Acts 17 commentary

ACTS 17 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
In Thessalonica
1 When Paul and his companions had passed
through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to
Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish
synagogue.
Hit and miss evangelism was not Paul痴 method. He had a plan. He always sought for a
synagogue, for a Jewish audience was the best foundation. He built on the past
providence of God who had programmed the world for the Gospel through Jewish
influence. The Jews did not obey God and go to the Gentiles with His love, but He used
them anyway, for they went for business and set up synagogues. God used even their
secular and worldly goals for his spiritual purpose. God can even use disobedience for
His ends, but there is no credit for those who disobey.
BAR ES, "Amphipolis - This was the capital of the eastern province of Macedonia.
It was originally a colony of the Athenians, but under the Romans it was made the
capital of that part of Macedonia. It was near to Thrace, and was situated not far from
the mouth of the river Strymon, which flowed around the city, and thus occasioned its
name, around the city. The distances laid down in the Itineraries in regard to these
places are as follows: Philippi to Amphipolis, 33 miles; Amphipolis to Apollonia, 30
miles; Apollonia to Thessalonica, 37 miles. “These distances are evidently such as might
have been traversed each in one day; and since nothing is said of any delay on the road,
but everything to imply that the journey was rapid, we conclude (unless, indeed, their
recent sufferings made rapid traveling impossible) that Paul and Silas rested one night at
each of the intermediate places, and thus our notice of their journey is divided into three
parts. The position of Amphipolis is one of the most important in Greece. It stands in a
pass which Traverses the mountains bordering the Strymonic Gulf, and it commands the
only easy communication from the coast of that gulf into the great Macedonian plains,
which extend, for 60 miles, from beyond Meleniko to Philippi. The ancient name of the
place was ‘Nine Ways,’ from the great number of Thracian and Macedonian roads which
met at this point. The Athenians saw the importance of the position, and established a
colony there, which they called Amphipolis, because the river surrounded it.
And Apollonia - This city was situated between Amphipolis and Thessalonica, and
was formerly much celebrated for its trade.
They came to Thessalonica - This was a seaport of the second part of Macedonia.

It is situated at the head of the Bay Thermaicus. It was made the capital of the second
division of Macedonia by Aemilius Paulus, when he divided the country into four
districts. It was formerly called Therma, but afterward received the name of
Thessalonica, either from Cassander, in honor of his wife Thessalonica, the daughter of
Philip, or in honor of a victory which Philip obtained over the armies of Thessaly. It was
inhabited by Greeks, Romans, and Jews. It is now called Saloniki, and, from its
situation, must always be a place of commercial importance. It is situated on the inner
bend of the Thermaic Gulf, halfway between the Adriatic and the Hellespont, on the sea
margin of a vast plain, watered by several rivers, and was evidently designed for a
commercial emporium. It has a population at present of 60,000 or 70,000, about half of
whom are Jews. They are said to have 36 synagogues, “none of them remarkable for
their neatness or elegance of style.” In this place a church was collected, to which Paul
afterward addressed the two epistles to the Thessalonians.
Where was a synagogue - Greek: where was the synagogue (ᅧ συναγωγᆱ hē
sunagōgē) of the Jews. It has been remarked by Grotius and Kuinoel that the article used
here is emphatic, and denotes that there was probably no synagogue at Amphipolis and
Apollonia. This was the reason why they passed through those places without making
any delay.
CLARKE, "Passed through Amphipolis - This city was the metropolis of the first
division of Macedonia, as made by Paulus Aemilius: see the note on Act_16:10. It was
builded by Cimon, the Athenian general, who sent 10,000 Athenians thither as a colony.
It stood in an island in the river Strymon, and had its name of Amphipolis because
included between the two grand branches of that river where they empty themselves into
the sea, the river being on both sides of the city.
Apollonia - This was another city of Macedonia, between Amphipolis and
Thessalonica. It does not appear that St. Paul stopped at any of these cities: and they are
only mentioned by the historian as places through which the apostles passed on their
way to Thessalonica. It is very likely that in these cities there were no Jews; and that
might have been the reason why the apostles did not preach the Gospel there, for we find
them almost constantly beginning with the Jews; and the Hellenist Jews, living among
the Gentiles, became the medium through which the Gospel of Christ was conveyed to
the heathen world.
Thessalonica - This was a celebrated city of Macedonia, situated on what was called
the Thermaic Gulf. According to Stephanus Byzantinus, it was embellished and enlarged
by Philip, king of Macedon, who called it Thessalonica, the victory of Thessalia, on
account of the victory he obtained there over the Thessalians; but, prior to this, it was
called Thermae. But Strabo, Tzetzes, and Zonaras, say that it was called Thessalonica,
from Thessalonica, wife of Cassander, and daughter of Philip. It is now in possession of
the Turks, and is called Salonichi, which is a mere corruption of the original name.
A synagogue of the Jews - ᅯ συναγωγη, The synagogue; for the article here must be
considered as emphatic, there probably being no other synagogue in any other city in
Macedonia. The Jews in different parts had other places of worship called proseuchas. as
we have seen, Act_16:13. At Thessalonica alone they appear to have had a synagogue.

GILL, "Now when they had passed through Amphipolls,.... A city of Macedonia,
where it is placed by Pliny (q); according to Ptolomy (r), it was in that part of Macedonia,
which is called Edonis, and was near Philippi, and lay in the way from thence to
Thessalonica; Harpocratian (s) says, it was a city of Thrace, formerly called "the Nine
Ways"; it was upon the borders of Thrace, and had its name Amphipolis from the river
Strymon running on both sides of it, making it a peninsula; it was also called Crademna,
and Anadraemum; it is now in the hands of the Turks, and by them called Empoli; this
city was originally built by Cimon the Athenian, into which he sent ten thousand
Athenians for a colony, as the writer of his life reports (t). The apostle only passed
through this place; it does not appear that he at all preached in it, or at any other time,
nor do we read of it in ecclesiastical history, nor of the following place:
and Apollonia; this is also placed by Pliny (u) in Macedonia, and is said by him to have
been formerly a colony of the Corinthians, and about seven miles from the sea; and by
Ptolomy (w), in that part of Macedonia called Mygdonia, and with him its name is
Apollonia of Mygdonia; it was situated by the river Echedorus, and was famous for
Augustus Caesar's learning Greek here, and is now called Ceres: there was another of
this name in the region of Pentapolis, and was one of the five (x) cities in it; and another
in Palestine mentioned by Pliny (y), along with Caesarea; and by Josephus (z), with
Joppa, Jamnia, Azotus, &c. but this was near Thessalonica; it is said to be about twenty
miles from it: here also the apostle did not stay to preach the Gospel, nor is there any
mention made of it elsewhere in the Acts of the Apostles, and yet Marcus, sister's son to
Barnabas, is said to be bishop of Apollonia; See Gill on Luk_10:1, but whether the same
place with this, or whether fact, is not certain;
they came to Thessalonica; a free city of Macedonia (a); it was formerly called Halis
(b), and sometimes Therme; it had its name of Thessalonica from the victory which
Philip king of Macedon obtained over the Thessalians; and not from his daughter
Thessalonica, the wife of Cassander, who also had her name from the same victory: in
this place a sedition being raised, and some magistrates killed, Theodosius the Roman
emperor suffered seven thousand men to be slain; and when he came to Milain, Ambrose
bishop of that place having heard of it, would not suffer him to enter into the church and
receive the Lord's supper, until he repented of his sin, and made public confession of it
(c). Thessalonica has been since the head of a new kingdom erected by Boniface marquis
of Montferrat; it was for some time in the hands of the Venetians, but was taken from
them by Amurath emperor of the Turks (d). The Italians call it now Saloniki; it has been
since inhabited by Christians, Turks, and Jews, and chiefly by the latter, their number,
according to their own account, is fourteen thousand, and their synagogues fourscore.
There always were many Jews in this place, and so there were when the apostle was here,
for it follows;
where was a synagogue of the Jews; it seems as if there was none, neither in
Philippi, nor in Amphipolis, nor in Apollonia: why these two last places should be passed
through by the apostle, without making any stay at them, cannot be said; it is very likely
he had, as in some other instances before, some particular directions from the Spirit of
God, there being none of the chosen vessels of salvation to be called there, at least, at
this time, when there were many at Thessalonica.
HE RY, "Paul's two epistles to the Thessalonians, the first two he wrote by
inspiration, give such a shining character of that church, that we cannot but be glad here

in the history to meet with an account of the first founding of the church there.
I. Here is Paul's coming to Thessalonica, which was the chief city of this country,
called at this day Salonech, in the Turkish dominions. Observe, 1. Paul went on with his
work, notwithstanding the ill usage he had met with at Philippi; he did not fail, nor was
discouraged. He takes notice of this in his first epistle to the church here (1Th_2:2):
After we were shamefully treated at Philippi, yet we were bold in our God to speak unto
you the gospel of God. The opposition and persecution that he met with made him the
more resolute. Note of these things moved him; he could never have held out, and held
on, as he did, if he had not been animated by a spirit of power from on high. 2. He did
but pass through Amphipolis and Apollonia, the former a city near Philippi, the latter
near Thessalonica; doubtless he was under divine direction, and was told by the Spirit
(who, as the wind, bloweth where he listeth) what places he should pass through, and
what he should rest in. Apollonia was a city of Illyricum, which, some think, illustrates
that of Paul, that he had preached the gospel from Jerusalem, and round about unto
Illyricum (Rom_15:19), that is, to the borders of Illyricum where he now was; and we
may suppose though he is said only to pass through these cities, yet that he staid so long
in them as to publish the gospel there, and to prepare the way for the entrance of other
ministers among them, whom he would afterwards send.
II. His preaching to the Jews first, in their synagogue at Thessalonica. He found a
synagogue of the Jews there (Act_17:1), which intimates that one reason why he passed
through those other cities mentioned, and did not continue long in them, was because
there were no synagogues in them. But, finding one in Thessalonica, by it he made his
entry. 1. It was always his manner to begin with the Jews, to make them the first offer of
the gospel, and not to turn to the Gentiles till they had refused it, that their mouths
might be stopped from clamouring against him because he preached to the Gentiles; for
if they received the gospel they would cheerfully embrace the new converts; if they
refused it, they might thank themselves if the apostles carried it to those that would bid
it welcome. That command of beginning at Jerusalem was justly construed as a
direction, wherever they came, to begin with the Jews. 2. He met them in their
synagogue on the sabbath day, in their place and at their time of meeting, and thus he
would pay respect to both. Sabbaths and solemn assemblies are always very precious to
those to whom Christ is precious, Psa_84:10. It is good being in the house of the Lord on
his day. This was Christ's manner, and Paul's manner, and has been the manner of all
the saints, the good old way which they have walked in.
JAMISO ,"Act_17:1-15. At Thessalonica the success of Paul’s preaching
endangering his life, he is dispatched by night to Berea, where his message meets with
enlightened acceptance - A hostile movement from Thessalonica occasions his sudden
departure from Berea - He arrives at Athens.
when they had passed through Amphipolis — thirty-three miles southwest of
Philippi, on the river Strymon, and at the head of the gulf of that name, on the northern
coast of the Aegean Sea.
and Apollonia — about thirty miles southwest of Amphipolis; but the exact site is
not known.
they came to Thessalonica — about thirty-seven miles due west from Apollonia, at
the head of the Thermaic (or Thessalonian) Gulf, at the northwestern extremity of the
Aegean Sea; the principal and most populous city in Macedonia. “We see at once how
appropriate a place it was for one of the starting-points of the Gospel in Europe, and can
appreciate the force of what Paul said to the Thessalonians within a few months of his
departure from them: “From you, the word of the Lord sounded forth like a trumpet, not

only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place,”” (1Th_1:8) [Howson].
where was a synagogue of the Jews — implying that (as at Philippi) there was
none at Amphipolis and Apollonia.
CALVI , "1.They came to Thessalonica. We know not why Paul attempted nothing
at Amphipolis and Appollonia, which were, notwithstanding, famous cities, as
appeareth by Pliny; save only because he followed the Spirit of God as his guide;
and took occasion by the present matter, as occasion he did also essay to do some
good there, but because it was without any good success, therefore Luke passeth
over it. And whereas being beaten at Philippos, [Philippi,] and scarce escaping out
of great danger, he preached Christ at Thessalonica, it appeareth thereby how
courageous he was to keep the course of his calling, and how bold he was ever now
and then to enter into new dangers. −
This so invincible fortitude of mind, and such patient enduring of the cross, do
sufficiently declare, that Paul labored not after the manner of men, but that he was
furnished with the heavenly power of the Spirit. And this was all so wonderful
patience in him, in that, entering in unto the Jews, whose unbridled frowardness he
had so often tried, [experienced,] he proceedeth to procure their salvation. But
because he knew that Christ was given to the Jews for salvation, and that he himself
was made an apostle upon this condition, that he should preach repentance and
faith, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, committing the success of his labor
to the Lord, he obeyeth his commandment, (though he had no great hope to do
good.) He seemed before to have taken his last farewell of the Jews, when he said, It
was behoveful that the kingdom of God should be first preached to you; but because
ye receive it not, behold we turn to the Gentiles; but that harder sentence must be
restrained to that company who had wickedly rejected the gospel when it was
offered unto them, and made themselves unworthy [of] the grace of God. And
toward the nation itself Paul ceaseth not to do his embassage; by which example we
are taught, that we ought to make so great account of the calling of God, that no
unthankfulness of men may be able to hinder us, but that we proceed to be careful
for their salvation, so long as the Lord appointeth us to be their ministers. And it is
to be though that even now there were some who on the first Sabbath refused sound
doctrine, but their frowardness − (241) did not hinder him, but that he came again
upon other Sabbaths. −
“ Pravitas,” depravity, perverseness.
BARCLAY 1-9, "The coming of Christianity to Thessalonica was an event of the first
importance. The great Roman road from the Adriatic Sea to the Middle East was called
the Egnatian Way; and the main street of Thessalonica was actually part of that road. If
Christianity was firmly founded in Thessalonica it could spread both east and west along
that road until it became a very highway of the progress of the kingdom of God.
The first verse of this chapter is an extraordinary example of economy of writing. It
sounds like a pleasant stroll; but in point of fact Philippi was 33 Roman miles from

Amphipolis; Amphipolis was 30 miles from Apollonia; and Apollonia was 37 miles from
Thessalonica. A journey of over 100 miles is dismissed in a sentence.
As usual Paul began his work in the synagogue. His great success was not so much
among the Jews as among the Gentiles attached to the synagogue. This infuriated the
Jews for they looked on these Gentiles as their natural preserves and here was Paul
stealing them before their very eyes. The Jews stooped to the lowest methods to hinder
Paul. First they stirred up the rabble. Then, when they had dragged Jason and his friends
before the magistrates, they charged the Christian missionaries with preaching political
insurrection. They knew their charge to be a lie and yet it is couched in very suggestive
terms. "Those," they said, "who are upsetting the civilized world have arrived here."
(King James Version: "these men who have turned the world upside down"). The Jews
had not the slightest doubt that Christianity was a supremely effective thing. T. R. Glover
quoted with delight the saying of the child who remarked that the New Testament ended
with Revolutions. When Christianity really goes into action it must cause a revolution
both in the life of the individual and in the life of society.
BE SO , ". ow when they, &c. — It appears by Luke’s phraseology here, that he
was left at Philippi; for here he ceases to speak of himself as one of Paul’s company,
saying, not when WE, but when they had passed, &c. or does he resume his former
manner of writing until Acts 20:5-6. It is therefore more than probable, that when
Paul, Silas, and Timothy departed from Philippi, after having gathered a church
there, Luke remained with the new converts until the apostle, in his way from
Corinth to Syria the second time, came to Philippi and took him with them. Had
passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia — The apostle having, as we have seen,
successfully planted the gospel in Philippi, departed with his assistants, Silas and
Timothy; and passing first through Amphipolis, a city built in an island formed by
two branches of the river Strymon, (from whence it had its name,) and a colony of
the Athenians, and then through Apollonia, a colony of the Corinthians and
Corcyreans, near the sea-side; they came to Thessalonica — ow the metropolis of
all the countries comprehended in the Roman province of Macedonia. For it was the
residence both of the proconsul and questor; so that, being the seat of government, it
was constantly filled with strangers, who attended the courts of judicature, or who
solicited offices. And as most of the Greeks about this time were extremely addicted
to philosophy, so great a city as Thessalonica could not be destitute of men of
learning, who were well qualified to judge of the gospel and its evidences. Moreover,
its situation, at the bottom of the Thermaic gulf, rendering it fit for commerce, many
of its inhabitants were merchants, who carried on an extensive trade with foreign
countries; and who, as the apostle observes, (1 Thessalonians 1:9,) published in
these distant countries the conversion of the Thessalonians, and the miracles by
which they had been converted. The Jews, likewise, resorted to this city in such
numbers as to form a numerous congregation, and had, as we here read, a
synagogue; whereas, it does not appear that they had one in any other city of
Macedonia. And, probably, the reason why the apostle made no stay at the two fore-
mentioned cities was, that there was no synagogue in either of them, and perhaps
even no Jews, whom he was wont first to address wherever he came. It appears,
therefore, from the above account of Thessalonica, that it was a very proper theatre

whereon to display the light of the gospel. Through the advantages of its situation
this city still subsists under the name of Salonichi, and is a place of great resort and
trade, but it is in the possession of the Turks.
COFFMA , "The continuation of the second missionary tour is the theme of Acts
17, in which Luke relates the success of Paul's mission in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9),
even greater success in Berea (Acts 17:10-15), Paul's arrival in Athens where he was
invited to speak in the Areopagus (Acts 17:16-22), and the account of Paul's address
on Mars' Hill (Acts 17:23-34).
ow when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to
Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. (Acts 17:1)
The passing by of certain towns to visit others gives a clue to the plan Paul was
following. It was that of "planting the gospel in strategic cities ... he did not aim to
preach wherever he could find an audience ... but had a program for establishing
churches in key centers."[1] Dummelow observed that:
His plan was first to evangelize the seats of government and the trade centers,
knowing that if Christianity was once established in these places it would spread
throughout the empire.[2]
When they had passed ... The use of the third person pronoun "they" in this verse is
significant. As Wesley said, "Luke seems to have been left at Philippi."[3]
Apparently Luke continued there, preaching throughout that area until Paul
returned (Acts 20:5,6), upon which occasion Luke again referred to himself as in
Paul's company, continuing to do so until the end of Acts.
It was also concluded by McGarvey that due to the grammatical antecedent of
"they" being "Paul and Silas," "it is implied that Timothy also remained with
Luke, to still further instruct and organize the church."[4]
THESSALO ICA
At least as far back as the fourth century B.C., there was a city called Therma
(named after hot springs in the area) "situated at the junction of the main land
route from Italy to the East with the main route from the Aegean to the Danube."[5]
Cassander, the son of Antipater who governed Macedonia while Alexander the
Great was campaigning in the East, was the man "who refounded and embellished
Therme, and called it after his wife Thessalonica, Alexander's sister."[6] This was in
315 B.C., eight years after Alexander died. It became the capital of Greek
Macedonia and, under the name of Salonika, has continued until today as "one of
the principal seaports of southeastern Europe, population 217,049 (1951
census)."[7]
Synagogue of the Jews ... As always, Paul first addressed the beloved chosen people,
turning away from them only when compelled to do so by their rejection. "To the
Jew first" (Romans 1:16) was a controlling principle with Paul.

[1] Everett F. Harrison, Wycliffe Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p.
445.
[2] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible ( ew York: The Macmillan
Company, 1937), p. 841.
[3] John Wesley, ew Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker
Book House), in loco.
[4] J. W. McGarvey, Commentary on Acts (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing
Company, 1892), 2p. 109.
[5] The ew Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans,
Publishers, 1962), p. 1272.
[6] E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the ew Testament (Old Tappan, ew Jersey: Fleming
H. Revell Company, 1965), p. 46.
[7] The Encyclopedia Britannica (Chicago: William Benton, Publisher, 1961), Vol.
19, p. 890.
COKE, "Acts 17:1. Amphipolis and Apollonia— Were two cities of Macedonia; the
first was built by Cimon the Athenian, who sent 10,000 Athenians as a colony
thither. It stood in an island of the river Strymon, and had the name of Amphipolis,
from the river's running on both sides of the city. The latter was a colony of
Corinthians and Corcyreans, near the sea-side. St. Luke seems to have gone no
further than Philippi with the apostle at this time; but Silas and Timothy still
accompanied him; and passing through these two cities, they came to Thessalonica,
another celebrated city, and the metropolis of that part of Macedonia; very famous
for its origin, situation, and amplitude: it was a maritime town remarkable for its
trade and commerce, in which many Jews had settled. It stood upon the Termaian
bay, and was anciently called Thermae; but being rebuilt and enlarged by Philip the
father of Alexander the Great, upon his victory over the Thessalians, it was in
memory of the fact called Thessalonica, which signifies, "The victory of Thessalia."
It is now, by a corrupt pronunciation, called Saloniki, and is a maritime trading
town inthe possession of the Turks. Where was a synagogue of the Jews, might
perhaps be rendered more properly, where was the synagogue of the Jews; the only
synagogue, possibly, which they had in Macedonia.
CO STABLE, "Paul, Silas, Timothy, and perhaps others left Philippi and headed
southwest on the Egnatian Road. Luke evidently stayed in Philippi since he again
described Paul's party as "they" instead of "we" (cf. Acts 20:5-6). Paul and Silas
probably stayed overnight in Amphipolis, which is 33 miles (a day's journey by
horse) along the Egnatian Way. It stood at the mouth of the Strymon River. The
next day they travelled another 27 miles farther west-southwest to Apollonia.
Another 35 mile day of travel farther west on the Via Egnatia took them to

Thessalonica (modern Salonika) on the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. The text
does not state that Paul's party stayed only overnight in Amphipolis and Apollonia,
but most interpreters have inferred this from the narrative. Luke recorded more
information concerning the apostles' ministry in Thessalonica, where they stayed for
some time. Thessalonica was the chief city and capital of Macedonia, about 100
miles from Philippi. As such it was a strategic center for the evangelization of its
region (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:7-8).
"Thessalonica was a 'free city,' which meant that it had an elected citizens'
assembly, it could mint its own coins, and it had no Roman garrison within its
walls." [ ote: Wiersbe, 1:470.]
ISBET, "Acts 17:2-3
This passage records part of St. Paul’s second missionary journey. Obedient to the
vision of the man of Macedonia, and responding to his call—‘Come over and help
us’—he has passed through Philippi and arrived at the city of Thessalonica.
According to his usual custom, he seeks out the members of his own nation in order
to convey to them first the message of the Gospel which he preached. There is a
synagogue in the city, and thither he betakes himself on three successive Sabbath
days.
I. The method of St. Paul is simple and appropriate.—He is addressing an assembly
of Jews. He takes their own sacred writings and he shows that from them the truths
which he desires to put forward can be learnt. They were expecting the coming of
the Messiah. He endeavours to put before them the true character of His coming.
From their own Scriptures he opens and alleges that the Christ must suffer and
must rise again. If they accept this truth he has yet another to impress upon them.
Jesus of azareth, Whom he preached to them, fulfilled all the conditions of
Messiahship. He was therefore the Christ. The distinguishing characteristics of St.
Paul’s method are, we thus observe, his use of the Scriptures as they were received
by the Jewish nation, and his deduction from them of the great fundamental truths
of Christianity. The example of St. Paul has been followed by the Christian Church
during past centuries in its use of the Old Testament. Christian teachers and
apologists have turned to it for prophecy and type of the fuller revelation of God
which was made in the Christ. More or less clearly in the events of the Old
Testament record they have seen the foreshadowing of the events of the life of
Christ. Some of the interpretations of the Christian fathers may have seemed
fanciful and mystical, yet there was never any serious question that from the
mention of the seed of the woman bruising the serpent’s head onward, there was a
continuous and designed reference to the life and work of Christ. More direct and
clear were the various meanings attached to the feasts and fasts, to the details of the
sacrificial rites, and to the observance of such ceremonies as those ordered for the
Day of Atonement. These were all regarded as having distinct reference to the
redemptive work of Christ.
II. We are sometimes told the sense of sin is lost.—We can confidently affirm that,
however much at times it may seem to lie dormant, it can never be lost. It is an

essential part of our consciousness as enlightened by the Spirit of God. It is equally
true that it leads men everywhere to seek, in the doing of something, to rid
themselves of the weight of guilt. Mankind is slow to learn the lesson that he has no
power of himself to remove either the punishment or power of sin. It is only in
Christ that the great truth is realised, that the way to life is only through the gate of
death—His death. This was the message for which mankind longed. This was the
Gospel, the good news which St. Paul preached. It had its effect upon the world,
because it answered the deepest needs of the human heart. The spread of
Christianity among Jews and Gentiles alike was the best testimony to the truth and
the power of the message. In bringing this message of a suffering Messiah to the
Jews he was able to appeal to their own Scriptures and to show them that the whole
system pointed to this fulfilment. The ew Testament transcends the Old, but the
value of the Old is that it is essentially true as leading men along the pathway God
had arranged for them to the full knowledge of Himself in Christ.
III. So we can realise the unique position of the Jewish religion, and the value of the
Old Testament as the record of God’s revelation of Himself to the chosen people;
and we can see at the same time that each step in that process of revelation was in
keeping with the human experience to which other and less noble religions bear
their witness. And as St. Paul turned to those Scriptures for the enlightenment of
those to whom he preached, so we can to-day, and increasingly in future ages the
Church will be able to turn to them as the revelation of God which prepared the
world for Christ, and instead of merely drawing help from the spiritual experiences
of the Psalmists, as many are content to do to-day, it will be seen that the whole
history has a special and peculiar spiritual value, of which we shall lose much if we
do not make use of the Old Testament as we ought.
Rev. George F. Irwin.
Illustration
‘It is a commonplace now that in the history of the world different nations stand for
different gifts and powers bestowed upon humanity. They have each been the
channel through which some special addition to the world’s advance has come, just
as in the future it will be seen that the nations of to-day, both of West and East, are
contributing their particular share to human progress. In this way we attribute to
Greece our art, to Rome our organisation, and to the Jews the best gift of all
(because it is the one which controls all the others and renders them serviceable to
men joined together in communities)—the gift of religion and morality. We do not
mean to say that other nations had no art, no organisation, and no religion, but that
these several nations possessed in a peculiarly high degree the genius for the purest
and the best in their respective domains, and the human race was gifted with the
capacity to recognise them as the highest. Who shall say, then, that both these
gifts—the power itself and the capacity of recognising it—are not from God
Himself?’
PAUL AT THESSALO ICA
Thessalonica was a grand sphere of apostolic enterprise, and St. Paul carried on his

labours for three successive Sabbaths.
I. The sermon.—St. Paul set Jesus the Messiah as the absolute need of the
congregation before him. The same vital truth must be declared, for the same
reason, to all congregations now, wherever assembled. All other preaching beside
Him is beside the theme. He is the very foundation of all preaching, and all other
preaching is only building castles in the air; He is the soul of preaching, and all
other preaching is like a body without a soul; He is the end of preaching, and all
other preaching is sure to miss the mark. St. Paul reasoned with his audience, and
asserted that Jesus must be the Messiah, and that, being the Messiah, He must
suffer and die and rise again. He, doubtless, based his leading arguments and
averments on the fact that all the Messianic prophecies had been fulfilled in and by
Jesus; His birthplace (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1); His descent from Jesse and the
royal line of David (Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 11:10; Luke 2:4); and His appearance,
character, and work (Isaiah 53; Matthew 26-28).
II. And its results.—Many received the Gospel—a goodly number of Jews, of
Greeks, and of Thessalonian females. What a harvest of precious souls to gather at
the close of the third Sabbath! Jews convinced in spite of their prejudices; Greeks
who, having renounced idolatry, were now Jewish proselytes; and not a few of the
chief women of the city—women of high rank and great influence. How came this to
pass? The almighty power of the Holy Spirit accompanied and crowned the teaching
and preaching of the ambassador of Christ Jesus. Hence the wonderful success on
this occasion. Such success may be obtained now, but it must be in the same way,
and through the same agency and blessing. But some rejected the Gospel. Because so
many converts had been made to the faith, certain Jews, who disbelieved the
Messiahship of Jesus, were filled with envy, and their envy took a desperate form.
They engaged some of those bands hanging about the forum or market-place—the
scum and refuse of the city—to insult and injure St. Paul and St. Silas. How true it
is that the same sun which softens some things hardens others! So the Gospel softens
some hearts and saves them, while it hardens others and leaves them tenfold more
the prey of Satan (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
Illustration
‘In the light of modern knowledge we see that we need have no hesitation in using
the religious experiences recorded in the Old Testament as unique in character and
of special value to us Christians. It is somewhat in this way that many scholars are
now asking us to look upon the observances of the Jews. The Epistle to the Hebrews
is an example of the interpretation of the Old Testament in the ew, and the latest
commentator (Dr. Du Bose) on it tells us “The ew Testament as absolutely
transcends the Old as it fulfils it; but, on the other hand, it is as actually the
culmination and completion of the Old Testament as it transcends it.” And again,
“The new Testament too far transcends the possible meaning of the Old to be ever a
mere interpretation of it. Even the writer of the Hebrews is not so much trying to
interpret to them their Scriptures as seeking to find in them, in their ideas and
hopes and figures, warrant and expression for the transcending fact and facts of

Christianity. In them the mind, the needs, the very language has been moulded and
prepared for the reception of a truth infinitely greater than they themselves could
have ever meant or expected.”’
ELLICOTT, "(1) ow when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia.—
The two cities were both on the great Roman roads known as the Via Egnatia.
Amphipolis, formerly known as Ennea Hodoi, or the ine Ways, was famous in the
Peloponnesian War as the scene of the death of Brasidas, and had been made, under
the Romans, the capital of Macedonia prima. It was thirty-three Roman miles from
Philippi and thirty from Apollonia, the latter being thirty-seven from Thessalonica.
The site of Apollonia is uncertain, but the name is, perhaps, traceable in the modern
village of Polina, between the Strymonic and Thermaic Gulfs. A more famous city of
the same name, also on the Via Egnatia, was situated near Dyrrhacium. It seems
clear that the names indicated the stages at which the travellers rested, and that
thirty miles a day a somewhat toilsome journey for those who had so recently been
scourged) was, as with most men of ordinary strength, their average rate of
travelling. It would seem that there was no Jewish population to present an opening
for the gospel at either of these cities, and that St. Paul, therefore, passed on to
Thessalonica.
Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews.—The city, which had previously
borne the names of Emathia, Halia, and Therma, had been enlarged by Philip of
Macedon, and named after his daughter. It was situated on the Thermaic Gulf, and
had grown into a commercial port of considerable importance. As such, it had
attracted Jews in large numbers. The MSS. differ as to the presence or absence of
the Greek article before “synagogue,” but, on the whole, it is probable that we
should read, “the synagogue,” that which served for the Jews of the neighbouring
cities, who were not numerous enough to have one of their own. The old name
survives in the modern Saloniki, and there is still a large Jewish population there.
HAWKER 1-9, "Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they
came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: (2) And Paul, as his manner
was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the
Scriptures, (3) Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen
again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. (4) And
some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a
great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. (5) But the Jews which believed not,
moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a
company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought
to bring them out to the people. (6) And when they found them not, they drew Jason and
certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world
upside down are come hither also; (7) Whom Jason hath received: and these all do
contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. (8) And
they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. (9) And
when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
It doth not appear that Paul, or any of his company, preached in the two first places
noticed in this Chapter. Neither have we any mention made of them anymore than here,
in all scripture. And what a striking consideration is it, that both those places are now,

and for many a generation have been, in the hands of the Turks! I leave the Reader to his
own reflections upon the subject.
Thessalonica was the chief city of Macedonia, larger than Philippi. The Jews, it should
seem, were very numerous here, and had a Synagogue. And the Apostle, with Silas, and
Timotheus, his companions, (see Act_17:15) during their abode among the
Thessalonians, attended the worship in the Synagogues, and most ably preached to them
Jesus. I say most ably, for we have full proof of it in both Epistles to the Thessalonians,
which Paul afterwards sent to the Church there. I need not make quotations from those
blessed writings, for it would swell my Poor Man’s Commentary to too large a size.
Neither is it necessary, as the Reader can refer to both Epistles in proof. Indeed he would
do well to read those Epistles, and this history together. But, of the Apostle’s success, the
first Chapter of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, fully proves. And of his labors
among them night and day, the second Chapter of the same Epistle very sweetly testifies.
But while we notice with delight and thankfulness the work of the Lord prospering under
the hand of his servants, in the call of the Redeemer’s people in Thessalonica, I pray the
Reader no less to notice with myself the rejection made by the unbelieving Jews. Yes!
The word of God so points out the solemn truth: and the earth in every age bears
testimony in confirmation. As Paul said, so daily experience, both then and now, proves.
We are, (said he,) where we make manifest the savor of his knowledge in every place, a
sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one, we are
the savor of death unto death: and to the other, the savor of life unto life. And who is
sufficient for these things? 2Co_2:14-16. Oh! the wonders of distinguishing grace!
MACLAREN, "THESSALONICA AND BEREA
‘Shamefully entreated at Philippi,’ Paul tells the Thessalonians, he ‘waxed bold in our
God to’ preach to them. His experience in the former city might well have daunted a
feebler faith, but opposition affected Paul as little as a passing hailstorm dints a rock. To
change the field was common sense; to abandon the work would have been sin. But
Paul’s brave persistence was not due to his own courage; he drew it from God. Because
he lived in communion with Him, his courage ‘waxed’ as dangers gathered. He knew that
he was doing a daring thing, but he knew who was his helper. So he went steadily on,
whatever might front him. His temper of mind and the source of it are wonderfully
revealed in his simple words.
The transference to Thessalonica illustrates another principle of his action; namely, his
preference of great centres of population as fields of work. He passes through two less
important places to establish himself in the great city. It is wise to fly at the head.
Conquer the cities, and the villages will fall of themselves. That was the policy which
carried Christianity through the empire like a prairie fire. Would that later missions had
adhered to it!
The methods adopted in Thessalonica were the usual ones. Luke bids us notice that Paul
took the same course of action in each place: namely, to go to the synagogue first, when
there was one, and there to prove that Jesus was the Christ. The three Macedonian
towns already mentioned seem not to have had synagogues. Probably there were
comparatively few Jews in them, and these were ecclesiastically dependent on
Thessalonica. We can fancy the growing excitement in the synagogue, as for three
successive Sabbaths the stranger urged his proofs of the two all-important but most
unwelcome assertions, that their own scriptures foretold a suffering Messiah,-a side of

Messianic prophecy which was ignored or passionately denied-and that Jesus was that
Messiah. Many a vehement protest would be shrieked out, with flashing eyes and
abundant gesticulation, as he ‘opened’ the sense of Scripture, and ‘quoted passages’-for
that is the meaning here of the word rendered ‘alleging.’ He gives us a glimpse of the hot
discussions when he says that he preached ‘in much conflict’ (1Th_2:2).
With whatever differences in manner of presentation, the true message of the Christian
teacher is still the message that woke such opposition in the synagogue of Thessalonica,-
the bold proclamation of the personal Christ, His death and resurrection. And with
whatever differences, the instrument of conviction is still the Scriptures, ‘the sword of
the Spirit, which is the Word of God.’ The more closely we keep ourselves to that
message and that weapon the better.
The effects of the faithful preaching of the gospel are as uniform as the method. It does
one of two things to its hearers-either it melts their hearts and leads them to faith, or it
stirs them to more violent enmity. It is either a stone of stumbling or a sure corner-
stone. We either build on or fall over it, and at last are crushed by it. The converts
included Jews and proselytes in larger numbers, as may be gathered from the distinction
drawn by ‘some’-referring to the former, and ‘a great multitude’-referring to the latter.
Besides these there were a good many ladies of rank and refinement, as was also the case
presently at Beroea. Probably these, too, were proselytes.
The prominence of women among the converts, as soon as the gospel is brought into
Europe, is interesting and prophetic. The fact of the social position of these ladies may
suggest that the upper classes were freer from superstition than the lower, and may
point a not favourable contrast with present social conditions, which do not result in a
similar accession of women of ‘honourable estate’ to the Church.
Opposition follows as uniform a course as the preaching. The broad outlines are the
same in each case, while the local colouring varies. If we compare Paul’s narrative in I
Thessalonians, which throbs with emotion, and, as it were, pants with the stress of the
conflict, with Luke’s calm account here, we see not only how Paul felt, but why the Jews
got up a riot. Luke says that they ‘became jealous.’ Paul expands that into ‘they are
contrary to all men; forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved.’ Then
it was not so much dislike to the preaching of Jesus as Messiah as it was rage that their
Jewish prerogative was infringed, and the children’s bread offered to the dogs, that
stung them to violent opposition. Israel had been chosen, that it might be God’s witness,
and diffuse the treasure it possessed through all the world. It had become, not the
dispenser, but the would-be monopolist, of its gift. Have there been no Christian
communities in later days animated by the same spirit?
There were plenty of loafers in the market-place ready for any mischief, and by no means
particular about the pretext for a riot. Anything that would give an opportunity for
hurting somebody, and for loot, would attract them as corruption does flesh-flies. So the
Jewish ringleaders easily got a crowd together. To tell their real reasons would scarcely
have done, but to say that there was a house to be attacked, and some foreigners to be
dragged out, was enough for the present. Jason’s house was probably Paul’s temporary
home, where, as he tells us in 1Th_2:9, he had worked at his trade, that he might not be
burdensome to any. Possibly he and Silas had been warned of the approach of the rioters
and had got away elsewhere. At all events, the nest was empty, but the crowd must have
its victims, and so, failing Paul, they laid hold of Jason. His offence was a very shadowy
one. But since his day there have been many martyrs, whose only crime was ‘harbouring’
Christians, or heretics, or recusant priests, or Covenanters. If a bull cannot gore a man, it

will toss his cloak.
The charge against Jason is that he receives the Apostle and his party, and constructively
favours their designs. The charge against them is that they are revolutionists, rebels
against the Emperor, and partisans of a rival. Now we may note three things about the
charge. First, it comes with a very distinct taint of insincerity from Jews, who were, to
say the least, not remarkable for loyalty or peaceful obedience. The Gracchi are
complaining of sedition! A Jew zealous for Caeesar is an anomaly, which might excite the
suspicions of the least suspicious ruler. The charge of breaking the peace comes with
remarkable appropriateness from the leaders of a riot. They were the troublers of the
city, not Paul, peacefully preaching in the synagogue. The wolf scolds the lamb for
fouling the river.
Again, the charges are a violent distortion of the truth. Possibly the Jewish ringleaders
believed what they said, but more probably they consciously twisted Paul’s teachings,
because they knew that no other charges would excite so much hostility or be so
damning as those which they made. The mere suggestion of treason was often fatal. The
wild exaggeration that the Christians had ‘turned the whole civilised world upside down’
betrays passionate hatred and alarm, if it was genuine, or crafty determination to rouse
the mob, if it was consciously trumped up. But whether the charges were believed or not
by those who made them, here were Jews disclaiming their nation’s dearest hope, and,
like the yelling crowd at the Crucifixion, declaring they had no king but Caesar. The
degradation of Israel was completed by these fanatical upholders of its prerogatives.
But, again, the charges were true in a far other sense than their bringers meant. For
Christianity is revolutionary, and its very aim is to turn the world upside down, since the
wrong side is uppermost at present, and Jesus, not Caesar, or any king or emperor or
czar, is the true Lord and ruler of men. But the revolution which He makes is the
revolution of individuals, turning them from darkness to light; for He moulds single
souls first and society afterwards. Violence is always a mistake, and the only way to
change evil customs is to change men’s natures, and then the customs drop away of
themselves. The true rule begins with the sway of hearts; then wills are submissive, and
conduct is the expression of inward delight in a law which is sweet because the lawgiver
is dear.
Missing Paul, the mob fell on Jason and the brethren. They were ‘bound over to keep the
peace.’ Evidently the rulers had little fear of these alleged desperate revolutionaries, and
did as little as they dared, without incurring the reproach of being tepid in their loyalty.
Probably the removal of Paul and his travelling companions from the neighbourhood
was included in the terms to which Jason had to submit. Their hurried departure does
not seem to have been caused by a renewal of disturbances. At all events, their Beroean
experience repeated that of Philippi and of Thessalonica, with one great and welcome
difference. The Beroean Jews did exactly what their compatriots elsewhere would not
do-they looked into the subject with their own eyes, and tested Paul’s assertions by
Scripture. ‘Therefore,’ says Luke, with grand confidence in the impregnable foundations
of the faith, ‘many of them believed.’ True nobility of soul consists in willingness to
receive the Word, combined with diligent testing of it. Christ asks for no blind adhesion.
The true Christian teacher wishes for no renunciation, on the part of his hearers, of their
own judgments. ‘Open your mouth and shut your eyes, and swallow what I give you,’ is
not the language of Christianity, though it has sometimes been the demand of its
professed missionaries, and not the teacher only, but the taught also, have been but too
ready to exercise blind credulity instead of intelligent examination and clear-eyed faith.
If professing Christians to-day were better acquainted with the Scriptures, and more in

the habit of bringing every new doctrine to them as its touchstone, there would be less
currency of errors and firmer grip of truth.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "And when they had passed through Amphipolis and
Apollonia.
From Amphipolis to Thessalonica
The beautiful town of Amphipolis lies to the south of a splendid lake under sheltering
hills, three miles from the sea, and thirty three from Philippi, and on the edge of a plain
of boundless fertility. The strength of its natural position, nearly encircled by a great
bend of a river, the mines which were near it, and the neighbouring forests, made it
position of high importance. If St. Paul had ever read Herodotus, he may have thought
with horror of the sacrifice of Xerxes—the burial alive at this place of nine youths and
nine maidens; and if he had read Thucydides, he would have gazed with peculiar interest
on the sepulchral mound of Brasidas, and the hollowing of the stones in the wayworn
city street, which showed the feet of men and horses under the gate, and warned Kleon
that a sally was intended. If he could read Livy, he would recall the fact that in this town
Paulus AEmilius—one of the family from which his own may have derived its name—had
here proclaimed that Macedonia should be free. But all this was little or nothing to the
Jewish missionaries. At Amphipolis there was no synagogue, and therefore no means of
addressing Jews or Gentiles. They therefore proceeded the next day thirty miles further,
through scenery of surpassing loveliness, along the Strymonic Gulf, through the wooded
pass of Aulon, when St. Paul may have looked at the tomb of Euripides, and along the
shores of Lake Bolbe to Apollonia. From thence they proceeded forty miles further to the
far-famed Thessalonica, the capital of all Macedonia, whose position on the Egnatian
road, commanding the entrance to two great inland districts, and at the head of the
Thermaic Gulf, made it an important seat of commerce. Since the days when Cassander
had refounded it, and changed its name from Therma to Thessalonica, in honour of his
wife, the sister of Alexander, it had always been a flourishing city, with many historic
associations. Here Cicero had spent his days of melancholy exile. Here a triumphal arch,
still standing, commemorates the victory of Octavianus and Antony at Philippi. From
hence, as with the blast of a trumpet, not only in St. Paul’s day (1Th_1:8), but for
centuries afterwards, the Word of God sounded forth among the neighbouring tribes.
Here Theodosius was guilty of that cruel massacre for which Ambrose, with heroic
faithfulness, kept him for eight months from the cathedral of Milan. Here its good and
learned Bishop Eustathius wrote those scolia on Homer which place him in the front
rank of ancient commentators. It received the title of “the orthodox city,” because it was
for centuries a bulwark of Christendom; but it was taken by Amurath II in 1430. Saloniki
is still a great commercial port of seventy thousand inhabitants, of whom nearly one-
third are Jews. At this city, blighted now by the curse of Islam, but still beautiful on the
slopes of its vine-clad hills, with Pelia and Olympus full in view, the missionaries rested;
for here was the one Jewish synagogue which sufficed for the entire district.
(Archdeacon Farrar.)
Paul’s preaching at Thessalonica
His preaching—
I. Was evangelic.

1. His grand theme was Christ.
(1) He showed the necessity of His suffering and His resurrection. He exhibited
the Cross of Christ in all its high aspects.
(2) He showed that He was Messiah. “Is Christ.”
2. His grand authority was the Scriptures. He did not attempt to derive his
arguments and illustrations from general literature or philosophy. He would,
perhaps, quote the old prophecies (Gen_49:10; Isa_40:1-10; Isa_53:1-12; Dan_9:24-
27; Mic_5:6, etc.), and show that in the life of Jesus those wonderful prophecies
were fulfilled. Reasoning with the Jews, his authority was Scripture, and with the
Gentiles, Nature, as at Athens.
3. His grand method was reasoning. He “reasoned with them.” “Opening” means to
explain, to unfold. “Alleging” means laying down the proposition. He laid down his
propositions, and he argued their truth from the Scriptures. This is model preaching.
Let ministers give to men now the Christ of the Scriptures, not the Christ of their
theology.
II. Won converts (verse 4). The “devout Greeks” were those who had become proselytes
to the Jewish religion, “proselytes of the gate.” The “chief women” were members of
families of high rank. The converts were—
1. Numerous. “A great multitude.”
2. Influential. “Chief women.” Some of the leading women of the city.
3. Thoroughly united. They “consorted with Paul and Silas.” Common beliefs awaken
common sympathies. Christ gathers men of different types of character and grades of
life together.
III. Awoke opposition (verse 5). In this we see—
1. The force of envy, This malignant passion of evil natures had been excited in the
Jews by the moral conquest which the apostles had won in their synagogue. This
passion has always been the inspiration of all persecutions. It shows itself now in a
thousand forms.
2. The servility of mobs. These Jews took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser
sort, unprincipled idlers that are found lounging about places of public resort, the
lazy rabble that fill workhouses with paupers and jails with prisoners, who are always
ready instruments to the hands of evil men in power. The demagogue can cajole
them, and the rich can purchase their services with cash.
3. The revolutionising power of the gospel (verse 6). These men spoke a truth,
though unintentionally. The gospel does turn the world upside down, for the moral
world is in the wrong position.
4. The falsehood of wickedness (verse 4). The charge they brought against them was
that of sedition and rebellion against the Roman emperor, high treason against the
crown. These men covered their envy under the garb of patriotism. (D. Thomas, D.
D.)
Paul in Thessalonica
I. The manner of a primitive preacher (verse 2). What was the matter? On Sabbath days

he entered the synagogue. In his last letter to these Thessalonians, he reminds them that
he did not make himself chargeable to them (2Th_2:9). So on weekdays he was earning
his living—improving, no doubt, every opportunity for conversation with such as came
in his way; but the Sabbath brought him leisure, and gave him an audience. How did he
use these Sabbath opportunities? He “reasoned” with the people. The Christian’s faith
should not be blind. It has its true home in both the intellect and the heart. The Church
of today, and of all days, needs the help of thinking men, ready to give to every man that
asketh a reason for the hope that is in them. Whence did Paul draw his arguments? “Out
of the Scriptures”; because most of those he addressed were either Jews or proselytes,
and accepted the Old Testament. It does not follow that in every case we should start just
where he did. At Lystra and Athens he came in contact with heathen, who neither knew
nor cared for the Jewish Scriptures. With them Paul himself began with the book of
nature. Thus we learn how necessary it is to find some common ground on which we and
those we would convince can stand together.
II. A good sign of true faith in a Christian convert (verse 4). Nothing could be more
natural nor wise. Loving the same objects, cherishing the same hopes, why should they
not delight in each other’s company? Those who are of one heart and aim need no
precept to bring them together. Each is to the other as a magnet and a support. A
common religious faith may be expected to lift above minor differences, and draw men
into a common fold. In many things the educated and unlearned, the rich and poor,
greatly differ in their tastes. But when Christ enters the heart, you see them forgetting
differences and becoming a single spiritual family. Michael Faraday came to be
honoured as “a prince in the aristocracy of intellect.” And yet he never lost his interest in
a little group of obscure Christians. These believers at Thessalonica consorted with Paul
and Silas also for spiritual support and safety. For both these reasons we expect to see
modern converts seeking membership in the Church. This is a good sign, and a good
rule.
III. The too common spirit and arts of opposers of the gospel. The Jews saw that Paul’s
teaching and influence were undermining theirs. Whether the teaching was true and the
influence good they did not consider. Very few keep in mind how malignant envy can be.
It was for envy that the Jews delivered Jesus to be crucified, and that Joseph was sold
into bondage. Then note the arts of these opposers of the apostle. They took to
themselves “vile fellows of the rabble”—loungers, boys and men without occupation or
sense of responsibility—and set them on. There are always ready tools of unscrupulous
leaders. Just here is the greatest peril which now menaces society. Against them all good
citizens should provide a safeguard, by pushing forward Christian work. In self-defence,
if for no higher reason, we need to carry it to the homes and haunts and hearts of the
lowest and worst.
IV. A marked effect always to be expected from successful gospel work (verse 6). The
words were meant in a bad sense. But unwittingly they tittered a great truth; paid the
very highest possible compliment to the gospel. The faithful utterance of the gospel does
produce strife, and our Saviour predicted that it would; for the simple reason that men
are neither willing to submit to its claims nor to suffer others to do it. The gospel was
meant to turn the world upside down; for in the world there is much that needs to be
overturned. It is to the praise of the gospel that it tends to effect this. Before it vice slinks
away; virtue lifts up its head; joy supplants sorrow; society is purer and safer; heaven
begins here and now. Old things pass away; more and more all things become new.
(Sermons by the Monday Club.)

