Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Thessalonians 2:4
But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
4. but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak ] Again the A.V. misses the force of the Greek perfect: better, as we have been approved by God to be entrusted. “Allow” in older English bears the stronger sense of accept, approve (comp. Rom 14:22), but even so falls short of the meaning of St Paul. His word is the same that is rendered in the last clause of the verse as trieth (R. V., proveth); it includes both proving and approving, it is approving on trial, or testing: comp. ch. 1Th 5:21 (same Greek verb, “ Prove all things); and 1Co 3:13, “The fire will prove each man’s work.” The Apostle had been tested for his work, and tested by it; God had made proof of him as a minister of Christ, and he was shown to be worthy of his trust: tried, then trusted (comp. 1Ti 1:12). “To be put in trust with the gospel” is the highest conceivable responsibility; the sense of it is enough to exclude every base motive and deceitful practice (1Th 2:3). On Paul’s trust, read 1Ti 1:12-17 and Act 9:15-16: “He is a chosen vessel unto Me.”
so we speak ] under the sense of this solemn trust, with the sincerity and self-abnegation that our charge demands.
not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts ] R. V., proveth (see previous note): more precisely, pleasing God Him who proves our hearts. This last is an O.T. expression, a standing attribute of God: see Psa 17:3, Jer 11:20, &c.; also Act 1:24, “Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all.” “Unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid” (Book of Common Prayer).
The “heart,” in the language of the Bible, is not the seat of the feelings alone; it is “the inner man,” the real self, the centre and meeting-point of all our thoughts, feelings, and resolves. It is there that God proves us: “The Lord looketh upon the heart.” No impure motive or crafty expedient, such as might deceive men, escapes Him. The sense of this continual and omniscient scrutiny makes any kind of dishonesty impossible to the Apostle. Read 1Co 4:1-5; 2Co 5:9-12: “He that judgeth me is the Lord.”
It is God’s gospel that Paul and Silas have to preach; God had trusted them with it, and given them strength and courage to proclaim it (1Th 2:2); to God’s approval, therefore, they must look, and to that alone. “Men,” such as the magistrates of Philippi and the populace of Thessalonica, would be pleased only if the messengers of Christ were silenced. So the authorities of Jerusalem “charged Peter and John not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus;” but they answered: “If it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye” (Act 4:18-19). This sense of the sovereignty of God gives religion its invincible power; it is the conviction that makes martyrs. It is finely expressed in the Antigone of Sophocles (ll. 450 460), where the heroine replies to the tyrant Creon:
“Nor could I think thine edict of such might,
That one who is mortal thus should overrule
The infallible, unwritten laws of heaven.”
St Paul tells us elsewhere, and by way of example, that he “pleased all in all things for their good, unto edification” (1Co 10:33; Rom 15:2). To please men in that which displeases God, is to injure them: “If (in such circumstances) I pleased men, I should not be Christ’s slave” (Gal 1:10). That is, to be the slave of public opinion, often an ignorant, sometimes an unprincipled master.
1Th 2:3-4 are then a general disclaimer of unworthy motives on the part of the missionaries. Their bold testimony at Thessalonica ( 1Th 2:1-2) was due to two things their sincerity of heart, and their loyalty to God. Now we resume the account of the Apostle’s relations to the Thessalonians, confirming these professions:
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel – Compare 1Ti 1:11-12. Since there had been committed to us an office so high and holy, and so much demanding sincerity, fidelity, and honesty, we endeavored to act in all respects in conformity to the trust reposed in us. The gospel is a system of truth and sincerity, and we evinced the same. The gospel is concerned with great realities, and we did not resort to trick and illusion. The office of the ministry is most responsible, and we acted in view of the great account which we must render. The meaning is, that Paul had such a sense of the truth, reality, and importance of the gospel, and of his responsibility, as effectually to keep him from anything like craft or cunning in preaching it. An effectual restrainer from mere management and trick will always be found in a deep conviction of the truth and importance of religion. Artifice and cunning are the usual accompaniments of a bad cause – and, when adopted by a minister of the gospel, will usually, when detected, leave the impression that he feels that he is engaged in such a cause. If an object cannot be secured by sincerity and straight-forward dealing, it is not desirable that it should be secured at all.
Even so we speak – In accordance with the nature of the gospel; with the truth and sincerity which such a cause demands.
Not as pleasing men – Not in the manner of impostors, who make it their object to please people. The meaning of the apostle is, that he did not aim to teach such doctrines as would flatter people; as would win their applause; or as would gratify their passions or their fancy. We are not to suppose that he desired to offend people; or that he regarded their esteem as of no value; or that he was indifferent whether they were pleased or displeased; but that it was not the direct object of his preaching to please them. It was to declare the truth, and to obtain the approbation of God whatever people might think of it; see the notes on Gal 1:10.
Which trieth our hearts – It is often said to be an attribute of God that he tries or searches the hearts of people; 1Ch 28:9; 1Ch 29:17; Jer 11:20; Jer 17:10; Psa 11:4; Rom 8:27. The meaning here is, that the apostle had a deep conviction of the truth that God knew all his motives, and that all would be revealed in the last day.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. But as we were allowed of God] . As we were accounted worthy to be put in trust-as God put confidence in us, and sent us on his most especial message to mankind, even so we speak, keeping the dignity of our high calling continually in view; and, acting as in the sight of God, we speak not to please or flatter men, though our doctrine is the most consolatory that can be conceived, but to please that God who searcheth the heart, and before whom all our motives are constantly without a veil.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel: this verse gives the reasons of what the apostle spake in the former about his sincerity. The one is taken from his trust; God intrusted him with the gospel, to preserve it from corruption by error, therefore his exhortation or doctrine was not of error or deceit, but he preached the gospel in simplicity and purity; he did not, he durst not, adulterate or corrupt it, for it was committed to his trust; as he calls the gospel his trust, 1Ti 1:11. And the sense of this great trust kept him also from uncleanness and guile in the discharge of his ministry. And he had this trust by Gods appointment or approbation, God approved of him for this trust, and that upon knowledge and judgment, as the word signifies, , and as he speaks, 1Ti 1:12, he judged me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Not so before his conversion, being a persecutor, blasphemer, & c.; but God fitted him by extraordinary revelations, gifts, graces, and made him faithful, and then put him into the ministry, and intrusted him with the gospel. And because he speaks in the plural number,
we were allowed of God, & c., therefore Silvanus and Timotheus, yea, and other apostles and ministers, are to be understood as comprehended with him in this trust.
Even so we speak; that is, as men thus approved of by God, and intrusted with the gospel, that we may faithfully discharge our trust, and be able to give a good account of it, as stewards of their trust, 1Co 4:1,2.
Not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts: this is another reason of their faithfulness and integrity, mentioned in the foregoing verse, which was the sense of Gods omniscience, knowing and trying their hearts. Trying imports more than mere knowing, it is a knowledge upon search and proof, as gold and silver are known by the touchstone. And though God trieth the hearts of all men, yet especially such as are intrusted with the gospel. Or these last words may have a more immediate reference to the foregoing; we speak not as pleasing men, because we know God trieth our hearts. And this confirms what he said before concerning his exhortation, that it was not of deceit, uncleanness, or guile. If it had, he would have so preached as to please men; the opinions, the lusts, the practices of men. In some cases the apostle did seek to please men, 1Co 10:33, even as I please all men in all things. But he pleased not men when it stood in competition with his pleasing God; we speak, not as pleasing men, but God. Otherwise the rule takes place with all, Rom 15:2; Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. Ministers of the gospel are Christs servants by office, and, as servants, they are to please their own Master. If I pleased men, saith Paul, I should not be the servant of Christ, Gal 1:10. And this made the apostle have regard not only to his doctrine and outward conversation, but the inward aim and intentions of his heart, as knowing God tried his heart. And expecting the reward of his labours more from God than men, he therefore sought to please God rather than men, and approve his heart unto him. And herein he reflects upon those false apostles that sought to please men, preached up the law of Moses to please the Jews; or others, that preached and abused the doctrine of the gospel to gratify the lusts of men.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. asaccording as; even as.
allowedGreek,“We have been approved on trial,” “deemed fit.”This word corresponds to “God which trieth our hearts”below. This approval as to sincerity depends solely on the grace andmercy of God (Act 9:15; 1Co 7:25;2Co 3:5; 1Ti 1:11;1Ti 1:12).
not as pleasingnot aspersons who seek to please men; characteristic of false teachers (Ga1:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But as we were allowed of God,…. Or, “approved of God”; not that there were any previous fitness and worthiness in them to be ministers of the word; but such was the good will and pleasure of God, that he from all eternity chose and appointed them to this work; and in his own time by his grace called them to it, and by his gifts qualified them for it, who otherwise were unworthy of it, and insufficient for it:
to be put in trust with the Gospel; which is of great worth and value, a rich treasure, and of the last importance; which to be trusted with is a very great honour; and the discharge of such a trust requires great faithfulness, and which the apostles had:
even so we speak; the Gospel as delivered to them, both as to matter and manner; neither taking from it nor adding to it, nor mixing it with anything of their own, nor disguising it with any artifice:
not as pleasing men; to gain favour and affection, esteem, applause, and honour from them; to escape reproach and persecution, and obtain worldly advantages by dropping, concealing, or blending of truths to make them more agreeable to the taste of natural men:
but God, which trieth our hearts; studying to approve themselves to God, whose Gospel was committed to them, from whom they received gifts to preach it, and to whom they were accountable for all; and who being the searcher of the hearts, and the trier of the reins of the children of men, knows the intentions and designs of men, and the springs of all actions; and sees through all artifices, and from whom nothing can be hidden, and who will, in his own time, bring to light the hidden things of darkness; under a sense of which faithful ministers act, as of sincerity, and as in the sight of an omniscient God.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But even as we have been approved by God ( ). Perfect passive indicative of , old verb to put to the test, but here the tense for completed state means tested and proved and so approved by God. Paul here claims the call of God for his ministry and the seal of God’s blessing on his work and also for that of Silas and Timothy.
To be entrusted with the gospel ( ). First aorist passive infinitive of , common verb for believing, from (faith), but here to entrust rather than to trust. The accusative of the thing is retained in the passive according to regular Greek idiom as in 1Cor 9:17; Gal 2:7; Rom 3:2; 1Tim 1:11; Titus 1:3, though the active had the dative of the person.
So we speak ( ). Simple, yet confident claim of loyalty to God’s call and message. Surely this should be the ambition of every preacher of the gospel of God.
Not as pleasing men ( ). Dative case with as in Ga 1:10. Few temptations assail the preacher more strongly than this one to please men, even if God is not pleased, though with the dim hope that God will after all condone or overlook. Nothing but experience will convince some preachers how fickle is popular favour and how often it is at the cost of failure to please God. And yet the preacher wishes to win men to Christ. It is all as subtle as it is deceptive. God tests our hearts (the very verb used in the beginning of this verse) and he is the only one whose approval matters in the end of the day (1Co 4:5).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
We were allowed [] . More correctly, approved. See on 1Pe 1:7. We came and spoke to you as tested men.
Pleasing [] . As being those who seek to please. Comp. Gal 1:10, and ajnqrwpareskoi man – pleasers, Eph 6:6; Col 3:22. Comp. LXX, Psa 52:5 : “God hath scattered the bones of men – pleasers.” The fourth Psalm of Solomon is entitled : Against the men – pleasers [] .
Who proveth [] . Word – play with dedokimasmeqa we were approved.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But as we were allowed of God” (alla shall judge each of His children for granting or loss of rewards, 2Co 5:10-12.2) “To be put in trust with the gospel” (pisteuthenai to euangellion) “to be entrusted (with) the gospel”; 1Ti 1:11-12; The churches of Jerusalem and Antioch had both entrusted and commissioned these brethren to bear the story of Christ as missionaries.
3) “So we speak” (houtos laloumen) “Thus we speak, thus they spoke by a Divine calling, Act 9:5-20; Act 26:15-18; and by Divine authority of Church sending, as cited above.
4) “Not as pleasing men”, (ouch hos anthropois apeskontes) “not as (continually) pleasing men”, or merely for the purpose of pleasing men, as menpleasers, playing, by preaching to the grandstands, Eph 6:6; Col 3:22.
5) “But God, which trieth our hearts” (alla theo to dokimazonti tas kardias hemon) “but (continually pleasing) God, the one proving our hearts.” He is the one it counts to please–even our Lord pleased his Father first, Joh 8:29; Rom 15:1.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
4 As we have been approved. He goes even a step higher, for he appeals to God as the Author of his apostleship, and he reasons in this manner: “God, when he assigned me this office, bore witness to me as a faithful servant; there is no reason, therefore, why men should have doubts as to my fidelity, which they know to have been approved of by God. Paul, however, does not glory in having been approved of, as though he were such of himself; for he does not dispute here as to what he had by nature, nor does he place his own power in collision with the grace of God, but simply says that the Gospel had been committed to him as a faithful and approved servant. Now, God approves of those whom he has formed for himself according to his own pleasure.
Not as pleasing men. What is meant by pleasing men has been explained in the Epistle to the Galatians, (Gal 1:10) and this passage, also, shews it admirably. For Paul contrasts pleasing men, and pleasing God, as things that are opposed to each other. Farther, when he says — God, who trieth our hearts, he intimates, that those who endeavor to obtain the favor of men, are not influenced by an upright conscience, and do nothing from the heart. Let us know, therefore, that true ministers of the gospel ought to make it their aim to devote to God their endeavors, and to do it from the heart, not from any outward regard to the world, but because conscience tells them that it is right and proper. Thus it will be secured that they will not make it their aim to please men, that is, that they will not act under the influence of ambition, with a view to the favor of men.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Text (1Th. 2:4)
4 but even as we have been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our hearts.
Translation and Paraphrase
4.
Instead (of our message being rooted in such wicked motives as we have just mentioned, we govern ourselves by this standard, namely that) just as we have been tested (and approved) by God to be entrusted with the good news, in (just) that manner we speak, not as (those who are) seeking to please men, but (seeking to please) God, who (constantly) tests our hearts (to see if we are sincere).
Notes (1Th. 2:4)
1.
To put this verse briefly, it says, We did and said only what God approved us to say. Paul did not preach anything motivated by deceit, uncleanness, or guile (1Th. 2:3), but only what God approved him to say.
2.
God told Jonah the prophet to preach unto Nineveh the preaching that I bid thee. (Jon. 3:2) God approved Jonah to preach only a certain message. Likewise God gave Paul a certain message to deliver. Paul delivered what he was supposed to, and nothing else. It is always a temptation to inject our own feelings, opinions, and hobbies into our preaching. We do well in our preaching not to go beyond what is written. (1Co. 4:6; American Stan. Vers.). Speak where the Scriptures speak, and leave our own opinions out.
3.
The word translated allowed actually means approved, particularly that which is approved by testing. People test metals like gold by melting them over fire. If no impurities come to the top, then the gold is said to be tested or approved, or tried by fire. God likewise tests and approves us. No greater honor could come to us than to be approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.
To be put in trust with the gospel is the highest conceivable responsibility; the sense of it is enough to exclude every base motive and deceitful practice. (Findlay)
4.
There are two words in this verse that are translations of the same word. The King James version does not make this apparent. (Our translation indicates it.) The words are allowed and trieth.
(1)
Allowed (Gr., dedokimasmetha) means tested or approved.
(2)
Trieth (dokimadzonti) means tests.
God tests us for our ability and sincerity. If we measure up to His requirements, we are declared to be tested and approved to do whatever God sees fit.
5.
Many Scriptures teach us that God tests and tries human hearts, so as to know their innermost secrets. The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but Jehovah trieth the hearts. (Pro. 17:3; Amer. Stan. vers.) See also Jer. 11:20; 1Co. 4:5; Rom. 2:16.
6.
Gods testing of our hearts is a continual thing. The verb trieth is in the present tense, indicating continuous action. God must continually test our hearts, for sin can creep into them at any time and change them from good to evil.
7.
It was always a joy to Paul to think that he had not only been forgiven for his fierce unbelieving past, but even entrusted with preaching the gospel he had once opposed. 1Ti. 1:12 : I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. See also 1Ti. 1:11; Eph. 3:2-3; Eph. 3:7-8.
8.
Since God had given Paul the gospel, Paul tried to please God, rather than men. There is much in the gospel that is distasteful to the natural manits humiliating exposure of our sin and helplessness, its demands for our acceptance of Gods will, the fact that it claims to be the only unchangeable truth, and the severity of its judgments upon those who reject. A preacher can become popular by saying only what the people want to hear. See Isa. 30:9-10; 2Ti. 4:3-4. Paul would not do this, and we dare not do it either. Remember, God is testing our hearts continually!
9.
In one way, however, Paul did seek to please men. See 1Co. 9:19-22, especially 1Co. 9:22 b: I am become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. If Paul could gain the good will of people without compromising Gods message, he certainly did so, even if that meant extra effort and discomfort to him. When he was among Jews, he ate Jewish food and lived like a Jew insofar as doing so did not violate the gospel. Thus also he did among Gentiles. By doing this, he was able to win more people.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(4) Were allowed.Rather, have been, and in 1Th. 2:3 is, not was. St. Paul is arguing from his habitual practice. But we speak after the manner of men who remember that God Himself has tried them, and has been satisfied to entrust the gospel to them, making it our business to please, not men, but God who thus tries our hearts (1Co. 4:1-2). The word translated allowed implies examining and approving (as in Luk. 14:19; 1Ti. 3:10; 1Pe. 1:7; 1Jn. 4:1), and is repeated emphatically (trans lated trieth): being examined and approved by God, we study to please Him who constantly examines and approves us, not to court those to whom we are sent. St. Paul expresses here, as elsewhere, a total disregard of mens opinions about him (1Co. 4:3; Gal. 1:10).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. God gospel His announcement was traceable to no mythology, but to God himself. And as in trust from the absolutely pure, we were pure above all mere human purity.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Th 2:4. But, as we were allowed, &c. But as we have been approved of God to be intrusted, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Th 2:4 . The contrast.
] not equivalent to because , quoniam (Flatt), but according as , or in conformity with this.
] denotes to prove , to try , then to esteem worthy , so that it corresponds to the verb , 2Th 1:11 . Comp. Plut. Thes. 12: , .
denotes, accordingly, not the divine act of the purification of the human character (Moldenhauer), but the being esteemed worthy on the part of God; not, however, as a reward of human merit, or a recognition of a disposition not taken up with earthly things (Chrysostom: , ; Theophylact: , ); also, not as an anticipation that Paul and his associates would preach the gospel without pleasing men (Oecumenius: ), but as a manifestation of the free and gracious counsel of God (Theodoret, Grotius, Pelt). The chief idea, however, is not (so Hofmann), but .
The passive form: , is according to the well-known Greek idiom, of using in the passive the nominative of the person, even in verbs which in the active govern the genitive or dative. Comp. Rom 3:2 ; 1Co 9:17 ; Gal 2:7 ; Khner, II. p. 34; Winer, p. 205 [E. T. 286].
