The literal “we do not want you not to know” is used by Paul in Romans 1.13 and 2 Corinthians 1.8 to introduce a new piece of information. In Romans 11.25; 1 Corinthians 10.1; 12.1, the same expression introduces something which is not part of the basic Christian message as outlined, for example, by Peter in Acts 2.14-39 and by Paul himself in 1 Corinthians 15.3-5, but which is important for a fuller understanding of the scope of Christian truth and life. In Romans 11.25 it is a question of the “mystery” or “secret truth” (Good News Bible) of how God has used the stubbornness of Israel as part of his plan for other nations. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul speaks of the hidden, Christian significance of the rescue of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. And in 1 Corinthians 12, he introduces a much-needed piece of teaching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The present passage is also a piece of advanced teaching, about the (still obscure) subject of the state of Christians between death and resurrection.

In translating the present passage, the double negative “we do not want you not to know” is transformed in to the positive we want you to know by Moffatt (“we would like you … to understand”) and Knox (“make no mistake”). Jerusalem Bible‘s “we want you to be quite certain” is a little too strong. Barclay has “I do not want you … to get wrong ideas,” and Phillips “we don’t want you … to be in any doubt” (cf. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Bijbel in Gewone Taal). Paul himself uses an equivalent positive expression (which is perhaps slightly stronger) in 1 Corinthians 11.3 and Colossians 2.1 (cf. Philippians 1.12).

Here as elsewhere in this letter, it is very likely that “we” means Paul and his companions, though Barclay disagrees.

The truth is implied, for there is no suggestion in the text that false views about the dead were circulating among the Thessalonians. Paul is fighting fear and anxiety rather than wrong ideas firmly held. The Thessalonians had seen Christians die, just as Paul himself had seen Stephen stoned to death. They needed reassurance that death would not prevent Christians from sharing in whatever God had in store for them.

What Paul wants the Thessalonian Christians to know is what happens to those who have died. In many languages, the truth can best be expressed as “what happens to” or “what really happens to,” for example, “we very much want you to know what really happens to those who have died.”

Those who have died, here and in verse 14 (but not in v. 16), is literally “those who are asleep” (Revised Standard Version cf. King James Version Luther 1984), or, according to a slightly less well-supported reading, “have fallen asleep” (cf. Zürcher Bibel Knox). “Sleep” is used in many passages to mean “die” (e.g. Job 14.12; Daniel 12.2-3; 2 Maccabees 12.43-45; John 11.11-13; 1 Corinthians 15.18, 20). This is certainly the meaning here, as the literal equivalent in verse 16 shows. Many translations (Jerusalem Bible Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale Bible de Jérusalem Traduction œcuménique de la Bible Bible en français courant Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) agree with Good News Translation in removing the figure of speech, sometimes putting it in a footnote. La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée (rather less helpfully for anyone hearing the passage read aloud) does the reverse, putting “those who sleep” in the text and “the dead” in a note. Moffatt (“those who are asleep in death”), Phillips (“those who ‘fall asleep’ in death”), and Barclay (“those who sleep death’s sleep”), cf. New American Bible, keep the metaphor, but explain it in the text. Knox (“those who have gone to their rest”) and Bijbel in Gewone Taal (“those who have crossed over”) use equivalent metaphors. The question for the translator is whether, in his receptor language, it is more usual to speak of death directly, or to use a figure of speech. The answer to this question varies not only between languages, but between temporal periods and between social groups using the same language. In many languages, especially those spoken in face-to-face societies, there is much less of a tendency to use figurative expressions than in most European languages, but the amount of such figurative language, even in English, differs greatly from time to time.

Some persons have wished to make a special point of the literal Greek rendering “those who are asleep” to imply that these are only “resting in death, looking forward to the judgment,” and that therefore they have not gone on to heaven. But it is unwise to read into this kind of an idiom a special doctrine of the future life. (In 1 Kings 22.40 the metaphor of sleep is used in speaking of the death of the bad King Ahab, and it was also used by pagans in the ancient world.) The safest and most accurate way of translating the Greek is to say “those who have died.”

The relation between we want you to know and so that you will not be sad is one of means and purpose. As indicates a comparison, but the nature of the comparison needs to be carefully defined. Those who have no hope is literally “the others” or “the rest, who do not have hope.” These are the same group of people whom Paul has just called “those outside” (v. 12), that is, those who are not members of the Christian community. The contrast is not between kinds or degrees of grief, but between two groups of people; that is, Christians, who have reason to hope, and non-Christians, who do not. Translations should therefore be avoided which suggest that Paul’s concern is simply to say that Christians should not be as sad as non-Christians. Phillips‘ “like men who have no hope” does not bring out sufficiently clearly that Paul is contrasting real groups of people. New English Bible‘s “like the rest of men, who have no hope” (cf. Bijbel in Gewone Taal) is better. On hope, see the notes on 1.3.

It is important to avoid a translation which would imply that the clause so that you will not be sad is directly related to the immediately preceding clause those who have died. To avoid this misunderstanding, it may be necessary to repeat the expression “we want you to know,” for example, “we want you to know what happens to those who have died; we want you to know this so that you will not be sad.”

Sadness is often expressed by an idiomatic phrase, for example, “with tears in your eyes,” “with your stomach in pain,” “with your heart throbbing,” or “with your face fallen.” It is better not to use an expression which would imply ritual mourning or weeping, even though this is a natural type of rendering in a context which speak about death.

The comparison introduced in the last clause, as are those who have no hope, may be rather difficult to express in some languages. In fact, a conditional clause may be necessary, for example, “if you do not know about this, you will be like those who have no hope,” or “… you will be sad just like those who do not look forward with confidence.”

In many languages it is not possible to speak of “hope” without indicating what is the goal of the hope. In this context it is hope for life after death, and it may be necessary to say “those who do not hope for life after death.” In some languages it would be more appropriate to speak about “those who have no hope for heaven,” or, even better, “no hope to be with God.”

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 .

Good News Translation transforms a relation of means and purpose (“in order to win the respect”) into one of means and result (in this way you will win the respect), but the two are never clearly distinguished in Greek. The latter seems to be more natural in several western languages, especially when a new sentence is begun at this point (cf. La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Bible en français courant Bijbel in Gewone Taal; Phillips “the result will be a reputation for honesty”; Barclay “then the people outside the church will admire your life and conduct”). The original “in order to” is clearly related, not to just as we told you before, but to the appeal to do even more, and to the detailed instruction in verse 11. Paul is not explaining directly the purpose of his teaching, but the purpose of the behavior he is recommending.

The transitional in this way may be effectively translated in some languages as a conditional, for example, “if you do this.” The relation to what follows, namely, you will win the respect of those who are not believers, will then express the result. Win the respect of is a rather complex concept which must often be expressed in quite a different way, for example, “you will cause those who are not believers to honor you,” or “you will make those who are not believers say, These believers are good people.”

Those who are not believers is literally “the (plural) outside.” It is very close in form to the English “the outsiders,” but does not have the unfavorable implications of this expression. The concept shows that Paul means “those outside the Christian brotherhood,” and Good News Translation is right to make this explicit. Both pagans and non-Christian Jews are intended.

You will not have to depend on anyone for what you need means literally “so that you may have need” either (a) “of nothing” or (b) “of no one.” Meaning (a) is followed by King James Version and New English Bible “may never be in want” (cf. Phillips New American Bible Zürcher Bibel Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), and (b) is followed by Revised Standard Version Knox Translator’s New Testament (cf. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale Bible de Jérusalem Bible en français courant Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Bijbel in Gewone Taal has “knock on no one’s door for support”; Jerusalem Bible (improbably) “though you do not have to depend on them.” The underlying question is really: “What is Paul’s main fear for the Thessalonian Christians? That they will go hungry? Or that they will live as parasites on other people, even non-Christians?” The second alternative seems to fit the situation more exactly, but the first is a more frequent meaning of the Greek term used here. Dependence upon other individuals may often be expressed idiomatically, for example, “don’t just eat other people’s food,” “don’t go from meal pot to meal pot,” or “don’t be a guest every day.”

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 .

The relation between “love for the brethren” in general and the specific instructions contained in this verse is not immediately clear. Paul seems to be more concerned in this verse with the “image” of the Christian community in the outside world than with relationships between individuals within the Christian community. However, in the situation in Thessalonica, the church’s external image and its internal relationships must have been closely linked. The church was under pressure from outside, and so any foolish or immature behavior by individuals within the church would have two effects: it would strain relationships with other, more balanced, members, and it would damage the witness of the Christian community to the outside world. It is therefore important in translation to avoid at this point any transitional expression which would suggest that Paul is introducing a fresh subject. For Paul’s concern for the “respectability” of the Christian community, see the notes on 4.4.

The three items of instruction which Paul gives in this verse are simply added to one another, as far as the surface grammatical form is concerned. There is, however, a progression within the verse, similar to the progression we have noted in verses 3-6. Each item is somewhat more specific than the one before it. The climax and the most sensitive point are reached with to earn your own living, after which Paul hastens to reassure his readers (rather like a dentist withdrawing his drill!) by the words just as we told you before.

Make it your aim often includes the suggestion of an ambition or a point of honor; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “consider it a matter of honor” (cf. La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale). The Greek verb may also be translated as “desire very much,” “try very earnestly,” or “decide this is the way you should….”

To live a quiet life translates a verb which Paul uses only in this text. A related noun is used in 2 Thess. 3.12. In other parts of the New Testament, it can mean “to be quiet,” either in the sense of “to rest” (for example, by not working on the Sabbath, Luke 23.56), or in the sense of “not to speak” (e.g. Luke 14.4). The first meaning is explicitly excluded by the context, and the second does not seem appropriate here; therefore a third meaning must be looked for. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “lead an orderly life,” and this suits the context very well, though close parallels for this meaning are difficult to find. If one asks, “How would the Thessalonians have behaved if they had not followed Paul’s instructions on this point?”, the phrases immediately following (and later 2 Thess. 3.6-12) seem to suggest the answer, “They would have behaved in such a way as to make themselves justifiably unpopular within the community at large.” The ideas of maintaining peace within the Christian community (or even within the individual life) are not excluded, but they are not in the foreground.

In many languages it is easier to describe a boisterous life than a quiet one. Therefore to live a quiet life may be best expressed in a negative manner, for example, “don’t go around always making a lot of noise,” in which “noise” would imply more than loud sound. It may be appropriate in some instances to translate this advice as “don’t go around all the time arguing loudly.”

To mind your own business is an idiom with a wide meaning, not being limited to financial or commercial activities. Paul means “go on fulfilling your normal responsibilities.” In some languages mind your own business is translated quite idiomatically, for example, “sit in your own shade.” Once again, in some languages this concept may be expressed in a negative form; for example, “do not meddle in other people’s affairs,” or “do not always tell other people how they should do things.”

All the infinitives in this verse, make, mind, and earn, like do in verse 10, imply activity over a period of time.

To earn your own living is literally “work with your hands,” as in most of the older translations and also in New English Bible and Translator’s New Testament (cf. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Jerusalem Bible and Bible en français courant agree closely with Good News Translation: Barclay has “do an honest day’s work”; Phillips, “do your work yourselves.” Bijbel in Gewone Taal combines the specific reference to manual labor with the wider meaning: “by handwork provide for your own (life-) support.” Most of the Thessalonian Christians were no doubt manual workers, but the words “your hands” are not emphasized, and the phrase is defined more closely in the next verse by you will not have to depend on anyone for what you need. Good News Translation is therefore not guilty of transculturating for a society in which manual workers are in a minority.

In some languages to earn your own living can be most effectively translated in a negative manner, for example, “don’t expect others to take care of you,” “don’t make others give you food,” or, idiomatically, “don’t rest on other people’s shoulders,” or “don’t lie in your hammock all day.”

We told you before clearly implies “when we were in Thessalonica.” The Greek has the same meaning as the English “to tell someone to do something”; that is, not “to inform,” but “to instruct” or “to order.” The authority on which Paul has insisted in verses 1, 2, 6 and 8 (as well as earlier in the letter) provides the basis, not only for general preaching and exhortation, but for specific instructions in a particular situation. In some instances it may be useful to translate just as we told you before as “this is just what we before ordered you to do,” or even “when we were with you, this is just what we told you you should do.” The clause “when we were with you” may be the only way in which the fact of a previous order can be clearly indicated, since an adverb like “before” might suggest only a previous letter.

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 .

The word translated when usually, but not always, means “whenever”; but “whenever” clearly will not do here, since the Day of the Lord does not come every time people talk of peace and security (virtually two synonyms). But the idea of repeated action need not be excluded in translation, and various English versions may suggest this by the use of the so-called progressive form. Barclay has “when people are talking of how peaceful and secure life is”; Knox “It is just when men are saying, All quiet, all safe, that…”; Phillips “When men are saying ‘peace and security’ ”; Translator’s New Testament “Just when people are saying how peaceful and secure everything is…”; cf. Moffatt “when ‘all’s well’ and ‘all is safe’, are on the lips of men”; cf. Jeremiah 6.14; Ezekiel 13.10; Matthew 24.37-39. But the emphasis here is not on the repeated action of thinking that all is well, but on the factor of indefinite time.

Some languages need to make it clear that say refers to a future activity, that is, “when people will be saying.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates: “when people begin to say.”

People translate an impersonal “they say,” but the latter part of the verse suggests that Paul is thinking specially of non-Christians, and he states this more explicitly in verse 4 by the emphatic but you, and in verse 6 by the others.

In some languages it is necessary to make quiet and safe more clearly related to those who talk about such a condition, for example, “when people will say, No one is rioting and we are safe,” or “… Everyone is peaceful, and we need not have any fear.”

Destruction translates a word which in the New Testament (1) always refers to destruction by some supernatural power, and (2) never implies complete annihilation. The meaning is close to “punishment” or even “God’s judgment.” Those who refuse to believe are punished, but (or therefore) do not cease to exist. It is difficult to combine both these elements in translation, and the impersonal use of destruction (avoiding the direct statement “God will destroy them”) makes things even more difficult. Moffatt‘s “Destruction” (with a capital D) shows that he was conscious of the problem, but using a capital letter does not solve it. Jerusalem Bible has “the worst suddenly happens,” and some French translations have “ruin,” both of which avoid the suggestion of annihilation.

In some languages one cannot say “destruction will hit them,” because destruction is itself an event. One can be hit by objects but not by an event such as destruction. The closest equivalent may be “then suddenly they will suffer terribly,” or “they will be in great trouble.”

The latter part of the verse introduces successively a new comparison and a new idea: the pains that come upon a woman in labor. Good News Translation (cf. Phillips) brings out clearly a reference to the final stages of pregnancy which is required by the context. A woman who is about to give birth is in Greek simply “a pregnant woman.” The major point of the comparison is the suddenness both of the birth pangs and of the Day of the Lord. Good News Translation emphasizes this by suddenly at the beginning of the clause (then suddenly), as the Greek, and also by repeating it in the next sentence (as suddenly as), where it is not found in the Greek. A slight overemphasis of this element is perhaps needed, since Paul probably returns in verse 4 (see the notes on that verse) to the unexpectedness of the Day of the Lord. In people will not escape, the word not is emphasized. One may also translate “then destruction will hit them as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman who is about to give birth, and they will not escape.”

It is always possible to talk about “escaping” from prison or from confinement, but it may be difficult to speak of “escaping” from destruction. If in the previous clause destruction will hit them is rendered something like “suddenly they will suffer terribly,” then people will not escape may be rendered as “people will most certainly suffer,” or “it is not possible that people will not suffer.”

Since Paul is not referring to the intensity of pain in childbirth but to the fact that such pain is unexpected, it may be possible to translate “the suffering will surely come, and when one is not expecting it, just like the suffering that comes to a woman who is about to give birth.”

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 .

The new theme is introduced by a transitional which King James Version and Revised Standard Version (cf. Luther 1984) inappropriately translate as “but.” As we have just seen, no contrast with the previous section in involved, but rather a close parallel. The transition is made by some translators in a brief phrase: “as for love of the brethren” (Knox cf. La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale Jerusalem Bible) or “next, as regards brotherly love” (Phillips). The first word, translated about, is often used by Paul to introduce a new subject (e.g. 1 Corinthians 7.25; 8.1; 12.1; 16.1). It forms part of the title of many Greek writings, and has almost the function of a section heading here.

It may seen strange to say There is no need to write you about love for your fellow believers and then do just that. This was a common device in ancient times, and is characteristic of the way in which, at times, Paul implies the right kind of behavior in those to whom he writes, even while urging them on to greater effort and better behavior. This impersonal expression may be rendered in some languages as “I do not need to write about love,” or “To write to you about love for your fellow believers is really not necessary.”

Love for your fellow believers is one word in Greek. Most older translations (King James Version cf. Luther 1984 Zürcher Bibel La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale) and some more modern ones (Moffatt Phillips cf. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) have “brotherly love,” a phrase which has passed into current speech and thereby lost much of its specific original meaning. For the first Christians it meant, not figurative brother-like love, but the love of those who had become, in a very real sense, members of the Christian family. Outside Christian writings (e.g. 1 Maccabees 12.10, 17) the word is used only in speaking of men of common physical descent. In the Old Testament, “brother” meant “fellow Israelite,” but Jesus called his followers his own (Mark 3.33 ff.) and one another’s (Matthew 23.8) brothers, and this usage was carried over into the early church, regardless of differences of nationality and descent. Good News Translation‘s apparently loose paraphrase is thus much more precise than the literal equivalent “brotherly love” would be. Compare Revised Standard Version “love of the brethren” (cf. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch); Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “love between brothers”; Jerusalem Bible “loving our brothers”; Bible en français courant, more explicitly, “love between brothers in the faith”; Barclay “the love which should be characteristic of the Christian fellowship”; New English Bible “love for our brotherhood”; Translator’s New Testament “love for our fellow-Christians.” It is quite a different word from that used at the end of the verse in love one another, but the meaning in this context is the same. Here as in 3.12 Paul immediately balances a reference to the love of Christians for one another by a reminder of their responsibilities to those who are not believers (v. 12).

If love for your fellow believers is transformed into a verb expression, it may be necessary to say “about how you should love others who also believe in Christ,” or “… your brothers who believe in Christ.”

You yourselves is emphatic in Greek as in English. The implied contrast is “you do not need us to write to you, because you have been taught by God” (cf. Bible en français courant Bijbel in Gewone Taal). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch changes the focus a little by putting the sentence into the active voice: “God himself has taught you to love one another” (cf. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). The word translated taught by God is not used anywhere else in the Greek Bible; just as we speak of people being “self-taught,” so Paul says that the Thessalonians are “God-taught.” The means of teaching may be either through the guidance of the Holy Spirit or through experience.

It may be necessary in some languages to change the passive expression you yourselves have been taught by God into an active one, for example, “God himself has taught you how you should love one another.”

The exact relation between you … have been taught and you should love is uncertain. The Greek is general enough to convey either a relation of means and purpose (“you have been taught in order that you might love”) or a relation of means and result (“you have been taught, and as a result you love one another”). The former is much more likely. The Greek does not imply manner: “taught in what way you should love one another,” though the how of Good News Translation (cf. Bible en français courant) might be misunderstood in this sense. Moffatt cf. Jerusalem Bible Barclay Translator’s New Testament Luther 1984 Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale Jerusalem Bible Traduction œcuménique de la Bible Bijbel in Gewone Taal have simply “taught … to love one another,” with a possible slight loss of meaning. The past tense is not explicit, since “God-taught” is an adjective.

If loving one another is not understood as what God taught, but rather as the purpose of what he taught, then one may translate “God himself has taught you so that you should love one another.” If the meaning is taken as result, one may translate “God has taught you, and therefore you love one another.”

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 .

The Thessalonians have received Paul’s message about Christ as a word from God (2.13), but Paul now reminds then that if they reject the moral appeal that goes with this message, they are rejecting God. Whoever rejects this teaching may be rendered “whoever refuses to follow this teaching,” or, idiomatically, “whoever throws this teaching away.” Some languages introduce direct discourse to express rejection, for example, “whoever says no to this that we have taught,” or even “whoever says about what we have taught, This is not true.”

As in many other instances, it may be necessary to have a positive before the negative, for example, “that man is saying no to God; he is not just saying no to a man.” It is true that to reject the message involves rejecting the person who proclaims the message (in this case, Paul), but since Paul speaks on behalf of God (as representing God’s authority), the rejected one is really God himself. Accordingly, it may be necessary to introduce an expression such as “just” in order to indicate that “it is not just a man, but it really is God.”

Some Greek manuscripts have a word meaning “also” between God, who and gives you his Holy Spirit (“God, who also gives…”). The UBS Greek New Testament has this word in the text but encloses it in square brackets. King James Version and La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée include it, but most translations do not.

Translations vary between God, who gives and “God who has given” (Knox cf. King James Version Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Both concepts are included in the meaning of the Greek, which specifies only that the “giving” extends over a period and is not a single event, as Moffatt‘s “gave” suggests.

The order of the last words of this sentence in Greek is somewhat unusual (though not as odd in that language as a literal translation suggests): “giving the Spirit his the holy to you.” The effect is to emphasize “to you” and also “holy.” Phillips conveys this effect by translating “It is not for nothing that the Spirit God gives us is called the Holy Spirit” (cf. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).

