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 2:17-3:13, Orphaned, blocked by Satan, crowned
Torn away from the church, Paul tells how he longed to come back but Satan blocked the way, how he sent Timothy from Athens, how Timothy's good news has revived him, and prays that the Lord will make them blameless at his coming with all his holy ones.
1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul explains why he has not come back: he was torn away from them, tried again and again to return, and says Satan blocked him. Unable to wait any longer, he sent Timothy from Athens to strengthen them under pressure. Timothy's good report of their faith and love has revived him, and he prays that God will make them holy and blameless at Jesus' coming, with all his holy ones.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/letters-and-letter-carriers\/","n":"Letters, scribes and carriers","s":"Letters were usually dictated to scribes, carried by trusted travelers because there was no public post, and read aloud to the people they were sent to.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/the-satan\/","n":"The satan, the tempter","s":"The accuser, tempter and deceiver of Jewish belief, seen as the power behind human and political evil. In the Gospels he tests Jesus and is the strong man Jesus binds, and John calls him the ruler of this world.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/free-cities-and-assemblies\/","n":"Free cities, assemblies and riots","s":"Some Greek cities, such as Thessalonica and Ephesus, kept a measure of self-rule under Rome, with their own officials and a citizen assembly. A riot could cost a city those privileges.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/athletes-and-games\/","n":"The games and the victor's wreath","s":"Greek cities held great athletic festivals, and Corinth hosted the Isthmian Games every two years, second only to the Olympics. Athletes trained for months under oath for a wreath of leaves that soon withered.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/present-age-and-age-to-come\/","n":"This age and the age to come","s":"Jews divided history into the present age, under the rule of evil nations, and the age to come, when God would rule unchallenged. The sufferings expected before the change were called birth pangs.","r":""}
Keener writes, "Ancients sometimes spoke of Fate hindering them." What Satan's blocking was is not said: Jewish opposition or the city magistrates (Keener), "matters politically indiscreet to mention in a letter that would be read publicly" (the cultural backgrounds notes), persecution, illness or Jason's bond (the CSB Study Bible), threats to Paul's life (Wright), or unknown (the ESV Study Bible). Arnold lists similar guesses and adds that "Paul perceived Satan's hand as behind it", where in Acts 16:6-10 the Spirit redirects him. Thessalonica was a free city, so its politarchs' ban held only there and only while they were in office (the cultural backgrounds notes). Timothy may have reached Paul at Athens and been sent back, but Carson, Moo and Morris think 3:6 means his arrival at Corinth. The crown is a victor's wreath, and Jewish texts used crowns for future reward (Keener and his notes; the ESV and CSB Study Bibles). The holy ones of 3:13 recall Zechariah 14:5: God's people, which Keener thinks Paul usually means, the angels, or, for Heiser, a returning army of divine beings and glorified people.
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, introduction to 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:10, and on 1 Thessalonians 2:17, 2:18, 2:19-20 and 3:13
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on 1 Thessalonians 2:17, 2:18, 2:19, 3:5 and 3:13, and on Acts 17:9
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, article Travel in the Greco-Roman World (1 Thessalonians 3)
- ESV Study Bible, study notes on 1 Thessalonians 2:18 and 2:19-20
- CSB Study Bible, notes on 1 Thessalonians 2:17-18 and 2:19-20
- N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians, comment on 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20
- Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm, ch. 41, The Mount of Assembly
- Clinton E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness, ch. 9, Temptation and Hindering the Mission of the Church
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 14, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Provenance