Paul at Thessalonica
1. Luke was evidently left at Philippi, where he might have a good deal of doctor’s
work to do. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus moved on. We wonder whether Paul
will fight any more, or whether he will spend the remainder of his days in pious
reflections; for a period is occupied in passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia,
where nothing was attempted. The fight seems to be over, and the smitten warriors
are going home to anoint their wounds and wash their stripes in secret. But they
came to Thessalonica, and, in the synagogue, Paul saw a battlefield, and instantly he
stripped to the fight! We see now what he was looking for at the other places, and
why he did not pause there.
2. “And Paul, as his manner was, went in.” Paul was not an occasional attendant.
Jesus Christ did not go now and then to the synagogue. It was a dull time to the early
Christian when the Church was closed. Paul is here, as everywhere, the very model of
a true Christian preacher. “He reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” He did not
talk something which he had invented; he had a Book, an authority, and he believed
that every word he said was written for him by the pen and ink of Heaven. Once let
that thought go, and preaching becomes vain. A sermon is great only as it begins,
continues, and ends in the Scriptures. Then he crowns his ministry by enforcing a
distinct personal appeal. “This Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.” This was a
sword with a point, a sermon with an accent. The preacher must have an object in
view. Whatever Paul did was contributory to this great end. The difficulty with the
Christian preacher is that nobody wants to hear his doctrine, but his particular way
of putting it. I sat with reverence before the foremost judge of his day. His voice was
feeble and indistinct; at times I had great difficulty in hearing him; but, oh, the
anxiety not to miss one word! It was dry, it was argumentative, there was not a single
flower of speech in the whole. Every one was there to hear what the judge would say,
not how he said it. When a mumbling speaker reads a will, does anyone say anything
about his manner? Each wants to know what he in particular is to get. Oh, could I
persuade my hearers that I am reading the will of God, and that men were wise, that
they understood these things!
3. Note the opposition which Christianity awakens. You may form a tolerable
judgment as to the merits of a controversy by observing the way in which it is
conducted. However quiet the town when the apostles entered it, they left it in a
serious uproar. They came not to send peace on the earth, but a sword. Look at the
opposition. It was—
(1) Little-minded. Where is the noble challenge to discuss a great question upon
equal terms? How is Paul moved? By love. How is the opposition moved? By
envy.
(2) Unscrupulous. Any stick will do to beat a dog with. The Jews, who would not
have spoken to those “lewd fellows,” made use of them to put down this religion
of the Cross. If they had not been “lewd fellows,” etc., they would have seen that
they were being made use of. How Envy can stoop to take up polluted weapons,
and search in the mud for stones to throw at Goodness! There is nothing too
despicable for it to use to express itself in denunciation and contempt and
penalty.
(3) Lawless. Never mind the dignity of the city, or the politarchs who reign over
it magistrates cannot stand against an uprising city; they will either dismiss the

case, or take bail, or do something to get out of it. So the opposition prosecutes
its mission to the end. This is true of all opposition to the Christian cause. There
may be an honest opposition to some special ways of representing it; but to its
purity, its self-sacrifice, its nobleness, its purpose, there can be no honest
opposition. Yet how the Lord makes the wrath of man to praise Him! What said
the enemy? “These that have turned the world upside down.” There! that is a
tribute to their power. Even the Jews did not dare to call it “a flash in the pan,” “a
nine days’ wonder.” They saw in it a world-exciting force, and we who are
Christians become fearful just in proportion as we lose our conception of the
grandeur of the cause which we have to handle. Then they become themselves
again, “saying that there is another king.” That is a lie! The apostles never said so,
in the sense now put upon that word by their accusers, You can use the right
words with a wrong meaning. We must not only speak the words of the gospel,
we must speak them in gospel tones. Then the accusers proceeded to say, “one
Jesus.” There they were right. The apostles, then, had left no false or vague
impression. Amid all the tumult, and uproar, and opposition, they had got this
word well into the public memory—“Jesus.”
4. Is this the end? It is hardly the beginning. The very first letter that Paul wrote was
1 Thessalonians What does he say to them? “For our gospel came not unto you in
word only,” etc. Paul spent at least three weeks in Thessalonica; how did he live
during that time? He had no money; how did he live? How we ought to live—by
working! How are you to live—by writing begging letters? This is how Paul lived
(1Th_2:9). These were not the men to be put down: they did not live on patronage.
We now live on “subscribers,” and therefore we do not live at all, and we breed a
small race of men. Paul, Silvanus, Timotheus, fell to working, not eight hours a days
and eight shillings for pay, but, according to the time bill, “night and day.” “Two
hours longer, Silvanus,” said Paul, “and this tent will be done. If we sit up till three
o’clock tomorrow morning, we shall just get bread enough to keep us going until the
synagogue is open again.” These were not the men to be put down!
5. When they said good-bye to Thessalonica, was it a final adieu? Read 1Th_2:17.
They wanted to go back to the old battlefield. When anything occurs nowadays, we
become suddenly “not very well, and must go down to the seaside over Sunday.” We
think it better to be out of the way. How did Paul view the people whom he had won
there? Said he, “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye,”
etc. These are the relations which Christianity would establish amongst us if we
would allow it. Christianity would make a compact society of us—not living under
formal rules, but under gracious inspiration. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Thessalonians
are types of those—
I. Who reject truths because they are novel and unpalatable. The propositions that Paul
laid down (verse 2) were novel and unpalatable, and therefore the Jews rejected them.
How many today consider it a sufficient reason for rejecting a doctrine (whether of
religion, politics, science, etc.) because they have never heard of it before! How many
reject truths because they do not like to believe them! But we cannot by unbelief make a
truth vanish, any more than we can put out the sun by winking.
II. Who endeavour to silence opponents by force. The Jews could not confute Paul by

argument, and therefore they stirred up a riot against him. This is still a popular
method, though the force employed may be the more refined method of ostracism. A
brickbat is not the only method that will break a head.
III. Who stoop to base alliances to ensure their triumph. The Jews did not storm Jason’s
house, but “market loungers,” whom they would not, on ordinary occasions, have
touched with a stick, were enlisted. Not the only occasion on which professed defenders
of religion have condescended to use dirty tools.
IV. Who endeavour to overthrow opponents by misrepresentation (verses 6, 7). How
clever was this misrepresentation, because there was so much truth in it.
V. Who pursue a controversy with embittered malignity. (R. A. Bertram.)
The Thessalonians and the Beroeans
I. Reasoning from the Scriptures. From the change in the personal pronouns, and from
1Th_3:6, it is evident that Luke and Timothy remained at Philippi to comfort and
strengthen the new converts in the faith. Let us look at—
1. Paul’s journey (verse 1). Their road lay through a region rich in historic
associations. The birthplace of Aristotle and the tomb of Euripides were close to
their route. At one point, Xerxes had offered to the river Strymon a sacrifice of white
horses, and had buried alive nine youths and maidens. At another they had in view
the peaks of Ossa and Pelion, often pointed to with trembling superstition as the
home of the gods. But the Christian heroism of Paul has done more to make the land
live in the memory than all of its connection with famous classical names.
2. Paul’s custom (verse 2). At Thessalonica he acted as though at Philippi he had
received no treatment except that which was kind and encouraging. Paul counted his
converts more than he did his stripes. All the effect was to make him “wax bold” in
his God. “This one thing I do,” was Paul’s motto.
3. Paul’s reasoning (verse 3). After the crucifixion, the Saviour showed from the
Scriptures that His sufferings and death were just what had been foretold. How did
Paul show that it behoved Christ to suffer? Some of the passages must have been
Psa_22:1-31; Psa_69:1-36 and Isa_53:1-12. Possibly he may have used the argument
to be found in Heb_8:1-13; Heb_9:1-28; Heb_10:1-39. To a candid mind, the
argument is convincing.
4. Paul’s success.
(1) With the Jews. Some became convinced that their conception of the Messiah
has been wrong. They gave up their notion of a splendid temporal king to accept
the lowly one of Nazareth and of Calvary. When anyone becomes a follower of the
Saviour, he immediately begins to “consort” with those who are of the same faith.
He will be found with them in all Christian efforts.
(2) With the Greeks. Those who had become worshippers of the true God were
far more ready than the Jews. They did not have to give up the wrong conception
of centuries.
II. Rejecting the Scriptures.
1. The assault (verse 5).

(1) The cause. The Jews were jealous when they saw women of rank joining the
new way. They saw their own influence being undermined.
(2) The attack. Envy is a base passion, and does not hesitate to use base means.
It was the same sort of crowd that now in a city can easily be gathered to smash
in the windows of a mission church and maltreat its minister.
(3) The arrest (verse 6). If they could not have the principals, they would have
their abettors.
(4) The complaint. What a testimony they incidentally bore to the work of Paul
and Silas! The world had been wrong side up since sin had entered the garden of
Eden, and now they were engaged in turning it once more right side up.
(5) The result (verse 9). Shadowy as was the support for the complaint, the
accusers succeeded in troubling the multitude and the rulers. But, as at Philippi,
the action came too late to be of any avail. The Church already was planted, and
the Epistles to the Thessalonians show how deeply it had taken root.
III. Searching the Scriptures. At first it seems hard that the missionaries so soon should
have been driven away. But that was God’s way for the wider and more expeditious
spreading of the gospel.
1. Preaching the Word (verse 10). Scourged in Philippi, and nearly mobbed in
Thessalonica, but just as ready to preach the Word in Beroea.
2. Searching the Word (verse 11). At Beroea the missionaries had a glimpse of
sunshine. Here they found the Jews ready to receive the truth, but not without
investigation. They took hold of the matter with zeal and thoroughness. The result
was that many of them believed, not only Jews, but Greeks of rank and position.
3. Persecuted for the Word (verse 13). We see in this illustrations of—
(1) The intensity of the hatred of those who oppose the gospel.
(2) The way in which God continually is using His enemies. They thought that
they were stamping out the gospel, whereas they only were spreading it. (M. C.
Hazard.)
A tale of two cities
Thessalonica was a large and powerful town; Beroea was a little village. The inhabitants
of the one place were wealthy and educated; of the other, comparatively illiterate and
poor. But the contrast is altogether to the advantage of the latter.
I. The city that was upset. Philip of Macedon won a magnificent victory in Thessaly on
the day he heard of the birth of his daughter, and instantly sent word that the child was
to be called “Thessalonica.” By and by she was married to Cassandra, who rebuilt the old
town Therma, and then named it after his bride.
1. (verse 1). A new opportunity creates a fresh duty. Right through Amphipolis and
Apollonia went these preachers, and not a sermon did they try to preach. Why?
Because there was no synagogue; the synagogue of that region was at Thessalonica.
When Paul reached so influential a centre, he seemed again to rouse himself to
combat like an old soldier.
2. (verse 2). Every man can do good best after his own “manner.” What a fine thing it

is to have a habit of teaching Christ so as to have a “manner.” How foolish it is to
reproduce the method of others.
3. (verse 3). “Christ and His Cross is all our theme.” Paul invariably showed that the
Messiah must be born at a particular time, of the line of Judah, at a place predicted
beforehand; that He must die and be buried, and must rise again from the dead.
Then he set out to prove that Jesus had met all these requirements, and therefore
must necessarily be the true Hope of the nation, and the only-begotten Son of God.
This was his “manner” (2Co_2:1-5).
4. (verse 4). Success in preaching must be estimated not by applause, but by
conversions. On that day was founded the Church to which afterwards the two
Epistles to the Thessalonians were written. Meantime Paul supported himself by
working at his trade of tent making, preaching days, toiling nights (1Th_2:9).
5. (verse 5). The wrath of man is often forced to praise God. Opposition intensified
the friendship of adherents. It was easy to get up the nosiest crowd; but they only
advertised them and strengthened their friends.
6. (verse 6). A wicked man’s lie frequently contains the Christian man’s motto. When
infidels exclaimed, “Yours is only a book religion,” the brave Chillingworth answered,
“The Bible is the religion of Protestants—the Bible only!” Thessalonica was upset
from turret to foundation stone that day.
II. The city that was set up. Notice—
1. (verse 10). The indefatigable zeal of the early Christians.
2. (verse 11). The promising character of the fresh friends Paul and Silas made.
(1) These people listened to the Word attentively.
(2) They studied the Word assiduously.
(3) They accepted the Word intelligently.
(4) They believed the Word implicitly.
3. (verse 12). The excellent results of persistent study of the Scriptures. The word
“therefore” is intensive; they were ennobled by their conversion, and they were
converted because they studied and believed (Joh_5:39).
4. (verse 13). Satan betrays the secret of his special hate. His friends journeyed all
this tiresome distance merely because they knew the Word of God was going to be
preached by those indefatigable apostles. The devil hates nothing so much in this
world as the pure word of Divine truth in the Bible. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
2 As was his custom, Paul went into the
synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he
reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

It was his custom to visit the local synagogue for that is where the Word of God was
honored. He kept coming back so he could develop a relationship and try to
persuade the Jews to listen to the Gospel. They had a common authority in the
Scripture and so that was the basis for his reasoning with them. He proved from the
Bible that Jesus fulfilled the promises of a Messiah, and those who were converted
became the beginning of the church. The church grew out of the synagogue. His
method is that of reasoning from the Scripture. Paul and Jesus had a habit and that
was to reason with people from the Word of God. This is the essence of biblical
preaching. It is the effort to reach the minds of men with the mind of God. It is a
bridge of God’s thoughts to the thoughts of men.
BAR ES, "His manner was - His custom was to attend on the worship of the
synagogue, and to preach the gospel to his countrymen first, Act_9:20; Act_13:5, Act_
13:14.
Reasoned with them - Discoursed to them, or attempted to prove that Jesus was
the Messiah. The word used here (διελέγετο dielegeto) often means no more than “to
make a public address or discourse.” See the notes on Act_24:25.
Out of the scriptures - By many critics this is connected with the following verse,
“Opening and alleging from the scriptures that Christ must needs have suffered, etc.”
The sense is not varied materially by the change.
CLARKE, "As his manner was - He constantly offered salvation first to the Jews;
and for this purpose attended their Sabbath-days’ meetings at their synagogues.
GILL, "And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them,.... To the Jews in their
synagogue; for though the Jews had put away the Gospel from them, and the apostle had
turned to the Gentiles; yet he still retained a great affection for his countrymen the Jews,
and as often as he had opportunity, attended their synagogues, in order to preach the
Gospel to them;
and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures: that is, out
of the Old Testament, concerning the Messiah, the characters of him, the work that he
was to do, and how he was to suffer and die for the sins of men; and this he did three
weeks running, going to their synagogue every sabbath day, when and where the Jews
met for worship; and made use of books, which they allowed of, and of arguments they
could not disprove.
HE RY, "He reasoned with them out of the scriptures. They agreed with him to
receive the scriptures of the Old Testament: so far they were of a mind. But they received
the scripture, and therefore thought they had reason to reject Christ; Paul received the
scripture, and therefore saw great reason to embrace Christ. It was therefore requisite, in
order to their conviction, that he should, by reasoning with them, the Spirit setting with

him, convince them that his inferences from the scripture were right and theirs were
wrong. Note, The preaching of the gospel should be both scriptural preaching and
rational; such Paul's was, for he reasoned out of the scriptures: we must take the
scriptures for our foundation, our oracle, and touchstone, and then reason out of them
and upon them, and against those who, though they pretend zeal for the scriptures, as
the Jews did, yet wrest them to their own destruction. Reason must not be set up in
competition with the scripture, but it must be made use of in explaining and applying
the scripture. 4. He continued to do this three sabbath days successively. If he could not
convince them the first sabbath, he would try the second and the third; for precept must
be upon precept, and line upon line. God waits for sinners' conversion, and so must his
ministers; all the labourers come not into the vineyard at the first hour, nor at the first
call, nor are wrought upon so suddenly as the jailer.
JAMISO ,"Paul, as his manner was — always to begin with the Jews.
went in unto them — In writing to the converts but a few months after this, he
reminds them of the courage and superiority to indignity, for the Gospel’s sake, which
this required after the shameful treatment he had so lately experienced at Philippi (1Th_
2:2).
SBC, "Consorting with Paul and Silas.
I. Here is the chief object of Christian faith—the Lord Jesus carrying on in His very name
the assurance of the things that are necessary for our life and salvation.
II. The means used to produce faith or persuasion are now almost the same as those
employed at first—at least in Thessalonica and many other places. To preach Christ is to
reason out of the Scriptures, to lay out the matter as it seems to ourselves, to press it
home upon all whom it concerns; to remonstrate, expostulate, entreat and then to leave
the issue with God.
III. The passage shows us along what line the reasoning usually went. It went towards
proving out of the Scriptures that Jesus is Christ. We do not now need to pursue
formally the same line of argument, unless as against Jews, who hold to their own
Scriptures and reject our Christian conclusion. Substantially, however, our course is the
same; our reasonings, our openings of Scripture, our allegations all tend Christwards.
IV. The faith is the same now as then: faith in Christ—in Christ the sufferer, the death-
destroyer, the life-giver, the Redeemer of all trusting men.
V. The outward result of this faith or persuasion is, to some extent, the same as at first,
and ought to be much more so than it is. They consorted with Paul and Silas. (1) It must
always be good to consort with good men. (2) It must always be good to be associated as
closely as possible with a good cause. (3) It must be good to escape from an equivocal
position. (4) It must be good to remove farther from danger. (5) It must be good to obey
Divine commandment.
A. Raleigh, The Way to the City, p. 284.
CALVI , "2.He disputed. Luke setteth down first what was the sum of the
disputation; to wit, that Jesus, the son of Mary, is Christ, who was promised in times
past in the law and the prophets, who, by the sacrifice of his death, did make
satisfaction for the sins of the world, and brought righteousness and life by his

resurrection; secondly, how he proved that which he taught. Let us handle this
second member first. Luke saith that he disputed out of the Scriptures; therefore the
proofs of faith must be fet from [sought at] the mouth of God alone. If we dispute
about matters which concern men, then let human reasons take place; but in the
doctrine of faith, the authority of God alone must reign, and upon it must we
depend. −
All men confess that this is true, that we must stay ourselves upon God alone; yet
there be but a few which hear him speak in the Scriptures. But and if that maxim
take place among us, − (242) that the Scripture cometh of God, the rule either of
teaching or of learning ought to be taken nowhere else. Whereby it doth also appear
with what devilish fury the Papists are driven, when they deny that there can any
certainty be gathered out of the Scriptures; and, therefore, they hold that we must
stand to the decrees of men. For I demand of them whether Paul did observe a right
order in disputing or no? at least, let them blush for shame, that the Word of the
Lord was more reverenced in an unbelieving nation than it is at this day among
them. The Jews admit Paul, and suffer him when he disputeth out of the Scriptures;
the Pope and all his count it a mere mock when the Scripture is cited; as if God did
speak doubtfully there, and did with vain boughts − (243) mock men. Hereunto is
added, that there is at this day much more light in the Scriptures, and the truth of
God shineth there more clearly than in the law and the prophets. For in the gospel,
Christ, who is the Son of righteousness, doth shed out his beam with perfect
brightness upon us; for which cause the blasphemy of the Papists is the more
intolerable, whilst that they will make the Word of God as yet uncertain. But let us
know, as faith can be grounded nowhere else than in the Word of the Lord, so we
must only stand to the testimony thereof in all controversies. −
“ Valet inter nos,” is held good among us.
“ Ambagibus,” ambiguities.
BE SO , "Acts 17:2-3. And Paul, as his manner was — Of doing all things, as far
as might be, in a regular way; went in unto them — Entered their assembly; and
three sabbath days reasoned with them — If any reader wishes to know more
particularly the manner of the apostle’s reasoning with the Jews, and the proofs
which he brought from their own Scriptures, in support of the facts which he
affirmed, he will find an excellent example thereof in the sermon which Paul
preached in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia, chap. Acts 13:16-41; where see the
notes. Opening and alleging — διανοιγων και παρατιθεµενος, explaining and
evidently showing, that is, showing by clear and incontestable arguments: for the
word signifies placing a thing before the eyes of spectators; that Christ must needs
have suffered — That is, that it was necessary, according to the whole tenor of the
prophecies, that the Messiah should suffer, and that no one could be the Messiah
who did not suffer; and have risen again from the dead — The Scriptures having
also clearly predicted that event; and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is
Christ — Having exactly fulfilled all these predictions of the Scriptures concerning
the Messiah, and answered all the characters drawn in them of him.

