1 Thessalonians 4:10-Paul Affirms the Thessalonians Were Practicing Divine-Love and Exhorts Them to Excel in This Love

1 Thessalonians 4:9 Now on the topic of brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. 10 And indeed you are practicing it toward all the brothers and sisters in all of Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more. (NET)

First Thessalonians 4:10 contains two declarative statements with the first being a causal and the second an adversative clause.

The former is not only connected to the previous statement in verse 9 but is also advancing upon and intensifying the previous statement in verse 9.

The advancement and intensification is that the Thessalonians were not only taught by the Holy Spirit to love one another through Paul, Silvanus and Timothy’s teaching but were also already obeying this command when interacting with their spiritual brothers and sisters in the Roman province of Macedonia.

The first statement in verse 10 asserts that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community was making it their habit of practicing divine-love for the benefit of their spiritual brothers and sisters located throughout the Roman province of Macedonia.

It presents the second reason for the previous statement recorded in 1 Thessalonians 4:9.

If you recall, Paul in verse 9 asserts that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community possessed absolutely no need whatsoever for Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to write them concerning the topic of Christian love.

Then, Paul presents the reason for this statement by asserting emphatically that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community was taught by God for the purpose of making it their habit of divinely loving one another.

Now, here in verse 10, Paul asserts that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community was practicing divine-love when interacting with their spiritual brothers and sisters in the Roman province of Macedonia.

Therefore, the first statement in verse 10 is presenting the second reason why each member of the Thessalonian Christian community possessed absolutely no need whatsoever for Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to write them concerning the topic of Christian love.

Thus, the first reason is that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community was taught by God the Holy Spirit for the purpose of making it their habit of divinely loving one another.

The Holy Spirit taught them through the teaching of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy as well as through their pastor-teachers.

The second reason is that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community was practicing divine-love when interacting with their spiritual brothers and sisters in the Roman province of Macedonia.

Thus, the Thessalonians possessed absolutely no need whatsoever for Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to write them concerning the topic of Christian love because they were first taught by the Holy Spirit to do so.

Secondly, they were already practicing it in their lives with all the members of the Christian community in Macedonia.

The intensive personal pronoun autos, “it” refers to the practice of divine-love when the Thessalonians were interacting with other members of the Christian community in the Roman province of Macedonia, which is indicated by a comparison of the statements in verses 9 and 10.

The former asserts that the Thessalonians were taught by God the Holy Spirit to love one another while the latter affirms that they were already practicing it when interacting with their spiritual brothers and sisters in the Roman province of Macedonia.

1 Thessalonians 4:10 is not only place in First Thessalonians where the apostle Paul affirms that the Thessalonians were obeying this command to love one another since he does so in 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 3:6, and 12.

When Paul affirms with the first statement in 1 Thessalonians 4:10 that the Thessalonians were making it their habit of practicing divine-love for the benefit of their spiritual brothers and sisters located throughout the Roman province of Macedonia, he is using the figure of hyperbole as he did in 1 Thessalonians 1:8.

Hyperbole “can be defined as conscious exaggeration for the sake of effect. Often (but not always) the effect aimed at is the expression of strong feeling.”[1]

Hyperbole “is a type of overstatement in order to increase the effect of what is being said.[2]

A hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration, in which more is said than is literally meant, in order to add emphasis.[3]

Now, Paul uses this figure in 1 Thessalonians 1:8 by saying that every place on planet earth or every place in the Roman Empire heard about the faith of the Thessalonians.

It is emphasizing that the Thessalonians’ post-justification faith toward God the Father was well-known throughout the Roman Empire and also expresses the joy of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy with regards to the positive response that their gospel message received from the Thessalonians.

Paul uses this figure in this way in Romans 1:8 and Colossians 1:6.

Now, here in 1 Thessalonians 4:10, Paul employs hyperbole again when he asserts that the Thessalonians were making it their habit of practicing divine-love for the benefit of their spiritual brothers and sisters located “throughout” the Roman province of Macedonia.

This does not mean that the Thessalonians practiced divine-love in “each and every” city and town in the Roman province of Macedonia.

Rather, Paul is simply expressing in emphatic terms his great joy that the Thessalonians were in fact practicing divine-love in their lives wherever they might go and with whoever they might come in contact with in the body of Christ.

Now, the second statement in 1 Thessalonians 4:10 asserts that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy were exhorting and encouraging each member of the Thessalonian Christian community to make it their habit of excelling even more in practicing divine-love.

The second presents a contrast with the first statement.

Therefore, the second statement presents a contrast between the Thessalonians making it their habit of practicing divine-love for the benefit of their spiritual brothers and sisters located throughout the Roman Empire and the Thessalonians doing this even more.

This adversative clause in verse 10 is an impassioned plea from Paul, Silvanus and Timothy for the Thessalonians to make it their habit of practicing divine-love even more for the benefit of their spiritual brothers and sisters located throughout the Roman province of Macedonia.

This is indicated by the fact that the noun adelphos is functioning as a nominative for vocative or nominative of address, which is used for addressing an individual or group.

The vocative is the case used for addressing someone or, on occasion, for uttering exclamations and here it is specifically a vocative of emphatic emotional address.

It is thus expressing the fact that this adversative clause in verse 10 is an impassioned plea from Paul, Silvanus and Timothy for the Thessalonians to continue making it their habit of practicing divine-love for the benefit of their spiritual brothers and sisters located throughout the Roman province of Macedonia.

Also, Paul employs the verb parakaleō in this adversative clause, which he has used previously in First Thessalonians, namely in 2:12. 3:2, and 4:1.

This verb contains two ideas.

The first is “to encourage” since it pertains to causing someone to be encouraged either by verbal or non-verbal means.

The word means to fill someone with courage or strength of purpose and suggests raising of someone’s confidence especially by an external agency such as a teacher.

The second idea is “to exhort” in the sense of authoritatively training the body of Christ through instruction in the sense of communicating the gospel message to them so as to compel obedience in every area of their lives.

Therefore, this verb parakaleō is expressing the idea that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy are encouraging the Thessalonians to continue to make it their habit of practicing divine-love more and more for the benefit of their spiritual brothers and sisters located throughout the Roman province of Macedonia in the sense of filling them with confidence to do this.

Also, this verb is expressing the idea that they were exhorting the Thessalonians in the sense that they were authoritatively training them through instruction to continue to make it their habit of practicing divine-love more and more for the benefit of their spiritual brothers and sisters located throughout the Roman province of Macedonia.

1 Thessalonians 4:10 is not the first time Paul, Silvanus and Timothy have politely but yet urgently authoritatively exhorted and encouraged the Thessalonians to do something since they do this in 1 Thessalonians 2:12 and 4:1.

This adversative clause in 1 Thessalonians 4:10 contains the expression perisseuein mallon (περισσεύειν μᾶλλον), “to do so more and more” which Paul used once before in 1 Thessalonians 4:1.

In verse 10, this expression speaks of the Thessalonians excelling even more in practicing divine-love for the benefit of their spiritual brothers and sisters located throughout Macedonia while in verse 1, it is used of the Thessalonians excelling even more in living in a manner which pleases God the Father.

1 Thessalonians 4:10 is also not the first time Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to excel in something since he does so not only in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 but also in 1 Thessalonians 3:12.

[1] Ryken, L. (2015). Sweeter than Honey, Richer than Gold: A Guided Study of Biblical Poetry (p. 50). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[2] Kaiser, W. C., Jr. (2007). “My Heart Is Stirred by a Noble Theme”: The Meaning of Poetry and Wisdom. In W. C. Kaiser Jr. & M. Silva (Eds.), Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning (p. 146). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] Campbell, D. K. (1991). Foreword. In C. Bubeck Sr. (Ed.), Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth (p. 154). Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook.