I THESSALONIANS 2:14-16 WAS PAUL ANTISEMITIC?

In writing to the primarily Gentile church at Thessalonica, Paul says some rather harsh things regarding the Jews. He calls them murderers and accuses them of throwing out converted Jews such as himself, displeasing God, and demonstrating hatred toward all men. This last phrase probably refers to non-Jews and is actually echoed in the words of both the Roman historian Tacitus and the Graeco-Egyptian scholar Apion who was a near contemporary of Paul.

One simple, but unnecessary, solution to the accusation that Paul appears to be violently anti-semitic at this point in the letter is to state with scholars such as Pearson and Schmidt that these verses were not by Paul at all, but inserted into the text by some later writer. Of course, there is absolutely no manuscript evidence to back up this theory.

As Stott says, “These two verses [i.e. 15-16] sometimes called 'the Pauline polemic against the Jews', have been described as 'violent', 'vehement', 'vindictive', 'passionate', 'intemperate', 'bitter' and 'harsh'. So incongruous do some commentators feel them to be in one of Paul's letters, that they attribute them to an anti-Jewish interpolator.”

It is helpful at this point in discussing this controversial point to consider the literary and historical context in which Paul's words occur.

                         Figure 1: The Literary Structure of I Thessalonians 2:13-3:10

A. Thanks to God (2:13)

        B. persecutions (2:14-16)

                C. “brothers” (2:17a)

                        D. “longed to see you” (2:17b-19)

                                E. “we could bear it no longer” (3:1)

                                        F. “we sent Timothy” (3:2)

        B'. persecutions (3:3-4)

                                E'. “we could bear it no longer (3:5)

                                        F'. “Timothy has come back” (3:6a)

                        D'. “long to see you” (3:6b)

                C'. “brothers” (3:7a)

        B''. persecutions (3:7b-8)

A'. Thanks to God (3:9-10)

The above is a prime example of how one cannot always take the chapter divisions, which were only added to the text during the Middle Ages, as a sure guide as to where paragraphs in the Bible were meant to begin and end.

Looking at the three “B” sections, we can see how they are all closely connected:

In B, Paul compares the persecutions he suffered from his fellow countrymen with the persecution the Thessalonian believers were receiving from their fellow Gentiles.

In B', he reminds them that such persecutions had been predicted by Paul in advance.

And finally, in B'' he tells them that he can withstand his own troubles as long as they continue to stand firm in their own faith.

But what can we say to excuse the extreme language Paul utilizes in 2:14-16?

For one thing, Quanbeck reminds us: “The severe language reflects the strenuous struggle between Paul and the Jews (Acts 14.2,5,19; 17.5,13; 21:21; 25:2,7).” In a similar manner, Wanamaker feels that such persecution in Palestine by Jewish nationalists (or zealots) may “account for Paul's vituperative outburst in I Thes. 2:15f.”

Another possibility is voiced by Donfried as described by Wanamaker: “...Acts 17:5-9 gives the clue to the problem when it indicates that the mob charged Jason and the other Christians whom they had dragged before the magistrates of Thessalonica with opposing the decrees of Caesar by saying that there was another king named Jesus.” In his commentary on I and II Thessalonians, Elias similarly points to this historical event, partially instigated by hostile Jews, as lying behind Paul's remarks here.

Brauch has even more to say on the subject. His major points are given below:

    1. “First, it should be noted that the statements in question come from persons [such as Paul, John, and Jesus] who were themselves Semites.” As Morris says, “At the same time we should notice that Paul's anger is the anger of a man with his own nation, with his own people. He is very much part of them, and he sorrows for their fate.”

    2. “Their [referring to Paul and John] Jewishness and their commitment to the sacred writings which give to Judaism its uniqueness and identity are affirmed.” For proof of this, read Luke 13:34; Romans 9:2-3,11:1,17-24; Galatians 1:13-14; and Philippians 3:4-6.

    3. “In addition, Paul sees the rejection of the Messiah by his own people as but a temporary reality.” See passages such as Romans 11:1,17-24.

    4. “Paul's strong words in this text are elicited by a situation in Thessalonica in which Christians (probably Gentile Christians) are suffering at the hands of their own countrymen.” Cousins agrees: “His bitterness suggests that the persecution at Thessalonica, though carried on by Gentiles, was instigated by Jews (cf. Ac. 17:5-9).”

    5. Brauch concludes by saying that “just as the Gospel of John uses the term 'the Jews' to designate the Pharisaic-Sadducean leadership that opposed Jesus, so Paul has in mind those Jews who opposed his mission (I Thess 2:16).”

Then Wanamaker adds a point often ignored by commentators, namely, the fact that accusations of the Jews killing the prophets actually first arise in the Old Testament itself, not the New Testament. As examples, see I Kings 19:10-14; II Chronicles 36:15ff.; Nehemiah 9:27; and Jeremiah 2:30 “This indictment implies that Paul saw a continuity in the pattern of Jewish rejection of God's agents from OT times.”

Echoing this thought, Morris quotes Denney as saying that it is “the vehement condemnation, by a man in thorough sympathy with the mind and spirit of God, of the principles on which the Jews as a nation had acted at every period of their history.”

It is also very interesting to compare Paul's accusations against “the Jews” with the speech of Stephen in Acts 7, keeping in mind that Paul himself was present during at the time and was one of the Jews who helped stone him.

Malherbe notes that some translations mistakenly put a comma between verses 14 and 15, wrongly implying that it was all the Jews who were at fault. But omitting the comma gives the correct implication that it was only those particular Jews who sinned thusly.

Lastly, Constable, among others, have another explanation for why Paul was so adamant in his words in these verses. “It was not out of personal hatred for them (Rom. 9:1-5). Rather it was to emphasize the seriousness of hindering the preaching of the gospel. This message was transforming the Thessalonian believers, and they were heralding it to others far and wide. These verses illustrate how important it is that the gospel reach everybody (Matt. 28:19-20).”