That is why translates a word which, in this context, indicates that the apostle’s boasting is the result of the Thessalonians’ growth in faith and love. We and you are close together in the original. As we have seen in the notes on 1 Thessalonians, Paul often uses this way of suggesting a close personal relationship. As usual in these letters, “we” is not just another way of saying “I”; Paul constantly associates Silas and Timothy with himself.
In some languages it may be necessary to specify at the beginning of verse 4 precisely what constitutes the reason for the boasting. It may be necessary to say “because of your trust and love, we ourselves boast about you.” In other languages it may be more appropriate to introduce verse 4 with a conjunction such as “therefore” or a phrase such as “as a result.”
In this verse and in the following verses, Paul repeats several expressions which he used in his first letter, though sometimes in a rather different context. Boast recalls the boasting of 1 Thess. 2.19, where Paul speaks of boasting at the last day, but here the boasting is present (contrast 1 Thess. 1.8b). The translator’s problem is to find an expression which conveys (1) pride, and (2) speaking, without (3) the negative component of speaking well about one’s own achievements (the Concise Oxford Dictionary gives “extol oneself” as the first meaning of the verb “to boast,” and “vainglorious statement” as the first meaning of the noun “boast”). Moffatt “we are proud of you” (cf. Jerusalem Bible) leaves out (2), and La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée “we glorify ourselves” (cf. Luther 1984 Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale Zürcher Bibel) fails to avoid (3). Translator’s New Testament‘s “speak with pride” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “with pride we tell” (cf. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) are preferable. It is possible in some languages to suggest the component of pride in the meaning of boast by translating “we are always talking about you in the churches of God,” or “we are always glad to talk about you.”
The Greek locative preposition translated in Good News Translation as in may have any one of three meanings: (1) Its commonest meaning, and the one chosen by most translations, is “in” or “within,” indicating simply location (King James Version Phillips Revised Standard Version cf. Bijbel in Gewone Taal Bible en français courant Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Biblia Dios Habla Hoy La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Zürcher Bibel). (2) The same word, when followed by a noun in the plural, may mean “among,” as in Jerusalem Bible New English Bible (cf. Bible de Jérusalem Luther 1984). Knox attractively restructures the sentence to bring out this meaning and translates “as we visit the churches of God.” (3) Finally, the word may also mean “to,” emphasizing the delivery of a message by Paul to the churches. This interpretation is clearly followed by Translator’s New Testament: “This makes us speak with pride to the other churches” (cf. Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale) and seems to be the basis for Barclay “we cannot help telling God’s other congregations how proud we are of you.” 1 Corinthians 7.17 and 2 Corinthians 8.1 are possible parallels; in both these places, Good News Bible translates “in.” This translation seems rather static, and on the whole, perhaps the third meaning suits the context best. In any event, the meaning is simply a locative designation for the place and hence of the persons involved in the communication.
It is sometimes essential to translate the churches of God as “the other churches of God.” Otherwise the implication would be that either Paul and his companions had boasted about the faith of the Thessalonians to the people within the church of Thessalonica itself, or that the church of Thessalonica was not to be included among the churches of God. The phrase the churches of God poses an additional problem since it might be rendered in such a way as to refer to the buildings where the congregations met, rather than to the congregations themselves. If one wishes to emphasize the membership of the churches, it may be necessary to say “when speaking to the people of the other churches of God.” On the churches of God, see 1 Thess. 2.14. In rendering the phrase churches of God, it is important to make clear that these churches belong to God, avoiding any rendering which would suggest churches which God attends.
The Greek does not repeat we boast about. Good News Translation does so in order to divide the sentence, but the other common language translations do not find this necessary.
About the way you continue to endure and believe is literally “about your endurance and faith.” On both these qualities, see 1 Thess. 1.3. Good News Translation changes the original nouns into verbs, since the context shows clearly that the Thessalonians’ endurance and faith are expressed in active resistance in the face of persecutions and sufferings. These two words are often linked together (for example, in Mark 4.17, where the order is reversed and the nouns are in the singular). On sufferings, see 1 Thess. 3.3.
It would be possible to interpret to endure and believe as referring to “the endurance of faith,” that is, “continuing to believe” or “… to trust.” It is better, however, to assume that endure refers primarily to continuing faithfulness to God and believe to continuing trust. These meanings may be expressed in some languages as “how you stand firm and continue to believe.”
You are experiencing translated a rather unemphatic verb which, according to context, can mean undergoing persecution, “bearing with” someone, or even listening patiently to a speech. Moffatt, like Good News Translation, translates unemphatically “in which you are involved.” Bijbel in Gewone Taal and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch omit the verb altogether and translate “in all persecutions and sufferings.”
Through all the persecutions and sufferings you are experiencing may be rendered simply as “during all the times that you are persecuted and are caused to suffer.” However, the contrast between enduring faith and the persecutions which would tend to diminish faith may be expressed in some languages as “the way you continue to endure and to believe, despite all the ways in which you are persecuted and suffer.”
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .