You are witnesses with God how holy, righteously, and blamelessly we behaved ourselves toward you who believe.
Parallel Translations
-
You are witnesses with God how holy, righteously, and blamelessly we behaved ourselves toward you who believe.
-
Ye are witnesses and so is god how holyly and iustly and vnblameable we behaved oure selves amonge you that beleve:
-
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily, and iustly, and vnblameably we behaued our selues among you that beleeue.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to 1 Thessalonians 2:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Corinthians 1:12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:5 and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake.
- 1 Peter 5:3 not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.
- Titus 2:7-8 In all things be showing yourself an example of good works. In your teaching, be showing integrity, seriousness, incorruptibility, and soundness of speech that can’t be condemned, that he who opposes you may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say about us.
- Acts 20:18 When they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time,
- 2 Timothy 3:10 But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness,
- Numbers 16:15 Moses was very angry, and said to Yahweh, “Don’t respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.”
- 1 Samuel 12:3-5 Here I am. Witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a bribe to make me blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.” They said, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from anyone’s hand.” He said to them, “Yahweh is witness against you, and his anointed is witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” They said, “He is witness.”
- Job 29:11-17 For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me: Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him, the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy. I researched the cause of him who I didn’t know. I broke the jaws of the unrighteous and plucked the prey out of his teeth.
- Job 31:1-39 “I made a covenant with my eyes, how then should I look lustfully at a young woman? For what is the portion from God above, and the heritage from the Almighty on high? Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity? Doesn’t he see my ways, and count all my steps? “If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit (let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity); if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands, then let me sow, and let another eat. Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out. “If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door, then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her. For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase. “If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me, what then will I do when God rises up? When he visits, what will I answer him? Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t one fashion us in the womb? “If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it (no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, I have guided her from my mother’s womb); if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering; if his heart hasn’t blessed me, if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece; if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate, then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone. For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because of his majesty, I can do nothing. “If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’ If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much; if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God who is above. “If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him (yes, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse); if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’ (the foreigner has not camped in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler); if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart, because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door— oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment! Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; and I would bind it to me as a crown. I would declare to him the number of my steps. as a prince would I go near to him. If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,
- Psalms 7:3-5 Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary), let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust.
- Psalms 18:20-24 Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his ordinances were before me. I didn’t put away his statutes from me. I was also blameless with him. I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
- Jeremiah 18:20 Should evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.
- Acts 20:26 Therefore I testify to you today that I am clean from the blood of all men,
- Acts 20:33-34 I coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me.
- Acts 24:16 In this I also practice always having a conscience void of offense toward God and men.
- 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 We give no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our service may not be blamed, but in everything commending ourselves, as servants of God, in great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; in pureness, in knowledge, in perseverance, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
- 2 Corinthians 7:2 Open your hearts to us. We wronged no one. We corrupted no one. We took advantage of no one.
- 2 Corinthians 11:11 Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:5 For neither were we at any time found using words of flattery, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness (God is witness),
- 2 Thessalonians 3:7 For you know how you ought to imitate us. For we didn’t behave ourselves rebelliously among you,
- 1 Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise your youth; but be an example to those who believe, in word, in your way of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.
- 2 Corinthians 4:2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
- 2 Corinthians 5:11 Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are revealed to God, and I hope that we are revealed also in your consciences.
- 2 Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forever more, knows that I don’t lie.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 10 Ye are witnesses. He again calls God and…
10 Ye are witnesses. He again calls God and them to witness, with the view of affirming his integrity, and cites, on the one hand, God as a witness of his conscience, and them, on the other hand, as witnesses of what they had known by experience. How holily, says he, and justly, that is, with how sincere a fear of God, and with what fidelity and blamelessness towards men; and thirdly, unreproachably, by which he means that he had given no occasion of complaint or obloquy. For the servants of Christ cannot avoid calumnies, and unfavorable reports; for being hated by the world, they must of necessity be evil-spoken of among the wicked. Hence he restricts this to believers, who judge uprightly and sincerely, and do not revile malignantly and groundlessly.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To excel others in example of godly life.
To excel others in example of godly life.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily…
10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
Ver. 10. Ye are witnesses, and God also] Happy is that man that can be acquitted by himself in private, in public by others, in both by God: bystanders may see more.
