Jesus was killed by the jews

JESUS WAS KILLED BY THE JEWS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 Thessalonians2:14-1614Foryou, brothers and
sisters, became imitators of God's churches in Judea,
which are in Christ Jesus:You suffered from your
own people the same things those churches suffered
from the Jews 15who killed the LORD Jesus and the
prophets and also drove us out. They displeaseGod
and are hostileto everyone 16in their effort to keep us
from speakingto the Gentiles so that they may be
saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the
limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Evidence Of The Effectual Working Of The Divine Word
1 Thessalonians 2:14-16

T. Croskery
They were able to imitate the patience and constancyof the Judaean
Churches under greatpersecutions. These Churches were referredto
probably because they were the oldestChurches, and the most severely
persecuted.
I. IT IS A HIGH HONOR AS WELL AS PRIVILEGE FOR CHURCHES TO
BE SELECTEDAS PATTERNS OF PATIENCE TO OTHER CHURCHES.
"Forye, brethren, became followers ofthe Churches of God which in Judaea
are in Christ Jesus." We are first to be imitators of Christ, then of all who
follow in his steps, who keepon "looking to Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2). There
were many Churches in Judaea, for Christianity was founded by Jews;its
first converts were Jews;its first martyrs were Jews;and the Churches
among them rejoicedin the fellowshipof Christ, as the Source of their life and
comfort.
II. THE PATH OF THE THESSALONIANS WAS ONE OF SEVERE TRIAL
AND CONTINUOUS PERSECUTION. "Forye also have suffered like things
from your own countrymen, even as they from the Jews."
1. They had receivedthe Word "in much affliction." (1 Thessalonians 1:6.)
The first outbreak of violence againstthem occurredafter their conversion
(Acts 17:5). They belongedto one of those Churches of Macedonia ofwhich
the apostle long afterwards wrote to the Corinthians as "enduring a great
trial of affliction." It came from their heathen countrymen.
2. Their trials attestedthe genuineness oftheir conversion. The heathen would
have had no quarrel with a dead faith. The Thessalonians did not "sleepas
did others." Theydiscoveredby sharp experience that "all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shallsuffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).
3. Their trials involved the precious experience of a "fellowshipin Christ's
sufferings." (Philippians 3:10.)
4. Their trials manifested at once the strength of their faith and their
Christian constancy.

III. IT WAS SOME COMFORT TO THE THESSALONIANS TO KNOW
THAT THEY WERE NOT THE ONLY SUFFERERS FROMTHE FURY
OF PERSECUTORS."Evenas they have of the Jews:who both killed the
Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and drave us out." This terrible invective
againstthe Jews illustrates the saying that the apostle often "goes offat a
word." It recalls the language of Stephen before his murderers (Acts 7:52).
The malignity of the Jews againsttheir believing countrymen was extreme.
1. The Jews were murderers of Jesus and the prophets. Though the Savior
was executedby the Romans, the responsibility of the terrible deed rests on
the Jews, who "fur envy" delivered him up, and "killed the Prince of life."
They likewise killedtheir own prophets, whose very sepulchers they
afterwards built and garnished. What wonder, then, that the Thessalonian
converts should escape!
2. The Jews, though zealous for God, did not please him. "Theypleasednot
God," but rather provoked him to angerby their unbelief and their
wickedness.
3. They were at cross-purposeswith all mankind. They were "contrary to all
men." They were anti-social, exclusive, and bitter, so that the heathen Tacitus
could describe them as "holding an attitude of hostility and hatred to the
human race." Butit was speciallymanifest in their resistance to the calling of
the Gentiles - "forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved.
The Acts of the Apostles supply abundant evidence of this fact.
4. The end to which all this wickednesstowardGod and man was tending.
"To fill up their sins at all times."
(1) God often allows nations to complete the sum of their wickednessbefore
bringing upon them final retribution. "The iniquity of the Amorites was not
yet full" (Genesis 15:16).
(2) The judgment upon the Jews was athand - "but the wrath is come upon
them to the uttermost." "There is now nothing betweenit and them." The
destruction of Jerusalemwas still future, but "the days of vengeance were
already come." The fire was already burning, which would never be quenched

till the vengeance was complete. The apostle seemsto regard the moment of
the rejectionof the Messiahas marking the outpouring of the Divine wrath.
The history of the Jews from that moment is a significant commentary on the
passage. -T.C.
Biblical Illustrator
WHO BOTH KILLED THE LORD JESUS AND THEIR OWN PROPHETS
1 Thessalonians 2:15, 16
Paul's indictment of the Jews
J. Hutchison, D. D.
The apostle "goesoff" upon the word "Jews" to describe the evil deeds of his
countrymen.
I. THE EXPLANATION OF THE INDICTMENT.Various views have been
offered.

1. That as the persecutionof believers in Thessalonica, thoughfrom the
heathen, was yet directly instigatedby the Jews, it was natural that Paul
should turn aside to speak of them and their wickedness.
2. That the apostle, at the very time of writing, was himself suffering at their
hands (Acts 18:5, 6, 12). His mind, therefore, we can wellconceive, was full of
thoughts regarding these Jewishmisdeeds, and hence he bursts forth into
utterances of sorrowfulindignation.
3. That the Thessalonianswere converts from Polytheism to a monotheistic
religion which was a growth out of Judaism, They could, consequently, hardly
fail to stumble by seeing Jews everywhere its most violent opponents. Paul
may have striven to meet this state of mind, by showing that the opposition of
the Jews was in keeping with their whole characterand conduct.
II. ITS SUBJECT MATTER.
1. The culminating point in Jewishwickednessis the casting out and murder
of their Messiah. In ignorance they did it, it is true. Yet that ignorance was no
justification, for the prophets, whose testimony was to Christ, the Jews had
also slain. This is the indictment of the Old Testament, and also of Christ
(Matthew 23:29-39). Paul's words are but an echo of his Master's.
2. Seeing, then, that such was their past conduct, Paul adds, as naturally
following, "and have persecutedus." What had been meted out to God's
servants in the past it was to be expectedwould be extended to the apostles
and believers. Under new conditions the Jewishcharacterwould againassert
itself.
3. Hence he declares "Theyplease not God and are contrary to all men." The
more he came in contactwith Gentile life, the more he must have observedthe
intense dislike with which the Jews were everywhere regarded. Despising
other nations, they were themselves only loathed by these nations in return;
and now that Paul's feelings had broadenedinto the love of all mankind, he
could not but recognize them as showing what Tacitus called "adversus omnes
alios hostile odium." The mark of God's angerhad been setupon them, and

the Divine judgment had been ratified by men. "When God loathes aught,
men presently loathe it too."
4. But here it is not the dislike felt by others towards the Jews as the animosity
of the Jews towards allothers. "Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles," etc.
Like their own Pharisees theywould neither enter in themselves nor allow
others to enter.
5. In thus standing in the way of the Gentiles'salvationthey were acting so as
"to fill up their ownsins alway" with fearful perseverance;alike before Christ
had come, when He came, and now that He had gone, they had been filling up
the measure of their guilt.
6. And now retribution was approaching. Wrath had already fallen, and was
falling upon them; but in a short fourteen years it came upon them to the
utmost in the destruction of their city and the dispersionof their race.
(J. Hutchison, D. D.)
The fury of the old religion againstthe new
G. Barlow.
The transition from the old to a new order of things in the progress of religion
is not always accomplishedwithout opposition. Age is naturally and
increasinglytenacious:and the old religion looks upon the new with suspicion,
jealousy, fear, anger. The Jews had resistedthe attempts of their own Divinely
commissionedprophets to rouse them to a purer faith and life; but their fury
reachedits climax in their opposition to Christianity. Observe —
I. THE FURY OF THE JEWS IN THEIR INHUMAN TREATMENTOF
THE GREAT LEADERS OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT.
1. They plotted againstthe life of the world's Redeemer;and, in spite of
insufficient evidence to convict, and the endeavours of the Roman Procurator
to release, theyclamoured for His crucifixion, exclaiming, "His blood be on us

and on our children" — a self-invokedimprecation that fell on them with
terrible and desolating vengeance!
2. The sin of murder already darkly stainedtheir race — the best and noblest
of their prophets being the unoffending victims. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and
Zechariah met with violent deaths. The charge of Stephen was unanswerable
(Acts 7:52).
3. The apostles were subjectedto similar treatment — "Have chasedand
driven us out." They drove them out of Thessalonica,afterwards outof Berea,
and were at that moment engagedin instigating an insurrection to drive the
apostle out of Corinth. The spirit of persecutionis unchanged. Wherever the
attempt is made to raise the Church, it is met with a jealous, angryopposition.
And yet what a wretched, short-sightedpolicy does persecutionreveal! It is
the idolized weaponof the tyrant and the coward, the sport of the brutal, the
sanguinary carnival of devils.
II. THE FURY OF THE JEWS WAS DISPLEASING TO GOD. They fondly
imagined that they were the favourites of heaven, and that all others were
excluded from the Divine complacency. They could quote the words of their
law, such as Deuteronomy14:2, with the utmost facility, to support their
assumption of superiority and exclusiveness,wilfully shutting their eyes to the
difference betweenthe holy intention of Jehovah, and their miserable failure
to realize that intention. In all their opposition to Christianity they thought
they were doing God service. How fatally blinding is sin — goading the soulto
the commissionof the most horrible crimes under the guise of virtue.
III. THE FURY OF THE JEWS WAS HOSTILE TO MAN.
1. Their hostility was directed againstthe world of mankind. "Are contrary to
all men." The Jews ofthat period were the adversaries and despisers of all.
Tacitus brands them as "the enemies of all men:" and Apion, the Egyptian,
calls them "Atheists and misanthropes, in fact, the most witless and dullest of
barbarians."
2. Their hostility was embittered by a despicable religious jealousy.
"Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles," etc. Here the fury of the old religion

againstthe new reachedits climax. It is the perfectionof bigotry and cruelty
to deny to our fellow men the only means of salvation!Into what monsters of
barbarity will persecutionconvert men! Pharaohpersisted to such a degree of
unreasonablenessas to chastise the Hebrews for not accomplishing
impossibilities! Julian the Apostate, carried his vengeful spirit to his deathbed.
IV. THE FURY OF THE JEWS HURRIED THEM INTO
IRRETRIEVABLE RUIN.
1. Their wickednesswas wilfully persistent. "To fill up their sins alway" — at
all times, now as much as ever. So much so, the time is now come when the
cup of their iniquity is filled to the brim, and nothing can prevent the
consequentpunishment. The desire to sin grows with its commission. St.
Gregorysays, "Sinners would live forever that they might sin forever" — a
powerful argument for the endlessnessoffuture punishment — the desire to
sin is endless!
2. Their punishment was inevitable and complete. "Forthe wrath is come
upon them to the uttermost" — is even now upon them. The process has
begun. Their fury to destroyothers will acceleratetheir own destruction.
Punishment descendedupon the wicked, unbelieving, and resisting Jews;and
utter destruction upon their national status and religious supremacy.Lessons:
—
1. There is a fearful possibility of sinking into a lifeless formality, and a blind,
infatuate opposition to the good.
2. The rage of man againstthe truth defeats its own ends and recoils in
vengeance onhimself.
(G. Barlow.)
Guilty of the death of Christ
Bridaine was one of the most celebratedof the French preachers. Marmontel
relates that in his sermons he sometimes had recourse to the interesting
method of parables, with a view the more forcibly to impress important truths

on the minds of his hearers. Preaching on the passionof Jesus Christ, he
expressedhimself thus: — "A man, accusedofa crime of which he was
innocent, was condemned to death by the iniquity of his judges. He was led to
punishment, but no gibbet was prepared, nor was there any executionerto
perform the sentence. The people, moved with compassion, hopedthat this
sufferer would escape death. But one man raised his voice, and said, 'I am
going to prepare a gibbet, and I will be the executioner.'You groanwith
indignation! Well, my brethren, in eachof you I behold this cruel man. Here
are no Jews today, to crucify Jesus Christ: but you dare to rise up, and say, 'I
will crucify Him.'" Marmonteladds, that he heard these words pronounced
by the preacher, though very young, with all the dignity of an apostle, and
with the most powerful emotion; and that such was the effect, that nothing
was heard but the sobs of the auditory. For the wrath is come upon them to
the uttermost —
The Jews under the wrath of God
Bishop Patrick quotes the following affecting inquiry addressedby Rabbi
Samuel Moraccanus to a friend in the eleventh century: — "I would fain learn
from thee, out of the testimonies of the law, and the prophets, and other
Scriptures, why the Jews are thus smitten in this captivity wherein we are,
which may be properly termed the perpetual angerof God, because it hath no
end. For it is now above a thousand years since we were carriedcaptive by
Titus; and yet our fathers, who worshipped idols, killed the prophets, and cast
the law behind their back, were only punished with a seventy years'captivity,
and then brought home again;but now there is no end of our calamities, nor
do the prophets promise any." "If," says BishopPatrick, "this argument was
hard to be answeredthen, in his days, it is much harder in ours, who still see
them pursued by God's vengeance, whichcanbe for nothing else but rejecting
and crucifying the Messiah, the Saviour of the world."
Severity consistentwith benevolence

Dr. J. Buchanan.
Take the case ofan earthly parent. Suppose him to be endowedwith all the
tenderestsensibilities of nature, conceive ofhim as delighting in the health
and welfare of his children, and, in the exercise ofevery benevolentaffection,
lavishing on them all the riches of a father's kindness and a father's care. You
say, on looking at his benignant countenance and his smiling family, this is an
affectionate father. But a secretcankerofingratitude seizes one or more of his
children, they shun his presence, ordislike his society, and at length venture
on acts of positive disobedience;he warns them, he expostulates with them,
but in vain, they revolt more and more; and at length, in the exercise of
deliberate thought, he lifts the rod and chastens them; and he who once was
the author of all their happiness has become also their calm but firm
reprover. And who that knows the tenderness of a father's love will not
acknowledge that, severe as may be the suffering inflicted, such a man doth
not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of his love? Again, conceive of a
man of benevolent feelings invested with the office of magistrate or judge —
conceive that Howard, the unwearied friend of his race, who visited the
prisons of Europe to alleviate the miseries of the worst and most destitute of
men — conceive of such a man sitting in judgment over the life or liberty of
another, and can you not suppose, that while every feeling within him inclined
him to the side of mercy, and his every sensibility would be gratified, were it
possible to make the felon virtuous and happy, he might, notwithstanding,
have such a deep moral persuasionof the importance of virtue and order to
the well-being of the state, that he could consignthe prisoner to a dungeon or
the gallows,and that, too, with the perfect convictionthat it was right and
goodto do so;while still, every sentiment of the heart within him, if it could be
disclosed, wouldbear witness, that he afflicted not willingly, and that he had
no pleasure in the death of the criminal? Such a father, and such a judge is
God; and the sufferings which he inflicts, whether they be viewed as
corrective or penal, are compatible with the loftiestbenevolence in the Divine
mind.
(Dr. J. Buchanan.)

COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(15) Who both killed.—A tremendous invective againstthe Jews, the purpose
of which is (1) to show the deep sympathy of St. Paul with the persecuted
Thessalonians, andhis indignation againstthe persecutors;(2) to make them
see still more deeply the value of their faith by the efforts made to keepit from
them. Objectionis often made to St. John’s Gospelon the ground that no born
Jew could have written of “the Jews” in the bitter way so common in that
book, or viewed them so completely as a separate body from himself. This
passage, in an indubitable epistle of “a Hebrew of the Hebrews.” seems a
satisfactoryanswer. The memories of St. Stephen’s speech(Acts 7:52) seemto
be waking in the mind of him who was once a persecuting Jew himself.
Have persecuted.—Takethe marginal version, “chased” (not“have chased”)
“us violently out of Thessalonica.”
They please not God—(though to serve and please Him was the special
purpose for which the nation was setapart, ) “and are at cross purposes with
all mankind.” The historian Tacitus gives, as a characteristic ofthe race, “an
attitude of hostility and hatred towards all others.” Juvenalmakes the same
accusation.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:13-16 We should receive the word of God with affections suitable to its
holiness, wisdom, truth, and goodness. The words of men are frail and
perishing, like themselves, and sometimes false, foolish, and fickle; but God's
word is holy, wise, just, and faithful. Let us receive and regardit accordingly.
The word wrought in them, to make them examples to others in faith and
goodworks, and in patience under sufferings, and in trials for the sake ofthe
gospel. Murder and persecutionare hateful to God, and no zeal for any thing

in religion can excuse it. Nothing tends more to any person or people's filling
up the measure of their sins, than opposing the gospel, and hindering the
salvationof souls. The pure gospelof Christ is abhorred by many, and the
faithful preaching of it is hindered in many ways. But those who forbid the
preaching it to sinners, to men dead in sin, do not by this please God. Those
have cruel hearts, and are enemies to the glory of God, and to the salvationof
his people, who deny them the Bible.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Who both killed the Lord Jesus - see the notes on Acts 2:23. The meaning here
is, that it was characteristicofthe Jews to be engagedin the work of
persecution, and that they should not regard it as strange that they who had
put their own Messiahto death, and slain the prophets, should now be found
persecuting the true children of God.
And their own prophets - see the Matthew 21:33-40;Matthew 23:29-37 notes;
Acts 7:52 note.
And have persecutedus - As at Iconium Acts 14:1, Derbe, and Lystra Acts
14:6, and at Philippi, Thessalonica, andBerea. The meaning is, that it was
characteristic ofthem to persecute, and they sparedno one. If they had
persecutedthe apostles themselves, who were their own countrymen, it should
not be consideredstrange that they should persecute those who were Gentiles.
And they please not God - Their conduct is not such as to please God, but such
as to expose them to his wrath; 1 Thessalonians 2:16. The meaning is not that
they did not aim to please God - whatever may have been the truth about that
- but that they had shown by all their history that their conduct could not
meet with the divine approbation. They made extraordinary pretensions to
being the specialpeople of God, and it was important for the apostle to show
that their conduct demonstratedthat they had no such claims. Their
opposition to the Thessalonians,therefore, was no proof that God was
opposedto them, and they should not allow themselves to be troubled by such
opposition. It was rather proof that they were the friends of God - since those
who now persecutedthem had been engagedin persecuting the most holy
people that had lived.

And are contrary to all men - They do not merely differ from other people in
customs and opinions - which might be harmless - but they keepup an active
opposition to all other people. It was not opposition to one nation only, but to
all; it was not to one form of religion only, but to all - even including God's
last revelationto mankind; it was not opposition evinced in their own country,
but they carriedit with them wherever they went. The truth of this statement
is confirmed, not only by authority of the apostle and the uniform recordin
the New Testament, but by the testimony borne of them in the classic writers.
This was universally regardedas their national characteristic, forthey had so
demeaned themselves as to leave this impression on the minds of those with
whom they had contact. Thus Tacitus describes them as "cherishing hatred
againstall others" - adversus omnes alios hostile odium; Hist. v. 5. So Juvenal
(Sat. xiv. 103, 104), describesthem.
Non monstrare vias eadem nisi sacra colenti,
Quaesitum a.d. fontem solos deducere verpos.
"They would not even point out the way to any one except of the same
religion, nor, being asked, guide any to a fountain exceptthe circumcised." So
they are called by Appollonius "atheists and misanthropes, and the most
uncultivated barbarians" - ἀθεοι καὶ μισανθρώποι καὶ ἀφεῦστατοι τῶν
βάρβαρῶνatheoi kaimisanthrōpoi kaiapheustatoitōn barbarōn; Josephus,
Contra Apion ii. 14. So Diodorus Siculus (34:p. 524), describes them as "those
alone among all the nations who were unwilling to have any contact(or
intermingling - επιμιξιας) epimixias with any other nation, and who regarded
all others as enemies" καὶ πολεμίους ὑπολαμβάνεινπάντας kaipolemious
hupolambanein pantas. Their history had given abundant occasionfor these
charges.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
15. the Lord Jesus—ratheras Greek, "Jesus THE Lord." This enhances the
glaring enormity of their sin, that in killing Jesus they killed the Lord
(Compare Ac 3:14, 15).
their own—omitted in the oldestmanuscripts.

prophets—(Mt 21:33-41;23:31-37;Lu 13:33).
persecutedus—rather as Greek (see Margin), "By persecutiondrove us out"
(Lu 11:49).
please not God—that is, they do not make it their aim to please God. He
implies that with all their boastof being God's peculiar people, they all the
while are "no pleasers ofGod," as certainly as, by the universal voice of the
world, which even they themselves cannot contradict, they are declared to be
perversely "contraryto all men." Josephus [AgainstApion, 2.14], represents
one calling them "Atheists and Misanthropes, the dullest of barbarians"; and
Tacitus [Histories, 5.5], "Theyhave a hostile hatred of all other men."
However, the contrariety to all men here meant is, in that they "forbid us to
speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved" (1Th 2:16).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Who both killed the Lord Jesus;no wonder then though they have persecuted
you, and the believing Jews their countrymen. They killed the Lord Jesus by
the hands of Pilate, crying: Crucify him, crucify him. Though it was by God’s
determinate counsel, and the Roman power, yet by the Jews’malice they
killed him; Matthew 21:38:This is the heir; let us kill him.
And their own prophets; of their ownnation, and directed and sent
particularly to them of God; so that it was no new thing in them thus to do.
Not that these individual Jews who persecutedPaul killed the prophets, but
they were of the same nation, the same blood, and of the same spirit with
them, and were the children of them, that killed the prophets, as our Saviour
chargedthem, Matthew 23:31. The spirit of persecutionwas natural to them,
it descendedfrom one generationto another; their kings were guilty of it,
their priests, their false prophets, and the common people. And though better
things might be expectedof the Jews than any other people, yet thus they did.
And it was not only because ofthe new doctrine or worship that the apostle
preached, for they killed their own prophets before them; but it was their love
to their lusts, hatred of reproof, enmity to holiness, &c., that was the cause.

And Christ himself chargeththem with the same things, Matthew 23:37:O
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, & c.; and foretells it as that which
they would yet practise, Matthew 23:34.
And they please not God; by the figure called meiosis;it is meant they highly
displeasedGod, and were haters of God, and hated, and now rejected, of him.
Though they had the advantages and reasons to please Godabove all other
people, having had the law and ordinances of his worship among them, yet
they pleasednot God, and particularly in their persecutions of the gospeland
the apostles, thoughthey might think that therein they did God goodservice,
as John 16:2.
And are contrary to all men; contrary in their worship, laws, and customs. Or
rather, contrary to all men, in hindering the course of the gospelappointed for
men’s salvation. And despising all other nations in comparisonof themselves,
they were apt to be seditious, and raise tumults every where, and to disdain
familiarity and common friendship with the Gentiles.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Who both killed the Lord Jesus,.... Forthough Pilate condemned him to
death, and the Roman soldiers executedthe sentence, yetit was through the
malice and envy of the Jews that he was delivered to him, who brought
charges againsthim, and insisted upon the crucifixion of him; and who are
therefore said to have taken him with wickedhands, and crucified and slain
him; and to have killed the Prince of life, and to have been the betrayers and
murderers of him; and therefore it is no wonderthat such persons should
persecute the followers ofChrist, whether in Judea or elsewhere:
and their own prophets; whom God sentunto them; these they not only
mockedand misused, and persecuted, but many of them they put to death, as
Isaiahand others; and though this was done by their fathers, yet the present
generationwere the children of them that killed the prophets; and showed
themselves to be of the same principles, and by their practices approvedof

what they had done: hence our Lord addresses the city of Jerusalemthus, "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thatkillest the prophets", Matthew 23:31. The Vulgate
Latin and Ethiopic versions leave out the phrase "their own", and so does the
Alexandrian copy; but it stands in the Syriac and Arabic versions, and is
rightly retained, it having an emphasis in it; these prophets being of their own
nation, born among them, and raised up in the midst of them, and sent unto
them particularly, and yet were so used; and therefore it need not seem
strange that they should treat in an ill manner persons of a lowercharacter,
that did not agree with them; the considerationof which serves to support
under reproach and persecution; see Matthew 5:12.
And have persecutedus; the apostles ofChrist; have drove us out of our own
country, and pursued us from place to place, and causedus to flee from one
city to another:
and they please not God: though they reckonedthemselves his chosenpeople,
the favourites of heaven, and whom God delighted in; but neither their
persons nor their actions were pleasing to him, their carnal minds being
enmity to him, to his law and to his Gospel;and they in the flesh, or in an
unregenerate estate, andwithout faith in Christ, without which it is impossible
to please God, and their actions such as before described:
and are contrary to all men; not only Christians, but Heathens;to all the
Gentiles, who are called all men, the nations of the world, the world, and the
whole world; they were contrary to these, both in their religious and civil
principles, and had an aversionto them, of which the following is a full
instance.
Geneva Study Bible
{13} Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have
persecutedus; {14} and they please not God, and are contrary to {i} all men:
(13) He prevents an offence which might be taken, because the Jews especially
above all others persecutedthe Gospel. Thatis no new thing, he says, seeing
that they slew Christ himself, and his Prophets, and have banished me also.

(14) He foretells the utter destruction of the Jews, lestany man should be
moved by their rebellion.
(i) For the Jews wouldneither enter into the kingdom of God themselves, nor
allow others to enter in.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
1 Thessalonians 2:15-16. As to the occasionofthis invective, see on 1
Thessalonians 2:14.
καί]not signifying even; also not to be connectedwith the next καί, both …
and; but τῶν καί means who also, and proves the propriety of the preceding
statementfrom the analogous conductin 1 Thessalonians 2:15. Grotius (comp.
Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Pelagius):Quid mirum est, si in nos
saeviunt, qui dominum nostrum interfecerunt …?… Non debent discipuli
meliorem sortem exspectare quam magistri fuit.
Moreover, τὸνκύριονemphatically precedes, andis separatedfrom Ἰησοῦν in
order to enhance the enormity of the deed.
καὶ τοὺς προφήτας]De Wette and Koch unite this with ἐκδιωξάντων;
Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Calvin, Musculus, Bengel, Pelt,
Schott, Olshausen, Baumgarten-Crusius, Bloomfield, Alford, Hofmann,
Auberlen, and most critics, more correctlyrefer it to ἀποκτεινάντων. In the
catalogue ofthe sins of the Jews whichPaul here adduces, he begins directly
with that deed which formed the climax of their wickedness—the murder of
the Sonof God, of Jesus the Messiah. In order to cut off all excuses forthis
atrocious deedof the Jews, as that they had done it in ignorance, not
recognising Jesus as the Son of God, Paul adds, going backwards in time, that
they had already done the same to the Old Testamentprophets, whom, in like

manner, they had murdered againsttheir better knowledge andconscience.
Christ Himself accuses the Jews ofthe murder of the prophets, Matthew
23:31;Matthew 23:37, Luke 11:47 ff; Luke 13:34;and Stephen does the same,
Acts 7:52; with which passagescomp. 1 Kings 19:10;1 Kings 19:14 (see
Romans 11:3); Jeremiah 2:30; Nehemiah9:26.
καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐκδιωξάντων]and have persecutedus. ἡμᾶς refers not to Paul only
(Calvin), also not to Paul and Silas only (de Wette, Koch, Alford), or to Paul
and the companions who happened to be with him at Thessalonica
(Auberlen); but to Paul and the apostles generally(Estius, Aretius, Bengel,
Koppe, Flatt, Pelt, Schott). The preposition ἐκ in ἐκδιωξάντωνstrengthens the
verbal idea. In an unjustifiable manner, Koppe and de Wette (the latter
appealing to Luke 11:49 and Ps. 118:157, LXX.) make it stand for the simple
verb.
καὶ Θεῷ μὴ ἀρεσκόντων]and please not God. Erroneously Wieseleron
Galatians 1:10, p. 41, note, and Hofmann: live not to please God; similarly
Bengel, Koppe, Flatt, and Baumgarten-Crusius:placere non quaerentium; for
after the preceding strong expressions thatwould be flat. Ratherthe result is
inferred from the two preceding statements, namely, the consequencesofthe
obstinacyof the Jews, with which they persecute the messengersofGod, is
that they please not God, that is, are hateful to Him (Θεοστυγεῖς, Meiosis).
καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐναντίων] and are hostile to all men. Grotius, Turretin,
Michaelis, Koppe, Olshausen, de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius, Koch,
Bloomfield, Jowett, and others, erroneouslyfind here expressedthe narrow
exclusiveness,by means of which the Jews strictly separatedthemselves from
all other nations, and about which Tacit. Hist. v. 5 (“adversus omnes alios
hostile odium”); Juvenal, Sat. xiv. 103 ff.; Diod. Sic. xxxiv. p. 524;Philostr.
Apollon. v. 33; Joseph, c. Apion. ii. 10, 14, wrote. For(1) that hostile odium
and desire of separationamong the Jews was nothing else than a shrinking

from staining themselves and their monotheistic worship by contactwith
idolaters. But Paul would certainly not have blamed such a shrinking, which
was only a fruit of their strict observance oftheir ancestralreligion. (2) If 1
Thessalonians 2:16 begins with an independent assertion, κωλυόντων…
σωθῶσιν would denote nothing essentiallynew, but would only repeat what
was already expressedin ἡμᾶς ἐκδιωξάντων, 1 Thessalonians 2:15. (3) It is
grammatically inadmissible to understand the words καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις
ἐναντίων as an independent assertion, and thus to be consideredas a general
truth. For the participle κωλυόντων(1 Thessalonians 2:16)must containa
causalstatement, as it is neither united with καί, nor by an article (καὶ
κωλυόντωνκ.τ.λ. or τῶν κωλυόντωνκ.τ.λ., or τῶν καὶ κωλυόντωνκ.τ.λ.), and
thus is closelyand directly connectedwith the preceding, and giving a reason
for it, i.e. explaining wherefore or in what relation the Jews are to be
consideredas πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐναντίοι. Thus the thought necessarilyis: And
who actually proved themselves to be hostilely disposedto all men since they
hindered us from publishing the gospelto the Gentiles, and thus leading them
to salvation. That is to say, the gospeloffers salvationto every one, without
distinction, who will surrender himself to it. But the Jews, in opposing
themselves with all their might to the publication of this free and universal
gospel, prove themselves, in point of fact, as enemies to the whole human race,
in so far as they will not suffer the gospel, which alone can save men, to reach
them. So Chrysostom, Theodoret, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Calovius, Bern.
a Piconio, Schott, Alford, Hofmann, and others correctlyinterpret the words;
also WieseleronGalatians 1:10, p. 49, note, and Auberlen, only that he would
incorrectly unite καὶ Θεῷ μὴ ἀρεσκόντωνwith κωλυόντων, which would only
be tenable if, instead of the simple connectedclause καὶ Θεῷ μὴ ἀρεσκόντων,
the more definitely separating form τῶν Θεῷ κ.τ.λ. had been put.[38]
ΚΩΛΥΌΝΤΩΝ ἩΜᾶς]hindering us, namely, by contradictions, calumnies,
laying snares for our life, etc. Comp. Acts 9:23 ff; Acts 13:45; Acts 17:5; Acts
17:13;Acts 22:22. Unnecessarily, Pelt, Schott, de Wette, Koch, seeking to
hinder; for the intrigues of the Jews are an actualhindrance to the preaching
of the apostle,—certainlynot an absolute, but a partial hindrance, conditioned
by opportunity of place and influence.

ἡμᾶς]as above, us the apostles.
τοῖς ἔθνεσιν] to the Gentiles, with emphasis; for it was the preaching to the
Gentiles that enragedthe Jews. τοῖς ἔθνεσιν resumes the previous ΠᾶΣΙΝ
ἈΝΘΡΏΠΟΙς, as that expressioncomprehendedthe non-Jewishhumanity,
i.e. the Gentile world.
λαλῆσαι] is not to be takenabsolutely, so that it would be equivalent to docere
(Koppe, Flatt), or would require τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ for its completion
(Piscator), but is to be conjoined with ἽΝΑ ΣΩΘῶΣΙΝ in one idea, and the
whole is then another expressionfor εὐαγγελίζεσθαι, but in a more impressive
form.
ΕἸς ΤῸ ἈΝΑΠΛΗΡῶΣΑΙ Κ.Τ.Λ.]to fill up their sins always. εἰς does not
denote the result = ὭΣΤΕ or quo fit ut (Musculus, Estius, Cornelius a Lapide,
Grotius, Koppe, Flatt, Pelt, Schott, Baumgarten-Crusius, Koch, Bloomfield),
but the object, the design; and that not of κωλυόντων(Hofmann), as this is a
dependent clause, but of the whole description. But it expresses notthe
ultimate design which the Jews themselves,in their so acting, had either
consciously(Oecumenius:φησὶ γάρ, ὅτι πάντα ἃ ἐποίησαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, σκοπῷ
τοῦ ἁμαρτάνεινἐποίουν, τουτέστινἤδεισαν, ὅτι ἁμαρτάνουσι καὶ ἡμάρτανον)
or unconsciously(de Wette:they do it, though unconsciously, to the end, etc.;
Auberlen), so that an ironical expressionwould have to be assumed (Schott).
But in entire conformity with the Pauline mode of thought, which delights to
dive into the eternal and secretcounselsofGod, it expresses the designwhich
God has with this sinfulness of the Jews. So, correctly, Piscator. God’s counsel
was to make the Jews reachin their hardness even to the extreme point of
their sinfulness, and then, insteadof the past long-suffering and patience, the
severity of angerand punishment was to commence.

ἀναπληρῶσαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας]to fill up their sins, i.e. to fill up the measure
destined for them, to bring them to the prescribed point; comp. LXX. Genesis
15:16;2Ma 6:14.
αὐτῶν] refers to the subjectof the preceding verses—the Jews.
ΠΆΝΤΟΤΕ]emphatically placedat the end, is not equivalent to ΠΆΝΤΩς or
ΠΑΝΤΕΛῦς (Bretschneider, Olshausen), on all sides, in every way
(Baumgarten-Crusius), but merely involves the notion of time, always, that is,
the Jews before Christ, at the time of Christ, and after Christ, have opposed
themselves to the divine truth, and thus have been always engagedin filling up
the measure of their iniquities. (Oecumenius: Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ πάλαι ἐπὶ τῶν
προφητῶνκαὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἔπραξαν, ἵνα πάντοτε
ἀναπληρωθῶσιναἱ ἁμαρτίαι αὐτῶν.)When, however, the apostle says that
this ἈΝΑΠΛΗΡΟῦΝ ΤᾺς ἉΜΑΡΤΊΑς is practised by the Jews ΠΆΝΤΟΤΕ, at
all times, his meaning cannot be that the Jews had at any given moment, thus
already repeatedly, filled up the measure of their sins (Musculus), but he
intends to say that at every division of time the conduct of the Jews was of
such a nature that the generaltendency of this continued sinful conduct was
the filling up of the measure of their sins. Paul thus conceives thatthe Jews, at
every renewedobstinate rejectionof the truth, approached a stepnearer to
the complete measure of their sinfulness, ἜΦΘΑΣΕ ΔῈ ἘΠʼ ΑὐΤΟῪς Ἡ
ὈΡΓῊΕἸς ΤΈΛΟς]but the wrath has come upon them even to the end. The
Vulgate, Luther, Beza, Wolf, erroneouslytake δέ in the sense ofΓΆΡ. Rather,
ΔΈ forms the contrastto ἈΝΑΠΛΗΡῶΣΑΙ ΠΆΝΤΟΤΕ (not to the whole
preceding description), in so far as the increase ofthe divine wrath is
contrastedto the continued wickedconduct of the Jews.
ΦΘΆΝΕΙΝ] contains, in classicalusage,the idea of priority in time. Schott
thinks that this idea must also be here preserved, whilst he finds indicated

therein the ὈΡΓΉ breaking forth upon the Jews citius quam exspectaverint
vel omnino praeter opinionem eorum. Incorrectly; for when ΦΘΆΝΕΙΝ is
united not with the accusative ofthe person (comp. 1 Thessalonians 4:15), but
with prepositions (ΦΘΆΝΕΙΝ ΕἼς ΤΙ, Romans 9:31 [see Fritzsche in loco];
Php 3:16; φθάνειν ἄχρι τινός, 2 Corinthians 9:14; ΦΘΆΝ. ἘΠΊ ΤΙΝΑ,
Matthew 12:28; Daniel4:25), then, in the later Greek, the meaning of the verb
“to anticipate” is softenedinto the generalmeaning of reaching the intended
end. The aorist ἜΦΘΑΣΕ is not here to be takenin the sense of the present
(Grotius, Pelt), also not prophetically instead of the future (Koppe: mox
eveniet iis; Flatt: it will certainly befall them, and also it will soonbefall them;
and so also Schott, Bloomfield, Hilgenfeld, Zeitschr. f. wissensch. Theol.,Halle
1862, p. 239), but reports in quite a usual manner a fact which already belongs
to the past.
ἡ ὀργή] sc. Θεοῦ, does not mean the divine punishment, which certainly in
itself it may denote (Erasmus, Musculus, Cornelius a Lapide, Flatt, Schott, de
Wette, Ewald), but the divine wrath. The article ἡ denotes either the wrath
predicted by the prophets (Theophylact, Schott), or generally the wrath which
is merited (Oecumenius).
ΕἸς ΤΈΛΟς]belongs to the whole sentence ἜΦΘΑΣΕ … ὈΡΓΉ, anddenotes
even to its (the wrath’s) end, i.e. the wrath of God has reachedits extreme
limits, so that it must now discharge itself,—now, in the place of hitherto long-
suffering and patience, punishment must step in. The actualoutbreak of the
wrath, the punishment itself, has thus not yet occurredat the compositionof
this Epistle. To interpret the words of the destructionof Jerusalemas already
happened, would be contrary to the context. On the other hand, it is to be
assumedthat Paul, from the by no means dark signs of the times, had by
presentiment foreseenthe impending catastrophe ofthe Jewishpeople, and by
means of this foresight had expressedthe concluding words of this verse. It is
accordinglyan unnecessaryarbitrariness when Ritschl (Hall. A. Lit. Z. 1847,
No. 126)explains the words ἔφθ.… τέλος as a gloss. Incorrectly, Camerarius,

Er. Schmid, Homberg, Koch, and Hofmann understand ΕἸς ΤΈΛΟς in the
sense ofΤΕΛΈΩς, penitus. Also incorrectly, Heinsius, Michaelis, Bolten,
Wahl: postremo, tandem. Others erroneouslyunite εἰς τέλος with Ἡ ὈΡΓΉ,
whilst they supply ΟὖΣΑ, and then either explain it: the wrath which will
endure eternally or to the end of the world (Chrysostom, Theophylact,
Oecumenius, Theodoret, Fab. Stapulens., Hunnius, Seb. Schmid, and others);
or: the wrath which will continue to work until its full manifestation
(Olshausen);or lastly: the wrath which shall end with their (the Jews’)
destruction (Flatt). In all these suppositions the article Ἡ must be repeated
before ΕἸς ΤΈΛΟς. Erroneously, moreover, de Wette refers ΕἸς ΤΈΛΟς to
the Jews, althoughhe unites it with the verb: “so as to make an end of them.”
So also Bloomfield and Ewald: “evento complete eradication.” The apostle
rather preserves the figure used in ἈΝΑΠΛΗΡῶΣΑΙ; namely, as there is a
definite measure for the sins of the Jews, atthe filling up of which the divine
wrath must discharge itself; so also there exists a definite measure for the
long-suffering patience of God, whose fulness provokes divine punishment.
Comp. also Romans 2:5.
[38] The article τῶν, wanting before καὶ Θεῷ μὴ ἀρεσκόντων, makes it
likewise impossible to make the two last καί in ver. 15 to signify, with
Hofmann, “both … and.”
REMARK.
In 1 Thessalonians2:14-16, Baur(see Introd. § 4) finds a “particularly
noticeable” criterionfor the spuriousness of the Epistle. “The description has
a thoroughly un-Pauline stamp,” and, besides, betrays a dependence on the
Acts. First of all, the comparison of the Thessalonianchurch with the
Palestinianchurches is “far-fetched,” although nothing is more simple, more
natural, and more unforced than these very parallels, since the tertium
comparationis consists simply in this, that both were persecutedby their own

countrymen, and both endured their persecutions with similar heroic courage.
The parallels are further “inappropriate” to Paul, as he does not elsewhere
hold up the Jewish-Christians as a pattern to the Gentile-Christians. As if the
repeatedcollections whichthe apostle undertook for the poor churches of
Palestine had not demonstratedby factthat his love extended itself equally to
the Jewishas to the Gentile churches!As if the words of the apostle, in 2
Corinthians 8:13-15, did not express a high esteemfor the PalestinianJewish-
Christians! As if, in Romans 15:27, the Gentile churches are not called
debtors to the Jewish-Christians, becausethe spiritual blessings of
Christianity reachedthe Gentiles only from the mother church of Jerusalem!
As if Paulhimself, after the fiercestpersecutions, andafter openly manifested
obstinacy, did not always cleave to his people with such unselfish and
solicitous love, that he could wish in his own person to be banished and driven
from Christ, who was his all in all, in order by such an exchange to make his
hardened and always resisting fellow-countrymen partakers of salvationin
Christ! But if such were his feelings toward the unconverted among his
people, why should he not have been proud of those among them who
believed? Why should he not have recognisedthe heroic faith of the
Palestinianbrethren, and recognisedand praised the stedfastness ofa Gentile
church as an imitation and emulation of the pattern given by these?
Further, the mention of the persecutions ofthe PalestinianChristians was
inappropriate, because Paulcould not speak of them “without thinking of
himself as the personprincipally concernedin the only persecutionwhich can
have come properly into consideration.” Buthow little importance there is in
such an inference is evident from this, that Paul elsewhere does notshun
openly to confess his share in the persecutions of the Christians, although with
a sorrowfulheart (comp.
Expositor's Greek Testament
1 Thessalonians 2:15 “The Lord, even Jesus”(cf. Acts 2:36). προφ. may go
either with ἀποκτ. or with ἐκδιωξάντων.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges

