ii. Circumstances. — St. Paul and his com- panion.s, full of hope owing to the Divine call which had led them to preach in Europe, and encouraged by the spiritual success which, in spite of the insults to their Roman citizenship (2-), tiiey had gained at Philippi, reached Thessalonica. This was a larger and more important centre than Philippi. It was the capital of one of the four divisions of Macedonia ; it was a great commercial centre {? cf. 4'" iv rif irpdy^ian, im Handel [Luther], in Gcsrhaftcn [Weizsiicker]), holding easy com- munication with East and West both by sea and by land (cf . 1* 4'") ; it was a free town with its public assembly and its local magistrates (Ac 17° eh Tim Srj/ioi' ; v.' ^ni Toils iroXiTapxas, cf. CJO 1907), and a mixed population of native Greeks, Roman colonists, and Orientals, the Jewish settlement being large enough to have a synagogue. St. Paul began as usual with the synagogue, preach- ing there for three weeks, appealing to the Jewish Scriptures, proving that Jesus was the Messiah, and that His sud'erings and Resurrection were in accord with the Scriptures. The result was that some Jews threw in their lot with Paul and Silas, and so did a larger number of Greek proselytes and of leading ladies. The Acts thus bears wit- ness to the fact that a majority of the Church were of Gentile origin, but speaks only of Gentile proselytes, whereas the Epistle imjilies converts from heathenism ( r-* 2"). The Epistle, though it implies that St. Paul's stay was prematurely cut short, vet seems to require more than tliree weeks, and I'll 4" shows that St. Paul twice received supplies from Philipjii during the time, even though he wa-s supporting himself by his own work (2"). It is therefore probable that the three weeks of Ac 17'' were confined to exclusive work in the synagogue ; that after that St. Paul, as at Corinth and Eijhesus, made some new place, per- haps the house of Jason (Ac 17'), his abode and place of teaching for Gentiles; and the chrono- logical data would admit of a stay of six months (Ramsay, iit. Paul the Traveller, p. 228). It was a time of hard work : St. I'aul and his companions rose early, working before daylight to support themselves ('2", U 3") ; they preaelied with ell'ective- ness and conviction (1°) ; they laid stress on the worthle.ssness of idols, on the reality of the living God (1") ; they told of the wrath that was coming on the world, when God would punish the heallien world for its inipuritj- (1'" 4") and the Jews who refused to accept the gospel (2'", II I«) ; of the death of .Jesus, of His Resurrection, of His power to deliver from this wrath (!'" 4''' S"- '"). They added tliat God had now established His kingdom and called heathen into it (2'^) ; that such a call required a holy life, a separation from impurity (4-), an active life of work (4", II 3'°) ; that Christianity would lay them open to persecution (3*) ; but that after certain signs had appeared (II 2') Jesus would return sudilenly, like a thief in the night {o'), and they would be with Uim for ever. Their preaching met with greul
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L THESSALONIANS
L THESSALONIANS
Buccess (P 2'') in spite of much conflict (2-); the gifts of the Spirit, especially that of pro- phecy, were manifested (5"- -") ; the Divine word made tlie converts strong to bear persecution (213-15) There is no indication of the size of the Church ; but some of the chief men, perhaps Jason (Ac 17°), Aristarchus, and Secundus (Ac 20'), took the lead in active work and preaching (S'^""), and probably St. Paul, as elsewhere, officially appointed them to this position ; ap- parently, also, some form of almsgiving was organized (II 3").
These results roused the jealousy of the Jews. They misrepresented the teaching of Christ's king- dom as treason to the emperor : working on the heathen populace, they attempted to bring St. Paul before a hastily called meeting of the assembly; but, failing to find him, they took Jason, his host, and other Christians before the native magistrates (of. viri) tQv ISiav avtJi(pv\eTui', 2'*). These were bound over to keep the peace, i.e. probably to send Paul and SUas away ; and the same night they withdrew to Bercea. Probably, even while there, they planned a return to Thessalonica, but were unable to carry it out (2" ajraf : there would scarcely be time for two such proposals at Athens). From Bercea St. Paul passed on to Athens, leaving SUas and Timothy there, but sending back word that they should join hinj as quickly as possible (Ac 17'''). The writer of the Acts gives the impression that they did not do so untU after he had reached Corinth (18') ; but this impression must be supplemented from this Epistle. They came at once to him while at Athens, perhaps bringing news of some fresh persecutions at Thessalonica (3' ravrais and *). Paul, Silas, and Timothy were anxious to return ; the tie between them and their converts had been very close ; their stay had been interrupted before their work was done ; they had only meant to be absent a short time ; their converts were young, and might be tempted by persecution or cajolery (3-) to renounce their faith (2" 3°) ; their opponents, whether Jews or, more probably, heathen, knew well how to misrepresent their motives; their very taunts (TrXoKj), aica.6ap<xla, 56\os, icoXo/ceio, TrXfOvctia, fTTToCi'Tfs Si^cLv, perhaps ^x ^dpei tfrct) are echoed in this letter (2'-»). But there were obstacles ; perhaps the guarantee which Jason had given to the magis- trates was still enforced (Ramsay, I.e.). So Paul and SUas (iiriij.\paiiev, 3^) decided to send Timothy to Thessalonica, and SUas probably returned to visit some other Church in Slacedonia. Possibly St. Paul in his growing an.\iety sent yet another messenger (/cd7u . . . (we,a};,a, 3^).' While they were absent, St. Paul moved on to Corinth, and Silas and Timothy both rejoined him there.