Lexham Discourse Commentary: 1–2 Thessalonians
Overview
A New Approach to Exegesis
Paul’s writing style in 1-2 Thessalonians is markedly different from that found in other letters such as Romans or 1 Corinthians. The frequent use of γάρ clauses to backfill information makes tracing the flow and development of the argument very difficult. Yet Jacob Cerone, Rick Brannan, and Kristopher Lyle are more than up to the task of guiding readers through the process of identifying and interpreting lower-level discourse features and explaining their contribution to the higher-level flow of Paul’s argument.
The Lexham Discourse Commentary series
The Lexham Discourse Commentary series guides readers through the Greek text, integrating insights from the Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament and Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament. Each volume in the series shows how various discourse devices contribute to the overall flow and structure of the New Testament books by providing a unifying analysis of each text.
Dr. Steve Runge’s approach complements traditional approaches by helping readers understand the exegetical implications of the writer’s choices. The Lexham Discourse Commentaries offer sustained analysis on the text, but do not engage issues like background, setting, and audience that preoccupy traditional commentaries. Instead, Runge applies his years of research in discourse grammar to editing this running exegesis of the Greek. If you have been disappointed by the lack of discussion about structure, discourse flow, and rhetorical strategies in modern commentaries, then the Lexham Discourse Commentaries are for you.
Learn more about the other titles in this series.
Top Highlights
“The εἴτε … εἴτε phrasing uses vocabulary that directly recalls 2:1–2, which warned about messages and letters that purported to be from Paul, Silas, and Timothy, but in reality were not. Here genuine messages and letters from the authors are held up as authoritative sources of teaching (cf. 3:17), in contrast to the earlier false sources (cf. 2:2). These authoritative sources provide the proper basis for understanding the arrival of the day of the Lord. Despite attractive teachings to the contrary, the day of the Lord has not yet come. The man of lawlessness has not yet appeared. This closes the authors’ teaching on the matter; all that remains is the section’s benediction in 2:16–17.” (2 Thessalonians 2:15)
“In short, we reserve the term ‘topic’ to refer to what a proposition is about. Grammatically speaking, the topic of a proposition is often the subject of a clause, but this is not always the case and the two should not be equated.” (source)
“Given that the fundamental presupposition of discourse grammar is that choice implies meaning” (1 Thessalonians 1:1)
“The presence of δέ indicates a new development along the discourse mainline; something new is happening. That new thing is the benediction, and the participants in the benediction need to be introduced and characterized. To achieve this, the entirety of 2:16 is used as a topical frame to reintroduce and characterize Jesus and God. Jesus is our Lord Jesus Christ and God is God our Father. Further, God is characterized as ὁ ἀγαπήσας ἡμᾶς (one who has loved us) and also as δοὺς παράκλησιν αἰωνίαν καὶ ἐλπίδα ἀγαθὴν ἐν χάριτι (who has given eternal encouragement and good hope by grace). God is cast as one who loves, one who encourages, and who supplies hope through grace.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16)
- Title: 1-2 Thessalonians
- Authors: Rick Brannan, Kristopher A. Lyle, Jacob N. Cerone
- Series: Lexham Discourse Commentaries
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Print Publication Date: 2018
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Pages: 233
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Bible. N.T. › Greek; Greek language, Biblical › Discourse grammar; Manual; Bible. N.T. 1 Thessalonians › Commentaries; Bible. N.T. 2 Thessalonians › Commentaries
- Resource ID: LLS:LDHTHESSALONIANS
- Resource Type: Bible Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-10-05T17:03:57Z
About the Authors
Jacob N. Cerone holds a BA in pastoral ministries from Moody Bible Institute and an MDiv from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He is also completing an MTh in New Testament studies at Southeastern under the supervision of Dr. David Alan Black, the M.O. Owens Jr. Chair of New Testament Studies, for whom he also serves as a research assistant. Jacob has been ordained by the Christian and Missionary Alliance and served as assistant pastor for discipleship at Cary Alliance Church, in Apex, North Carolina.
Rick Brannan is the general editor of the Lexham English Septuagint and the translator of The Apostolic Fathers in English. He is also the author and translator of Greek Apocryphal Gospels, Fragments, and Agrapha. Rick writes a regular column on the Church Fathers for Bible Study Magazine. He is currently working on an examination of the vocabulary of the Pastoral Epistles. He recently published Lexical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles: First Timothy is presently working on the Second Timothy volume.
Kristopher Lyle is a Language Editor at Faithlife Corporation. He holds a BA in Biblical Languages and Sociology from Houston Baptist University, and an MA in Biblical Hebrew from the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) under the supervision of Christo van der Merwe. His research focuses on applying cognitive linguistic frameworks to our understanding of the biblical languages. He received the SASNES award for his MA thesis in 2013, and has since authored multiple articles on Biblical Hebrew lexical semantics.
About the Editor
Steven E. Runge holds a BA in speech communication from Western Washington University, a master of theological studies degree in biblical languages from Trinity Western Seminary in Langley, BC, Canada, and a doctor of literature degree in biblical languages from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, which was supervised by Christo Van der Merwe. In preparation for his doctoral research, Steve completed several years of study in the linguistic fields of pragmatics and discourse grammar.
He has served as an adjunct faculty member at Northwest Baptist Theological College, Trinity Western University, and Associated Canadian Theological Schools (ACTS) while completing his education. Steve presently serves as a scholar-in-residence at Logos Bible Software, where, along with Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament, he has developed the Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament and the Lexham High Definition Commentaries.