15. who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their ownprophets] Revisedreading,
simply the prophets.
Christ representedHis death as the culmination of the murders of the ancient
prophets (Luke 11:47-52;Luke 13:31-33;Luke 20:9-16);St Stephen had said
the same thing in Paul’s hearing, with poignant force (Acts 7:52). Now the
Apostle takes up the accusation.
More exactly, killed the Lord, (even) Jesus;or, changing the grammatical
form but retaining the order of the Greek words, The Lord they slew, Jesus,—
as well as the prophets. This sets the deed in an appalling light. To have killed
the Lord—Who bears a title that belongs to God, and “Him whom they were
bound to serve” (Jowett);(comp. 1 Corinthians 2:8 : They “crucified the Lord
of glory”); that Lord being Jesus their Saviour (comp. Acts 4:12), and such an
one as Jesus was knownto be! The double name, emphasized in eachpart,
brings into striking relief at once the Divine authority and the human
characterof Christ. Comp. Acts 2:36 (“Him did God make both Lord and
Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified!”); also the parable of Luke 20:9-18,
Mark 12:1-11, “The husbandmen said, This is the heir; come, let us kill him!”
and have persecutedus] Better, and drave us out (R. V.), words which echo
those of Christ in Luke 11:49 : “I will send them prophets and apostles;and
some of them they will kill and persecute.” Already Christ, like the prophets,
had been killed; and now His apostles were driven out, “fleeing from city to
city” (Matthew 23:34) to avoid the like fate. Readthe accountof Paul’s
departure from Jerusalemin Acts 9:28-30;and his later experience there,
Acts 21-23;also the narrative of James’death and Peter’s escape from
Herod’s prison, in Acts 12:1-9. Paul and Silas had now been hunted all the
way from Philippi to Corinth by Jewishmalignity, and it was only the
authority and goodsense of the Roman Governor, Gallio, that made it

possible for him to remain in the latter city. Comp. 2 Corinthians 11:26 : “In
perils from mine own countrymen.”
and they please not God] Omit they, and put a comma only before this clause,
for it is immediately continuous with the last: more exactly, and are not
pleasing to God. This is an instance of what the grammarians call meiosis or
litotes, the studiously restrained and smoothexpressioncovering intense
feeling; as where the Apostle says, “I praise yon not,” meaning severe blame
(1 Corinthians 11:17; 1 Corinthians 11:22). Their unpleasingness to God was
due not to these wickedacts alone, but to their whole conduct. Comp., in the
O.T., such sayings as Isaiah65:5 : “These are a smoke in My nostrils;” and
Jeremiah32:30. By contrast, the Apostle spoke ofhimself as “not pleasing
men, but God” (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
and are contrary to all men] At warboth with God and men! The sense of
God’s displeasure often shews itself in sourness and ill-temper towards one’s
fellows. Unbelief and cynicism go together. The rancour of the Jews against
other nations at this time was notorious. Tacitus, the Roman historian, writing
in the next generation, remarks on their “adversus omnes alios hostile odium”
(Histor. 1 Thessalonians2:5). This animosity culminated in the war against
Rome (a.d. 66–70), andbrought a fearful retribution.
The quarrel betweenJudaism and the world, alas, still continues, as the
Judenhasse ofGermany and Russia testifies. Jewishhatred has been more
than repaid by Christian persecution. The antipathy is powerfully
impersonated in Shakespeare’s Shylock. The Jew says ofhis debtor, “I hate
him, for he is a Christian.” And Antonio in turn:
“You may as well use question with the wolf,

Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well do anything most hard,
As seek to softenthat (than which what’s harder?)
His Jewishheart.”
But we may hope that better feelings will prevail in the future on both sides.
St Paul is thinking, however, not of the Jewishsentiment in general, but of the
opposition of his people to the rest of the world on that one point which
concernedhim so deeply, viz. the salvationof men through Christ.
Bengel's Gnomen
1 Thessalonians 2:15. Ἀποκτεινάντων, who have killed) This is indeed the sin
of the whole people, their greatestsin, and one not yet acknowledged.—
προφήτας, the prophets) This word is construed with who have killed. That
former guilt of theirs [in killing the prophets] woke up in all its strength then
especially, whenthey slew the Lord Himself.—ἡμᾶς, us) the apostles.—
ἐκδιωξάντων, who have castout by persecution) Luke 11:49, note.—μὴ
ἀρεσκόντων)not seeking to please.—ἐναντίων, andare adverse [contrary])
The Jews regardedthe Gentiles with aversion, and were unwilling at that time
that the word should be preachedto them.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 15. - Who both killed the Lord Jesus;emphatic, to point out the
greatness oftheir wickedness. And their own prophets; or, as some
manuscripts read, and the prophets. This crime was often laid to the charge of
the Jews:thus, by our Lord, "Ye are witnessesunto yourselves, that ye are the
children of them which killed the prophets" (Matthew 23:31);and by the

protomartyr Stephen, "Which of the prophets have not your fathers
persecuted?" (Acts 7:25.)And have persecutedus; literally, driven us out, as
Paul and Silos were expelled from Thessalonica.And they please not God, but
are contrary to all men. The hatred and contempt which the Jews bore to
other nations is noticed by Tacitus, Juvenal, and other heathen writers. Thus
Tacitus writes of them: "Theyare faithful to obstinacy, and merciful toward
themselves, but toward all others are actuatedby the most irreconcilable
hatred (odium humani generis)." And Juvenal says, "Theywill not show the
road to one who was not of their religion, nor lead the thirsty personif
uncircumcised to the common spring." Perhaps, however, the apostle refers
here, not to the enmity of the Jews to the human race in general, though
perfectly cognizant of their bigotry and intolerance; as this enmity was a
perversion of their peculiar distinction as he people of God; but rather to their
opposition to his preaching the gospelto the Gentiles - to their extreme
reluctance that the Gentiles along with themselves should be admitted into the
kingdom of God.
Vincent's Word Studies
Persecuted(ἐκδιωξάντων)
Rev. more literally and correctly, drave out. The word only here, though it
occurs as an alternative reading, Luke 11:49. Probably with specialreference
to his own expulsion from Thessalonica. Acts 17:5-10.
Contrary to all men
Tacitus (Hist. v. 5) describes the Jews as stubborn in their faith, prompt in
kindly offices to eachother, but bitterly hostile toward everybody else:
Juvenal (Sat. xiv. 102 f.) says that they observe and respectwhateverMoses
has taught in his mystical volume; not to show the wayexcept to one who
practices the same rites, and to show the well only to the circumcised.
CALVIN

15 Who killed the Lord Jesus. As that people had been distinguished by so
many benefits from God, in consequence ofthe glory of the ancient fathers,
the very name [544]was of greatauthority among many. Lest this disguise
should dazzle the eyes of any one, he strips the Jews ofall honor, so as to leave
them nothing but odium and the utmost infamy.
"Behold," says he, "the virtues for which they deserve praise among the good
and pious! -- they killed their ownprophets and at lastthe Son of God, they
have persecutedme his servant, they wage warwith God, they are detestedby
the whole world, they are hostile to the salvationof the Gentiles;in fine, they
are destined to everlasting destruction."
It is asked, why he says that Christ and the prophets were killed by the same
persons? I answer, that this refers to the entire body, [545]for Paul means
that there is nothing new or unusual in their resisting God, but that, on the
contrary, they are, in this manner, filling up the measure of their fathers, as
Christ speaks. (Matthew 23:32)
16 Who hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles. It is not without goodreason
that, as has been observed, he enters so much into detail in exposing the
malice of the Jews. [546]Foras they furiously opposedthe Gospel
everywhere, there arose from this a greatstumblingblock, more especiallyas
they exclaimedthat the gospelwas profanedby Paul, when he published it
among the Gentiles. By this calumny they made divisions in the Churches,
they took awayfrom the Gentiles the hope of salvation, and they obstructed
the progress ofthe gospel. Paul, accordingly, charges them with this crime --
that they regardthe salvationof the Gentiles with envy, but adds, that matters
are so, in order that their sins may be filled up, that he may take awayfrom
them all reputation for piety; just as in saying previously, that they pleased
not God, (1 Thessalonians 2:15)he meant, that they were unworthy to be
reckonedamong the worshippers of God. The manner of expression, however,
must be observed, implying that those who persevere in an evil course fill up
by this means the measure of their judgment, [547]until they come to make it
a heap. This is the reasonwhy the punishment of the wickedis often delayed --
because their impieties, so to speak, are not yet ripe. By this we are warned
that we must carefully take heedlest, in the event of our adding from time to

time [548]sin to sin, as is wont to happen generally, the heap at last reaches as
high as heaven.
For wrath has come. He means that they are in an utterly hopeless state,
inasmuch as they are vessels ofthe Lord's wrath. "The just vengeance ofGod
presses upon them and pursues them, and will not leave them until they perish
-- as is the case with all the reprobate, who rush on headlong to death, to
which they are destined." The Apostle, however, makes this declarationas to
the entire body of the people, in such a manner as not to deprive the electof
hope. Foras the greaterproportion resistedChrist, he speaks, it is true, of the
whole nation generally, but we must keepin view the exceptionwhich he
himself makes in Romans 11:5, -- that the Lord will always have some seed
remaining. We must always keepin view Paul's design -- that believers must
carefully avoid the societyof those whom the just vengeance ofGod pursues,
until they perish in their blind obstinacy. Wrath, without any additional term,
means the judgment of God, as in Romans 4:15, -- the law workethwrath;
also in Romans 12:19, -- neither give place unto wrath.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 Commentary
1 Thessalonians 2 Resources
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1Thessalonians2:14 For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of
God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same
sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the
Jews, (NASB:Lockman)

Greek:humeis gar mimetai egenethete, (2PAPI)adelphoi, ton ekklesiontou
theou ton ouson(PAPFPG)en te Ioudaia en Christo Iesou, oti ta auta epathete
(2PAAI) kai umeis upo ton idion sumphuleton kathos kaiautoi upo ton
Ioudaion,
Amplified: Foryou, brethren, became imitators of the assemblies (churches)
of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea, for you too have suffered the same
kind of treatment from your own fellow countrymen as they did [who were
persecutedat the hands] of the Jews, (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
NLT: And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecutionfrom your
own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God's churches in
Judea who, because oftheir belief in Christ Jesus, sufferedfrom their own
people, the Jews. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: When you suffered at the hands of your fellow-countrymen you were
sharing the experience of the Judean Christian churches, who suffered
persecutionby the Jews. (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: Foras for you, you became imitators, brethren, of the assemblies of
God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus, because as foryou, you also suffered
the same things at the hands of your owncountrymen even as also they
themselves suffered at the hands of the Jews,
Young's Literal: for ye became imitators, brethren, of the assemblies ofGod
that are in Judea in Christ Jesus, becausesuchthings ye suffered, even ye,
from your own countrymen, as also they from the Jews
FOR YOU, BRETHREN,BECAME IMITATORS OF THE CHURCHES OF
GOD IN CHRIST JESUS THAT ARE IN JUDEA: humeis garmimetai
egenethete, (2PAPI)adelphoi, ton ekklesiontou theou ton ouson(PAPFPG)en
te Ioudaia en Christo Iesou:
1Thes 1:6
Acts 9:31; Galatians 1:22
1Thes 1:1; 2Th 1:1

1 Thessalonians 2 Resources -Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
For (1063)(gar)is a conjunction which introduces an explanation (see value of
observing and querying terms of explanation) and in the present context
explains that the the clearevidence of the Thessalonians’acceptanceofthe
Gospelas the Word of God and that Word performing its supernatural work
in their hearts (note 1Thess 2:13)is demonstratedby their willingness to
endure sufferings for the sake ofthe Gospel. Their willingness to suffer for the
Gospelis added authentication of the veracity of their conversionto God from
idols.
The Word (the Gospel)was operative in their lives as demonstrated by their
imitation of other believing churches in Judea.
Brethren (80) (adelphos from collative a = denoting unity + delphús = womb)
is literally one born from same womb and so a male having the same father
and mother as reference person.
Figuratively, adelphos as in this verse refers to a close associate ofa group of
persons having well-defined membership, specificallyhere referring to fellow
believers in Christ who are united by the bond of affectionand the
"brotherhood of suffering"
The term brethren appears nineteen times in 1 Thessalonians (more than any
other epistle except1 Corinthians) and is employed generically, referring to
both male and female believers who, like Paul, have been adopted into the
eternal family of God. In other contexts brethren canrefer to those of the
same nationality but not necessarilybelievers as Peter does in Acts 3…
And now, brethren, I know that you actedin ignorance, justas your rulers did
also. (Acts 3:17)
Spurgeoncalls our attention to these…
new converts exhibiting the family likeness,turning out to be very like the
believers of older churches. Born many miles awayfrom Judaea, with a sea
dividing them from the first country where the gospelwas preached, yetthese

ThessalonianGentiles, whenconverted, lookedwonderfully like the converts
from among the Jews . (Sermon)
Became (1096)(ginomai)means to come into existence.
Spurgeonwrites…
I only call your attention to the factthat the apostle says, "Ye, brethren,
became followers ofthe churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ
Jesus." Here are people converted in Judaea, and they are of a strongly
Jewishtype; quite another setof people over at Thessalonicabecome
convertedto Christ, and though they are thoroughly of the Greek type, they
are very like the converts in Judaea. They know nothing about the law of
Moses,they have been heathens, worshipping idols; and yet, when they are
converted, the strange thing is, that they are exceedinglylike those Jews over
yonder, to whom idolatry was an abomination. Greek believers are like
Hebrew believers. They have never spokento one another, and nobody has
been there to tell them the peculiarities of Christians, and yet a family likeness
is distinctly visible. Were you never startled with this, that if, in the preaching
of the gospelto-day, we were to bring to the Lord Jesus a personof high rank,
and another of the very lowestextraction, they have the same experience, and
upon the greatestofsubjects they talk in the same way? "Oh, but," you say,
"they pick up certainphrases." No, no! They differ in speech:the likeness is
in heart and character. I frequently meet with converts who have not attended
this place of worship more than half-a-dozen times, but they have been
converted, and when they come to tell the story of their inner life you would
suppose that they had been born and bred among us, and had learnedall our
ways;for, though they do not use the phrases which we use, yet they saythe
same things. The fact is, we are all alike lost and ruined, and we are born
againin the same way, and we find the Savior in the same way, and we rejoice
in him when we do find him after much the same fashion, and express
ourselves very much after the same style. Believers differ in many things, and
yet they are alike in the main things. There are no two exactly alike in all the
family of God, and yet the likeness to the Elder Brother is to be seenmore or
less in eachone.

It is to me one of the evidences of the truth and divine nature of the work of
grace in the heart, that if you take a Hottentot in his kraal, and he is
converted, and you take a university man, who has won all the degrees of
learning, and he is converted, yet you would not know Sambo from the Doctor
when they begin to talk about the things of God. The Hottentot's English may
be broken, but his theologyis sound. The uneducated man's words may limp,
but his heart will leap. Ruin, redemption, and regenerationare the chief
subjects in every case. WhenI am talking sometimes with young converts, and
they put their statements oddly and ignorantly, I am reminded of Father
Taylor, when he was getting old. The old man sometimes lostthe thread of his
discourse, and wheneverhe did so, he used to say, "There, I cannot find the
end of that sentence, but I am bound for the kingdom! Brethren, I am bound
for the kingdom!" Off he went to something else;for though he could not
complete the paragraph he was bound for the kingdom. Some brethren and
sisters cannotsee to the end of their own experience, but they are bound for
the kingdom. They cannotput this and that togetherto make it ship-shape:
but you can see that they are bound for the kingdom. There is the same tearof
repentance, the same glance of faith, the same thrill of joy, the same song of
confidence:eachone according to his measure enjoys the same life, if he is
indeed bound for the kingdom. The babe is like the man, and the man
reminds you of the babe. We are one spirit in Christ Jesus.
I will not enlarge, exceptto say that it makes us sing for joy when we can see
in ourselves a likeness to the children of God. We, too, resemble the early
saints in our experiences. Oppositionand tribulation come to us in our
measure as they did to them. There are the same afflictions, the same
persecutions, the same trials, wherever the work of Christ goes on; but there
is the same mighty Godto carry on the work of grace, and the same promises
of grace to be fulfilled to every believer. (Sermon)
You brethren became imitators - In chapter they had become imitators also,
Paul recording…
You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having receivedthe word in
much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit (see note 1Thessalonians1:6)

Obviously this imitation was hardly their choice but instead was a reflection
of that the powerof the gospelhad workeditself out in their lives so that they
were willing to suffer for the gospel. This was striking proof of the energizing
powerof the gospelin their lives and it clearlydemonstrated that they were
not among the superficial hearers Jesus described…
And the one on whom seed(the Word of God) was sownon the rocky places,
this is the man who hears the word, and immediately receives (lambano)it
with joy yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when
affliction or persecutionarises becauseofthe word, immediately he falls away.
(Mt 13:20-21)
And those on the rockysoil are those who, when they hear, receive (dechomai)
the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and
in time of temptation fall away. (Luke 8:13)
Persecutionfor Christ's sake did not cause the Thessalonians to fall away.
Imitators (3402)(mimetes) means one who follows. Mimetes basicallymeans
to copy or imitate someone's behaviorand has many relatedwords in English
- "mime" (one who acts out an imitation of another person or animal),
"pantomime" (a theater production which originally was without words),
"mimeograph" (a machine which makes many copies from one stencil).
In ancient Greek mimetes referred to imitation. Aristotle used the word to
describe how people imitated animals, postulating that at the beginning of
civilization men learnt from animals-weaving and spinning from spiders, and
house-building from swallows.
Paul is saying in essencethatthis church's actions (specificallyin regard to
sufferings) spoke louder than their words.
Richisonadds that…
The New Testamentalways uses the word “imitators” in a goodsense (1
Corinthians 4:16; 11:1; Ephesians 5:1; Hebrews 6:12). An imitator is a
copyist, someone who mimics. The idea is more than just following any old
pattern; the idea is to follow an authoritative pattern. Imitation involves

responding to the principle, as well as copying the behavior. Our authority
rests on the superiority of our models (1:6). Discipleshipimplies conformity to
a standard. (1Thessalonians 2:14)
W. Bauder writes that…
Very early on (in Democritus of the pre-Socratics)the words were used to
express ethicaldemands made on men. One should take as one’s model the
boldness of a hero, or one should imitate the goodexample of one’s teacheror
parents… The Rabbis were the first to speak ofimitation of God in the sense
of developing the image of God in men. In the Pseudepigrapha in addition to
the exhortation to imitate men of outstanding character(Test. Ben. 3:1; 4:1)
one canalso find the thought of the imitation of God (i.e. keeping his
commands, Test. Ash. 4:3) and of particular characteristicsofGod (Aristeas
188, 210, 280 f.). (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT
Theology. 1986. Zondervan)
Teachers basedtheir whole educationalprocedure on imitation, as students
imitated the behavior of teachers. Slowlythe idea developedthat people
should imitate the gods, and Plato emphasized this.
The basic meaning of mimetes is seenin a mime. An English woman went to
France to study under the famous mime artist, MarcelMarceau. All day he
taught his students how to make the movements of mime, and eachevening
they went to see him perform. Their performances were marked indelibly by
the style of the master. This is an excellentpicture of a Christian who imitates
the Lord by exposure to Him.
A person who mimes acts a part with mimic gesture and action, usually
without words. Let your actions speak louderthan your words and then you
will have a platform to proclaim the word of truth, the gospel. As believers in
their messagethe Thessalonians beganto pattern their lives after the example
setby the missionaries. This fact rejoicedthe heart of Paul as it was open
evidence of the reality of the Thessalonianbelievers'conversionand therefore
of their divine election. The Thessalonians had become third generation
mimics of Christ. Christ is the first; Paul is the second;and the Thessalonians
are the third. The Thessalonianbelievers imitated the Lord and Paul

(Silvanus, Timothy) in that they responded to the gospelin spite of affliction.
Note that Paul did not write what reportedly was said by one pastor"Do as I
say; not as I do." Unfortunately this saying has characterizednumerous
preachers, many of whom have reputations as great teachers ofGod’s Word.
However, when their lives are measuredby the Bible’s qualifications for
communication and character, suchministers come up woefully short. Make
sure you mime the right model!
As an African chief once said:
"A goodexample is the tallest kind of preaching."
JonathanEdwards was so concernedwas he about the example which he set,
that he framed the resolve to
"never to do anything which I would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of
my life."
Here is a secularquote that has more truth in it then we would like to believe
(think of "spiritual children")…
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have
never failed to imitate them. They must, they have no other models. (James
Baldwin)
Here's anotherquote worth pondering in this area of imitation…
We unconsciouslyimitate what pleases us and approximate to the characters
we most admire. Christian NestellBovee
In his preface to the writings of Shakespeare, SamuelJohnsonwrote that
"Example is always more efficacious than precept."
Dr. Merrill Tenney once saidthat…
The best advertisementfor your church is not a large notice board, but rather
the example that is setwhen the town drunk becomes a Christian and lives a
godly life.
Charles Spurgeononce said that…

A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ… We should be
pictures of Christ… Oh! My brethren, there is nothing that canso advantage
you, nothing can so prosper you, so assistyou, so make you walk towards
heaven rapidly, so keepyour head upwards towards the sky, and your eyes
radiant with glory, like the imitation of Jesus Christ.
As shown in the uses of mimetes below Scripture always uses this word in a
positive sense.
Richards writes that mimetes
is a call to reproduce in our ownway of life those godly qualities that result
from salvationand that we see in others. The idea is intimately linked with the
thought that teachers and leaders ought to be clear, living examples of the
practicalimplications of commitment to Jesus. (Richards, L O: Expository
Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)
Barclaywrote that "When Paul talkedof imitation he was using language
which the wise men of Greece couldunderstand. Mimesis, imitation, was a
main part in the training of an orator. The teachers of rhetoric declaredthat
the learning of oratory depended on three things-theory, imitation and
practice. The main part of their training was the study and the imitation of
the masters who had gone before. It is as if Paul said: "If you were to train to
be an orator, you would be told to imitate the masters of speech. Since you are
training in life, you must imitate the Lord of all goodlife." (cp 1Pe 2:21-note)
(1 Thessalonians2 Commentary - Daily Study Bible - online )
Churches (1577)(ekklesiafrom ek = out + kaleo = call) is literally the "called-
out ones". Greeks usedekklesia foran assembly of citizens "calledout" to
transactcity business. The church is not an organizationbut a living
organism, Christ's body, composedof individual members (believers) joined
togetherand in and through which Christ, the Head works, carries out His
purposes and lives.
In Christ Jesus (see relatedtopic In Christ) - this phrase usually denotes the
fellowship which binds togetherbelievers but here is used of that same union

which binds Christian churches so that their mutual life is caught up into, and
sustainedfrom, the life of the risen Christ.
Hiebert has an interesting thought regarding the phrase in Christ Jesus
commenting that…
It adds the spiritual element that distinguishes these assemblies from the
Jewishsynagogues. The difference betweenthe Jewishsynagoguesand the
Christian assemblies hinges on the acceptance ofJesus as Messiah. The Jews
professedto believe God's Word and claimed to be God's assemblies,but
when they rejectedthe Lord Jesus as their Messiah, who came in fulfillment
of the promises in God's Word, they showedthat they did not believe God's
Word. It is the acceptanceofJesus as Messiahthat constitutes the vital bond
uniting all true Christians. The converts'faith had brought them into vital
union with Him; in Him their spiritual life had its source and center. (Hiebert,
D. Edmond: 1 & 2 Thessalonians:BMH Book. 1996)
Vine rightly reminds us in the day of a plethora of denominations that…
the measure of their realization of the strength of this spiritual bond may be
gaugedby the characterofthe fellowshipwith Judaean Christians shown
later by the church at Thessalonica,see 2 Corinthians 8:14. Churches are knit
togethernot by any external bond, as of order, organization, history, or
distinctive doctrine but by the vital relation of eachto the one Lord of all, on
Whom eachis directly dependent, and to Whom alone eachis directly
responsible. (Vine, W. Collectedwritings of W. E. Vine. Nashville:Thomas
Nelson)
That are in Judea - Are is the verb eimi which in this phrase could be more
literally rendered "the being or existing churches". The idea conveyedby this
phrase would be that they were still standing despite the storms of
persecution, that they had prevailed againstthe gates ofHades and thus the
work of God had not come to an end in the place of its origin and the home of
its fiercestenemies. The conclusion? In the same waythe persecutionwould
avail as little at "first BaptistChurch" of Thessalonica.It is interesting to
recallthat the writer himself (Paul) had himself persecutedthe church at
Jerusalem, writing to the Corinthians…

For I am the leastof the apostles,who am not fit to be calledan apostle,
because I persecutedthe church of God. (1 Corinthians 15:9)
Compare Luke's record…
But Saul beganravaging the church, entering house after house;and dragging
off men and women, he would put them in prison. (Acts 8:3)
FOR YOU ALSO ENDURED THE SAME SUFFERINGS AT THE HANDS
OF YOUR OWN COUNTRYMEN,EVEN AS THEY DID FROM THE
JEWS:hoti ta auta epathete (2PAAI) kaihumeis hupo ton idion sumphuleton
kathos kaiautoi hupo ton Ioudaion:
1Thes 3:4; Acts 17:1-8,13;2Corinthians 8:1,2
Acts 8:1,3; 9:1,13;11:19;12:1-3; Hebrews 5:7,8; 10:33,34
For (hoti) can be translated because (see value of observing and querying
terms of explanation) and here presents the evidence that the Thessalonian
believers had become imitators of the Judean churches. The saints in Judea
suffered at the hands of the Jews, and the saints in Thessalonicasufferedat
the hands of the Gentiles, but even this Gentile persecutionwas encouragedby
the Jewishunbelievers (Acts 17:5, 13). Jesus promised that this would happen
(John 15:18-27).
Don't forget the intimate associationwith the acceptance ofthe word as the
Word of God which energizes us as we believe it (and obey it for if we believe
it we will obey it). If we are going to experience victory in sufferings, we must
appreciate and appropriate the Living Word.
The same sufferings - could also be rendered "fellow sufferings". This is the
very idea inherent in the English word sympathy which is derived from sun
(with) plus pathos (feelings, emotion, experience)(pathos is etymologically
related to the verb below - pascho - to experience or to suffer). With this
backgroundone can better understand why sympathy sums up the
relationship betweenthe two churches, for as Webstersays sympathy is an
affinity, association, orrelationship betweenpersons or things wherein

whateveraffects one similarly affects the other. Sympathy represents the act
or capacityof entering into or sharing the feelings or interests of another. In
short, sympathy pictures the relationship existing betweenthese churches that
are naturally (supernaturally) drawn together. Fellow suffering always forges
a strong bond of unity and in the presentscenario brought togetherthe hearts
of Jews (Jerusalemchurch) and Gentiles (Thessalonianchurch) both united in
Christ Jesus and the fellowship of His sufferings…
that I may know Him, and the powerof His resurrectionand the fellowshipof
His sufferings (pathema = the actual suffering itself, the very pain that one is
experiencing right now) being conformed to His death (see note Philippians
3:10) (Comment: The tense of know here suggests "come to know Him." Even
though we already know Christ as Savior, we also need to know Him in both
the powerof His resurrection(see notes Romans 6:11; 6:12; 6:13; Colossians
3:1) and the fellowship of His sufferings - see notes Philippians 1:29; 1 Peter
4:13).
Vine - Churches are knit togethernot by any external bond, as of order,
organization, history, or distinctive doctrine but by the vital relation of each
to the one Lord of all, on Whom eachis directly dependent, and to Whom
alone eachis directly responsible. (Vine, W. Collectedwritings of W. E. Vine.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
Endured suffering (3958)(pascho)means to undergo an experience, usually
difficult, normally with the implication of physical or psychologicalsuffering.
The writer of Hebrews uses pascho to describe our Lord's sufferings…
For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered (pascho), He
is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. (see note Hebrews 2:18)
Although He was a Son, He learnedobedience from the things which He
suffered (pascho). (see note Hebrews 5:8)
Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the
world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested
to put awaysin by the sacrifice ofHimself. (see note Hebrews 9:26)

Therefore Jesus also, thatHe might sanctify the people through His own
blood, suffered outside the gate. (see note Hebrews 13:21)
Peteralso uses pascho of Jesus'sufferings writing…
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for
(substitutionary atonement implied) you, leaving you an example for you to
follow in His steps (see note 1 Peter2:21)
Comment: The Thessalonians andthe churches in Judea were follow their
Lord's example.
Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the
same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceasedfrom sin
(see note 1 Peter4 :1)
When the Thessalonians acceptedJesusas Lord, the implication is that they in
effectrejectedthe claims to sovereigntyof Caesaras "Lord" along with the
tenets of the imperial cult, and thus they were perceived as threats to the
establishedsocialorderand government.
Bruce commenting on their imitation writes that…
In 1Th 1:6 the Thessaloniansare commended for imitating the missionaries,
not leastby becoming missionaries in their turn: this was a tokenof the
genuineness oftheir faith. Now a further tokenof the genuineness oftheir
faith is said to be their imitation of the Judeanchurches. But this was not a
deliberate imitation they knew of the Judean churches mostly by hearsay
rather, the experience of the Judean churches was reproduced in the
Thessalonianchurch. This was no merely external resemblance. Persecution,
according to the NT, is a natural concomitantof Christian faith, and for the
believers in Thessalonicato undergo suffering for Christ's sake proves that
they are fellow-members of the same body as the Judeanchurches. (Bruce, F
F: 1 and 2 Thessalonians. WordBiblical Commentary. Dallas:Word,
Incorporated. 1982)
Countrymen (4853)(sumphuletes from sún = togetherwith, + phulétes = one
of the same tribe from phule = a race, clanor tribe) describes one of the same

tribe or fraternity. In the NT, generallya fellow citizen, fellow countryman
and in this context countrymen denotes that the persecutors were Gentiles, as
indicated the sharp contrastwith the Jews as wellas by the use of your own.
In Acts 17 we read of persecutionalthough these were doubtless also Jewishin
addition to Gentile protagonists…
But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wickedmen from the
market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and coming upon
the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. 6 And
when they did not find them, they begandragging Jasonand some brethren
before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have upset the world
have come here also;7 and Jasonhas welcomedthem, and they all act
contrary to the decrees ofCaesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." 8
And they stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.
(Acts 17:5-8)
The Jewishprotagonists made a wily appealto political passions ("another
king" in verse 7) and thus had arousedthe Gentiles to attack Paul and his
colleagues. The resultwas the persecutionof the church at Thessalonica,
which had not yet subsided.
Jews (2453)(Ioudaios)is the the ethnic name of a person who belongedto the
Jewishnation
Hiebert - The fires of persecutionagainstthe church were ignited by the
unbelieving Jews in Judea; the story of Acts makes it clearthat the
unbelieving Jews ofthe dispersion keptthose fires burning in the Gentile
world. The remark of Tertullian fits the experience of the early churches:
"The synagoguesofthe Jews, founts of persecution." (Hiebert, D. Edmond: 1
& 2 Thessalonians:BMH Book. 1996)
Even as they did from the Jews (2453)(Ioudaios) - this refers of course to the
churches in Jerusalemand Judea which had suffered at the hands of the Jews
their own countrymen. Such persecutionfrom countrymen is reminiscent of
Jesus'prophetic words in Matthew…

"ForI came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER
AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER
MOTHER-IN-LAW 36 and A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THE
MEMBERSOF HIS HOUSEHOLD. 37 "He who loves father or mother more
than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me
is not worthy of Me. 38 "And he who does not take his cross and follow after
Me is not worthy of Me. 39 "He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who
has losthis life for My sake shallfind it. 40 "He who receives you receives Me,
and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. (Matthew 10:35-40)
Compare to Micah's charge againsthis fellow countrymen…
For sontreats father contemptuously, Daughterrises up againsther mother,
Daughter-in-law againsther mother-in-law; A man's enemies are the men of
his ownhousehold. (Comment: The sowing of dishonest commercialism, false
prophecy, and judicial bribery as alluded to elsewhere in Micahis shown here
to reap the demise of the basic unit of all societythe family. When family ties
no longer guarantee love, concern, and devotion, then a socialorder has been
so distorted by sin that it cannot survive. Woe to America circa the twenty-
first century when one's mate cannot be trusted, and one's most vicious
enemies become the members of his own house, as testifiedalmost daily on the
FOX News network!)
1Thessalonians2:15 who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and
drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, (NASB:
Lockman)
Greek:ton kai ton kurion apokteinanton(AAPMPG) Iesoun kaitous
prophetas, kai emas ekdioxanton(AAPMPG), kai theo me areskonton,
(PAPMPG)kai pasin anthropois enantion,
Amplified: Who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and harassed
and drove us out, and continue to make themselves hateful and offensive to
God and to show themselves foes of all men, (Amplified Bible - Lockman)