COFFMA , "Three sabbath days ... does not indicate the length of Paul's stay in
Thessalonica, but the period of preaching primarily to Jews in the synagogue. "This
was followed by an indefinite period of preaching in the house of Jason, his host."[8]
Acts 17:2 must be understood to mean that he worked for three weeks among the
Jews, and afterward turned to the Gentiles, among whom he labored for three or
four months.[9]
Where a knowledge of the Scriptures permitted it, Paul always founded his
preaching upon the prophetic utterances of the Old Testament, as he did here.
[8] E. H. Trenchard, A ew Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 321.
[9] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 841.
COKE, "Acts 17:2. Three sabbath days reasoned with them, &c.— It has been
hence concluded, that St. Paul continued but threeweeks at Thessalonica: but as it
evidently appears, that while he was in this city he not only wrought with his own
hands to procure subsistence, (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 2. Thess. Acts
3:8.) but also received supplies more than once from Philippi, (comp. Philippians
4:16.) it seems much more probable, that after the Jews appeared so obstinate in
their infidelity, as most of them did, he desisted from disputing or teaching in their
synagogue after the third sabbath; and then preached for some time among the
Gentiles, before the assault mentioned, Acts 17:5 which drove him from this city. It
appears that, during his stay here, great numbers of Gentile idolaters received the
gospel with remarkable zeal and affection: 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 so that in the
midst of their persecutions a church was founded which became famous in all
Macedonia and Achaia; (1 Thessalonians 1:5-8.) and though the apostle after having
treated the new converts with extraordinary tenderness during his abode with them,
was quickly forced to leave them, (1 Thessalonians 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 2:20.) and
they about the same time lost some Christian brethren by death, who were dear to
them, and might have been remarkably useful; (1 Thessalonians 4:13; 1
Thessalonians 4:18.) yet they continued to behave so well, that St. Paul received a
comfortable accountof them by Timothy, and they afterwards advanced in faith,
love, and courage, amid their growing trials. See 2 Thessalonians 1.
CO STABLE, "Paul evidently reasoned in the synagogue only three Sabbath days
(cf. Acts 13:5; Acts 13:14; Acts 14:1), but he seems to have stayed longer in
Thessalonica (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:5). We know Paul
supported himself there by making tents (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-
10), and the Philippians sent two monetary gifts to him there (Philippians 4:15-16).
Perhaps he ministered primarily to Jews the first three weeks and then turned to the
Gentiles.
Luke described Paul's method of evangelizing in Thessalonica as reasoning (Gr.
dielexato, cf. Acts 17:17; Acts 18:4; Acts 18:19; Acts 19:8-9; Acts 24:25) from the

Scriptures, explaining (dianoigon), giving evidence (proving, paratithemenos), and
proclaiming (katangello). These terms imply that Paul dealt carefully with his
hearers' questions and doubts. He showed that the facts of gospel history confirmed
what the Scriptures predicted. His subject was Jesus whom Paul believed was the
Christ. His Jewish hearers needed convincing that their Scriptures taught that
Messiah would suffer death and rise from the grave (cf. Acts 3:18; Acts 13:30; Acts
13:34; Luke 24:13-27; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Paul used the Old Testament to prove
that Jesus was the Messiah (Christ).
"Interpretation of the Scriptures plays a key role in Paul's message (Acts 17:2; Acts
17:11)." [ ote: Tannehill, 2:206.]
ELLICOTT, "(2) Paul, as his manner was . . .—What we read of as occurring in the
Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:14-15), was, we may believe, now reproduced. That he was
allowed to preach for three Sabbaths in succession, shows the respect commanded
by his character as a Rabbi, and, it may be, by his earnest eloquence. Though he
came with the marks of the scourge upon him, he was as fearless as ever, speaking
the gospel of God “with much contention,” “not in word only, but also in power, and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). And with this
boldness there was also a winning gentleness, “even as a nurse cherisheth her
children” (1 Thessalonians 2:7). And not a few Gentiles “turned from idols to serve
the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to
suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am
proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.
BAR ES, "Opening - διανοίγων dianoigōn. See Luk_24:32. The word means to
explain or to unfold. It is usually applied to what is shut, as the eye, etc. Then it means to
explain what is concealed or obscure. It means here that he explained the Scriptures in
their true sense.
And alleging - παρατιθέµενος paratithemenos. Laying down the proposition; that is,
maintaining that it must be so.
That Christ must needs have suffered - That there was a fitness and necessity in
his dying, as Jesus of Nazareth had done. The sense of this will be better seen by
retaining the word “Messiah.” “That there was a fitness or necessity that the Messiah
expected by the Jews, and predicted in their Scriptures, should suffer.” This point the
Jews were unwilling to admit; but it was essential to his argument in proving that Jesus

was the Messiah to show that it was foretold that he should die for the sins of people. On
the necessity of this, see the notes on Luk_24:26-27.
Have suffered - That he should die.
And that this Jesus - And that this Jesus of Nazareth, who has thus suffered and
risen, whom, said he, I preach to you, is the Messiah.
The arguments by which Paul probably proved that Jesus was the Messiah were:
(1) That he corresponded with the prophecies respecting him in the following
particulars:
(a) He was born at Bethlehem, Mic_5:2.
(b) He was of the tribe of Judah, Gen_49:10.
(c) He was descended from Jesse, and of the royal line of David, Isa_11:1, Isa_
11:10.
(d) He came at the time predicted, Dan_9:24-27.
(e) His appearance, character, work, etc., corresponded with the predictions,
Isa_53:1-12.
(2) His miracles proved that he was the Messiah, for he professed to be, and God
would not work a miracle to confirm the claims of an impostor.
(3) For the same reason, his resurrection from the dead proved that he was the
Messiah.
CLARKE, "Opening and alleging - Παρατιθεµνος, Proving by citations. His
method seems to have been this:
1st. He collected the scriptures that spoke of the Messiah.
2d. He applied these to Jesus Christ, showing that in him all these scriptures were
fulfilled, and that he was the Savior of whom they were in expectation. He showed
also that the Christ, or Messiah, must needs suffer - that this was predicted, and
was an essential mark of the true Messiah. By proving this point, he corrected their
false notion of a triumphant Messiah, and thus removed the scandal of the cross.
GILL, "Opening,.... That is, the Scriptures of the Old Testament, explaining and
expounding them, giving the true sense of them; so this word is frequently used in
Jewish writings (e), as that such a Rabbi ‫,פתח‬ "opened", such a Scripture:
and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the
dead; he set this matter in a clear light, and made it plain and manifest, from the
writings of the Old Testament, that there was a necessity of the Messiah's suffering and
rising from the dead; or otherwise these Scriptures would not have been fulfilled, which
have said that so it must be; for these things were not only necessary on account of God's
decrees, and the covenant transactions the Son of God entered into, and on the account
of the salvation of his people; but because of the types, promises, and prophecies of the
Old Testament: the Scriptures which the apostle opened and set before them, and
reasoned upon, showing the necessity of these things, very likely were such as these,
Gen_3:15 Isa_53:1 with many others:

and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ; he showed that all the
things which were spoken of Christ, or the Messiah, in those Scriptures, were fulfilled in
Jesus of Nazareth, who was the subject matter, the sum and substance of his ministry;
and therefore he must be the Messiah, and the only Saviour and Redeemer of lost
sinners.
HE RY, "The drift and scope of his preaching and arguing was to prove that Jesus is
the Christ; this was that which he opened and alleged, Act_17:3. He first explained his
thesis, and opened the terms, and then alleged it, and laid it down, as that which he
would abide by, and which he summoned them in God's name to subscribe to. Paul had
an admirable method of discourse; and showed he was himself both well apprized of the
doctrine he preached and thoroughly understood it, and that he was fully assured of the
truth of it, and therefore he opened it like one that believed it. He showed them, (1.) That
it was necessary the Messiah should suffer, and die, and rise again, that the Old
Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah made it necessary he should. The great
objection which the Jews made against Jesus being the Messiah was his ignominious
death and sufferings. The cross of Christ was to the Jews a stumbling-block, because it
did by no means agree with the idea they had framed of the Messiah; but Paul here
alleges and makes it out undeniably, not only that it was possible he might be the
Messiah, though he suffered, but that, being the Messiah, it was necessary he should
suffer. He could not be made perfect but by sufferings; for, if he had not died, he could
not have risen again from the dead. This was what Christ himself insisted upon (Luk_
24:26): Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And
again (v. 46): Thus it is written, and therefore thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to
rise from the dead. He must needs have suffered for us, because he could not otherwise
purchase redemption for us; and he must needs have risen again because he could not
otherwise apply the redemption to us. (2.) That Jesus is the Messiah: “This Jesus whom
I preach unto you, and call upon you to believe in, is Christ, is the Christ, is the anointed
of the Lord, is he that should come, and you are to look for no other; for God has both by
his word and by his works (the two ways of his speaking to the children of men), by the
scriptures and by miracles, and the gift of the Spirit to make both effectual, borne
witness to him.” Note, [1.] Gospel ministers should preach Jesus; he must be their
principal subject; their business is to bring people acquainted with him. [2.] That which
we are to preach concerning Jesus is that he is Christ; and therefore we may hope to be
saved by him and are bound to be ruled by him.
CALVI , "3.Opening. In this place he describeth the sum and subject of the
disputation, and he putteth down two members concerning Christ, that he must
have died and risen again, and that the son of Mary which was crucified is Christ.
When the question is concerning Christ, there come three things in question,
Whether he be, who he is, and what he is. If Paul had had to deal with the Gentiles,
he must have fet his beginning farther; − (244) because they had heard nothing
concerning Christ; neither do profane men conceive that they need a Mediator. But
this point was out of doubt among the Jews, to whom the Mediator was promised;
wherefore Paul omitteth that as superfluous, which was received by common
consent of all men. But because there was nothing more hard than to bring the Jews
to confess that Jesus who was crucified was the Redeemer, therefore Paul beginneth
with this, that it was meet that Christ should die, that he may remove the stumbling-

Acts 17 commentary

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (14)

Similar to Acts 17 commentary

Similar to Acts 17 commentary (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Acts 17 commentary