Discovery Box1 Thessalonians 1:8-9 
Context1:8 For from you the message of the Lord 1 has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread, 2 so that we do not need to say anything. 1:9 For people everywhere 3 report how you welcomed us 4 and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
1 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 (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" 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.
2 tn Grk “your faith in God has gone out.”
3 tn Grk “they themselves,” referring to people in the places just mentioned.
4 tn Grk “what sort of entrance we had to you” (an idiom for how someone is received).
