2:19

In this verse Paul told the Thessalonians one reason why he wanted to see them again. He gave the reason by using a rhetorical question, which he immediately answered. If such a question is unnatural in your language, you could translate this verse without using a question. For example:

You(plural) are our hope, our joy, and our crown of righteous pride. Because of you(plural), we will glory in the presence of our (incl) Lord Jesus when he comes.

2:19a

who is our hope: Paul meant that the Thessalonians would be the cause of his hope, the reason for his hope. He and his companions were confident that when Jesus returned, the Thessalonians would not be ashamed to meet him, because they had strongly trusted in him. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

you will give us hope (Contemporary English Version)

It is difficult to know how much of the meaning of this expression a translator should make explicit in the translation. The Display shows some ways of translating this part of the verse. If you want to make more information explicit, you could say:

it is you whom we^(excl) confidently expect to be strongly trusting in Jesus.

2:19b

our joy: The Thessalonians would also be a cause of joy for Paul. When Jesus returned, they would also cause Paul and his companions to rejoice, because they had continued to believe firmly in Jesus Christ.

2:19c

our crown: In Greek culture, one of the symbols of great honor was a wreath of laurel leaves that was placed on the head of an athlete who had won a race. Paul was using this image in a metaphor here. He described the Thessalonians as his “wreath of honor.” This means that, just as the laurel wreath showed that an athlete had won a race, so the fact that the Thessalonians strongly believed in Jesus would show that Paul’s work in preaching the gospel had been successful.

of boasting: The Greek word for boasting here is not the same word as is usually translated “glory” in the New Testament. It is a word that means “reason for boasting, pride.” The word “boasting” in English often has a negative meaning, and a better translation is “of which we will be proud.” Here Paul means that he, Silvanus, and Timothy will be proud of the “crown.”

2:19d

if it is not you yourselves: Here Paul emphasizes the fact that the Thessalonians would indeed be his “hope,” “joy,” and “crown.” You could include Paul’s emphasis by beginning the verse part with something like, “It is indeed you….”

2:19e

in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming: This phrase is connected with 2:19a–d, not just 2:19d. There is no verb in the first part of the verse (2:19a–d), so all translators need to decide what tense of verb to use. Many English versions use the present tense in order to be consistent with 2:20. However, 2:19e makes it clear that here Paul was talking about the future. So in some languages, it will be better to use a future tense. You should use whichever tense of verb makes most sense in your language in this context.

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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.