2 Thessalonians 3:7a-The Thessalonians Were Obligated to Imitate the Example of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy

2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now, we command each and every one of you brothers and sisters by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to disassociate yourselves from any brother or sister who is living an undisciplined lifestyle. Consequently, they are not living according to the traditions, which they received from each one of us. 7 For you yourselves are well aware of the manner in which each and every one of you for your own benefit are under obligation to make it your habit of imitating each one of us because each one of us absolutely never conducted ourselves in an undisciplined manner among each one of you. (Lecturer’s translation)

2 Thessalonians 3:7 continues the final major section of Second Thessalonians and which section ends in 2 Thessalonians 3:15.

In this section, the apostle Paul addresses another major problem, namely that some in the Thessalonian Christian community were reverting back to their pre-justification days when they did not work.

He exhorts them to practice church discipline with these individuals (3:6).

Paul then reminds them that he, Silvanus and Timothy taught them that they must work for a living and that they gave them an example to follow in doing so (3:7-10).

He then informs them that he and Silvanus heard from Timothy more than likely that some of them were idle and disruptive and were not busy working but rather being busy bodies (3:11).

He then commands them to work for a living and never tire of practicing divine good, which is accomplished by obeying Paul’s apostolic teaching (3:12-13).

Paul closes this section with an injunction to again practice church discipline with those who are unwilling to work in obedience to his teaching (3:14).

When Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to keep away from every one of their number who disobeys his apostolic teaching to work, this separation would be the result of going through the process of church discipline mapped out by the Lord Jesus Christ for His disciples in Matthew 18:15-17.

As we noted in our study of 2 Thessalonians 3:6, the contents of 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 echo 1 Thessalonians 4:11 and 5:14.

Now, 2 Thessalonians 3:7 contains two causal clauses with the first introduced by the post-positive conjunction gar while the second is introduced by the conjunction hoti.

The first emphatically asserts that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community was well aware of the manner in which each of them were under obligation to make it their habit of imitating Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.

This statement presents the reason for the previous command in 2 Thessalonians 3:6, which was issued by Paul, Silvanus and Timothy by means of the name or authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It required that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community disassociate themselves from any member of their community who is living an undisciplined lifestyle, which means that they were not working for a living but were idle.

Therefore, this indicates that the Thessalonians must disassociate themselves from those in their community who are disobeying the apostolic command to work “because” each of them were well aware of the manner in which they were obligated to make it their habit of imitating Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.

In other words, the Thessalonians knew without a doubt that these three men worked other jobs in order to support themselves financially so as to leave them an example to follow.

In this first causal clause, Paul is emphasizing that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community without exception was well aware of the fact that they were obligated to make it their habit of imitating the example of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy who worked to support themselves financially.

This clause is also marking a contrast between Paul, Silvanus and Timothy working to support themselves financially and those in the Thessalonian Christian community who were not doing so.

The verb mimeomai (μιμέομαι), which appears in this first causal clause, pertains to behaving in a manner as someone else.

Here of course, it speaks of the Thessalonians imitating the conduct of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy in the sense of working for a living to support themselves financially as these three men did while living with them.

Fee writes “The teaching in this case is not a matter of ‘do as I say,’ but ‘do as I did,’”[1]

Michael Martin writes “Imitation was not used here in a shallow sense, implying a lack of genuineness. Nor does it indicate any arrogance on the part of the apostle (see the discussions of mimētai in 1 Thess 1:6 and 2:14). Teachers of the day were expected to instruct their disciples both with their words (logos)and with their manner of life (ethos). Disciples were expected not only to understand the wisdom of their teachers but to emulate their wise behavior as well.[2]”[3]

J. Hampton Keathley III writes “The idea of this word is that of modeling, becoming like, or following after another. It stresses the nature of a particular kind of behavior modeled by another that we are to follow. In the New Testament, it has a spiritual, ethical or moral emphasis and is generally linked with an obligation to a certain kind of conduct or character as a product of faith in the directives of the Bible and the example of the apostles or other leaders who were also following the Lord Jesus as our ultimate example. It is linked to certain ones who are living examples for the life of faith and the character of Christ.”[4]

Interestingly, the middle voice of the verb mimeomai is an indirect or benefactive middle voice, which is expressing the idea that each member of the Thessalonian Christian community “for their own benefit” was obligated to make it their habit of imitating the example of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy.

It was for their benefit because it would result in their continued spiritual growth and ultimately would result in rewards at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.

In 3 John 11, the apostle John employs this verb mimeomai.

3 John 11 Beloved, you must continue making it your habit of not imitating that which is evil in character but rather that which is divine good in character. The one who is performing divine good is living by means of the one and only God as a source. The one who is committing evil never sees the one and only God. (Lecturer’s translation)

2 Thessalonians 3:7 is not the first time that Paul has mentioned the Thessalonians imitating the exemplary conduct of himself, Silvanus and Timothy since he speaks of it 1 Thessalonians 1:6.

Paul affirms that the Thessalonians were imitating these three men through their post-justification faith in the gospel in the midst of persecution.

In fact, the cognate noun of this verb, which is mimētēs (μιμητής), appears in 1 Thessalonians 1:6 and 1 Thessalonians 2:14.

In the latter, this noun speaks of the Thessalonians imitating the Christians in Judea who suffered persecution at the hands of their own countrymen.

1 Thessalonians 1:2 We make it our habit of always giving thanks to the one and only God (the Father) on behalf of each and every one of you because we constantly make it our practice of bringing each and every one of you into remembrance during our prayers. 3 Specifically, because we make it our habit of remembering in the presence God, our Father, your work, which was produced by your faith, as well as your labor, which was motivated by your divine-love and also your perseverance which was produced by your confident expectation of blessing from our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 Furthermore, because each one of us possesses the conviction He elected each and every one of you to privilege brothers and sisters, divinely loved by the one and only God (who is the Father). 5 At the same time, each and every one of us possesses the conviction that our proclamation of the gospel was by no means manifested by the act of speaking only but on the contrary, by means of power as well. Specifically, it was manifested by means of the Holy Spirit’s power as well as with deep conviction. In the same way, each one of you possesses the conviction regarding the quality of character each one of us as individuals manifested among each one of you for the benefit of each of you. 6 Consequently, each one of you entered into the state of imitating each one of us and as a result the one and only Lord because each one of you received our teaching in the midst of great adversity with a joy produced by the Spirit, who is holy. (Lecturer’s translation)

1 Thessalonians 2:13 Now, because of this, each one of us always makes it our habit of giving thanks to the one and only God, namely that, when each one of you received a message originating from this God which was obediently heard from each one of us, each one of you for your own benefit never received it as a message originating from human beings. On the contrary, for your own benefit, you accepted it as truly being a message originating from God, which for His own benefit, is also working in each one of you who are believers. 14 In fact, each one of you brothers and sisters entered into the state of imitating God’s congregations who live in Judea in union and fellowship with Christ Jesus. Specifically, each of you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they themselves also did from the Jews. (Lecturer’s translation)

[1] Fee, G. D. (2009). The First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians(p. 330). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. [2] See A. J. Malherbe, Moral Exhortation, A Greco-Roman Sourcebook, LEC 4 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1986), 135. [3] Martin, D. M. (1995). 1, 2 Thessalonians (Vol. 33, pp. 277–278). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. [4] Keathley, J. Hampton III; I Thessalonians: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary; page 55; Biblical Studies Press, 1998