Paragraph 3:11–13
So Paul prayed that God would make it possible for him and his companions to return to Thessalonica. He also prayed that God would help the Thessalonian believers to love one another better and trust the Lord Jesus more strongly.
3:11
Paul sometimes added a prayer at the end of a section or a complete letter. See 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:16, 3:16.
Now: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible, like most English versions, translates as Now to show that Paul is making a transition. Be careful not to translate this conjunction literally as a time word, as it is not referring to “the present time.”
our God and Father: See the note on 1:3a.
Himself: The Greek word autos, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as Himself, is often used to emphasize something. However, that is not true in this verse. It is just the usual opening for a prayer in Greek that asks God to do something for someone.
direct our way to you: The Greek word kateuthunō, which the Berean Standard Bible has translated as direct, means “make straight, guide correctly.” Therefore, there are two ways to understand what it means here:
(1) It means “make straight.” So Paul was asking God to remove anything that would hinder or delay him returning to Thessalonica, just as someone would remove obstacles on a path or smooth out the surface of a road.
(New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible)
(2) It means “guide well/correctly.” So Paul was asking God to direct him and his companions safely and directly back to the Thessalonians.
(Berean Standard Bible, King James Version, Revised Standard Version, NET Bible, God’s Word)
It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation (1), as it makes good sense in the context of 2:18, where Paul wrote that Satan had hindered him from returning to Thessalonica. It would therefore be logical for Paul to ask God to remove such a hindrance.
© 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.