Paavali
The Thessalonians Persecuted by Their Own Countrymen
Paul commends the Thessalonians for receiving God's word as it truly is, and tells them that they became imitators of God's churches in Judea. They suffered the same from their own countrymen as the churches in Judea suffered from the Jews – those who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, persecuted the apostles, and hindered the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul concludes by saying that wrath has finally come upon them.
1. Tessalonikalaiskirje 2,13-16
13And for this reason we also thank God constantly: when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it truly is, the word of God, which is also at work in you who believe.
⸀Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ θεῷ ἀδιαλείπτως, ὅτι παραλαβόντες λόγον ἀκοῆς παρʼ ἡμῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐδέξασθε οὐ λόγον ἀνθρώπων ἀλλὰ καθὼς ⸂ἀληθῶς ἐστὶν⸃ λόγον θεοῦ, ὃς καὶ ἐνεργεῖται ἐν ὑμῖν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν.
14since you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,[^1]
[^1]: Here the reference is to those Jewish leaders and opponents who persecuted the churches in Judea, not to the Jewish people as a whole; the apostle and the Judean churches were themselves Jewish.
ὑμεῖς γὰρ μιμηταὶ ἐγενήθητε, ἀδελφοί, τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν οὐσῶν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ὅτι τὰ αὐτὰ ἐπάθετε καὶ ὑμεῖς ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων συμφυλετῶν καθὼς καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων
15who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out; they do not please God and are hostile to everyone,
τῶν καὶ τὸν κύριον ἀποκτεινάντων Ἰησοῦν καὶ ⸀τοὺς προφήτας καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐκδιωξάντων, καὶ θεῷ μὴ ἀρεσκόντων, καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐναντίων,
16hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last.
κωλυόντων ἡμᾶς τοῖς ἔθνεσιν λαλῆσαι ἵνα σωθῶσιν, εἰς τὸ ἀναπληρῶσαι αὐτῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας πάντοτε. ἔφθασεν δὲ ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἡ ⸀ὀργὴ εἰς τέλος.