Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Gentle as a nurse, firm as a father
Paul reminds the church how he and his companions came to them after being mistreated in Philippi: no deceit, flattery or greed, gentle among them like a nursing mother, working night and day so as not to burden anyone, and urging each of them like a father.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul says their visit was not in vain: after being shamefully treated in Philippi, they dared to speak God's message in Thessalonica in spite of strong opposition. Their appeal did not come from error, impure motives or trickery; they spoke to please God, not people, never used flattery or cover for greed, and did not look for praise. Instead they were gentle among them, like a nursing mother caring for her children, sharing their own lives as well as the gospel, and working night and day so as not to be a burden. Like a father with his children, they urged each one to live in a way worthy of God, who calls them into his kingdom and glory.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/sages-and-philosophers\/","n":"Philosophers and their schools","s":"Stoics, Epicureans and other schools taught a whole way of life in lecture halls and marketplaces. A traveling teacher with a message about God would be heard, and judged, as one more philosopher.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/following-a-teacher\/","n":"Following a teacher","s":"A disciple walked behind his teacher, lived with him, learned his ways and carried his reputation. Jesus chose his own, which only radical teachers did.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/working-with-your-hands\/","n":"Manual work and the leisured class","s":"The well-to-do despised people who worked with their hands. A respectable teacher was expected to live on a patron, on fees or even on begging, so an apostle who made tents for his keep looked low class.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/honor-and-shame\/","n":"Honor before a crowd","s":"Public standing was the currency of the ancient Mediterranean. People competed for honor and dreaded being shamed in front of others.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/kingdom-of-god\/","n":"God's kingdom","s":"Kingdom meant God's reign, God becoming king in fact. It was the good news Isaiah promised, and in Jesus' day it was also a slogan.","r":""}
Wandering philosophers were often written off as frauds, and Keener, following Malherbe, notes that Dio Chrysostom accused most Cynics of the faults Paul denies here, while observing that "a true philosopher is gentle, like a nurse". Whether Paul answers real opponents is read differently: Keener and his notes think he need not be; the ESV Study Bible allows real or expected accusations; Carson, Moo and Morris and the Zondervan dictionary think Jewish opponents were slandering him as a man after money with a message of his own. The nurse could be a wet nurse or a nursing mother; Keener says the choice "does not affect Paul's point: gentleness". Some manuscripts read infants instead of gentle (the CSB Study Bible). A laborer could talk with visitors at the bench (Keener and his notes), and Malherbe, as Carson, Moo and Morris report, pictures the insula, shops on the street with families living behind, as a natural place to preach. How long Paul stayed is unclear: Acts names three Sabbaths, but work night and day and the Philippians' gift suggest longer, though Carson, Moo and Morris conclude that "Paul cannot have been in Thessalonica for more than a matter of months".
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, introduction to 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, and on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2, 2:7 and 2:9
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on 1 Thessalonians 2:7 and 2:9
- ESV Study Bible, study note on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12
- CSB Study Bible, textual note on 1 Thessalonians 2:7
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 14, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Date, Occasion, Text and Thessalonians in Recent Study
- J. D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, entry Thessalonians, Letters to the
