1 Thessalonians 1:3

1:3 because we recall ¹  in the presence of our God and Father ²  your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope ³  in our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 3:2

3:2 We ⁴  sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God ⁵  in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith,

1 Thessalonians 3:10

3:10 We pray earnestly night and day to see you in person ⁶  and make up what may be lacking in your faith.

1 Thessalonians 3:12

3:12 And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you,

1 Thessalonians 4:11

4:11 to aspire to lead a quiet life, to attend to your own business, and to work with your hands, as we commanded you.

1 Thessalonians 5:5

5:5 For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness.

1 Thessalonians 5:12

Final Instructions

5:12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, ⁷  to acknowledge those who labor among you and preside over you in the Lord and admonish you,

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¹ tn Grk “making mention…recalling.” The participle ποιούμενοι (poioumenoi) in v. 2 has been translated as temporal, and μνημονεύοντες (mnhmoneuonte") in v. 3 has been translated as causal.

² tn Or the phrase may connect at the end of the verse: “hope…in the presence of our God and Father.”

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.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁵ tc A variety of readings occurs in this verse. Instead of “and fellow worker for God” (καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, kai sunergon tou qeou), B has “and fellow worker” (καὶ συνεργόν); א A P Ψ 0278 6 81 629* 1241 1739 1881 2464 lat co read “and servant of God” (καὶ διάκονον τοῦ θεοῦ, kai diakonon tou qeou); D² Ï and a few versional witnesses read “and a servant of God and our fellow worker” (καὶ διάκονον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ συνεργὸν ἡμῶν); and F G have “servant and fellow worker for God” (διάκονον καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ). The reading of the text (καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ) is found in D* 33 b {d m o} Ambst {Pel}. It may be argued that all readings that do not collocate συνεργόν with θεοῦ are secondary, as this is certainly the harder reading. Indeed, in only one other place in the NT are human beings said to be συνεργοὶ θεοῦ (sunergoi qeou; 1 Cor 3:9), and the simplest (though by no means the only) interpretation is that the genitive should be taken associatively (“a fellow worker in association with God”). It is difficult to account for συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ here unless it is authentic because of the theological difficulty that would be easily seen in this wording. A genealogy of the readings suggests that various scribes may have deleted τοῦ θεοῦ or swapped διάκονον for συνεργόν to remove the offense. The readings of the Byzantine text and two Western mss (F G) appear to be conflations of earlier readings, but the reading of F G nevertheless indirectly supports καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ since it does not remove the offense. Although the witnesses for καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ are minimal, the internal evidence is quite strong in favor of this reading. With hesitation, it is adopted as authentic.

tn Although 1 Thess 3:2 is frequently understood to mean that Timothy is “God’s fellow worker,” such a view assumes that the genitive θεοῦ (qeou) is associative for it is related to συνεργόν (sunergon). However, a genitive of association is not required by the syntax (cf. ExSyn 130).

⁶ tn Grk “to see your face.”

⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.