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NCCS | New Covenant Commentary Series
The New Covenant Commentary Series (NCCS) is designed for ministers and students who require a commentary that interacts with the text and context of each New Testament book and pays specific attention to the impact of the text upon the faith and praxis of contemporary faith communities.
The NCCS has a number of distinguishing features. First, the contributors come from a diverse array of backgrounds in regards to their Christian denominations and countries of origin. Unlike many commentary series that tout themselves as international the NCCS can truly boast of a genuinely international cast of contributors with authors drawn from every continent of the world (except Antarctica) including countries such as the United States, Puerto Rico, Australia, the United Kingdom, Kenya, India, Singapore, and Korea. We intend the NCCS to engage in the task of biblical interpretation and theological reflection from the perspective of the global church. Second, the volumes in this series are not verse-by-verse commentaries, but they focus on larger units of text in order to explicate and interpret the story in the text as opposed to some often atomistic approaches. Third, a further aim of these volumes is to provide an occasion for authors to reflect on how the New Testament impacts the life, faith, ministry, and witness of the New Covenant Community today. This occurs periodically under the heading of “Fusing the Horizons and Forming the Community.” Here authors provide windows into community formation (how the text shapes the mission and character of the believing community) and ministerial formation (how the text shapes the ministry of Christian leaders).
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| Series Editors:Michael F. Bird (Ridley College, Melbourne, Australia)Craig Keener (Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY, USA) |
| Titles in this series:Romans Craig KeenerEphesians Lynn CohickColossians and Philemon Michael F. BirdRevelation Gordon FeeJohn Jey Kanagaraj1 Timothy Aída Besançon Spencer2 Timothy and Titus Aída Besançon SpencerMark Kim Huat Tan2 Peter and Jude Andrew Mbuvi | Forthcoming titles:James Pablo Jimenez1–3 John Sam NgewaActs Youngmo Cho and Hyung Dae ParkLuke Diane ChenMatthew Jason Hood1 Peter Eric GreauxPhilippians Linda BellevilleHebrews Cynthia WestfallGalatians Brian Vickers1 Corinthians B. J. Oropeza2 Corinthians David deSilva |
1–2 Thessalonians
A New Covenant Commentary
Nijay K. Gupta
1–2 THESSALONIANS
A New Covenant Commentary
New Covenant Commentary Series
Copyright © 2016 Nijay K. Gupta. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Cascade Books
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
paperback isbn: 978-1-62564-448-0
hardcover isbn: 978-1-4982-8653-4
ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-0101-9
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Names: Gupta, Nijay K.
Title: 1–2 Thessalonians / Nijay K. Gupta.
Description: Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2016 | Series: New Covenant Commentary Series | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: isbn 978-1-62564-448-0 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-4982-8653-4 (hardcover) | isbn 978-1-5326-0101-9 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: 1. Bible. Thessalonians—Commentaries. | I. Title. | II. Series.
Classification: BS2725.3 G89 2016 (print) | BS2725.3 (ebook)
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
Preface
To say that researching for and writing this commentary was a delight would be an understatement. It was an act of joyful sanctification to bathe myself in the Greek and English texts of 1–2 Thessalonians on nearly a daily basis for a couple of years. Sometimes it is questioned whether yet another commentary is needed, not least on 1–2 Thessalonians where there are already a number of good works on the shelves. My perspective is that it is an ongoing exercise of hearing the Word of God afresh. I was eager to write this commentary for the joy of my own learning, and doing “theological reasoning” about what these letters mean for us today. As I have had opportunities to share some of my research and findings with students, I have become more and more convinced that 1–2 Thessalonians are too-often-overlooked gems in Scripture. We glimpse some of the most striking moments of Paul as vulnerable, humble pastor and friend. We get a sense for how Paul calls believers to respond to suffering. We learn about the dignity and worth of good, honest labor as productive work as well as public witness to the gospel. First and Second Thessalonians have a unique ability to speak to us, not in spite of the fact that they do not instruct in a general and generic manner, but because they are so heavily contextualized. We are privileged to catch a glimpse of Paul’s “real life,” “real relationships,” and “real struggles.” And we see an Apostle, his apostolic companions, and his fellow believers come together as a household of faith under God the Father and through the unique Son, Messiah Jesus, to encourage one another. It is a beautiful display of the church.
My thanks go to the series editors, Michael Bird and Craig Keener, for the invitation to be involved in this series. I am especially grateful for their vision to acquire a globally diverse set of authors, and for their being mindful about including voices of women and ethnic minorities. There were a number of scholars who were kind enough to share with me unpublished materials on the Thessalonian Correspondence; my gratitude goes to them: Karl Donfried, Gene Boring, Todd Still, John Byron, Andy Johnson, Steve Walton, and Michael Gorman.
I presented some of my research findings to the Biblical Ethics group of the Society of Biblical Literature, and my appreciation goes to them for creating an opportunity for helpful feedback. Also, two students at George Fox Seminary—Evan Simmons and Daniel Bela—journeyed with me through the Greek text of 1–2 Thessalonians over the course of the 2014–15 year contributing many insights into these texts and stimulating my own curiosity. I would also like to thank the George Fox University and Seminary Faculty Development Committee for awarding me a period of research leave to complete this book (Grant GFU2015L05).
This commentary is dedicated to my family: my wife, Amy, for her patience when I was working intensely on this book, and her Christian model as “loyalty that works . . . love that labors . . . and endurance driven by hope in our Lord Messiah Jesus” (1 Thess 1:3); for my children (Simryn, Aidan, and Libby) for the play-filled delight they bring to my life. They are my “glory and joy” (1 Thess 2:20)!
(NB: In the commentary, we have preferred to use “Messiah” instead of “Christ.” Secondly, all biblical quotations are from the NRSV except for 1-2 Thessalonians where I have supplied my own translation. When there are any exceptions,
