Passage

1 Thessalonians 1.9

Book: 1 Thessalonians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

7. so that ye became an ensample to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8. For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything.

9. For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God,

and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:7-10, ASV)

WEB

7. so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8. For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out; so that we need not to say anything.

9. For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,

and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:7-10, WEB)

KJV

7. So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 8. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.

9. For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;

And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:7-10, KJV)

YLT

7. so that ye became patterns to all those believing in Macedonia and Achaia, 8. for from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God did go forth, so that we have no need to say anything,

9. for they themselves concerning us do declare what entrance we had unto you, and how ye did turn unto God from the idols, to serve a living and true God,

and to wait for His Son from the heavens, whom He did raise out of the dead, Jesus, who is rescuing us from the anger that is coming. (1 Thessalonians 1:7-10, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul, writing with Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy, who are named as co-senders in the opening (1 Thess 1:1).
Audience: The church in Thessalonica, capital of the Roman province of Macedonia; a largely Gentile congregation of recent converts (1 Thess 1:9) founded on the second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-9).
Location: Written from Corinth, shortly after Timothy returned with news of the young church (1 Thess 3:6).
Time period: c. AD 50-51. The Gallio inscription from Delphi fixes Paul in Corinth around AD 51-52 (Acts 18:12), which makes this letter either the earliest or one of the two earliest surviving Pauline writings, roughly twenty years after the crucifixion.

Theological reading

"They themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God."

A conversion formula, probably older than the letter. The compressed shape of verses 9 and 10, turned from idols, serve the living God, wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, who rescues us from the wrath to come, reads like a summary of the missionary preaching rather than fresh composition. Many scholars treat it as pre-Pauline or at least formulaic, in the same family as 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. If so, it is among the earliest datable summaries of the Christian message in existence.

Three movements. Turned (epistrephō), a decisive reorientation; to serve (douleuein), ongoing allegiance to a master; to wait (anamenein, verse 10), expectation. Conversion in this formula is not a private experience but a change of allegiance with a future attached.

"From idols." The phrase settles the composition of the church: these are Gentile converts, not synagogue adherents, which fits Acts 17:4 where a great multitude of God-fearing Greeks joins Paul. Thessalonica hosted imperial cult activity as a free city loyal to Rome, so turning from idols carried civic and economic cost, which is part of why the letter keeps returning to the persecution they suffered (1 Thess 1:6; 2:14).

"A living and true God." The pairing is standard Jewish polemic against images, as at Jeremiah 10:10 and Daniel 6:26: idols are neither alive nor real. Paul preaches Jewish monotheism to Greeks and adds the Son.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G2198 - zao, zao, Strong's G2198
G4314 - pros, pros, Strong's G4314
G2316 - theos, theos, Strong's G2316

Quoted in

Concepts:

Lexicon:

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.