The third negative statement, following the denial of flattery and greed, amplifies the last part of verse 4. Paul does not feel the need to repeat anything like “it is from God alone that we seek praise” (cf. Romans 2.29; John 5.41, 44). Good News Translation Knox Translator’s New Testament (cf. Bible en français courant) rightly prefer praise to “glory,” a term which is passing out of use, except in church language. Paul is referring to someone’s good opinion of a man, not to a man’s real worth. Moffatt Phillips Jerusalem Bible New English Bible Best (cf. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy Bijbel in Gewone Taal) have “honour”; Barclay has “human reputation” (but a reputation is not necessarily good!); Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch transforms the noun into a verb: “We do not want to be honored by men.”

Paul did not try to get (literally “seek”) praise, but he uses the same word in 2.20 to express the idea that, in another sense, the Thessalonians were a source of “pride” or “glory” to him. The expression to get praise from anyone is essentially a causative, and it may therefore be necessary to change the order of participants, for example, “we did not try to cause anyone to praise us,” or “we did not do things just so that people would praise us.”

On the two possible meanings of either from you or from others, see the general note on verses 3-7a. It is not necessary to specify either meaning in translation. Either from you or from others is an emphatic indication of the range of agents which might be involved in the praise. Hence, this entire verse 6 may be rendered as “We did not try to get anyone to praise us” or “… to cause anyone to praise us,” or “We did not try to get you to praise us, and we did not try to get anyone else to praise us.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .