forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost.
Parallel Translations
-
forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost.
-
and forbid vs to preache vnto the gentyls that they myght be saved to fulfill their synnes all waye. For the wrath of God is come on them even to the vtmost.
-
And forbid vs to preach vnto the Gentiles, that they might be saued, to fulfill their sinnes alwayes: for the wrath of God is come on them, to the vtmost.
Cross-references (44)
Passages linked to 1 Thessalonians 2:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 17:13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise, agitating the multitudes.
- Acts 14:19 But some Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
- Malachi 4:1 “For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up,” says Yahweh of Armies, “that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
- Matthew 23:32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
- Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
- Acts 14:5 When some of both the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, made a violent attempt to mistreat and stone them,
- Matthew 21:41-44 They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.” Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes?’ “Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”
- Acts 13:50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out of their borders.
- Acts 22:21-22 “He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’” They listened to him until he said that; then they lifted up their voice and said, “Rid the earth of this fellow, for he isn’t fit to live!”
- Galatians 5:11 But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
- James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies. You have lived in luxury on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and you have murdered the righteous one. He doesn’t resist you.
- Genesis 15:16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”
- Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- Matthew 3:7-10 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. “Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
- Matthew 3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”
- Matthew 12:45 Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”
- Luke 11:50-51 that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.
- Acts 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.
- Acts 18:12-13 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”
- 1 Timothy 2:4 who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.
- Isaiah 45:22 “Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- Joel 2:30-31 I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- Zechariah 5:6-8 I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the ephah basket that is appearing.” He said moreover, “This is their appearance in all the land (and behold, a talent of lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the middle of the ephah basket.” He said, “This is Wickedness;” and he threw her down into the middle of the ephah basket; and he threw the weight of lead on its mouth.
- Matthew 22:6-7 and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
- Matthew 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.
- Matthew 24:14 This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
- Matthew 24:21-22 for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
- Luke 19:42-44 saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side, and will dash you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation.”
- Luke 21:20-24 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the middle of her depart. Let those who are in the country not enter therein. For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse infants in those days! For there will be great distress in the land, and wrath to this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Acts 4:12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”
- Acts 11:2-3 When Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men, and ate with them!”
- Acts 14:2 But the disbelieving Jews stirred up and embittered the souls of the Gentiles against the brothers.
- Acts 19:9 But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
- Acts 21:27-31 When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude and laid hands on him, crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place. Moreover, he also brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled this holy place!” For they had seen Trophimus, the Ephesian, with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. All the city was moved and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple. Immediately the doors were shut. As they were trying to kill him, news came up to the commanding officer of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
- Romans 10:13-15 For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
- Ephesians 3:8 To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
- Ephesians 3:13 Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
- Hebrews 6:8 but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
- Hebrews 10:27-30 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me;” says the Lord, “I will repay.” Again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
- Revelation 22:11 He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still.”
- Acts 11:17-18 If then God gave to them the same gift as us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?” When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!”
- Acts 17:5-6 But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people. When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
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 16 Who hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles.…
16 Who hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles. It is not without good reason that, as has been observed, he enters so much into detail in exposing the malice of the Jews. For as they furiously opposed the Gospel everywhere, there arose from this a great stumblingblock, more especially as they exclaimed that the gospel was profaned by Paul, when he published it among the Gentiles. By this calumny they made divisions in the Churches, they took away from the Gentiles the hope of salvation, and they obstructed the progress of the gospel. Paul, accordingly, charges them with this crime — that they regard the salvation of the Gentiles with envy, but adds, that matters are so, in order that their sins may be filled up, that he may take away from them all reputation for piety; just as in saying previously, that they pleased not God, (1 Thessalonians 2:15) he meant, that they were unworthy to be reckoned among the worshippers of God. The manner of expression, however, must be observed, implying that those who persevere in an evil course fill up by this means the measure of their judgment, until they come to make it a heap. This is the reason why the punishment of the wicked is often delayed — because their impieties, so to speak, are not yet ripe. By this we are warned that we must carefully take heed lest, in the event of our adding from time to time sin to sin, as is wont to happen generally, the heap at last reaches as high as heaven.
For wrath has come. He means that they are in an utterly hopeless state, inasmuch as they are vessels of the Lord’s wrath. “The just vengeance of God presses upon them and pursues them, and will not leave them until they perish — as is the case with all the reprobate, who rush on headlong to death, to which they are destined.” The Apostle, however, makes this declaration as to the entire body of the people, in such a manner as not to deprive the elect of hope. For as the greater proportion resisted Christ, he speaks, it is true, of the whole nation generally, but we must keep in view the exception which he himself makes in Romans 11:5, — that the Lord will always have some seed remaining. We must always keep in view Paul’s design — that believers must carefully avoid the society of those whom the just vengeance of God pursues, until they perish in their blind obstinacy. Wrath, without any additional term, means the judgment of God, as in Romans 4:15, — the law worketh wrath; also in Romans 12:19, — neither give place unto wrath
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 The judgments of God being angry, which indeed appeared…
The judgments of God being angry, which indeed appeared shortly after in the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, whither many resorted even out of divers provinces, when it was besieged.
