4:8a

then: The Greek word toigaroun, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as then, indicates that this is Paul’s conclusion to 4:3–7. Here is another way to translate this transition word:

Therefore (New International Version (2011 Revision))

does not reject man but God: Paul was emphasizing that what he was telling the Thessalonians here was not something that he or anyone else had invented. It was something that God had revealed to him.

4:8b

who gives you His Holy Spirit: Paul’s point was that the Thessalonians must behave in a holy manner, since God had put his Holy Spirit in them. His Spirit is holy/pure, so they too must be holy/pure. If relative clauses are only used in your language to identify something or someone, using a relative clause here would suggest that Paul was just identifying which God gives the Holy Spirit. In that case, you will have to use another grammatical construction to provide this extra information about God. One way to do this would be to use a separate sentence, as the Display has done.

© 2002 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.

Section 5:23–28

Paul prayed that God would bless the Thessalonians

Paragraph 5:23–24

To conclude his letter, Paul prayed that God would make the Thessalonian believers completely pure in all that they believed and did. He assured them that God would enable them to do this.

5:23a

Now: The Berean Standard Bible has used the English word Now as an idiomatic way of beginning this verse. Be careful not to translate this literally as a time word, as it is not referring to “the present time.”

the God of peace: This phrase means that God is the source of peace, that is, that God is the one who causes people to be peaceful.

peace: The New Testament speaks about different sorts of peace, for example:

(a) Peace between individuals.

(b) Peace between God and people.

(c) An inward calm.

However, most commentators agree here that Paul was using the Greek word eirēnē as he would have used the Hebrew word šalom. He therefore meant all the blessings, physical and spiritual, that God gives to his people. See the note on 1:1d.

Paul used this phrase in other letters; see Romans 15:33, 16:20; Philippians 4:9. It is also used in Hebrews 13:20. You should translate the phrase in the same way in each of these verses.

Himself: The Greek word autos, Himself, is often used to emphasize something. However, that is not true in this verse. It is just a usual opening for a prayer in Greek that asks God to do something for someone.

5:23b

sanctify: This word means “to make holy/pure.” See the note on “holy” in 3:13b and 4:3a. Paul explained more fully what he meant in 5:23c.

completely: This means that Paul wanted God to sanctify the Thessalonians in every part of their lives.

5:23c

and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Some commentators suggest that this sentence is the desired result of 5:23b. It is more likely, however, that Paul was expanding what he had said in 5:23b. He wanted the believers at Thessalonica to behave in a righteous manner so that when Christ returned, he would not be able to criticize or accuse them because of anything they had done. However, Paul knew that only God could help them behave like that.

spirit, soul, and body: This is the only place in the New Testament where such a distinction is made. Paul probably used all three to emphasize that a person is a whole being, rather than because he intended to distinguish the three terms. If your language does not make a similar three-way distinction, it may be helpful to distinguish at least between the body and the part of a person that continues to live after the body dies. The important thing in your translation is to show that everything Christians do must be pleasing to God.

blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Paul was praying that God would enable them to be blameless from the present time until the Lord Jesus returned, so that when Jesus returned, he would judge them as having done nothing for which they deserved to be punished. See the notes on 3:13b and 3:13c.

© 2002 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.

2:18a

For: In Greek, 2:18 begins with the word dioti. This word can mean one of two things in this context:

(1) It means “since, for, because” and it introduces the grounds/basis for Paul and his companions making every effort to see the Thessalonians.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Revised Standard Version, NET Bible, SSA)

(2) It means “therefore” and it introduces the result of Paul’s great desire to see them again.

(King James Version, Revised English Bible)

Many English versions leave this connection implicit and therefore their translations are ambiguous. Most commentaries support the first option, and it is recommended that you also follow option (1).

2:18b

indeed I, Paul, tried again and again: There is no verb in this part of the verse in the Greek text, but it is probably best to understand the implied verb as being the same verb as in 2:17c: “tried hard to come.”

Here Paul only referred to himself rather than including Silvanus and Timothy. He was not implying that they did not try to visit the Thessalonians. Rather, he was emphasizing his own personal effort.

but Satan obstructed us: It was human beings who caused trouble for Paul (Acts 17:5–9), but Paul attributed their actions to the work of Satan.

us: Paul referred once more to himself and his companions after talking about himself alone earlier in the verse.

© 2002 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.

5:2a

For you are fully aware: Paul had undoubtedly told the Thessalonians about these things when he was with them, but here he reminded them they could not know the exact day and time when Jesus would return.

5:2b

the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night: This whole sentence is a simile. Paul was not comparing Jesus to a thief who steals something. The point of the comparison is that Jesus will return unexpectedly, at a time when people are not prepared, in the same way that a thief comes during the night when people are asleep and not expecting him. Jesus himself taught similarly in Matthew 24:43. One way to express this would be:

the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief who comes at night (UBS Handbook handbook, p106).

the Day of the Lord: The phrase the Day of the Lord was a well-known phrase in the OT (for example, see Joel 2:31; Amos 5:18; Malachi 4:5). When this phrase occurred in the OT, “Lord” always referred to God the Father. The whole phrase therefore referred to the time when God would judge the people of the world and punish those who had sinned against him. However, in the NT, the Lord almost always refers to the Lord Jesus. So the Day of the Lord here means “the day when the Lord Jesus will return to earth.”

will come: In some languages it may not be possible to say that a day/time will come. If this is the case in your language, you may need to talk about Jesus himself coming.

© 2002 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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.