1 Thessalonians 1:6

1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received ¹  the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great affliction.

1 Thessalonians 1:9

1:9 For people everywhere ²  report how you welcomed us ³  and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

1 Thessalonians 2:10

2:10 You are witnesses, and so is God, as to how holy and righteous and blameless our conduct was toward you who believe.

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 3:9

3:9 For how can we thank God enough for you, ⁶  for all the joy we feel ⁷  because of you before our God?

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 5:1

The Day of the Lord

5:1 Now on the topic of times and seasons, ⁸  brothers and sisters, ⁹  you have no need for anything to be written to you.

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¹ tn Or “after you received.”

² tn Grk “they themselves,” referring to people in the places just mentioned.

³ tn Grk “what sort of entrance we had to you” (an idiom for how someone is received).

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 “what thanks can we render to God about you.”

⁷ tn Grk “all the joy with which we rejoice.”

⁸ tn Grk “concerning the times and the seasons,” a reference to future periods of eschatological fulfillment (cf. Acts 1:7).

⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.