2:5

This verse is more specific than 2:3–4.

2:5a

As you know: The Thessalonians had observed how Paul and his companions had behaved while they were in Thessalonica. Here Paul was reminding them that because they had observed this, they knew that the things that he was going to say in the rest of the verse were true.

we never used words of flattery: Paul reminded the Thessalonians that he and his companions had never said nice things about anyone just to make them happy.

2:5b

or any pretext for greed: The Greek word prophasis, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as pretext, in this context means “pretense” or “disguise.” Paul was reminding the Thessalonians that he and his companions were not greedy for money at all, unlike some people who were greedy for money but tried to hide it. Your language may have an idiom to express this idea. For example:

nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed (New International Version (2011 Revision))

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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.