1 Thessalonians 2:16

1 Thessalonians 2:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
• New International Version (NIV)in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
• English Standard Version (ESV)by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!
• New King James Version (NKJV)forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.

Context of 1 Thessalonians 2:16

14Our Christian friends, you have received the same kind of trouble that the people in the churches of Judea received. People in your own country have caused you to have trouble and pain. The same thing happened to the people in Judea who believed in Christ Jesus. They received trouble from their own Jewish people. 15People like that even killed the Lord Jesus. They killed God's prophets, too. They also did bad things against us, so that we had to leave their towns. They make God become angry. They are enemies of all people, because they try to stop us speaking to Gentiles. They do not want God to save anyone from another nation. In this way, they continue to do more and more bad things. When their sins become too many, God has to stop them. He has become so angry that he has punished them completely. 17Our friends, we have had to go away from you for a short time. But we have not stopped thinking about you. We have wanted more and more to come to see you again. 18Yes, we really wanted to return to you. Certainly, I, Paul, tried again and again to come to you, but Satan stopped us.

1 Thessalonians 2:16 word by word

κωλυόντων ἡμᾶς τοῖς ἔθνεσιν λαλῆσαι ἵνα σωθῶσιν, εἰς τὸ ἀναπληρῶσαι αὐτῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας πάντοτε· ἔφθασεν δὲ ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς ἡ ὀργὴ εἰς τέλος.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Forbiddingκωλύωkōluō · to preventG2967
• usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• to speakλαλέωlaleō · to speakG2980
• to the Gentilesἔθνοςethnos · GentilesG1484
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• they might be savedσῴζωsōzō · to saveG4982
• toεἰςeis · towardG1519
• fill upἀναπληρόωanaplēroō · to fulfilG378
• theirαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• sinsἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
• alwayπάντοτεpantote · alwaysG3842
• forδέde · thenG1161
• the wrathὀργήorgē · wrathG3709
• is comeφθάνωphthanō · to precede/arriveG5348
• uponἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• the uttermostτέλοςtelos · goal/taxG5056

Cross-references for 1 Thessalonians 2:16

• Acts 11:2Peter then returned from Caesarea and he arrived in Jerusalem. Some of the Jews there who were believers spoke against him. These Jews thought that all believers should be circumcised.
• Acts 13:50But the Jewish leaders spoke to the important men in the city. They also spoke to some rich women who worshipped God. The Jewish leaders told them bad things about Paul and Barnabas. So these important people started to speak against Paul and Barnabas. They caused Paul and Barnabas to leave that region.
• Acts 14:5Some of the Jews and the Gentiles met with their leaders. They decided to do bad things to Paul and Barnabas. They wanted to throw stones at them and kill them.
• Acts 17:5Some other Jews in the city were jealous of Paul and Silas, because people believed their message. So they went to the city's market place and they found some bad men there. These men often caused trouble in the city. Now the Jews brought these men to come together with them in an angry crowd. This crowd made a lot of noise and trouble in the streets of the city. They went to Jason's house and they broke down his door. They wanted to find Paul and Silas. They wanted to bring them out of the house to the crowd.
• Acts 18:12Gallio then became the Roman ruler of the region called Achaia. At this time the Jewish leaders in Corinth decided together to speak against Paul. So they took hold of him and they brought him to Gallio. They wanted Gallio to judge Paul.
• Acts 19:9But some of them did not accept what Paul said. They refused to believe the message about Jesus. Some of them said bad things against the Way of the Lord Jesus and many people in the group heard this. So Paul stopped speaking to people in that meeting place. He left there and he took with him the other believers. Every day he talked with people in another place. It was a large room, where a man called Tyrannus usually taught people.
• Acts 21:27At the end of those seven days, some Jews from Asia region saw Paul in the temple. They said some bad things against Paul to the crowd. So the people became angry and they took hold of Paul.
• Acts 22:21But the Lord said to me, “Go! I will now send you a long way away. You must go to the Gentiles and tell them my message.” ’
• Galatians 5:11My Christian friends, do you think that I still teach that someone must circumcise believers? If I really taught that, then I would not still receive trouble from people. What I teach about Christ's death on the cross would not cause anyone to become angry.
• Ephesians 3:8I am the least important of all God's people. But God has given this special work to me because he is so kind. He has sent me to tell his good news to the Gentiles. Then they know about the many valuable things that Christ has prepared for us.
• Isaiah 45:22So turn to me and I will make you safe. I say that to everybody all over the world. Turn to me, because I am God. There is nobody else like me.
• Mark 16:16If a person believes in me, then you should baptize that person. And God will save that person. But if a person does not believe, God will judge that person to be guilty.
• Acts 4:12Then Peter said, ‘Only Jesus can save people. There has never been another person in the world that could do this. God has not given any other man the authority to save us.’
• Romans 10:13As it says in the Bible: ‘The Lord God will save everyone who asks him for help.’
• 2 Thessalonians 2:10He will do all kinds of bad things that deceive people. The people that he deceives are people that God will destroy. Those people believe false things because they have refused to accept God's true message. If they had loved that true message, God would have saved them.
• 1 Timothy 2:4He wants to save all people. He wants everyone to know his message about what is true.

Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 2:16

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles - see Acts 17:5, Acts 17:13. No particular instance is mentioned in the life of Paul previous to this, when they had formally commanded him not to preach to the pagan, but no one can doubt that this was one of the leading points of difference between him and them. Paul maintained that the Jews and Gentiles were now on a level with regard to salvation; that the wall of partition was broken down; that the Jew had no…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-16Verses 13-16 We should receive the word of God with affections suitable to its holiness, wisdom, truth, and goodness. The words of men are frail and perishing, like themselves, and sometimes false, foolish, and fickle; but God's word is holy, wise, just, and faithful. Let us receive and regard it accordingly. The word wrought in them, to make them examples to others in faith and good works, and in patience under sufferings, and in trials for the sake of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16The mission to the Gentiles was one of the most important issues in the early church (Acts 11:18; 13:46–49; 28:28; Romans 1:16). Judgment comes when sins increase to full capacity (Genesis 15:16; Daniel 8:23; compare Matthew 23:31–36).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. Forbidding--Greek, "Hindering us from speaking," &c. to fill up their sins alway--Tending thus "to the filling up (the full measure of, Ge 15:16; Da 8:23; Mt 23:32) their sins at all times," that is, now as at all former times. Their hindrance of the Gospel preaching to the Gentiles was the last measure added to their continually accumulating iniquity, which made them fully ripe for vengeance. for--Greek, "but." "But," they shall proceed no further…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Thessalonians 2:16

• Bigotry
• Gentiles

In the dictionaries

• Affectionately
• Bold
• Chargeable
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• Desire
• Joy
• Paul, the Apostle
• Retribution
• Thessalonians, the First Epistle of Paul to the
• Thessalonians, the Second Epistle of Paul to the

Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings