The translation of the transition after all may be difficult, since a rendering implying a cause or reason might refer back immediately to Satan’s preventing Paul from visiting the Thessalonians. The real connection is not with Satan’s activity but with Paul’s desire. It may be necessary to repeat this fact at the beginning of verse 19, for example, “I wanted to visit you because you are the ones who are….”
Verse 19 consists of a rhetorical question within a rhetorical question, literally: “For who is our hope and joy and crown of boasting (is it not also you?) before our Lord Jesus at his coming?” Paul is dictating, and his feelings are running high. Underneath the questions, he is giving the reason for his desire to see the Thessalonian Christians again. Our hope, as the parallel with our joy shows, means “a reason for hope” or “a source of hope,” not “an object of hope” or “something for which we hope.” The “crown” Paul mentions is not a sign of kingship, but of victory, as in an athletic competition. In removing the metaphor, Good News Translation makes this clear by using the words of our victory (cf. Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The word translated reason for boasting means the basis for being justly proud (cf. Romans 4.2; Good News Translation “something to boast about”; Translator’s New Testament “evidence of proud achievement”), as distinct from the act of speaking boastfully (cf. Romans 3.27).
In rendering our hope and our joy, it is important to indicate clearly the implied causative relation. The Thessalonians were the ones who caused Paul and his colleagues to hope and to have joy. In some languages an equivalent translation may be “you are the ones who caused us to have hope, and you are the ones who caused us to be joyful.” Similarly, our reason for boasting is a causative relation, for example, “you are the ones who have caused us to boast.” But “boast” must be carefully translated, since it can easily imply a wrong kind of verbal self-praise. An appropriate equivalent in some languages may be “you were the ones who caused us to speak so confidently about our victory.”
The translation of our victory is often difficult, since any term which seems to suggest victory implies fighting and war. This is obviously not what Paul means. It may be even more difficult to suggest victory in some kind of competition or game, since this might introduce unacceptable connotations such as of gambling. It may be necessary to shift this figure of speech to the concept of success, for example, “you are the ones who caused us to speak so confidently about our success,” or “… about what we have accomplished.”
The second rhetorical question, like the first, became an emphatic statement in the third edition of Good News Translation: you, no less than others! This was a great improvement on the earlier editions, which had “you, and no one else!”—a statement which was not only emphatic, but also apparently exclusive. Paul’s “also,” omitted by most modern as well as traditional translations, is given its full value in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch‘s “you certainly belong to those who are our hope and our joy.” The church at Thessalonica was not the only one of which Paul was proud.
In rendering no less than others, one might be tempted to introduce a negative comparison, for example, “you do not surpass others in this,” but that would produce the wrong emphasis. The focus here is upon the Thessalonians’ being fully equal to all others in causing Paul’s hope and joy. Therefore an equivalent may be an emphatic statement such as “you are completely equal to others in this,” or “no one surpasses you in this.” This statement may very well be placed at the end of verse 19 so as to refer to all the various aspects of what the Thessalonians contributed to Paul’s hope, joy, and confidence. Such an arrangement would also provide a good transition to verse 20.
When he comes represents a noun which is a key word in Paul’s vocabulary. In nonbiblical texts, it can mean either (a) “presence” (cf. Translator’s New Testament) or (b) “coming,” “arrival” (not “return”). It can be used to speak of the presence of a (pagan) god in a temple or a sacred meal, or to his appearance in a vision. It is also used to refer to the ceremonial arrival of a king. Here, as usual in Paul’s writings, the word means the appearing or coming of Jesus at the end of time. The eager waiting for this coming is a recurring theme in both 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Though English may use a present tense in a clause such as when he comes, even though it refers to an indefinite future, many languages require a specific future tense, for example, “when he will come.”
Though the focus of meaning in the Greek term is upon “presence” or “coming,” in some receptor languages it is necessary to employ a term which means “return.” Otherwise the implication would be that Jesus had not been on earth before.
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 .