In this section Paul returns to his main theme, the activity of God and Christ, who are closely linked here and may also be so in verse 13. The transition is marked by the same Greek word in both places. There is an implied contrast between what the brothers are told to do in verse 15 and what Christ and God are asked to do in this prayer. “Now” (King James Version Revised Standard Version) and “so then” (Barclay) mark this transition better than New English Bible‘s “and,” which gives the impression of introducing an afterthought.
The indirect prayer beginning may our Lord Jesus Christ must be introduced in some languages with a verb of praying or beseeching, for example, “we pray to God that…” or “we beseech our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father that he will….”
It may also be necessary to break this rather involved prayer in verses 16 and 17 into two sentences. This may be done, for example, as follows: “I pray to our Lord Jesus Christ himself and to God our Father, who loved us and who by his grace gave us unfailing courage and good hope. I pray that they will fill your hearts with courage and make you strong to always do and say what is good.”
There are many points of similarity between this prayer and 1 Thess. 3.11-13 (see the notes on that passage).
Loved us and gave us refer to events at a point in past time; Good News Translation‘s translation is better than “has loved” and “has given.” When did these events happen? In Paul’s writings these verbs in this form are often associated with the death and resurrection of Christ. That interpretation is possible here, though Paul does not say so explicitly, as he does in Galatians 2.19-20. Alternatively, the verbs may refer, like chose in verse 13, to an act of God which, involving an act of his will, is thought of as taking place at the beginning of time rather than at any particular point within human history.
Though the petition is directed to both the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father, it is only God who is spoken of as loving and by his grace giving unfailing courage and firm hope. It is important, however, in translating not to suggest that only God, and not the Lord Jesus Christ, loves and gives courage.
Best suggests that unfailing courage and a firm hope may mean practically the same thing, unfailing courage being Paul’s own phrase and a firm hope an expression in common use. This would give a translation such as “unfailing courage”, a “firm hope”—without the connective “and,” since in English this word normally links two expressions which are somewhat different in meaning.
For courage, many translations have “encouragement” or the equivalent verb “encourage.” The word can also mean “exhortation” (cf. 1 Thess. 2.3, 11), but not in this context. Unfailing courage may mean “courage which never fails” or “courage which always continues”; and this is how most translators take it. Best, however, suggests the meaning “God has encouraged in respect of eternity,” and this fits the context well. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “courage for all the future.” Gave us unfailing courage must be expressed in several languages as a causative, with unfailing rendered as a type of adverb, for example, “caused us always to have courage” or “… to always be courageous.” In some languages courage might be expressed quite idiomatically as “never to run away in one’s heart,” or even “to have a firm heart always.”
A firm hope may be expressed as “to hope well.” That is to say, “God made us to hope well.” Literally the phrase is “a good hope,” and in this type of context the attributive “good” suggests something of the content of hope rather than merely the efficiency with which one hopes. Accordingly, in some languages “a good hope” may be “a patient waiting for what is good.”
The translator has to face the question “What did God do in (or ‘by’) his grace?” To what verb or verbs are these words related? (1) Most older and some modern translations follow the order of the original: God “gave us comfort and good hope through grace” (Revised Standard Version cf. King James Version Knox Phillips Barclay Luther 1984). (2) Most modern and also the older French translations link grace more explicitly with gave by putting in his grace (or “by his grace”) immediately before or after gave us (so Good News Translation cf. Jerusalem Bible New English Bible Translator’s New Testament Bible en français courant Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Bible de Jérusalem La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). (3) Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, supported by Rigaux and Best, but the translation which accompanies the commentary, p.310, does not make this clear. translates “in his goodness God loved us and gave (us).” (4) Moffatt alone links grace with verse 17: “graciously encourage your hearts.” The Greek phrase (literally, “in grace”) is not as common in the New Testament as one might perhaps expect. It occurs in Colossians 4.6, but the meaning there is rather different. In Colossians 3.16, most editions, commentaries, and translations take “in grace” with what follows, as Moffatt does in the present verse. On balance, solution (3) seems better than (2). Solution (4) is possible, but it requires a punctuation different from that of the UBS Greek New Testament.
Some translations avoid the traditional word for grace, as being no longer part of current language (see notes on 1 Thess. 1.1). Here, Translator’s New Testament has “kindness,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (cf. Bijbel in Gewone Taal) has “goodness.”
His before grace is not in the Greek, but it is clearly implied, and most modern translations except Bible de Jérusalem and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible add it. In his grace may be treated as means, attendant circumstance, or cause, and in many languages it is more normal to treat this phrase as cause, for example, “because he is so good” or “because of his kindness.”
Bijbel in Gewone Taal interestingly restructures the whole of verses 16-17 as follows: “We wish that in all the good that you do in word and deed, you may be encouraged and strengthened by our Lord Jesus Christ and God, our Father. He has shown us his love and given us in his goodness unending comfort and good hope.” This has the advantage (1) of dividing a rather long sentence, and (2) of avoiding the form “may,” which is perhaps beginning to fall out of use in some modern languages, as the corresponding Greek form was doing at the time the New Testament was being written. If restructuring on this scale is attempted, there is something to be said for reversing the two sentences, to give something like: “God our Father in his goodness has shown us his love, and given us a good hope and encouragement for all the future. We pray to him and to our Lord Jesus Christ that he may encourage and strengthen your judgment” (see comments on v. 17) “in every good thing you do and say.”
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .