1:3a
and continually recalling before our God and Father: Of course, neither Paul nor God had forgotten the Thessalonians or what they had done. Rather, this phrase means that as Paul prayed for them, he remembered certain things about them (1:3b–d).
continually: The Greek word adialeiptōs, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as continually, actually occurs at the end of 1:2 in the Greek text. However, the commentators do not agree about which verb this word modifies. There are two possibilities:
(1) It modifies mnēmoneuō “recall” in 1:3a.
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), King James Version, God’s Word, The Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, SSA)
(2) It modifies the Greek phrase mneian poioumenoi “making mention” in 1:2.
(Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, New English Bible, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
It is recommended that you follow the first option (1) because it is the most natural way to understand the Greek (see SSA, pages 22–23 for more details of why this is recommended).
before: This word is used in a figurative way here. Paul was saying that when he prayed to God, it was as if he was in the presence of a king to request something. You should translate this carefully so your readers do not misunderstand and think that Paul was talking about going to a specific place to pray.
our God and Father: In some languages using a possessive such as “our” with God might imply that God was in some sense possessed or owned. Clearly this phrase does not mean that here, because God cannot be owned by anyone. In other languages using a possessive might mean that Paul’s God was only one God among many. This is also not true, because Paul’s God is the only God. Here the expression our God means “the God whom we worship/serve.” Another method of avoiding the problem in this context is to combine the expression our God with and Father and say: “God who is our(incl) Father.”
1:3b–d
your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ: In this part of the verse Paul listed the three aspects of the Thessalonians’ behavior that he remembered before God when he thanked God for them. The Greek here literally says: “…of you the work of the faith and labor of the love and endurance of the hope…” The following notes discuss the connection between faith and work, love and labor, hope and endurance.
your: In Greek the word humōn “of you (plur), your (plur)” only occurs once at the beginning of the list, but it belongs with all three phrases, as the Berean Standard Bible shows.
1:3b
your work of faith: Literally “of you the work of the faith.” Commentators suggest two meanings for this expression:
(1) Their work was the result of their faith. This means that they worked because they believed in Jesus.
(Good News Translation, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Century Version, SSA).
(2) Their work proved they had faith.
(Revised English Bible, The Jerusalem Bible)
It is recommended that you follow the first option (1) because it has the strongest commentary support.
1:3c
your labor of love: Literally “of you…the labor of the love.” Most scholars think that this means that because the Thessalonians loved other believers, they worked diligently to help them. When you translate this, it may be necessary to make clear who loves and who is the one loved. One way to do this would be:
You work diligently to help other believers, because you love them.
1:3d
and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ: Literally “of you…the endurance of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
enduring hope: Literally “endurance of hope.” Biblical scholars understand this expression in one of two ways:
(1) It means that the Thessalonians endured persecution because they believed strongly in the Lord Jesus. In other words, what they believed caused them to endure.
(New International Version (2011 Revision), New Century Version, SSA)
(2) It means that their hope was steadfast, that it endured. For example:
how your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ is firm (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Jerusalem Bible).
It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1). 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 2:14, 3:4, and 3:8 support this. In these verses Paul spoke favorably about how the Christians had endured firmly while people were persecuting them.
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ: In this context, the event that the Thessalonians were hoping for was the time when the Lord Jesus would return. See 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18.
hope: In English a person can “hope” that something will happen without being sure in any way that it will happen. However, in the biblical sense it means “being certain that something will happen.” It is almost equivalent to “strongly believing that something will happen.”
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.