This verse explains a little more fully the reason for Paul’s thankfulness. The Christians at Thessalonica have the three great Christian virtues of faith, love, and hope (see 1 Corinthians 13.13; Galatians 5.5-6; Colossians 1.4-5; 1 Thessalonians 5.8; etc.), and each of these virtues has expressed and proved itself in action. The Greek contains three pairs of nouns, and these are reflected in the Revised Standard Version translation: “your (1) work of faith and (2) labor of love and (3) steadfastness of hope.” Within each pair, the first item is probably best regarded as the result of the second. Because the Thessalonians trusted Christ, they worked for Christ? for one another? Paul does not specify here, but see 5.11. Because they loved Christ, they worked hard. Because their hopes were centered on him, they were able to stand firm under attack. All six nouns refer to what the Thessalonians had done or experienced.

Before we look in more detail at the meaning of these terms, there are two more questions about the meaning of the verse as a whole.

First, do the words in our Lord Jesus Christ refer only to hope, or to faith, love, and hope together? Most traditional translations follow the order of the Greek so closely that the question is left open. Good News Translation Phillips Knox Bible en français courant Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Bijbel in Gewone Taal Translator’s New Testament link these words exclusively with “hope,” but the wider reference is not impossible. Luther 1984 identifies hope with Christ and translates “your patience in hope, which is our Lord Jesus Christ.” This interpretation seems strained, and it is certainly unusual; even Colossians 1.27 and 1 Timothy 1.1 are not strict parallels to what Paul is saying here.

Secondly, how are the words before our God and Father related to the rest of the sentence? Knox (cf. Phillips) thinks that they are linked with “hope,” and so he translates “… hope … which gives you endurance, in the sight of him who is our God and Father.” Most modern translations restructure the verse to bring together we remember and before our God and Father, although these phrases are widely separated in the Greek. This brings out more clearly the parallel between verses 2 and 3, which Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch emphasizes still more by combining the two verses: “Every time we pray, we think of you and thank God, our Father, for you all. We continually remember….”

The Greek word translated before has a spatial meaning and calls to mind the picture of a subject facing his king. Bible de Jérusalem and Translator’s New Testament remove the metaphor and translate “in the presence of.” It may be very difficult to translate this figure of speech meaningfully, especially since the phrase before our God and Father must refer in some way to the event of praying. Accordingly, one must translate in some languages as “for whenever we pray to our God and Father, we remember how….” To indicate that what is remembered is also brought to the attention of God in prayer, it may be necessary to translate “Whenever we pray to our God and Father, we remember and mention how you put your faith into practice.”

Faith here, as so often elsewhere in Paul’s writings, is trust in or reliance on Christ, not simply a general belief in God or an acceptance of a body of doctrine. Faith is what defines someone as a Christian; he is a “believer” (see v. 7). Faith, love, and hope, especially when they are mentioned together, constitute the total human response to what God has done, is doing, and will do; that is why they are mentioned in this order. When the word for love stands alone, it more often refers to God’s or Christ’s love for men, but that is almost certainly not the meaning here.

Both faith and love result in work. Paul uses two different words for work. The first includes the idea of producing something, and the second includes an element of discomfort or hardship.

As for the third pair of words in this verse, the traditional translation “patience of hope” (King James Version) misleadingly suggests to the present-day reader a totally passive attitude. The real meaning, however, is rather that of resisting or holding out against an enemy, especially over an extended period of time. Revised Standard Version‘s rather old-fashioned “steadfastness,” New English Bible‘s literary “fortitude,” and Bests’ “endurance” (cf. Translator’s New Testament) are better. Bijbel in Gewone Taal uses a negative form, “unshakable hope.” Phillips‘ “sheer dogged endurance” (cf. Knox) gives the right idea but with perhaps exaggerated emphasis. Good News Translation perhaps errs slightly in the other direction.

It is not always easy to indicate in translation the specific relations between faith, love, and hope and their respective results in practice, labor, and steadfastness. One may find it necessary to alter the order in which each pair of terms is mentioned. How you put your faith into practice may need to be translated as “what you did because you trusted in Jesus” or “how you worked because you trusted Jesus.” Similarly, how your love made you work so hard may be rendered “how you worked so hard because you loved Jesus Christ.” How your hope in Lord Jesus Christ is firm may require even more restructuring, since firm qualifies hope, and hope in many instances must be translated as a verb. Therefore, one may need to translate as “how you hope (or hoped) so firmly in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Part of the difficulty in translating the term hope is that it is a rather complex concept, involving both the expectation of a future event and a confident waiting for that event. In some languages one may translate as “how you looked forward with complete confidence to our Lord Jesus Christ,” and in other languages the firmness of hope may be indicated by a negative, “how not once did you in any way stop looking forward confidently to our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .