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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 had unto you" (Th1 1:5; Th1 2:1). the living and true God--as opposed to the dead and false gods from which they had "turned." In the English Version reading, Act 17:4, "of the devout Greeks a great multitude," no mention is made, as here, of the conversion of idolatrous Gentiles at Thessalonica; but the reading of some of the oldest manuscripts and Vulgate singularly coincides with the statement here: "Of the devout AND of Greeks (namely, idolaters) a great multitude"; so in Act 17:17, "the devout persons," that is, Gentile proselytes to Judaism, form a separate class. PALEY and LACHMANN, by distinct lines of argument, support the "AND."

After the introduction (Th1 1:1) the apostle begins with a thanksgiving to God for the saving benefits bestowed on them (Th1 1:2-5). And then mentions the sure evidences of the good success of the gospel among them, which was notorious and famous in several other places (Th1 1:6-10).

1:9 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).