NLT: For some of the Jews had killed their own prophets, and some even
killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecutedus and driven us out. They
displease Godand oppose everyone. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: It was the Jews who killed their own prophets, the Jews who killed
the Lord Jesus, andthe Jews who drove out us, his messengers.Theirpresent
attitude is in opposition to both God and man. (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: those who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us
out, and are not pleasing God, and are hostile to all men,
Young's Literal: who did both put to death the Lord Jesus and their own
prophets, and did persecute us, and God they are not pleasing, and to all men
are contrary,
WHO BOTH KILLED THE LORD JESUS AND THE PROPHETS,AND
DROVE US OUT: ton kaiton kurion apokteinanton(AAPMPG) Iesoun kai
tous prophetas, kai emas ekdioxanton(AAPMPG):
Matthew 5:12; 21:35-39;23:31-35,37;27:25;Luke 11:48-51;13:33,34;Acts
2:23; 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 7:52
Amos 7:12; Acts 22:18-21
This is the only place in the Pauline writings where the Jews are statedto be
responsible for Messiah's deathand the intensity of this denunciation is
without parallel in his writings. Paul proceeds to make five charges against
the Jews in the next two verses.
There is
No Justification
For Anti-Semitism
Ever!
It must be categoricallystatedthat Paul is not advocating anti-Semitism for
there is no place in the Christian faith for this sinful attitude. Paul himself

loved his fellow unbelieving Jews and sought to help them (Acts 24:17;see
notes Romans 9:1; 9:2; 9:3; 9:4; 9:5).
Denney comments on Paul's denunciation writing…
What we have here is not a burst of temper, though there is undoubtedly
strong feeling in it; it is the vehement condemnation, by a man in thorough
sympathy with the mind and spirit of God, of the principles which the Jews as
a nation had acted at every period of their history.
Killed (615)(apokteino from apó = intensifies + kteíno = slay, related to
anthropoktónos = manslayer, murderer) means to kill outright, put to death.
The charge that the Jews killedtheir Messiahis alluded to in severalNT
passages(cf. John 11:45-53;18:28-31;also Acts 2:23, 36; 3:13-15;4:10; 7:52;
10:39;13:28) and is accurate to the extent that while the actualexecution was
carried out at the hands of Roman soldiers under the command of Pontius
Pilate, the later authority was coercedinto giving Jesus overto Crucifixion by
the Jewishleaders.
John records that…
For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking allthe more to kill Him,
because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His
own Father, making Himself equal with God. (John 5:18)
Peterechoes Paul's charge againstthe Jews declaring…
Men of Israel (who were Jews), listento these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a
man attestedto you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God
performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know--this
Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledgeofGod, you
(Jews)nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men (the Romans) and put
Him to death. And God raisedHim up again, putting an end to the agony of
death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. (Acts 2:22-24)
Lord (2962)(kurios) signifies sovereignpowerand absolute authority. It is the
one who has absolute ownership and uncontestedpower.

Vine expands on Paul's accusationofthe Jewishpart in Jesus'death writing
that "whenHis enemies thought to compass His death privately, His
popularity deterred them, Matthew 21:46, and, as a public trial and execution
according to their own laws were barred by the authority of the Romans,
John 18:31, they accusedHim before Pilate on a trumped-up political charge,
Luke 23:2, and so procured His death, the actual executioners being the
Roman soldiery, Matthew 27:27, 31. While this distinction is fully recognized,
Luke 24:20; Acts 13:27, 28, e.g., yet, on the principle everywhere
acknowledged, thatwhat a man obtains to be done by others he does himself
the words of Peter, Acts 3:14, 15, and of Stephen, Acts 7:52, and of Paul, here
are also true to fact. And, further, the persecutionof the Christians by the
Jews ofthe Dispersion, John7:35; see note 1 Peter1:1, shewedhow
thoroughly they were imbued by the same fanaticalspirit that animated those
who dwelt in Judaea. (Vine, W. Collectedwritings of W. E. Vine. Nashville:
Thomas Nelson)
Prophets (4396)(prophetes from próphemi = tell beforehand from pró =
before or forth + phemí = tell) generallyone who speaks forGod, proclaiming
what God wants to make known. In the OT of prophetic personalities, of John
the Baptist, of Jesus, ofbelievers endowedwith the gift. The prophet is one
who declares God's message publicly as a forth teller, as teacher, admonisher,
preacher. The prophet is a foretellerwith specialknowledge ofthe future. The
Christian prophet is one with a specialgift and calling to proclaim the divine
message, interpret the times, and urge people to believe in Christ for
salvation.
Regarding the prophets Pauldoes not mean that this is the wayall the Jews
treated all the prophets but that this was the generalattitude toward the
messengersofGod. Forexample…
they became disobedient and rebelled againstThee, and castThy law behind
their backs and killed Thy prophets who had admonished them so that they
might return to Thee, and they committed greatblasphemies. (Nehemiah
9:26)

for it came about, when Jezebeldestroyedthe prophets of the LORD, that
Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and
provided them with bread and water.) (1Kings 18:4)
And he (Elijah) said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of
hosts;for the sons of Israelhave forsakenThy covenant, torn down Thine
altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they
seek my life, to take it away." (1Kings 19:10)
Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariahthe son of Jehoiada the priest; and
he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus God has said, 'Why do you
transgress the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? Because you
have forsakenthe LORD, He has also forsakenyou.' "So they conspired
againsthim and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the
court of the house of the LORD. (2Chronicles 24:20-21)
(God speaking of the Jews)"In vain I have struck your sons. Theyaccepted
no chastening. Your swordhas devoured your prophets like a destroying
lion." (Jeremiah2:30)
(Jesus lamented) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones
those who are sentto her! How often I wantedto gatheryour children
together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were
unwilling. 38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!(Matthew
23:37-38)
Drove out (1559)(ekdiokofrom ek = out + dioko = to pursue, persecute)means
to chase out or drive out from a place. To banish. To persecute harshly. It
means to persecute severelyorharass. It means to use tactics that cause the
departure of someone from a place.
Paul declares that the Jews pursued Christians out of Judea, painting the
picture of them driving or banishing Christians systematicallyout of their
their province.
Ekdioko occurs 16 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (Deut 6:19; 1 Chr. 8:13;
12:15;Ps. 37:28; 44:16;69:4; 101:5;119:157;Jer. 49:19; 50:44;Da 4:25, 32f;
5:21; Joel2:20)

There is only one other NT use…
For this reasonalso the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and
apostles, andsome of them they will kill and some they will persecute… "
(Luke 11:49)
Paul is referring at leastin part to the events in Acts 17…
But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wickedmen from the
market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and coming upon
the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. 6 And
when they did not find them, they begandragging Jasonand some brethren
before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have upset the world
have come here also;7 and Jasonhas welcomedthem, and they all act
contrary to the decrees ofCaesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." 8
And they stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.
9 And when they had receiveda pledge from Jasonand the others, they
releasedthem. 10 And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas awayby
night to Berea;and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue ofthe
Jews. (Acts 17:5-10)
This actionby the Jews brings to mind Paul's later instruction to…
See that no one repays another with evil for evil but always seekafterthat
which is goodfor one another and for all men (see note 1Thessalonians5:15)
THEY ARE NOT PLEASING TO GOD, BUT HOSTILE TO ALL MEN: kai
theo me areskonton, (PAPMPG)kaipasin anthropois enantion:
Acts 12:3; 1Corinthians 10:5) (Esther3:8; Luke 11:52,53
Not pleasing to God - The logicalconclusionfrom what Paul has just stated
about the actions of the unbelieving Jews.
Hiebert - To persist in a course of conduct that canonly evoke divine
displeasure is a serious thing indeed. (Hiebert, D. Edmond: 1 & 2
Thessalonians:BMH Book. 1996)

Pleasing (700)(aresko)means to be satisfying or behaving properly toward
one with whom one is related. Aresko is found in ancientinscriptions praising
those who have served their fellow citizens and thus conveys the sense of
service and obedience. Note Paul's use of the present tense which describes
this trait as continuously present which marks the result of their continued
persecution
Aresko - 17xin 16vin NAS - Mt 14:6; Mk 6:22; Acts 6:5; Ro 8:8; 15:1, 2, 3;
1Co 7:32 33 34; 10:33;Gal 1:10; 1Th 2:4, 15; 4:1; 2Ti 2:4
The misguided, deluded Jews thought that by such hostile deeds they were
pleasing to God as explained by Jesus to His disciples that the Jews…
will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for
everyone who kills you to think (they regarded this as presumably true,
without particular certainty - it was their own subjective mental estimate, not
God's) that he is offering service to God. (John 16:2)
In Romans Paul added "I bear them (the Jews)witness that they have a zeal
for God, but not in accordancewithknowledge. (Ro 10:2-note)
Through His prophet JeremiahGod declared"Indeed the sons of Israeland
the sons of Judah have been doing only evil in My sight from their youth; for
the sons of Israelhave been only provoking Me to anger by the work of their
hands," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 32:30)
Paul spoke to the basic underlying principle of why any man would not be
pleasing to God writing that…
the mind seton the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to
the law of God, for it is not even able to do so and those who are in the flesh
cannot please (aresko)God. (see notes Ro 8:7; 8:8)
Comment: In other words because the Jews remain in Adam and not in
Christ, they lack the enabling powerof the Spirit to be pleasing to God.
TDNT notes that aresko"originallymeant to setup a positive relation, hence
to make peace, then aestheticallyto please, with such nuances as a. to be well
disposed, b. to take a pleasantattitude, and c. to please. (Kittel, G., Friedrich,

G., & Bromiley, G. W. TheologicalDictionaryof the New Testament.
Eerdmans)
Paul explains how we can please Godwriting "Finally then, brethren, we
request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you receivedfrom us
instruction as to how you ought to walk and please (aresko)God(just as you
actually do walk), that you may excelstill more. (1Thessalonians 4:1)
Hostile (1727)(enantiosfrom en = in + antíos = setagainst)(see note on
enantios)literally, of direction over againstor opposite and figuratively
antagonistic, contraryto, hostile toward, opposedas an adversary.
Enantios is used primarily of a place and pertains to being opposite (as in face
to face or fronting someone)or over againstin terms of direction, as in
describing the wind (enantios is used 3 times in the NT to describe winds as
contrary).
Metaphoricallyas used here in Thessalonians enantios means contrary,
adverse, hostile (marked by malevolence, openoppositionand resistance
To all men - God's chosenpeople who were set apart by God in order that
through them He might bless all men, so departed from their original purpose
that here Paul says they are hostile to all men! The next verse explains that the
basis for this charge is the factthat they hindered Paul from speaking to the
Gentiles that they might be saved.
Hiebert - The Romanhistorian Tacitus (Histories 5.5)chargedthe Jews with
"hostile odium" toward all men. In general, the Gentiles in that day regarded
Jews as an unsociable and unfriendly race. This misreading of their true
nature arose outof a misunderstanding of their religious exclusiveness,which
made them separate themselves from all other people. While beginning as a
nation divinely called to be a separate people, the Jews had become a sinfully
exclusive and bigoted nation. When God overruled their perverted
nationalism they reactedin bitter hostility. But Paul wellunderstood that
their hostility to non Jews was grounded"not in their natural make-up, but
their rejectionof the Gospel, and their determination to thwart its progress."'
And, it may be added, there is a permanent element in Paul's teaching here: to

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