Paragraph 2:3–9

Paul then defended himself and his companions against the accusations that he believed that people were making. He affirmed that what he and his companions had preached was true and that they wanted to please God rather than people. Paul and his companions had never asked anyone to honor them personally, although they could have done that because they were apostles. In the Greek world there were many people who traveled from place to place teaching people and living at the expense of those who began to follow them. Paul wanted to emphasize how different he and his companions were from people like that. This is probably the reason why he defended himself here.

To prove this, Paul reminded the Thessalonians believers how he and his companions had worked to earn their own money so they would not burden them. He also reminded them that he and his companions behaved toward them the way a good father behaves toward his children. He then urged them to behave in a way that would please God.

In 2:3–4 Paul was describing his ministry among people in general, wherever he and his companions went and preached. Then in 2:5 he talks about his specific ministry among the Thessalonians.

2:3a

For: Paul and his companions had succeeded in producing the result that they had hoped to produce by preaching to the Thessalonians. That result was that Thessalonians had believed in Jesus. Here Paul gave another reason why their preaching was successful (2:1) and why they could preach the gospel boldly (2:2c).

our appeal: It is not clear from the Greek text or from most English versions to whom Paul made this appeal. There are two possibilities:

(1) He appealed to people in general.

(NET Bible, SSA)

(2) He appealed to the Thessalonians in particular.

(Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, New Jerusalem Bible)

If possible you should leave your translation ambiguous here. However, if you must say to whom Paul appealed, it is recommended that you follow the first option and use a word for people in general. This option has the support of most commentators.

appeal: Paul’s appeal was to urge people to believe the gospel.

2:3b

does not arise from: There is no verb in the Greek text in this part of the verse, yet all English translations need to supply one. Most English versions supply a verb such as “spring from,” “come from,” or “is based on.” You should choose a verb that makes it clear that Paul was saying that his appeal did not originate from error.

All English versions except the King James Version supply a verb in the present tense to indicate that Paul was talking about something he did habitually. It is recommended that you use a verb tense or aspect that refers to habitual actions, that is, actions that occur frequently. This matches the tense of the verb “speak” in 2:4a, which also shows habitual action.

deceit: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as deceit is more literally “error” or “delusion.” This Greek word can have two meanings:

(1) Paul meant that he was not mistaken or deluded or mad.

(New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible)

(2) Paul meant that he was not deliberately deceiving them.

(Berean Standard Bible, God’s Word, King James Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), New Revised Standard Version)

Some English versions are ambiguous. Probably the first opinion (1) is correct here. Otherwise the meaning would be almost the same as 2:3c and Paul would just have been repeating himself.

ulterior motives: The Greek word akatharsia, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as ulterior motives, literally means “uncleanness.” This could mean one of two things:

(1) It means any kind of moral impurity, for example, greed, ambition, vanity, pride, or sexual immorality. Preaching to gain money, as some people were doing, is one example of an “impure motive” in this context.

(God’s Word, New Century Version)

(2) It specifically means sexual immorality.

(The Jerusalem Bible)

Most English versions are ambiguous. It is recommended that you follow the first meaning (1) here. Choose a general term, because most commentators agree that in this context the meaning should not be limited to sexual immorality.

2:3c

or trickery: Literally, “nor trickery.” Paul was speaking generally here, so it is most likely that Paul was saying that he and his companions were not intending to deceive anyone at any time. Here are some other ways to translate this:

we didn’t try to fool or trick anyone (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
nor do we try to trick anyone (Good News Translation)

He said more about this in 2:5a and 2:5b when he talked about “flattery” and “any pretext for greed.” See the notes on those verses.

© 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.