Read full note →
How holily, and justly, and unblameably] Here he practised his own precepts, Tit 2:12. And herein lies the difference between divinity and other sciences, that it is not enough to prescribe it, but you must practise it, as lessons of music, and as a copy must not be read only, but acted also.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The former verses gave account of their carriage in…
The former verses gave account of their carriage in the ministry, this here of their Christian conversation; holily, with respect to God; justly, with respect to duties commanded towards men; and unblamably, in denying themselves in lawful liberty to avoid all occasion of blame from any of them. And for the truth of this he appeals to themselves; yea, to God himself. There is the witness of men, and the witness of conscience greater than of men, and the witness of God greatest of all, 1Jo 3:20. He appeals to them as witnesses about their external actions, and to God about the integrity of their hearts; and he doth this not in a way of boasting, but to be an example to them, and as a further reason of the great success of his ministry. The conversation of ministers hath great influence upon the success of their labours.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Ye are witnesses, and God also,.... Not so much…
Ye are witnesses, and God also,.... Not so much to what goes before as to what follows after, relating to their holy walk and conversation among them, the more open part of which they were witness of; and for the more secret part God is appealed to, who is acquainted with the springs of actions, as well as with actions themselves:
how holily, and justly, and unblamably we behaved ourselves among you that believe. The Syriac version joins the last clause of the preceding verse with this, and reads the whole thus, "ye are witnesses, and God also, how purely and justly we preached unto you the Gospel of God, and how unblamable we were among all that believed"; referring the former part to the purity and integrity in which they preached the Gospel, and the latter to their unblemished conduct among the saints; but the whole of it refers to their conversation, which was holy, externally holy, arising from internal principles of holiness in their hearts, and free from that impurity and filthiness with which the false teachers were polluted; and confirms what is before said, that their exhortation was not of uncleanness: and it was likewise "just", they were righteous in the sight of God through the justifying righteousness of Christ, and in consequence of this lived righteously before men, and were injurious to no man's person nor property: and their conversation was also "unblamable"; not that they were, without sin, and so without blame in themselves, or without the commission of sin by them, or that they passed without censure in the world, for they went through honour and dishonour, through good report and bad report, and had all manner of evil spoken of them falsely for Christ's name's sake; but by the grace of God, they had their conversation among them that believed so, that there was nothing material to be alleged against them, or any just cause of blame to be laid either on their persons or their ministry; and which is mentioned for imitation.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Holily - In the things of God. Justly -…
Holily - In the things of God. Justly - With regard to men. Unblamable - In respect of ourselves. Among you that believe - Who were the constant observers of our behaviour.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. Ye are witnesses, and God also, how…
Verse 10. Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily] i.e., in reference to GOD; how justly in reference to men; and unblamably in reference to our spirit and conduct, as ministers of Christ, we behaved ourselves among you. What a consciousness of his own integrity must St. Paul have had to use the expressions that are here! No hypocrite, and none who did the work of the Lord carelessly, could make such an appeal both to God and man.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Ye are witnesses - They had a full opportunity…
Ye are witnesses - They had a full opportunity of knowing his manner of life.
And God also - See the notes on ver 5.
Read full note →
How holily - Piously - observing all the duties of religion.
And justly - In our contact with people. I did them no wrong.
And unblameably - This seems to refer to his duties both to God and man. In reference to all those duties no one could bring a charge against him. Every duty was faithfully performed. This is not a claim to absolute perfection, but it is a claim to consistency of character, and to faithfulness in duty, which every Christian should be enabled to make. Every man professing religion should so live as to be able to appeal to all who have had an opportunity of knowing him, as witnesses that he was consistent and faithful, and that there was nothing which could be laid to his charge.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain You are witnesses. We must necessarily conclude that the…
You are witnesses. We must necessarily conclude that the apostle speaks this not from vain glory, or personal vanity; but in the just right of defending his own character against the aspersions of enemies, and lest the faith of any might be staggered by the calumnies. In such cases self-praise is not only lawful, but frequently an imperative duty, if confined within the limits of truth. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Ye are witnesses--as to our outward conduct.
Ye are witnesses--as to our outward conduct.
God--as to our inner motives.
Read full note →
holily--towards God.
justly--towards men.
unblamably--in relation to ourselves.
behaved ourselves--Greek, "were made to be," namely, by God.
among you that believe--rather, "before (that is, in the eyes of) you that believe"; whatever we may have seemed in the eyes of the unbelieving. As Th1 2:9 refers to their outward occupation in the world; so Th1 2:10, to their character among believers.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. Holily—As in God’s presence.
10. Holily—As in God’s presence.
Justly—With strict integrity toward men.
Read full note →
Unblamably—Avoiding evil constructions by others.
You that believe—And who had opportunity to judge us most truly.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. Ye are witnesses, and God also] In 1Th_2:5…
10. Ye are witnesses, and God also] In 1Th_2:5 the witness of man and of God (to the outward and inward respectively) were distinguished; here they are combined: You are witnesses, and so is God.
how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe] R. V. more correctly, toward you: also righteously instead of justly. Concerning “you that believe,” as a designation of Christians, see note to ch. 1Th_1:7.
Read full note →
For holily we might substitute religiously. The Greek adverb does not represent the ordinary N.T. word for “holy” (hagios, i.e. saint), but another adjective (hosios), which is frequent in the O.T. and in common Greek. The former denotes Holiness as a relationship to God; the latter, as a condition or disposition of the man: they differ as consecrated from religious or pious. For the combination of Holiness (in this latter sense) with Righteousness, see Eph_4:24; Tit_1:8; also Luk_1:75; in the O.T., Deu_32:4; Psa_145:17 (applied to God), &c. The terms are not mutually exclusive, but may apply to the same acts and persons. The “holy” man has regard to the sanctities, the “righteous” man to the duties of life; but duty is sacred, and piety is duty. They cover the whole field of conduct, regarded in turn from the religious and moral standpoint, while “unblameably” affixes the seal of approval both by God and man.
Unblameably reappears in the “blameless” of ch. 1Th_3:13 and 1Th_5:23.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) Ye are witnesses.—Abruptly, without conjunction, the writers add…
(10) Ye are witnesses.—Abruptly, without conjunction, the writers add a summary description of their conduct at Thessalonica; before, they had dwelt on details, now, on the broad characteristics. As in 1Th_2:5, God is appealed to, because the readers could only judge of the outward propriety of their teachers’ conduct; and it is a moral law that (as Aristotle says) “the righteous man is not he that does acts which in themselves are righteous, but he that does those acts in such a mind as befits righteous men.”
Holily, of the inner, “justly,” of the outer life.
Read full note →
Among you that believe—where (if anywhere) we might have been tempted to be lax or exorbitant.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Ye are witnesses, and God also; ye of the…
Ye are witnesses, and God also; ye of the outward conduct, and God of the motives which actuated us. How holily and justly and unblamably; " holily" denoting the apostle"s conduct to God, "justly" his conduct to man, and "unblamably" the negative side of both particulars. We behaved ourselves among you that believe. The apostle here refers to his own personal demeanor and to that of Silas and Timothy among them, in order that the Thessalonians might realize the purity of their conduct, and so might continue steadfast in their attachment to the gospel which they taught, He men-lions specially "them that believe," not that He acted otherwise among those that did not believe, but because believers were cognizant of his conduct.
Vers. 10-12.
Read full note →
Appeal alike to man and to God respecting his personal and his official work at Thessalonica.
This double appeal attests his profound sincerity.
I CONSIDER HIS PERSONAL DEPORTMENT. "Ye are witnesses, and God, how holily, and justly, and unblamably we behaved ourselves among you that believe." He touches on the twofold relationship of the Christian life toward God and toward man, for he had always exercised himself" to have a conscience void of offence toward man and God," and strove "to give no offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed". (2Co_6:3) He had striven to walk circumspectly in a world prone to suspect sinister ends even in the best of men. The apostle"s walk was on high, even as his calling was high.
II CONSIDER HIS OFFICIAL DEPORTMENT. It was manifest in his method of dealing with his converts, and in the end which he kept steadily in view in all his ministry.
1. His method of dealing with his converts. "As ye know how we exhorted and comforted, and testified to each one of you as a father doth his children.
(1) Mark the varieties in his mode of dealing with his converts.
(a) He exhorted them, for their position of persecution and temptation demanded that he "should give them much exhortation. (Act_20:2)
(b) He comforted them, m the presence of many disquieting circumstances in their condition.
(c) He testified to them, exhibiting gospel truth with all urgency.
(2) Mark the affectionate spirit of his dealing with them: "As a father doth his children;" for he combined a father"s unwearying love with his power of direction and authority.
(3) Mark the individualizing interest in their welfare: "Each one of you." Whether they were rich or poor, few or many, he passed by none of them. They all had a place in his heart.
2. The aim of all his affectionate and individualizing interest in their welfare. "That you would walk worthy of God, who calleth you into his kingdom and glory." The duty here enjoined, "Walk worthy of God." This implies
(1) conformity to his revealed will;
(2) adornment of the gospel by a holy walk;
(3) supreme regard to the obligations involved in the high calling of God these being necessitated by
(a) the nature of the call, which is not external, but spiritual;
(b) by the consideration of him who calls us;
(c) by the holy ends of the call;
(d) by the consideration of their high destiny: for they are called to "his own kingdom and glory." This kingdom is that which is established in the mediation of Christ, into which we enter by the gate of regeneration, and which reaches its full and final development in the second coming of Christ. The glory is that which he impresses upon his people here, and which receives its full manifestation hereafter. T.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 10. Ye are witnesses. How holy and blameless were…
10. Ye are witnesses. How holy and blameless were our lives.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily [toward…
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily [toward God] and righteously [toward man] and unblamably [either toward God or man] we behaved ourselves toward you that believe [Paul here claims not perfection, but consistency of life]:
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 holy, righteous, and blameless
holy, righteous, and blameless
Paul uses three words that describe their good behavior toward the Thessalonian believers.
Read full note →
as a father deals with his own children
Paul compares how he encouraged the Thessalonians to a father gently teaching his children how to behave. (See: Metaphor)
We were begging you and encouraging and urging you
The words "begging," "encouraging," and "urging" are used together to express how passionately Paul's group encouraged the Thessalonians. AT: "We were strongly encouraging you" (See: Doublet)
into his own kingdom and glory
The word "glory" describes the word "kingdom." AT: "into his own glorious kingdom" (See: Hendiadys)
to walk in a manner that is worthy of God
"Walk" here is an metaphor for "live." AT: "live so that people will think well of God" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
testimony
God
holy
righteous
blameless
believe
exhort
testimony
walk
worthy
call
kingdom
glory
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:10 Both God and the Thessalonians were witnesses (see…
2:10 Both God and the Thessalonians were witnesses (see 2:5) that Paul’s conduct was devout and honest, terms used in ancient literature to describe obedience to both divine and human laws.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.