As apostles, Paul and his companions (see 1 Thess. 2.7) have to give directions, even commands, to young churches, but Paul turns immediately to prayer that Christ himself will guide his readers. The central meaning of the Greek word rendered lead is “direct” or “guide.”
Expression introducing prayer, like may the Lord, are falling out of use except in church circles. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (cf. Bijbel in Gewone Taal) has “we ask the Lord.” One may also simply say “we pray to the Lord,” or “we pray that the Lord will….”
You into a greater understanding is literally “your hearts.” (On “hearts,” see 1 Thess. 2.4.) It is an open question whether Paul would have thought of this term as a metaphor, but this would be the case in many modern languages. Since “heart” can sometimes mean “mind” and refer therefore to intellectual, not just emotional, activity, Good News Translation interprets “heart” as a person’s ability to understand. But that an understanding of God’s love and Christ-given endurance involves more than the intellect alone, is clear from the context.
In some other languages also it may be necessary to replace “hearts” with a more literal expression. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “your thoughts,” and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “may the Lord help you to feel the love of God.” Since the introduction of “hearts” or even “minds” in this context may be misleading, it is better in some languages to translate “I pray that the Lord will guide you to love God.”
The love of God and the endurance that is given by Christ are literally “the love of God” and “the endurance of Christ.” Both expressions can have more than one meaning. “The love of God,” in Greek as in English, may mean “love for God” or “God’s love” (for man). Most traditional translations leave the question undecided, and most modern translations (except Bible en français courant) take the phrase to refer to God’s love for man, for example, Barclay “the way in which God has loved you,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “the love which God has shown to us” (cf. Moffatt Phillips New English Bible “God’s love”). Good News Translation‘s translation may appear to allow either possibility, but the expression into a greater understanding is more appropriate if God’s love for man is in mind, rather than man’s love for God. (Also, the possible parallel with the endurance that is given by Christ points to the former interpretation.) The main argument in favor of the translation “love for God” is that the context seems to speak of a movement of the Thessalonians toward God, for literally the wording is “lead your hearts to” (or “into” or “unto”) “the love of God.” But it must be admitted (1) that the word translated “to” may also (though more often in John than in Paul) have the meaning “in,” and (2) that “the love of God” in Paul usually means God’s love for man. If one wishes to translate “the love of God” more explicitly as “God’s love for people,” one may restructure the first part of verse 5 as “I pray that the Lord may cause you to experience God’s love for you,” or “… how much God loves you,” or “… the fact that God loves you.”
The meaning of “the endurance of Christ” is likewise uncertain. The phrase is not used anywhere else in the New Testament. The endurance may either be directed from the believer to Christ or from Christ to the believer. In the first case, the meaning will be “patient waiting for Christ” (King James Version). This would fit in well with 2.1-12, and there are many Old Testament texts which speak of waiting patiently for the Lord. “Patient” in modern English suggests a more passive attitude than the Greek, but “endurance” is linked with “hope” in 1 Thess. 1.3, so King James Version‘s “waiting” (implicit, though not printed in italics) may be justified. If one follows this interpretation, it is possible to say “that the Lord may cause you to wait patiently for Christ’s coming.” It is often not sufficient simply to say “to wait for Christ.”
On the other hand, “the endurance of Christ” may mean either “the endurance which Christ gives” (as in Good News Translation and Bible en français courant) or “the endurance which Christ showed (while on earth),” as in Barclay “all that Christ triumphantly went through for you” (cf. Phillips “the patient suffering of Christ” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
Unless there are strong reasons to the contrary, it seems natural to understand “the love of God” and “the endurance of Christ” in the same way, that is, either both as a movement from believers or both as a movement toward believers. Bible en français courant is unusual in taking the first phrase as a movement toward God, and the second as a movement toward believers.
If Christ is regarded simply as the goal of the endurance or reliance, one may translate “that the Lord may cause you to rely completely on Christ,” or “… depend completely on Christ.” However, if it is understood as experiencing the kind of endurance with Christ demonstrated, then one may say “that the Lord may cause you to remain firm in the same way that Christ remained firm,” or “… endure even as Christ endured.”
There is a very complicated problem involved at this point in that the Lord (a reference to Christ) is the primary causative agent and the endurance is itself either given by Christ or is something experienced by him. It may be misleading to refer to “the Lord” as the primary agent at the beginning of verse 5 and to introduce “Christ” later in the same verse. If, however, one translates “I pray that the Lord will cause you to have love for God and firm reliance on him,” the final pronoun “him” will likely be understood as referring to “God,” and not to “Christ.” Therefore it may be necessary to invert the order of the petitions so as to read: “I pray that the Lord will cause you to rely completely on him, and to experience love for God.”
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .