The First and Second Letters
to the

THESSALONIANS

Gordon D. Fee

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, U.K.

© 2009 Gordon D. Fee
All rights reserved

Published 2009 by
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /
P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.
www.eerdmans.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fee, Gordon D.
The First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians / Gordon D. Fee.
p. cm.—(The New international commentary on the New Testament)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-8028-6362-1 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Bible. N.T. Thessalonians—Commentaries. I. Title.

BS2725.53.F44 2009
227′.81077—dc22
2009010683

Scriptures taken from the HOLY BIBLE: TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. TNIV®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of IBS-STL U.S. All rights reserved worldwide. Also used by permission of The Zondervan Corporation.

CONTENTS

Preface

Abbreviations

Bibliography

COMMENTARY ON 1 THESSALONIANS

INTRODUCTION

i. Authorship and Date

ii. The City and its Christian Community

ii. The Occasion and Place of Writing

TEXT, EXPOSITION, AND NOTES

i. Thanksgiving, Narrative, and Prayer (1:1–3:13)

A. Salutation (1:1)

B. Thanksgiving (1:2–3)

C. Narrative Part 1: The Thessalonians’ Conversion and Following (1:4–10)

1. Paul Reminds the Thessalonians of Their Experience of Conversion (1:4–7)

2. The Thessalonians’ Following Christ Had Become Well Known to Others (1:8–10)

D. Narrative Part 2: Paul’s Conduct in Thessalonica (2:1–12)

1. What Paul Was NOT like among the Thessalonians (2:1–7b)

2. What Paul WAS like among the Thessalonians (2:7c–12)

E. The Thanksgiving Renewed (2:13)

F. Narrative Part 3: The Thessalonians’ (and Paul’s) Ill Treatment (2:14–16)

G. Narrative Part 4: In the Meantime (2:17–3:10)

1. Paul Had Been Thwarted from Returning (2:17–20)

2. The Sending of Timothy (3:1–5)

3. The Return of Timothy (3:6–10)

H. The Prayer Report (3:11–13)

ii. Supplying What Is Lacking (4:1–5:11)

A. Introduction (4:1–2)

B. Avoiding Sexual Immorality (4:3–8)

C. Loving Others by Working with One’s Own Hands (4:9–12)

D. About Believers Who Have Died (4:13–18)

E. About the Day of the Lord (5:1–11)

1. The Day of the Lord and Unbelievers (5:1–3)

2. The Day of the Lord and the Thessalonian Believers (5:4–11)

iii. Concluding Matters (5:12–28)

A. Summary Exhortations (5:12–22)

1. Attitudes toward Their Leaders (5:12–13)

2. Imperatival Summation of the Letter (5:14–15)

3. Exhortation to Continue Basic Christian Piety (5:16–18)

4. About Christian Prophecy (5:19–22)

B. Benediction (5:23–24)

C. Closing Greetings and Final Grace (5:25–28)

COMMENTARY ON 2 THESSALONIANS

INTRODUCTION

i. Authorship and Date

ii. Occasion for Writing

TEXT, EXPOSITION, AND NOTES

i. Thanksgiving and Prayer (1:1–12)

A. Salutation (1:1–2)

B. Thanksgiving, Including the First Issue (1:3–10)

1. Thanksgiving for Perseverance ...