. Our exhortation is not from deception, uncleanness or deceit — tested to be entrusted with the gospel, we please not men but God who tests hearts. No flattery, no pretext of greed, no glory from men — God is witness. Able to be with weight, we became mild like a nurse cherishing her children, glad to share not only the gospel but our own lives. Working night and day we burdened no one; holily, justly, faultlessly — like a father with his children we exhorted, comforted, testified. You received the word as God’s, not men’s, and suffered from your own tribesmen as the Judean assemblies did from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets — the wrath has come upon them to the end. Orphaned for a time of an hour, we longed to see your face, but Satan hindered us. Our hope, joy, crown of boasting at his coming — you.
Why this rendering
1Thess.2.4 Observation
Syntactic observation
Αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἴδατε, ἀδελφοί, τὴν εἴσοδον ἡμῶν τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὅτι οὐ κενὴ γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ προπαθόντες καὶ ὑβρισθέντες καθὼς οἴδατε ἐν Φιλίπποις ἐπαρρησιασάμεθα ἐν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν λαλῆσαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν πολλῷ ἀγῶνι. ἡ γὰρ παράκλησις ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐκ πλάνης οὐδὲ ἐξ ἀκαθαρσίας οὐδὲ ἐν δόλῳ, ἀλλὰ καθὼς δεδοκιμάσμεθα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πιστευθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον οὕτως λαλοῦμεν, οὐχ ὡς ἀνθρώποις ἀρέσκοντες ἀλλὰ θεῷ τῷ δοκιμάζοντι τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν — For you yourselves know, brothers, our entrance to you, that it has not become empty; but having suffered before and been insulted, as you know, in Philippi, we spoke openly in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much contest. For our exhortation is not from deception nor from uncleanness nor in deceit, but just as we have been tested by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men but God who tests our hearts. εἴσοδος takes up 1:9 ‘entrance’. προπάσχω occurs once in the New Testament — the beating at Philippi (Acts 16:22-23) as ‘having suffered before’. παρρησιάζομαι is Acts 9:27 ‘speak openly’. πλάνη (deception — Eph 4:14) and δόλος (deceit — Mark 7:22) in one verse. δεδοκιμάσμεθα (tested — perfect passive) → τῷ δοκιμάζοντι (who tests — present participle) — one verb twice in one verse, the word of Rom 2:18 ‘judge’ · Luke 14:19 ‘test’ · 2 Cor 13:5. πιστευθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον is the construction of Gal 2:7 ‘entrusted with the gospel’. ἀρέσκω ‘please’ in v.4 · v.15.
Rendering options · 3
Basis ‘Test’ as fixed at Luke 14:19 — the same word for the perfect passive and the present participle.
Basis πλάνη ‘deception’ (Eph 4:14) · δόλος ‘deceit’ (Mark 7:22) — two words in one verse kept as two.
Basis ‘Entrusted with the gospel of the foreskin’ as fixed at Gal 2:7.
Lost in translation
δεδοκιμάσμεθα / δοκιμάζοντι (v.4) — one verb twice. ‘Tested / who tests’ keep it.
πλάνης / δόλῳ (v.3) — ‘deception / deceit’ keep the two words apart.
προπαθόντες — ‘having suffered before’ unfolds one word into a phrase.
εἴσοδον (2:1) / εἴσοδον (1:9) — ‘entrance’ twice shows the echo.
Why this rendering
1Thess.2.7 Observation
Syntactic observation
οὔτε γάρ ποτε ἐν λόγῳ κολακείας ἐγενήθημεν, καθὼς οἴδατε, οὔτε ἐν προφάσει πλεονεξίας, θεὸς μάρτυς, οὔτε ζητοῦντες ἐξ ἀνθρώπων δόξαν … δυνάμενοι ἐν βάρει εἶναι ὡς Χριστοῦ ἀπόστολοι· ἀλλὰ ἐγενήθημεν ἤπιοι ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐὰν τροφὸς θάλπῃ τὰ ἑαυτῆς τέκνα· οὕτως ὁμειρόμενοι ὑμῶν εὐδοκοῦμεν μεταδοῦναι ὑμῖν οὐ μόνον τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχάς — For neither did we ever come with a word of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext of greed — God is witness — nor seeking glory from men … though able to be with weight as apostles of Christ; but we became mild in the middle of you, as when a nurse cherishes her own children. So, yearning for you, we were well pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives. Five οὔτε link vv.5-6. κολακεία occurs once in the New Testament — ‘flattery’. ἐν βάρει is the word of 2 Cor 4:17 ‘weight’ — ‘be with weight’ (the picture of asserting authority) is not paraphrased. ⸀ἤπιοι (mild — Received Text νήπιοι ‘infants’) is the base text’s reading — one letter turns the nurse’s picture into the infant’s. τροφός (nurse) · ὁμείρομαι (yearn) occur once each; θάλπω is Eph 5:29 ‘cherish’. τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχάς ‘our own lives’ — ψυχή as ‘life’. θεὸς μάρτυς is verbless (as at Phil 1:8).
Rendering options · 3
Basis The base text’s reading — the Received Text’s νήπιοι (infants) is not rendered; measured again at 2 Tim 2:24.
Basis The Received Text’s reading — one letter apart.
Rejected The translation does not alter the base text’s reading — the divergence is recorded here.
Basis βάρος ‘weight’ as fixed at 2 Cor 4:17 — not paraphrased ‘assert authority’.
Lost in translation
⸀ἤπιοι — where the base text and the Received Text differ by one letter. A rendering shows one reading only.
Five οὔτε (vv.5-6) — ‘neither · nor · nor · neither · nor’ keep the repetition.
θεὸς μάρτυς — verbless ‘God witness’. ‘Is’ is supplied.
θάλπῃ (v.7) / θάλπει (Eph 5:29) — ‘cherish’ twice shows the same word.
Why this rendering
1Thess.2.12 Observation
Syntactic observation
Μνημονεύετε γάρ, ἀδελφοί, τὸν κόπον ἡμῶν καὶ τὸν μόχθον· νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ἐργαζόμενοι πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐπιβαρῆσαί τινα ὑμῶν ἐκηρύξαμεν εἰς ὑμᾶς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ. ὑμεῖς μάρτυρες καὶ ὁ θεός, ὡς ὁσίως καὶ δικαίως καὶ ἀμέμπτως ὑμῖν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐγενήθημεν, καθάπερ οἴδατε ὡς ἕνα ἕκαστον ὑμῶν ὡς πατὴρ τέκνα ἑαυτοῦ παρακαλοῦντες ὑμᾶς καὶ παραμυθούμενοι καὶ μαρτυρόμενοι, εἰς τὸ περιπατεῖν ὑμᾶς ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ — For you remember, brothers, our labour and toil: working night and day so as not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God, how holily and justly and faultlessly we became toward you who believe, just as you know how each one of you, as a father his own children, we were exhorting and comforting and testifying, that you should walk worthily of God. κόπος καὶ μόχθος ‘labour and toil’ is the pair of 2 Cor 11:27. ἐπιβαρέω is 2 Cor 2:5 ‘burden’. Three adverbs (ὁσίως holily · δικαίως justly · ἀμέμπτως faultlessly) — ὁσίως occurs once in the New Testament (the adverb of Acts 2:27 ὅσιος ‘holy’); ἀμέμπτως is the adverb of Phil 2:15 ‘faultless’. After the nurse (v.7), the father (v.11) — two parental pictures. Three participles (παρακαλοῦντες exhorting · παραμυθούμενοι comforting · μαρτυρόμενοι testifying) — παραμυθέομαι is the verb of John 11:19 · 31, where ‘console’ was realigned to ‘comfort’ (it stands here beside παράκλησις ‘consolation’, and παραμυθία is ‘comfort’). ⸀περιπατεῖν (Received Text aorist) is the base text’s reading.
Rendering options · 3
Basis παρακαλέω ‘exhort’ (Eph 4:1) · the verb of παραμυθία ‘comfort’ (1 Cor 14:3) · μαρτύρομαι ‘testify’ (Gal 5:3) as fixed — John 11:19 · 31 realigned to ‘comfort’.
Basis The earlier rendering of John 11:19.
Rejected ‘Console’ is παρακαλέω’s place (Eph 6:22) — two words would become one within a letter that also has παράκλησις (v.3).
Basis The adverbs of ὅσιος ‘holy’ (Acts 2:27) · δικαίως ‘justly’ (1 Cor 15:34) · ἄμεμπτος ‘faultless’ (Phil 2:15) as fixed.
Lost in translation
κόπον … μόχθον (v.9) — the same pair as 2 Cor 11:27 ‘labour · toil’ is visible.
ὁσίως (v.10) / ὅσιος (Acts 2:27) — ‘holily / holy’ keep the root; the overlap with ἅγιος is a recorded loss.
παραμυθούμενοι (v.12) / παραμύθιον (Phil 2:1) — ‘comforting / comfort’ keep the root.
τροφός (v.7) / πατήρ (v.11) — nurse and father, the two parental pictures stand as they are.
