Paragraph 1:4–10

Paul knew that the Thessalonians to whom he wrote were people whom God had chosen to be his own people. He knew this because he saw how they had responded when he and his companions preached the gospel to them. The Thessalonians not only observed that Paul and his companions believed what they preached. They also saw that the Holy Spirit confirmed that what they said was true. The result was that some of the Thessalonians believed in Jesus, even though fellow citizens persecuted them. Other believers in the regions of Macedonia and Achaia heard about how the Thessalonians had believed the gospel. Therefore, the Thessalonians had become an example to many people in different places. The result was that wherever Paul and his companions went to preach, the people there had already heard how the Thessalonians had become believers in Christ.

1:4

Brothers who are beloved by God: This is an example of a vocative phrase, that is, a term of direct address to someone. In some languages, vocative phrases come at the beginning of a sentence; in other languages, they can occur elsewhere in the sentence. You should put this in the natural position in the sentence for your language.

Brothers: This term was frequently used in the New Testament to refer to fellow Christians. It shows that Christians are like brothers and sisters in God’s family. It is better to use a general term that includes both elder and younger siblings, male and female, if you can, rather than a more specific term. In some languages, as is the case with the word “father” (see the note on “God the Father” in 1:1c), when the word “brother” is used, it is necessary to specify whose brother is being talked about. If this is true in your language, you should use “our^(excl) .”

we know: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as we know is more literally “knowing.” It connects back to 1:2. The connection between 1:2 and 1:4 is: “we thank God…because we know…” See the Display on 1:4. The fact that God had chosen the Thessalonians to become his people was yet another reason why Paul thanked God for them.

that He has chosen you: God chooses people for many different purposes. Passages in the New Testament tend to focus on one of these purposes rather than including them all. Some of the purposes are:

(a) God chooses to save people,

(b) he chooses them to be his own people,

(c) he chooses them to receive eternal life,

(d) he chooses them to be believers,

(e) he chooses them to serve him,

(f) he chooses them to be like Christ.

Paul did not make it clear which of these he meant in this passage. Different commentators suggest all the examples above as possibilities. The option that God has chosen the Thessalonians to be his people seems to include the other options and matches the Old Testament idea of God choosing the Israelites to be his special people. So it is recommended that you follow this if you need to make this clear in your translation.

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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.