The Thessalonians have put their love into practice, not only in their own city, but throughout the surrounding province of Macedonia (cf. 1.8). The Greek means “you are also doing it,” but in English, where the expression “doing brotherly love” is awkward, behaved like this is a good common language equivalent (cf. Bible en français courant). Bijbel in Gewone Taal has “you also put love into practice towards….” (cf. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). This is better than “you do this with the brothers…” (cf. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy Jerusalem Bible). The love of the Thessalonians for Christians in other parts of Macedonia no doubt met with a response, but Paul does not say so here: his concern is with what his readers have been doing.
Because it may be difficult to use a general expression such as behaved like this, one may prefer to use a more specific reference to love of the brethren, for example, “loved all the brothers in all of Macedonia,” or “… all fellow believers….”
The UBS Greek text includes in square brackets a definite article between brothers and in all of Macedonia. If it is included, the meaning would be, as in Good News Translation, the brothers in all of Macedonia. If it is omitted (and the textual evidence seems in favor of leaving it out) the most likely meaning would be “you are behaving like this all over Macedonia, to all the brothers.” There is a difference in grammatical form, but the meaning is essentially the same.
The second part of the verse repeats almost verbally expressions used in verse 1. The transitional, translated so, may indicate a contrast, and Phillips and New English Bible accordingly translate “yet” (Barclay cf. Luther 1984 La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Bible de Jérusalem Bible en français courant have “but”). The contrast is of limited scope, between the love the Thessalonians are showing and the still greater love Paul recommends, and it should not be overemphasized in translation, as Jerusalem Bible‘s “however” tends to do. So is perhaps slightly ambiguous. On a hasty reading, it could be misunderstood as introducing a conclusion or summing up what has been already said; but when the passage is read as a whole, it is clear that Paul’s thought is looking forward to the specific advice he has to give in verse 11.
To do even more could be misunderstood if translated literally, even as the same phrase occurring in 4.1 can be misconstrued. Paul does not mean that the Christians in Thessalonica should love more people, since he has already indicated the extent of their love. Evidently it is the quality of their lives (as reflected in verse 11) which is here in focus. Therefore “to do even better” may be a more satisfactory equivalent.
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 .