1:10a

and to await His Son from heaven: This refers to the time when Jesus will return to earth. This is a theme in Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. See 1 Thessalonians 3:13, 4:13–18, 5:1–3, and 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 for further explanation.

to await: In this context this expression implies “expecting with certainty that Jesus will return.” Here is another way to translate this expression:

to wait expectantly (Revised English Bible)

His Son: The phrase His Son refers to God’s Son, Jesus. “The Son of God” or “God’s Son” is a title that was often used to refer to a savior who would be a descendant of King David. God would send this savior to rescue his people. This person was often referred to as the “Messiah” or “Christ.”

The title “the Son of God” also indicates that Jesus has the same nature and character as God. The relationship between God the Father and Jesus, his Son, is similar in some way to the relationship between human fathers and sons. But God the Father does not have a physical body. He did not have a sexual relationship with Mary that resulted in her becoming pregnant and giving birth to Jesus. The Son of God existed eternally as the Son with his Father.

In areas where people do not understand the title “the Son of God” in this way, you may want to include a footnote that explains the correct meaning. Here is a suggested footnote:

The title “his Son” or “the Son of God” refers to Jesus. It indicates that Jesus has the same nature and character as God. It does not mean that God the Father had a sexual relationship with Mary that resulted in her becoming pregnant and giving birth to Jesus. Mary became pregnant with Jesus in a miraculous way by the Holy Spirit of God.

In some languages, it is natural to speak of a son as a “child,” without specifying male or female. If that is true in your language, you may use a more general term, such as:

his Child (A translation of the title “the Son of God” must include a familial term such as “son” or “child.” Translations such as “the man who is God,” “the divine man,” or “the God man” are not acceptable, since they do not retain familial language. Examples of acceptable translation options include “the Son who comes from God” and “the divine/unique/eternal Son of God.”)

Other verses will usually make clear that Jesus was a male child. If you use a phrase such as “his male child,” be sure that it does not imply that God had another child who was female.

heaven: The word heaven refers to the place where God lives. Many languages use the same term for “sky” and for heaven.

1:10c

our deliverer: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as deliverer is a present participle in Greek and therefore includes both the present and the future. Jesus is delivering his people now and he will deliver them in the future so that God will not punish them on the day when he judges all people.

from the coming wrath: This refers to God’s anger. Because God is holy, he is angry when people sin. Paul referred to this anger as coming because he was referring to the day when God will judge everyone. On that day God will show this anger and he will punish people who have sinned but have never repented and trusted in Jesus.

Paragraph 2:1–2

Paul reminded the Thessalonians about how he and his companions came to Thessalonica. Although people had persecuted them in Philippi and forced them to leave, God had helped them to have the courage to continue their journey to Thessalonica and preach the gospel there.

2:1

You yourselves know: In Greek, the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as You yourselves is emphatic. The word You contrasts with “they themselves” in 1:9a. Not only were other people talking about Paul’s visit to Thessalonica, but the Thessalonians themselves knew what had happened.

brothers: See the note on 1:4.

our visit to you: The Greek word eisodos, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as visit here, is the same word that it translated as “welcome” in 1:9a. It is most logical to translate the word the same way in both places. Nearly all commentators and English versions agree that here it means visit.

was not in vain: Rather than simply saying “our visit to you was a success,” Paul chose to make his statement stronger by using two negatives: not and in vain. This sort of figure of speech is called “litotes.” Paul wanted to emphasize that his visit had definitely had a good result. When he had preached the gospel, it had resulted in the Thessalonians believing in Jesus Christ. Paul was referring to 1:9, which says that many Thessalonians had stopped worshiping idols and had begun to serve God.

If you do not use litotes in your language to strengthen a statement, you may need to restate this part of the verse positively. For example:

You know, brothers, that our visit to you was a great success.
-or-
You know, brothers, that when we visited you, there were great results.

© 2002 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.