] emphatically: even in this condition, even according to this rule . It does not refer to the following (Flatt), but to the preceding , and denotes that the gospel preaching of the apostle and his associates was in correspondence with the grace and obligation imparted to them.
. . .] explains and defines the whole preceding sentence: .
] is here, on account of the concluding words . . ., not to please , to find approbation, but to seek to please . For, in reference to God, the apostle, according to his whole religious views and habits of thought, could only predicate of himself an endeavour to please, but not the actual fact that he pleased Him. It would, however, be erroneous to put this meaning into the verb itself ; [33] it arises only when the present or imperfect is employed, because these tenses may be used de conatu . See Pflugk, ad Eur. Hel. V. 1085; Stallb. ad Plat. Gorg. p. 185, and ad Protag. p. 46; Khner, II. p. 67.
] may either be (1) a pure particle of comparison: not as men-pleasers, but as such who seek to please God; or (2) may mark the condition: not as such who, etc.; or lastly, (3) may emphasize the perversity which would exist, if the apostle was accused of : not as if we sought to please men. In the two first cases extends over the second member of the sentence: . . ., in the last only over . The second meaning is to be preferred, as according to it . . . corresponds best to the qualifying words expressive of the apostle’s mode of preaching (1Th 2:3 ).
] who proves, searches our hearts . refers to the speaker. To understand it generally , with Koppe, Pelt, Koch, and Bloomfield, is indeed possible, but not to be commended, as the general form , without the addition of , would be expected. Comp. Rom 8:27 ; Rev 2:23 ; Psa 7:10 . Moreover, Paul speaks neither here nor in 1Th 2:7 ff. of himself only , as de Wette thinks “very probable” in 1Th 2:3-4 , but “certain” in 1Th 2:7 , but includes his associates mentioned in 1Th 1:1 . If the apostle spoke only of himself, he would not have put (1Th 2:4 ) and (1Th 2:8 ), but would have written both times the singular, and .
[33] So Wieseler on Gal 1:10 , who, however, explains it not “to seek to please,” but “to live to please;” and after him, Hofmann and Mhler in the 3d ed. of de Wette’s Commentary.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
Ver. 4. But as we were allowed ] Enabled and counted faithful,1Ti 1:121Ti 1:12 .
Not as pleasing men ] See Trapp on “ Gal 1:10 “ Men be they pleased or displeased, God must not be displeased.
But God ] Who looketh upon displeasing service as a double dishonour.
Which trieth our hearts ] And so knoweth our aims, Quicquid igitur agas, propter Deum agas. Propter te, Deum agas, propter te, as he cried. It stands me upon, saith one, to see, that though my work be but mean, yet it may be clean; though not fine, yet not foul, soiled and slubbered with the slur of a rotten heart, since it is God I have to deal with. (Drus. Apophth.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4 .] , according as , in proportion as.
. ] see reff., we have been approved, thought fit : cf. , 1Ti 1:12 . Lnem. cites Plut. Thes. 12: , . We must not introduce any ascertained fitness of them in themselves into the idea ( , Thl.: so Chr., c., Olsh.): it is only the free choice of God which is spoken of. On . . see reff., and Winer, edn. 6, 32. 5.
answers not to the following , but to the preceding , and is emphatic ‘ even so .’
, in the strict sense of the present tense , going about to please, striving to please .
belongs to the whole sentence, not merely to . . (as Ln.): for in that case the second member would involve almost too harsh an ellipsis.
, of us , not said generally, of all men: but of us, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus. As Lnem. justly observes against De W., here and . below, are conclusive against imagining that St. Paul in this place is speaking of himself alone . Yet Conyb. renders it, ‘ my heart ,’ and . ., ‘ my own life .’
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Th 2:4 . “As God, who tests our hearts, has attested our fitness to be entrusted with the gospel,” a characteristic play on the word. The definite commission of the gospel excluded any weak attempt to flatter men’s prejudices or to adapt oneself to their tastes. Hence the thought of the following verse.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
allowed = tested, and so approved. Greek. dokimazo. Same as “trieth”, and as “prove” (1Th 5:21).
be put in trust with. App-150.
pleasing men. Compare Gal 1:1, Gal 1:10.
men. App-123.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
4.] , according as, in proportion as.
.] see reff.,-we have been approved,-thought fit: cf. , 1Ti 1:12. Lnem. cites Plut. Thes. 12: , . We must not introduce any ascertained fitness of them in themselves into the idea ( , Thl.: so Chr., c., Olsh.): it is only the free choice of God which is spoken of. On . . see reff., and Winer, edn. 6, 32. 5.
answers not to the following , but to the preceding , and is emphatic-even so.
, in the strict sense of the present tense,-going about to please,-striving to please.
belongs to the whole sentence, not merely to . . (as Ln.): for in that case the second member would involve almost too harsh an ellipsis.
, of us,-not said generally, of all men: but of us, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus. As Lnem. justly observes against De W., here and . below, are conclusive against imagining that St. Paul in this place is speaking of himself alone. Yet Conyb. renders it, my heart, and . ., my own life.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Th 2:4. , we have been proved [approved]) Refer to this word, , who proveth and trieth, which presently occurs.-) careful to please.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Th 2:4
but even as we have been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak;-Of his preparation for this momentous work it is said that after his baptism he was certain days with the disciples that were at Damascus. And straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son of God. (Act 9:19-20.) After this it was ten years before Barnabas came to him in Tarsus to find a fellow worker and to introduce him into a wider sphere of service. (Act 11:25-26.)
[Up to this time he had visited Arabia, returned to Damascus, and thence after three years went to Jerusalem, where he was with the disciples going in and going out. . . preaching boldly in the name of the Lord: and he spake and disputed against the Grecian Jews; but they were seeking to kill him. And when the brethren knew it, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. (Act 9:28-30.) Of his residence in Tarsus nothing is revealed, but he had commended himself and had become so widely known that Barnabas sought his assistance at a critical stage of the important work at Antioch. (Act 11:25.) This was a period of testing, but his days of probation were not yet fulfilled. Three years more of new and varied experiences had to pass before he was definitely called by the Holy Spirit and separated by his brethren to the work among the Gentiles, for which God had set him apart, and concerning which the Lord Jesus had spoken to him on the Damascus road some fourteen years before, saying: I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me. (Act 26:15-18.)]
not as pleasing men,-He had been faithful to preach the gospel, but not to please and make himself popular with men. [The desire to be pleasing to men is to use them for ones own exaltation, to make them the stepping-stones on which he seeks to rise to eminence. To put oneself in that relation to others is an ungodly thing. Such men give ground to slander, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ. True devotion to God is love, the nature of which is not to take, but to give.]
but God-His purpose was to please God who had entrusted him with the gospel of his Son, which is to save all men from sin and suffering.
who proveth our hearts.-God proves and tests the heart. He accepts no service save as it comes from the heart. He contrasts the service which comes from the heart with that which is to gratify the flesh. The fleshly heart is the center and active force in stirring and using all the faculties of the fleshly body. Without the activity of the heart, the eyes could not see, nor the ears hear, nor the brain think. The eye is not the body or the fleshly heart, yet it is a faculty of both, so are all the senses and organs of the body. Within the fleshly body dwells the spiritual body. That body has faculties, members, and organs; only they are spiritual faculties and organs. The mind, the emotions, the volitions are all members or organs of the spiritual body, but no one of them is the body. The spiritual heart is the center and the life of this spiritual body and directs and uses these faculties. The heart is frequently used to represent the whole inner or spiritual man. It thinks through the mind: loves or hates through its emotions; sees, wills, and purposes through the volition; and believes and trusts, decides and acts, through the harmonious action of all its faculties. Common experience ought to show that the mind alone is not the heart. Many things are memorized and retained in the mind, of which the heart does not take hold at all; they do not arouse the emotions or volitions, consequently do not affect the heart. The mind perceives, discriminates, and decides what is true or false; carries this decision to the heart; and the heart believes or disbelieves. The Bible nowhere says the mind believes; the heart believes; and the scriptures require that the gospel shall be believed with the whole heart. The intellect approves, the emotions lay hold of the truth, and the volition, or the will, acts on it. [God, who at first approved of Paul as fit for the work among the Gentiles, continued to approve him throughout the whole of his discharge of its functions.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
as we: 1Co 7:25, Eph 3:8, 1Ti 1:11-13
to be: Luk 12:42, Luk 16:11, 1Co 4:1, 1Co 4:2, 1Co 9:17, Gal 2:7, 1Ti 1:11, 1Ti 1:12, 1Ti 6:20, 2Ti 1:14, 2Ti 2:2, Tit 1:3
not: 1Co 2:4, 1Co 2:5, 2Co 4:2, 2Co 5:11, 2Co 5:16, Gal 1:10, Eph 6:6, Col 3:22
but God: Num 27:16, 1Ki 8:39, 1Ch 29:17, Psa 7:9, Psa 17:3, Psa 44:21, Psa 139:1, Psa 139:2, Pro 17:3, Jer 17:10, Jer 32:19, Joh 2:24, Joh 2:25, Joh 21:17, Rom 8:27, Heb 4:13, Rev 2:23
Reciprocal: Deu 1:17 – ye shall not Deu 33:9 – Who said Jdg 6:27 – and did 2Ki 16:16 – General 2Ch 18:13 – even what my God Job 33:3 – the Mat 22:16 – neither Mar 12:14 – we know Luk 20:21 – sayest Act 12:3 – he saw Act 20:27 – I have Rom 2:29 – whose 2Ti 2:4 – that he 2Ti 2:15 – approved Heb 11:5 – that he
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Th 2:4. Put in trust is rendered “be entrusted” by The Englishman’s Greek New Testament, which expresses the idea better. It denotes that even an apostle was to handle the word of God as a faithful agent, and not as if he were managing his own business. As long as he or any other disciple holds the law of the Lord in that light, he will not violate Rev 22:18-19. That is why Paul says he was speaking not as pleasing men, but God. Trieth our hearts. The first word is defined to mean “to examine” or “scrutinize.” If Paul should handle the Gospel with a view to pleasing men, that motive would be seen by the Lord when He examined his heart (or mind).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Th 2:4. Approved by God. This expression indicates a selection on the part of God of men suitable for the work which He designed to do. Paul was chosen to be an apostle, because of a natural fitness for the office. But it is not on any natural fitness Paul leans for his authority, but on God who gave him his commission. And he refers to this here, not for the sake of magnifying his own gifts, but for the sake of bringing out his responsibility to God. We speak as men responsible to God, and are thereby preserved from unworthy motives.
Who trieth. God, who at first approved of Paul as fit for the office, continues to prove him throughout the whole course of his discharge of its functions.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
but even as we have been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our hearts. [Instead of preaching the old falsehoods which had so long pleased the wicked of Thessalonica, Paul had come as a trustee of God commissioned to preach the gospel, and he had preached it realizing his accountability as to the trust imposed upon him.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 4
To be put in trust with; to be intrusted with.–Even so; that is, in accordance with the source of the commission,–namely, one received from God.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
2:4 {4} But as we were {c} allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which {d} trieth our hearts.
(4) To approve his conscience to God, being free from all flattery and covetousness.
(c) There is this difference between the judgments of God and the judgments of men, that when men choose, they give regard to the qualities of those things which stand before them, but God finds the reason of his counsel only in himself. Therefore, it follows that seeing as we are not able to think a good thought, that whoever he first chooses to those callings, he does not find them able but indeed makes them able. And therefore in that we are empowered of God, it depends upon his mercy.
(d) Who approves and allows them.