Desire, in Greek as in English, can have both a bad meaning (as here) or a good one (as in 2.17, where it refers to Paul’s longing to revisit Thessalonica). Lustful is a translation of the phrase “passion of desire.” “Passion,” like desire, does not always have a bad sense, but the context clearly requires it here. Lustful desire may be translated as “heart desire” or even “genital desire.” In some languages this desire is described as simply “a desire for sex relations,” but if this or a similar expression is used, the translation must make it clear that Paul is speaking of a wrong kind of sexual desire.

Who do not know God. The verb know is not the verb used in Romans 1.21 (“they know God”), but there is considerable overlap of meaning between them, and they cannot usually be distinguished in the translation of passages which are so similar as these. The reconciliation of these two texts is a task for the commentator rather than the translator.

The translation of who do not know God can readily lead to misunderstanding since it may imply that these persons “know nothing about God.” This is not what Paul is talking about. In this context know must refer to “experience with God” or “acknowledging God in what they do.” In some languages an appropriate equivalent may be “they do not reckon with God,” or “they do not take God into account.” That is, their behavior is without reference to God or to what he has said people should do.

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 .