1:6a
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord: Like 1:5, this sentence connects to 1:4. Paul and his companions knew that God had chosen the Thessalonians not only because the gospel had come to them with power (1:5) but also because they had accepted it. Also, they became imitators of Paul and the Lord. They imitated the way that they had seen Paul behave. They also acted in the way that he had taught them that Jesus had acted. This can also be expressed:
You took us and the Lord as your model (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
you followed our example and the example of the Lord (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
You were like us and the Lord in the way you behaved. (UBS Handbook, page 10)
1:6b
when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit: Normally people are sad when they suffer. However, the Holy Spirit enabled the Thessalonians to be joyful even while they suffered. See Galatians 5:22; Romans 5:3, 5:5.
The commentators do not agree how the phrase you welcomed the message relates to the phrase in 1:6a “you became imitators of us and of the Lord.” There are two possibilities:
(1) The connection is one of manner, that is, the Thessalonians imitated Paul and Jesus. Although people were persecuting them, they joyfully accepted the message.
(New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
(2) The connection is a time connection, that is, the Thessalonians began to imitate Paul and Jesus when/after they had joyfully accepted the message. Therefore, the Thessalonians imitated the whole way that Paul and Jesus behaved, not just the way that they suffered.
(Berean Standard Bible, NET Bible)
Most English versions are ambiguous (see the New American Standard Bible). It is recommended that you follow the first option (1), as it has the best commentary support. The Thessalonians joyfully believed the gospel and they continued to be joyful even while they suffered. This is how they became like Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ.
the message: Paul used the Greek noun logos here, which means “message” or “word.” He was specifically referring to the message about Jesus that he had preached to them (1:5a). This word could be translated here as “gospel” (as in 1:5a) or “the message about Jesus.” The important thing is to make clear that Paul was referring to the same message here and in 1:5a.
1:6c
in spite of your great suffering: People were persecuting the believers severely because they believed in Christ and in what he had taught. However, although this happened, other Thessalonians became believers.
© 2002 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.