Footnotes

1. 1 Thessalonians 1:2 tn Or “mention you in our prayers, because we recall constantly…”
2. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 tn Grk “making mention…recalling.” The participle ποιούμενοι (poioumenoi) in v. 2 has been translated as temporal, and μνημονεύοντες (mnēmoneuontes) in v. 3 has been translated as causal.
3. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 tn Or the phrase may connect at the end of the verse: “hope…in the presence of our God and Father.”
4. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 tn These phrases denote Christian virtues in action: the work produced by faith, labor motivated by love, and endurance that stems from hope in Christ.
5. 1 Thessalonians 1:4 tn Grk “knowing.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence started here in the translation.
6. 1 Thessalonians 1:4 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
7. 1 Thessalonians 1:4 tn Grk “your election.”
8. 1 Thessalonians 1:5 tn Or “because.”
9. 1 Thessalonians 1:5 tn Or “speech,” or “an act of speaking.”
10. 1 Thessalonians 1:5 tn Grk “just as you know what sort of people we were among you for your sakes.” Verse 5 reflects on the experience of Paul and his fellow preachers; v. 6 begins to describe the Thessalonians’ response.
11. 1 Thessalonians 1:6 tn Or “after you received.”
12. 1 Thessalonians 1:7 tc Most mss (א A C D² F G Ψ 0278 1175 1241 1505 2464 M al) have the plural τύπους (tupous, “examples”) here, while a few significant witnesses have the singular τύπον (tupon, “example”; B D*^,c 6 33 81 104 1739 1881 lat). With ὑμᾶς (humas, “you”) immediately preceding, the plural form looks motivated: Scribes would be expected to change the singular to the plural here. Although the external evidence for the singular reading is not overwhelming, the internal evidence for it is compelling.
13. 1 Thessalonians 1:8 tn Or “the word of the Lord.”sn “The word of the Lord” is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rhēma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logos tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said. Here the phrase has been translated “the message of the Lord” because of the focus upon the spread of the gospel evident in the passage.
14. 1 Thessalonians 1:8 tn Grk “your faith in God has gone out.”
15. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 tn Grk “they themselves,” referring to people in the places just mentioned.
16. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 tn Grk “what sort of entrance we had to you” (an idiom for how someone is received).
17. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 sn The coming wrath. This wrath is an important theme in 1 Thess 5.