ricoblog - First Thessalonians 1.6-10, indented

Friday, April 28, 2006

Regular readers know one thing that helps me think through a passage is to do some block-style diagramming. For me, this means indenting things that I deem are dependent on things that come before them. Admittedly, this is quite subjective and more art than systematized practice. Different folks come up with different things; I'm not saying I'm right, I'm just saying this is what I saw when I worked through the text this morning. I do this on a sentence-by-sentence basis, so each chunk is a sentence.

Here's my block (with my own translation) for 1Th 1.6-10. The spot with the ellipsis is where I wanted to show the verb was to be read with the text above it, it isn't a new level. I didn't really ellipse the text of the NT.

Καὶ ὑμεῖς μιμηταὶ ἡμῶν ἐγενήθητε καὶ τοῦ κυρίου,
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord,
   δεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον
   receiving the word
      ἐν θλίψει πολλῇ
      in great affliction
      μετὰ χαρᾶς πνεύματος ἁγίου,
      with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
   ὥστε γενέσθαι ὑμᾶς τύπον πᾶσιν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν
   so that you might become a model to all who believe
      ἐν τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ
      in Macedonia
      καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ.
      and in Achaia.

ἀφ’ ὑμῶν γὰρ ἐξήχηται ὁ λόγος τοῦ κυρίου
For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth
   οὐ μόνον
   not only
      ἐν τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ
      in Macedonia
      καὶ [ἐν τῇ] Ἀχαΐᾳ,
      and in Achaia,
   ἀλλ’ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ
   but in every place
      ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν
      your faith,
      ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν
      which is in God,
    … ἐξελήλυθεν,
   has gone out.
   ὥστε μὴ χρείαν ἔχειν ἡμᾶς λαλεῖν τι.
   so that we have no need to say anything.

αὐτοὶ γὰρ περὶ ἡμῶν ἀπαγγέλλουσιν
Concerning us, they themselves report
   ὁποίαν εἴσοδον ἔσχομεν
   the sort of welcome we had
      πρὸς ὑμᾶς,
      from you,
   καὶ πῶς ἐπεστρέψατε
   and how you turned
      πρὸς τὸν θεὸν
      toward God
      ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων
      (and) away from idols
      δουλεύειν θεῷ ζῶντι καὶ ἀληθινῷ
      to serve the living and true God
      καὶ ἀναμένειν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ
      and to expectantly wait for his Son
         ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν,
         from heaven,
         ὃν ἤγειρεν
         whom he raised
            ἐκ [τῶν] νεκρῶν,
            from the dead,
         Ἰησοῦν τὸν ῥυόμενον ἡμᾶς
         Jesus, the one rescuing us
            ἐκ τῆς ὀργῆς τῆς ἐρχομένης.
            from the coming wrath.

Things that stand out to me, in no particular order:

Repetition of Macedonia & Achaia.
Contrast between Macedonia & Achaia and "every place your faith ... has gone out".
The Thessalonians' testimony precedes them and is known throughout the region.
The Thessalonians' response to Paul's gospel. They turned:

Toward God
Away from idols
To serve the living and true God
To wait for the return of Christ

Jesus as rescuer instead of the more-often-used picture of savior.
A specific thing Jesus rescues us from ("the coming wrath").
Jesus identified as being raised from the dead by God.
Apposition? Between "the one from heaven, whom he raised from the dead" and "Jesus, the one rescuing us from the coming wrath"?