1 Thessalonians 1

6. And ye--answering to "For our Gospel," 1 Thessalonians 1:5 .
followers--Greek, "imitators." The Thessalonians in their turn became "ensamples" ( 1 Thessalonians 1:7 ) for others to imitate.
of the Lord--who was the apostle of the Father, and taught the word, which He brought from heaven, under adversities [BENGEL]. This was the point in which they imitated Him and His apostles, joyful witness for the word in much affliction: the second proof of their election of God ( 1 Thessalonians 1:4 ); 1 Thessalonians 1:5 is the first
received the word in much affliction--( 1 Thessalonians 2:14 , 3:2-5 , Acts 17:5-10 ).
joy of--that is, wrought by "the Holy Ghost." "The oil of gladness" wherewith the Son of God was "anointed above His fellows" ( Psalms 45:7 ), is the same oil with which He, by the Spirit, anoints His fellows too ( Isaiah 61:1 Isaiah 61:3 , Romans 14:17 , 1 John 2:20 1 John 2:27 ).

7. ensamples--So some of the oldest manuscripts read. Others, "ensample" (singular), the whole Church being regarded as one. The Macedonian Church of Philippi was the only one in Europe converted before the Thessalonians. Therefore he means their past conduct is an ensample to all believers now; of whom he specifies those "in Macedonia" because he had been there since the conversion of the Thessalonians, and had left Silvanus and Timotheus there; and those in "Achaia," because he was now at Corinth in Achaia.

8. from you sounded . . . the word of the Lord--not that they actually became missionaries: but they, by the report which spread abroad of their "faith" (compare Romans 1:8 ), and by Christian merchants of Thessalonica who travelled in various directions, bearing "the word of the Lord" with them, were virtually missionaries, recommending the Gospel to all within reach of their influence by word and by example ( 1 Thessalonians 1:7 ). In "sounded," the image is that of a trumpet filling with its clear-sounding echo all the surrounding places.
to God-ward--no longer directed to idols.
so that we need not to speak any thing--to them in praise of your faith; "for ( 1 Thessalonians 1:9 ) they themselves" (the people in Macedonia, Achaia, and in every place) know it already.

9. 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 1 Thessalonians 1:5 , which corresponds to this former clause, as 1 Thessalonians 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 any thing" to them (in Macedonia and Achaia) in your praise ( 1 Thessalonians 1:8 ), "they themselves (have the start of us in speaking of you, and) announce concerning (so the Greek of 'show of' means) us, what manner of (how effectual an) entrance we had unto you" ( 1 Thessalonians 1:5 , 2:1 ).
the living and true God--as opposed to the dead and false gods from which they had "turned." In the English Version reading, Acts 17:4 , "of the devout Greeks a great multitude," no mention is made, as here, of the conversion of idolatrous Gentiles at Thessalonica; but the reading of some of the oldest manuscripts and Vulgate singularly coincides with the statement here: "Of the devout AND of Greeks (namely, idolaters) a great multitude"; so in Acts 17:17 , "the devout persons," that is, Gentile proselytes to Judaism, form a separate class. PALEY and LACHMANN, by distinct lines of argument, support the "AND."

10. This verse distinguishes them from the Jews, as 1 Thessalonians 1:9 from the idolatrous Gentiles. To wait for the Lord's coming is a sure characteristic of a true believer, and was prominent amidst the graces of the Thessalonians ( 1 Corinthians 1:7 1 Corinthians 1:8 ). His coming is seldom called his return ( John 14:3 ); because the two advents are regarded as different phases of the same coming; and the second coming shall have features altogether new connected with it, so that it will not be a mere repetition of the first, or a mere coming back again.
his Son . . . raised from the dead--the grand proof of His divine Sonship ( Romans 1:4 ).
delivered--rather as Greek, "who delivereth us." Christ has once for all redeemed us; He is our Deliverer ALWAYS.
wrath to come--( 1 Thessalonians 5:9 , Colossians 3:6 ).