to announce · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person plural
themselves
αὐτοὶautoi
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — nominative plural masculine
shew
ἀπαγγέλλωapangéllō
G518
to announce
of
περὶperi
G4012
properly · preposition
us
ἡμῶνhēmōn
G2257
of (or from) us
of
ὁποίανhopoian
G3697
of what kind that · interrogative pronoun — accusative singular feminine
in
εἴσοδονeisodon
G1529
an entrance (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
had
ἔσχομενeschomen
G2192
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — second aorist active indicative, 1st person plural
unto
πρὸςpros
G4314
a preposition of direction · preposition
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
how
πῶςpōs
G4459
an interrogative particle of manner · particle — interrogative
turned
ἐπεστρέψατεepestrepsate
G1994
to revert (literally · verb — second aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural
to
πρὸςpros
G4314
a preposition of direction · preposition
God
θεὸνtheon
G2316
figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title
from
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
idols
εἰδώλωνeidōlōn
G1497
an image (i.e. for worship) · noun — genitive plural neuter
serve
δουλεύεινdouleuein
G1398
to be a slave to (literal or figurative · verb — present active infinitive
living
ζῶντιzōnti
G2198
to live (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active participle, dative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
true
ἀληθινῷalēthinō
G228
truthful · adjective — dative singular masculine
God
θεῷtheō
G2316
figuratively · noun — dative singular masculine, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Timothy 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that…
1 Corinthians 12:2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
Galatians 4:8-9 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Zephaniah 2:11 The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even…
Zechariah 8:20-23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:
1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the…
Psalms 42:2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
Daniel 6:26 I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Thessalonians 1:6–end
In these words we have the evidence of the apostle's success among the Thessalonians, which was notorious and famous in several places. For,
I. They were careful in their holy conversation to imitate the good examples of the apostles and ministers of Christ, Th1 1:6. As the apostle took care to demean himself well, not only for his own credit's sake, but for the benefit of others, by a conversation suitable to his doctrine, that he might not pull down with one hand what he built up with the other, so the Thessalonians, who observed what manner of men they were among them, how their preaching and living were all of a piece, showed a conscientious care to be followers of them, or to imitate th…
Strictly there should follow, "For they themselves show of you," &c.; but, instead, he substitutes that which was the instrumental cause of the Thessalonians' conversion and faith, "for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you"; compare Th1 1:5, which corresponds to this former clause, as Th1 1:6 corresponds to the latter clause. "And how ye turned from idols to serve the living . . . God," &c. Instead of our having "to speak any thing" to them (in Macedonia and Achaia) in your praise (Th1 1:8), "they themselves (have the start of us in speaking of you, and) announce concerning (so the Greek of 'show of' means) us, what manner of (how effectual an) entrance we ha…
How ye turned to God from idols - This could not be spoken either of the Jews or of the devout persons, but of the heathen Greeks, and of such it appears that the majority of the Church was formed. See what is said on this subject in the preface to this epistle.
To serve the living and true God - The living God; in opposition to the idols, which were either inanimate stocks or stones, or the representations of dead men.
The true God - In opposition to the whole system of idolatry, which was false in the objects of its adoration, false in its pretensions, false in its promises, and false in all its prospects.
The Church Fathers
Whence is proved that they have ever been depicted, out of the volume of the divine Scriptures, as guilty of the crime of idolatry; whereas our "less"-that is, posterior-people, quitting the idols which formerly it used slavishly to serve, has been converted to the same God from whom Israel, as we have above related, had departed. For thus has the "less"-that is, posterior-people overcome the"greater people," while it attains the grace of divine favour, from which Israel has been divorced.
For we read: "How ye turned 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." And again: "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord God, Jesus Christ, at His coming? " Likewise: "Before God, even our Father, at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the whole company of His saints.
What means, "What manner of entering in we had unto you"? That it was full of dangers, and numberless deaths, but that none of these things troubled you. But as if nothing had happened, so you adhered to us; as if ye had suffered no evil, but had enjoyed infinite good, so you received us after these things. For this was the second entering. They went to Beroea, they were persecuted, and when they came after this they so received them, as though they had been honored by these also, so that they even laid down their lives for them. The expression, "What manner of entering in we had," is complicated, and contains an encomium both of them and of themselves. But he himself has turned this to their advantage. "And how," he says, "ye turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God"; that is, that ye did it readily, that ye did it with much eagerness, that it did not require much labor to make you. "In order to serve," says he, "a living and true God." Here also he introduced an exhortation, which is the part of one who would make his discourse less offensive.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Thessalonica — A large and populous city on the Thermaic bay. It was the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia, and was ruled by a praetor. It was named after Thessalonica, the wife of Cassander,…
Conversion · Through the instrumentality of: Ministers — Through the instrumentality of: Ministers
Idolatry · Renounced on conversion — Renounced on conversion
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 1 Thessalonians 1:9
For they themselves show of us,.... Either the above reports of the preaching of the Gospel to the Thessalonians, and of their faith in God; or rather the persons to whom these reports were brought, openly and publicly, and largely declared concerning
the apostles, what manner of entering in we had unto you; under what difficulties they laboured, what contention they had with the unbelieving Jews, what reproaches were cast upon them, and what persecutions they endured when they first entered their city and synagogue, and preached the Gospel to them; and in what manner they did preach it, with what boldness, sincerity, uprightness and affection, and without flattery, covetousness, and vain g…
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
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;
9. Ipsi enim de vobis annuntiant, qualem habuerimus ingressum ad vos: et quomodo conversi fueritis ad Deum ab idolis, ut serviretis Deo viventi et vero:
10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
10. Et exspectaretis e c?lis Filium eius, quem excitavit a mortuis, Iesum qui nos liberat ab ira ventura.
He says that the report of their conversion had obtained great renown everywhere. What he mentions as to his entering in among them, refers…
Among the Gentiles, the message of the apostles was an exhortation to turn from false idols to serve the living and true God, who created all things (Acts 14:11-18; 17:22-31; 19:23-41). In a pluralistic religious environment, the call to forsake ancestral gods was unusual (cp. Jer 10:8-10; 1 Cor 8:4-6).
