6—17.
12. ''Ἐρωτῶμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοὶ,
ἃ εἰδέναι τοὺς
41
5 κοπιῶντας ἐν πι iv. 1, II
- .. n ‘ A ς« αν 2 ὑμῖν καὶ "προϊσταμένους ὑμῶν ἐν Κυρίῳ καὶ “νουθετοῦντας ὑμᾶς, 13. n Cf. Ps.
- a Β Ν 50 2 A καὶ " ἡγεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς ὑπερεκπερισσῶς ἐν ἀγάπη διὰ τὸ ἔργον αὐτών.
πὸ 3 , > ἐς α ειρηνευετε εν εαυτοις.
a a , , νουθετεῖτε τοὺς " ἀτάκτους, " παραμυθεῖσθε τοὺς * ὀλιγοψύχους, ἀντέ- ο χεσθε τών ἀσθενών, 7 μακροθυμεῖτε πρὸς πάντας. τις "κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ τινὶ ἀποδῷ - ἀλλὰ πάντοτε τὸ " ἀγαθὸν διώ-
Xvi. 18
14. “παρακαλοῦμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, Ign.
Smyrn. ix, Gal. iv. 11; 1Cor. Xv. 1Ο.
p Cf. on Rom.
15. ὁρᾶτε * μή
xii. 8.
κετε εἰς ἀλλήλους καὶ εἰς πάντας. 16. πάντοτε “χαίρετε, 17. ἀβδια- Seaver
t Phil. ii. 3; cf. Thuc. iv. 5, etc.
iv. 14. Ἶ u Cf, ii. 11.
(so Plato, Gorg. 465 c).
x Exod. vi.g; Isa. lvii. 15; Sir. vil. 10, and Ps. Sol. xvi. 11. ο a Prov. xx. 22 (Matt. v. 44); Rom. xii. 17. x ᾿ ς Paul’s practice, 2 Cor. vi. 10; cf. Phil. iv. 4; Rom. xii. 12, and Col.i. 11.
clause (Burton, M.T. 2009). and helpful.”
v Xen. Mem. III. i. 7.
31; 1 Cor. 5 Mk. ix. 50; 2 Cor. xiii. 11. t Ξ ἀλλήλοις. w ii. 11; Joh. xi. το. 31. y See on 1 Cor. xiii. 4. z Object. =“ What is kind
ἃ i. 3; cf. Ign. Eph. x.; Herm. Sim. ix. 11,7; Ep. Arist. 226 (τὸν Θεὸν ἐπικαλοῦ διαπαντός).
even while stirring them up to further efforts.
Vv. 12-22. General instructions for the church. Ver. 12. These προϊστάμενοι are not
officials but simply local Christians like Jason, Secundus, and perhaps Demas (in whose houses the Christians met), who, on account of their capacities or position, had informally taken the lead and made themselves responsible for the welfare and worship of the new society. The drganisation is quite primitive, and the triple description of these men's functions is too general to permit any precise de- lineation of their duties (cf. Lindsay’s The Church and the Ministry in the Early Centuries, pp. 122 f.). κοπιῶντας denotes the energy and practical interest of these people, which is further defined by wpot- 'σταμένους (a term with technical associa- tions, to which ἐν κυρίῳ is added in order to show that their authority rests on re- ligious services) and νουθετοῦντας ( = the moral discipline, perhaps of catechists, teachers and prophets). An instinct ot rebellion against authority is not confined to any one class, but artisans and trades- men are notorious for a tendency to suspect or depreciate any control exercised over them in politics or in religion, especially when it is exercised by some who have tisen from their own ranks. The com- munity at Thessalonica was largely re- cruited from this class, and Paul, with characteristic penetration, appeals for respect and generous appreciation towards the local leaders.
Ver. 13. ‘Regard them with a very special love for their works’ sake” (so thorough. and important it is). ‘Be at peace among yourselves” (instead of introducing divisions and disorder by any insubordination or carping).
Ver. 14. The particular form of in- subordination at Thessalonica was idle- ness (for the contemporary use of ἀτ. in this sense, see Oxyrh. Papyri, ii. 19ος, p- 275). Similarly, in Olynth. iii. 11, Demosthenes denounces all efforts made to shield from punishment τοὺς ἀτακ- τοῦντας, {.6., those citizens who shirk ac- tive service and evade the State’s call for troops.—éAryotxous = ‘ faint-hearted ” (under trial, i. 6, see references), ἀντέ- χεσθε (cleave to, put your arm round), ἀσθενῶν (i.¢., not in health only but in faith or position, Acts xx. 35), pax. π. πάντας = do not lose temper or patience with any (of the foregoing classes) however unreasonable and exact- ing they may be (cf. Prov. xviii. 14, LXX). The mutual services of the community are evidently not to be left to the προϊσ- τάμενοι, for Paul here urges on the rank and file the same kind of social duties as he implies were incumbent upon their leaders (cf. νουθετ. 12, 14). If ἀδελφοί here meant the προϊστάμενοι, it would have been more specificially defined. An antithesis between 12 and 14 would be credible in a speech, not in a letter.