Why this rendering
1Thess.2.16 Observation
Syntactic observation
ὑμεῖς γὰρ μιμηταὶ ἐγενήθητε, ἀδελφοί, τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν οὐσῶν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ὅτι τὰ αὐτὰ ἐπάθετε καὶ ὑμεῖς ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων συμφυλετῶν καθὼς καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τῶν καὶ τὸν κύριον ἀποκτεινάντων Ἰησοῦν καὶ τοὺς προφήτας καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐκδιωξάντων, καὶ θεῷ μὴ ἀρεσκόντων, καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐναντίων, κωλυόντων ἡμᾶς τοῖς ἔθνεσιν λαλῆσαι ἵνα σωθῶσιν, εἰς τὸ ἀναπληρῶσαι αὐτῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας πάντοτε. ἔφθασεν δὲ ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς ἡ ὀργὴ εἰς τέλος — For you became imitators, brothers, of the assemblies of God that are in Judea in Christ Jesus, because you also suffered the same things from your own fellow tribesmen as they also from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and hounded us out, and do not please God, and are against all men, preventing us from speaking to the nations so that they may be saved — so as to fill up their sins always. But the wrath has come upon them to the end. μιμηταί takes up 1:6 ‘imitators’ — there of us and the Lord, here of the assemblies in Judea. συμφυλέτης occurs once in the New Testament — a compound of φυλή (tribe), ‘fellow tribesmen’, set against Ἰουδαῖοι. Five participles (killed · hounded out · not pleasing · against · preventing) hang on the Jews; ἐκδιώκω occurs once — διώκω (persecute) with ἐκ. ἀναπληρόω is Phil 2:30 ‘fill up’ — ‘fill up their sins’. ἔφθασεν is the verb (aorist) of Matt 12:28 ‘the kingdom of God has come upon you’ — ‘the wrath has come upon them’; εἰς τέλος ‘to the end’. ⸀τούς (v.15 — Received Text ‘their own’ prophets) · ⸀ὀργή are the base text’s readings.
Rendering options · 3
Basis φυλή ‘tribe’ as fixed at Rom 11:1 — not paraphrased ‘countrymen’ (γένος’s place).
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected That overlaps γένος as fixed at 2 Cor 11:26.
Basis ‘Come upon’ as fixed at Matt 12:28 · Rom 9:31 — the aorist as ‘has come’.
Lost in translation
μιμηταί (2:14) / μιμηταί (1:6) — ‘imitators’ twice shows the echo.
συμφυλετῶν (v.14) / φυλή (Rom 11:1) — ‘fellow tribesmen / tribe’ keep the root.
ἐκδιωξάντων (v.15) / διώκω (Phil 3:6) — ‘hounded out / persecute’ split the root.
ἔφθασεν (v.16) / ἔφθασεν (Matt 12:28) — ‘has come upon’ twice shows the same word.
Why this rendering
1Thess.2.19 Observation
Syntactic observation
Ἡμεῖς δέ, ἀδελφοί, ἀπορφανισθέντες ἀφ’ ὑμῶν πρὸς καιρὸν ὥρας, προσώπῳ οὐ καρδίᾳ, περισσοτέρως ἐσπουδάσαμεν τὸ πρόσωπον ὑμῶν ἰδεῖν ἐν πολλῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ. διότι ἠθελήσαμεν ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἐγὼ μὲν Παῦλος καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δίς, καὶ ἐνέκοψεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Σατανᾶς. τίς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἐλπὶς ἢ χαρὰ ἢ στέφανος καυχήσεως— ἢ οὐχὶ καὶ ὑμεῖς— ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ παρουσίᾳ; ὑμεῖς γάρ ἐστε ἡ δόξα ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ χαρά — But we, brothers, having been orphaned from you for a time of an hour — in face, not in heart — were the more diligent to see your face, with much desire. Because we wanted to come to you — I, Paul, both once and twice — and Satan hindered us. For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting — or is it not you also? — before our Lord Jesus at his coming? For you are our glory and joy. ἀπορφανίζω occurs once in the New Testament — the verb of John 14:18 ὀρφανός ‘orphaned’; after the nurse and the father, a third family picture, this time with ‘we’ as the orphans. πρὸς καιρὸν ὥρας ‘for a time of an hour’ — two time-words stacked, not smoothed. προσώπῳ οὐ καρδίᾳ ‘in face, not in heart’ — two datives; πρόσωπον returns at once (your face). ἐπιθυμία is Phil 1:23 ‘desire’ (the good site). καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δίς is the phrase of Phil 4:16. ἐγκόπτω is Gal 5:7 ‘hinder’. Verse 19 keeps the question inserted between two dashes (— or is it not you also —) as the base text has it. παρουσία is Matt 24:3 ‘coming’ — four more times in this letter (3:13 · 4:15 · 5:23). ⸀διότι (v.18 — Received Text διό) is the base text’s reading.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The verb of ὀρφανός ‘orphaned’ (John 14:18) — not paraphrased ‘separated’.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected The third of three family pictures — nurse, father, orphan — would vanish.
Basis The text stacks καιρός and ὥρα — not collapsed to ‘a short while’.
Lost in translation
ἀπορφανισθέντες (v.17) / ὀρφανούς (John 14:18) — ‘orphaned / orphaned’ keep the root.
πρὸς καιρὸν ὥρας — two time-words kept as ‘a time of an hour’.
The two dashes of v.19 — the inserted question kept in the base text’s dashes.
καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δίς — the same phrase as Phil 4:16 is visible in ‘both once and twice’.