Some manuscripts have “us” in place of “you”—a common confusion between similar sounding Greek words. An emphatic you makes better sense. This is the reading supported by most good manuscripts and followed by most translations, but King James Version Knox Phillips Barclay Biblia Dios Habla Hoy have “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 .

God did not call us makes it clear, as Revised Standard Version‘s “has not called us” does not, that Paul is referring to a specific event, not to a state or a process. “Us” clearly includes both the Thessalonians and the evangelists.

Call must not be understood in the sense of “shouting to,” but in that of “inviting,” that is, “inviting us to be Christians” (cf. 1.4). In many languages it is necessary to change the location of the negative, for example, “for God called us, but not for us to live in immorality; rather, he called us to be holy.”

To live in immorality, but in holiness is literally “for immorality, but in holiness.” The preposition “for” suggests “this was not the purpose God had in mind when he called us,” and “in” suggests “to live in a state of holiness.” Good News Translation combines the ideas of purpose and state, and applies them to both immorality and holiness.

To live in immorality may be rendered as “to live immorally,” or “to have sexual relations with a person to whom one is not married.”

Holiness should refer to the condition of a person who lives as one who belongs to God. Hence it is rendered in some languages as “God called us to live as those who belong to him.”

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 .

In some languages it may be important to amplify the phrase in this matter, so as to make clear that the reference is to the relation between men and women. Therefore, it may be possible to render this transitional phrase as “in the way in which a man conducts himself toward women he should not wrong his brother.” If our conclusions in the general notes on this passage are correct, the meaning of “brother” here is properly limited to male fellow-Christians.

Do wrong to his fellow Christian is often rendered as “to cheat his brother” or “to do something against his brother,” but it may be necessary in this particular context to render “brother” as fellow Christian. If would be all too easy for persons to understand “brother” in its literal sense, because in this context one is speaking about intimate family relations.

The expressions do wrong to and take advantage of are essentially similar in meaning. The second expression simply reinforces the first. It is, therefore, possible in translation to employ one expression but with some kind of emphatic qualifier, for example, “he should not cheat his brother in anything at all.”

We strongly warned you may be rendered as “we told you forcefully what would happen,” or “we said to you with strong words that you should beware.”

The Lord, as usual (cf. notes on 1.2), means Jesus, but Paul’s thought (as in 3.11-12 and 4.1-3) moves easily between Jesus and God the Father. Paul will return in 2 Thess. 1.8 to the role of Jesus in judgment.

The background of will punish, which is related to the word for “justice,” is the Old Testament idea of retributive justice, whereby a man, a group, or a people was punished, either by God or by a human judge acting on his behalf, in proportion to the crime which had been committed. This was a personal activity, but one related to the law. Modern western culture does not share with the Bible the view of law as based on a personal activity of God. Translators of this and similar texts therefore often have to choose whether to emphasize the idea of just punishment or that of personal hostility. The former is more appropriate, since “avenger” and related words, used by King James Version Revised Standard Version Moffatt (cf. Bible de Jérusalem Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), have come to be associated with vendettas, gang warfare, and similar illegal activities.

In many languages punish is translated literally as “make to suffer.”

Those who do that is literally “concerning all these.” King James Version understood “these” to refer to people: “the Lord is the avenger of all such” (presumably the “brothers” mentioned, though in the singular). But “these” is much more likely to refer to things, that is, in general terms, to the sins just mentioned. “All” has the effect of making the reference more general: “the Lord will punish those who do this kind of thing.” This general reference is brought out by the word “such” in Barclay (cf. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Bible en français courant).

There is much overlap of meaning between told you … before and strongly warned you, the second verb being stronger than the first, and the two together stronger than either would be alone. Some translations combine the two: “we have already most solemnly warned you” (Translator’s New Testament cf. Revised Standard Version), “we told you before with all emphasis” (New English Bible), “we have already very definitely told you” (Barclay cf. Bible en français courant Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). The repeated reference to Paul’s earlier oral teaching suggest that he means “we told you before now” rather than “we told before the punishment comes.” Strongly warned could also mean “bore witness” (“testified” King James Version), and Phillips expands this interpretation into “we have seen this work out in our experience of life.” Phillips‘ interesting rendering does not limit or restrict God’s activity of punishing to the “last days,” but the coming judgment is such a frequently recurring theme in this letter that Phillips‘ interpretation is unlikely, and it is not shared by other translators.

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 .