New English Translation
1 Thessalonians 1:9
9For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
1 Thessalonians 1:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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;
- New International Version (NIV)for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
- English Standard Version (ESV)For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
- New King James Version (NKJV)For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
Context of 1 Thessalonians 1:9
7As a result you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8For from you the message of the Lord has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread, so that we do not need to say anything. For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.
Read all of 1 Thessalonians 11 Thessalonians 1:9 word by word
αὐτοὶ γὰρ περὶ ἡμῶν ἀπαγγέλλουσιν ὁποίαν εἴσοδον ἔσχομεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ πῶς ἐπεστρέψατε πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων δουλεύειν θεῷ ζῶντι καὶ ἀληθινῷRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Forγάρgar · forG1063
- theyἀπαγγέλλωapaggellō · to announceG518
- themselvesαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- ofπερίperi · aboutG4012
- usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- what manner ofὁποῖοςhopoios · what sort?G3697
- entering inεἴσοδοςeisodos · entryG1529
- we hadἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
- untoπρόςpros · to/withG4314
- youσύsu · youG4771
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- howπῶςpōs · how?!G4459
- ye turnedἐπιστρέφωepistrephō · to turnG1994
- Godὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
- idolsεἴδωλονeidōlon · idolG1497
- to serveδουλεύωdouleuō · be a slaveG1398
- the livingζάωzaō · to liveG2198
- trueἀληθινόςalēthinos · trueG228
Cross-references for 1 Thessalonians 1:9
- 1 Thessalonians 1:5in that our gospel did not come to you merely in words, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (surely you recall the character we displayed when we came among you to help you).
- 1 Thessalonians 2:1For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, about our coming to you – it has not proven to be purposeless.
- Isaiah 2:17Proud men will be humiliated, arrogant men will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
- Jeremiah 16:19Then I said, “Lord, you give me strength and protect me. You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. Nations from all over the earth will come to you and say, ‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods – worthless idols that could not help them at all.
- Zephaniah 2:11The Lord will terrify them, for he will weaken all the gods of the earth. All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands.
- Zechariah 8:20The Lord who rules over all says, ‘It will someday come to pass that people – residents of many cities – will come.
- Malachi 1:11For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord who rules over all.
- Acts 14:15“Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them.
- Acts 26:17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you
- 1 Corinthians 12:2You know that when you were pagans you were often led astray by speechless idols, however you were led.
- Galatians 4:8Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all.
- Deuteronomy 5:26Who is there from the entire human race who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived?
- 1 Samuel 17:26David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?”
- Psalms 42:2I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?”
- Psalms 84:2I desperately want to be in the courts of the Lord’s temple. My heart and my entire being shout for joy to the living God.
- Isaiah 37:4Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. So pray for this remnant that remains.’”
Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 1:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9How 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…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9For they themselves - They who have visited you, and they whom you have sent out; all persons testify of your piety. The apostle seems to refer to all whom he had met or had heard of “in all places,” who said anything about the Thessalonians They were unanimous in bearing testimony to their fidelity and piety. Show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you - The testimony which they bear of you is, in fact, testimony of the manner in which we…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-10Verses 6-10 When careless, ignorant, and immoral persons are turned from their carnal pursuits and connexions, to believe in and obey the Lord Jesus, to live soberly, righteously, and godly, the matter speaks for itself. The believers under the Old Testament waited for the coming of the Messiah, and believers now wait for his second coming. He is yet to come. And God had raised him from the dead, which is a full assurance unto all men that he will come to…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9Among the Gentiles (non-Jewish people), the apostles called people to turn away from false gods and worship the living and true God, who created all things (Acts 14:11–18; 17:22–31; 19:23–41). In a society where many religions existed side by side, it was unusual to ask people to abandon the gods worshiped by their families and communities (see Jeremiah 10:8–10; 1 Corinthians 8:4–6).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. 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 1Th 1:5, which corresponds to this former clause, as 1Th 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…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Thessalonians 1:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 1
- 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
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