Passage

1 Thessalonians 2.19

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

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

17. But we, brethren, being bereaved of you for a short season, in presence not in heart, endeavored the more exceedingly to see your face with great desire: 18. because we would fain have come unto you, I Paul once and again; and Satan hindered us.

19. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of glorying? Are not even ye, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?

For ye are our glory and our joy. (1 Thessalonians 2:17-20, ASV)

WEB

17. But we, brothers, being bereaved of you for a short season, in presence, not in heart, tried even harder to see your face with great desire, 18. because we wanted to come to you, indeed, I, Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us.

19. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Isn’t it even you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?

For you are our glory and our joy. (1 Thessalonians 2:17-20, WEB)

KJV

17. But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. 18. Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.

19. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? ^{rejoicing: or, glorying}

For ye are our glory and joy. (1 Thessalonians 2:17-20, KJV)

YLT

17. And we, brethren, having been taken from you for the space of an hour, in presence, not in heart, did hasten the more abundantly to see your face in much desire, 18. wherefore we wished to come unto you, (I indeed Paul,) both once and again, and the Adversary did hinder us;

19. for what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? are not even ye before our Lord Jesus Christ in his presence?

for ye are our glory and joy. (1 Thessalonians 2:17-20, 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

"For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?"

The crown is an athletic and civic image. Stephanos is the victor's wreath awarded at the games or the garland given at a public honor, not the royal diadēma. Paul uses it of the imperishable prize at 1 Corinthians 9:25 and of the crown of righteousness at 2 Timothy 4:8. Thessalonica hosted games, so the metaphor was local.

What Paul says his reward is. Not a status, a vindication, or a possession, but the people. The same thought recurs at Philippians 4:1, "my joy and crown." It is a striking way to describe ministry, and it fits the family imagery of the surrounding chapter, where Paul has compared himself to a nursing mother (verse 7) and to a father with his children (verse 11).

"At His coming." Parousia, the letter's key term, appearing in every chapter. In Hellenistic usage it names the official arrival or state visit of a sovereign, which is the same civic register as the apantēsis of 1 Thess 4:17. Paul locates the moment of accounting at that arrival, not at death.

See G3952 - parousia.

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.

G3952 - parousia, parousia, Strong's G3952
G5547 - christos, christos, Strong's G5547
G2962 - kyrios, kyrios, Strong's G2962
G2424 - Iesous, Iesous, Strong's G2424

Quoted in

Lexicon:

G3952 - parousia

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.