by Darrel Cline (darrelcline biblical-thinking.org)
Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 1 Study # 3 January 3, 2024 Broadlands, Louisiana (Download Audio)
I. The Introduction.
A. According to the general scholarship, this book was the second of Paul's letters, following Galatians, written about A.D. 51, though there is some debate because of a difference of opinion as to where the Galatian letter was sent.
B. In any case, the general thrust of the Thessalonian letters has to do with the "hope" that believers are to live under.
C. Paul's identification of himself, Silvanus, and Timothy and those who sent this letter to the Thessalonians.
1. This, because of 2 Timothy 2:2; 3:17, and Galatians 6;11, is not an unimportant detail.
2. The identifying names and their significance.
a. "Paul". The conclusion regarding Paul's "self-identification" is that the name signifies Paul's desire to distance himself from the arrogance of King Saul, his namesake, to focus upon the foundational attitude of "humility" that was a chief characteristic of this apostle, along with his focus upon ministry to the Gentiles and his willingness to go to some lengths to identify with them (1 Corinthians 9:22).
b. "Silvanus".
1) There is this oddity: Luke never used "Silvanus", always opting for "Silas" (13 times in the Acts), and Paul never used "Silas", always opting for "Silvanus".
a) Luke was, apparently, a gentile (having a Latin name), who may have used Silas' Hebrew name in his records as a matter of respect for this Hebrew "prophet", while Paul, having adopted a Latin name, chose to make Silas more "identifiable" with the ministry to Gentiles.
b) Silas/Silvanus was a "prophet" (Acts 15:32) by gifting and a "chief man" among the brethren in Jerusalem before the contentious Council that settled the issue of "not of works" (Acts 15:22), and was Paul's choice over Barnabas and Mark (Acts 15:40) for the second missionary journey (a significant contrast to Acts 13:3 where the Holy Spirit summoned Paul and Barnabas to the work).
c) In the culture, "Silvanus" was the Roman god of the woodlands/forest. That he was a highly placed and trusted person in the Church in Jerusalem (before the Council of A.D. 49) argues that he was Jewish. According to 1 Peter 5:12, he was the one whom Peter used to write his first letter.
d) The question of Paul's choice to use the Roman name stands: why did he not call him Silas as did Luke, his personal attendant and fellow servant?
2. "Silvanus", being Luke's "Silas", seems to indicate Paul's wish to use the deliberately "Roman" (and culturally "polytheistic") name in his travels as an apostle of the Gospel.
a) This may have special significance in that Paul characterized the Thessalonians as those who, like "Silvanus", "turned to God from idols" (1:9) though he was, apparently, a Jew.
b) Silas/Silvanus was characterized as a solidly dependable "prophet" and more in line, perhaps, with Paul's more "rigid" requirements for ministry than Mark could live up to.
c) Thus, if "Paul" represents the basic characteristic of "humility", Silvanus comes across as a representative of "faith" (by gift, a mouth-piece of the words of God, and, by practice, an example of those whose "faith" goes beyond mere subscription to those "words" of God).