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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
1 Th 3 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13
OET (OET-LV) But now having_come Timotheos to us from you_all, and having_good_message_preached to_us about_the faith and the love of_you_all, and that you_all_are_having a_mentioning of_us good always, longing us to_see, just_as also we you_all.
OET (OET-RV) But now Timothy’s returned here to us, telling us the good news about your faith and love, and how you’re always mentioning good things about us and wanting to see us, just like we’d like to see all of you.
Timothy had returned from Thessalonica with the good news that the Thessalonians still affectionately remembered Paul and his companions and that they still trusted in God and loved other people. This encouraged Paul greatly. The news made him pray even more fervently that he and his companions might be able to visit the Thessalonians again.
But just now, Timothy has returned from his visit
¶ But now Timothy has come back to us(excl) after visiting you
But: The way this verse begins in Greek indicates that Paul was beginning a new section. It possibly also contrasts the joy that Paul felt when Timothy brought his good news with the fear that Paul had been writing about in 3:5.
just now: Biblical scholars do not agree about which other word the Greek word arti (now) is connected to. There are two possibilities:
It is connected to the verb “come.” Most English versions follow this.
It is connected to the verb “reassured” in 3:7b. This is probably what the RSV follows.
It is recommended that you follow the first option (1), as the position of arti in the Greek sentence suggests that it is probably connected to the verb “come.”
with the good news about your faith, your love,
and has told us(excl) the good news that you still believe in Christ and you still love other people.
the good news about your faith: This refers to the good news that the Thessalonians were still continuing to believe strongly in Christ.
your love: Paul did not make explicit here whom the Thessalonians loved. It could refer to God, Jesus, Paul and his companions, the other Thessalonian believers, or just people in general. All are possible and suggested in commentaries. However, most commentators think that here Paul meant love for other people. If possible, you should leave this ambiguous, since it is in ambiguous the Greek text. But if you must supply an object for the verb “love” in your language, you should say “love other people.”
and the fond memories you have preserved,
He has also told us(excl) that you still remember us(excl) affectionately
and the fond memories you have preserved: Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
you always think about us affectionately
every time you remember us, it makes you happy
longing to see us
and that you greatly desire to see us(excl) again,
longing to see us: The verb longing means “greatly desiring.”
just as we long to see you.
just as we(excl) greatly desire to see you.
just as: There are two different ways to understand what just as means:
It means “in the same way as”. (BSB, KJV, NIV, RSV, NASB, GW).
It means “just as much as”. (GNT, REB, NJB, CEV, NCV).
It is recommended that you follow the first meaning (1).
we long to see you: In Greek there is no verb in this part of the sentence, but the BSB has repeated the verb long in order to make the meaning clear.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast
δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἄρτι Δέ ἐλθόντος Τιμοθέου πρός ἡμάς ἀφʼ ὑμῶν καί εὐαγγελισαμένου ἡμῖν τήν πίστιν καί τήν ἀγάπην ὑμῶν καί ὅτι ἔχετε μνείαν ἡμῶν ἀγαθήν πάντοτε ἐπιποθοῦντες ἡμάς ἰδεῖν καθάπερ καί ἡμεῖς ὑμᾶς)
Here, the word But introduces what actually happened in contrast to what Paul was worried about. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that contrasts a concern with what actually happened. Alternate translation: [Despite my fears,] or [But here is what really happened:]
Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-time-background
ἄρτι
now
Here, the phrase just now introduces the event that prompted Paul to write this letter, 1 Thessalonians. When Paul writes that Timothy returned just now, he is referring to the time immediately before he began writing this letter. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces something that happened right before a person starts speaking about it. Alternate translation: [just before I started writing this letter,] or [a short while ago,]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive
πρὸς ἡμᾶς & ἡμῖν & ἡμῶν & ἡμᾶς & ἡμεῖς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἄρτι Δέ ἐλθόντος Τιμοθέου πρός ἡμάς ἀφʼ ὑμῶν καί εὐαγγελισαμένου ἡμῖν τήν πίστιν καί τήν ἀγάπην ὑμῶν καί ὅτι ἔχετε μνείαν ἡμῶν ἀγαθήν πάντοτε ἐπιποθοῦντες ἡμάς ἰδεῖν καθάπερ καί ἡμεῖς ὑμᾶς)
Every time the words us or we appear in this verse, they include Paul and Silvanus, but they do not include Timothy or the Thessalonians, so use the exclusive form of that word in your translation if your language marks that distinction.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην ὑμῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἄρτι Δέ ἐλθόντος Τιμοθέου πρός ἡμάς ἀφʼ ὑμῶν καί εὐαγγελισαμένου ἡμῖν τήν πίστιν καί τήν ἀγάπην ὑμῶν καί ὅτι ἔχετε μνείαν ἡμῶν ἀγαθήν πάντοτε ἐπιποθοῦντες ἡμάς ἰδεῖν καθάπερ καί ἡμεῖς ὑμᾶς)
If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas of faith and love, you could express the same ideas in another way. Paul implies that the faith is in God and love is for other people. Alternate translation: [that you continue to believe in God and love other people]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
ἔχετε μνείαν ἡμῶν ἀγαθὴν πάντοτε
˱you_all˲_˓are˒_having ˓a˒_mentioning ˱of˲_us (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἄρτι Δέ ἐλθόντος Τιμοθέου πρός ἡμάς ἀφʼ ὑμῶν καί εὐαγγελισαμένου ἡμῖν τήν πίστιν καί τήν ἀγάπην ὑμῶν καί ὅτι ἔχετε μνείαν ἡμῶν ἀγαθήν πάντοτε ἐπιποθοῦντες ἡμάς ἰδεῖν καθάπερ καί ἡμεῖς ὑμᾶς)
Here, the clause you always have good memory of us indicates that the Thessalonians remembered Paul and his fellow workers as people whom they liked and would want to meet again. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable clause or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [you always have pleasant memories about us] or [you always remember us fondly]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐπιποθοῦντες
longing
Here, the word longing could introduce: (1) another thing that the Thessalonians do. If you use the following alternate translation, you should delete the comma before longing. Alternate translation: [and that you long] (2) a result of the kind of memory that the Thessalonians have. Alternate translation: [so that you long]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμᾶς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἄρτι Δέ ἐλθόντος Τιμοθέου πρός ἡμάς ἀφʼ ὑμῶν καί εὐαγγελισαμένου ἡμῖν τήν πίστιν καί τήν ἀγάπην ὑμῶν καί ὅτι ἔχετε μνείαν ἡμῶν ἀγαθήν πάντοτε ἐπιποθοῦντες ἡμάς ἰδεῖν καθάπερ καί ἡμεῖς ὑμᾶς)
Paul is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You could supply these words from earlier in the sentence if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: [we also long to see you]
OET (OET-LV) But now having_come Timotheos to us from you_all, and having_good_message_preached to_us about_the faith and the love of_you_all, and that you_all_are_having a_mentioning of_us good always, longing us to_see, just_as also we you_all.
OET (OET-RV) But now Timothy’s returned here to us, telling us the good news about your faith and love, and how you’re always mentioning good things about us and wanting to see us, just like we’d like to see all of you.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.