Until the wickedness of theirs which they have by inheritance as it were of their fathers, be grown so great that the measure of their iniquity being filled, God may come forth to wrath.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 16 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that…
16 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
Ver. 16. Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles] Bale out of Capgrave reporteth, that St Asaph (as they called him) had this saying often in his mouth, Quicunque verbo Dei adversantur, saluti hominum invident, Those that are against the preaching of the word, do envy the salvation of men. Such were Stephen Gardiner, and before him Archbishop Arundel, who died of a grievous swelling in their tongues, and that deservedly; quod verbum Dei alligassent, ne suo tempore praedicaretur, saith the historian, because they had hindered the preaching of the word.
Read full note →
To fill up their sin alway] Bounds are set to sin by the Divine decree, Zec 5:7. Wickedness is compared to a woman pressed in an ephah; when the measure is full, the business is finished. {See Trapp on "Mat 23:32"} The bottle of wickedness, when once filled with those bitter waters, sinketh to the bottom.
Wrath is come upon them to the uttermost] Or, until the end: wrath is come upon them finally (εις τελος), so as it shall never be removed; cloud, which at length covered the whole heaven; so some interpret it. God’s wrath is like Elijah’s, or as thunder, which you hear at first a little roaring noise afar off; but stay awhile, it is a dreadful crack. "Who knoweth the power of thy wrath?" saith Moses, Psa 90:11. The Jews are to this day a people of God’s wrath and curse.
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 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they…
Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved: their contrariety to all men is expressed particularly in this instance; they forbade the apostles to preach to the Gentiles, which were the greater number of men; though they opposed also their preaching to the Jewish nation: for the Jews could not endure to hear that the Gentiles should be received into the church, or into special favour with God; as appears by Christ’s sermon in the synagogue, Luk 4:28, and in the apostle’s apology for himself at Jerusalem, Act 22:21,22. And their forbidding them implies, not an act of authority, for they had it not, but their hindering them what they could, and stirring up the people and rulers against them, as Act 17:6.
To fill up their sins alway; to cause it to rise up to such a measure and degree as will at last bring destruction. Though this was not their intention, yet through the just judgment of God it was the event. They killed the prophets; but killing Christ, and persecuting the apostles, and hindering the salvation of mankind thereby, this filled up their sin. The expression alludes to what is said of the Amorites, Gen 15:16, and foretold by Daniel, Dan 9:27, called the consummation. As here is a perfecting of holiness, and filling up of grace, so also of sin. And sin against the gospel ripens sin more than against the law. And because they made a constant progress in sin, they are said to fill it up; Fill ye up the measure of your fathers, Mat 23:32.
Read full note →
For the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost: first they filled up their sin, and then comes this wrath, or that wrath foretold by Daniel, Dan 9:27; and by our Saviour, Mat 23:38. It was their last destruction by the Romans. God’s wrath broke forth upon them several times before, but not to the utmost till now. Or, to the end, as in the Greek. In former punishments God removed his wrath and restored them again, but this continues to the end. Or, some, by the end, understand only the perfection and consummation of this wrath. And its coming may be read in the Greek, it hath prevented them; as bringing them to judgment beforehand in this world; as the destruction of the old world, Sodom, and Jerusalem, were figures and forerunners of the last judgment. And yet this doth not contradict what the apostle speaks, Rom 11:1-36, and many of the prophets, concerning their calling into the faith and church of Christ before the end of the world. Also we must understand it with an exception of the remnant of God’s election that was amongst them.
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 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they…
Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved,.... Speaking or preaching the Gospel is the ordinary means of saving souls, or of acquainting them with the way of salvation, the necessity of it, and of the application of it to them, and with this end and view it is preached: now though the Jews disbelieved the Gospel, and despised the ministry of it, and disavowed any such use and end of it, yet such was their envy at the Gentiles, and their hatred of them, that could they have believed it to be the means of salvation, they would have forbidden the preaching of it to them, as they now did; and it is certain, that even the believing Jews, through ignorance, did at first disapprove of the ministry of the word to the Gentiles; see Act 11:1 such was the aversion of that nation to all others, and which perfectly agrees with their general sentiments, which forbid the explanation of the law to the Gentiles; and therefore it need not be wondered at, that they should do all that in them lay to hinder the entrance and spread of the Gospel among them, of which take the following proof (f):
"whoever has not the holy name sealed and bound in his flesh (i.e. is not circumcised) "it is forbidden to make known to him a word of the law", and much less to study in it--and whoever is not circumcised, and they give to him , "the least thing in the law", it is as if he destroyed the world, and dealt falsely with the name of God--Hillell and Shammai did not make known to Onkelos a word of the law, until he was circumcised--and the traditions are, that even though a man is circumcised, yet if he does not do the commands of the law, lo, he is as a Gentile in all things, and "it is forbidden to teach him the words of the law":''
Read full note →
nay, it is a rule with the Jews (g), that
"if a Gentile studies in the law, he is guilty of death:''
and thus were they left in providence, to judicial blindness and hardness of heart,
to fill up their sins alway; the measure of their own and their fathers' iniquities; see Mat 23:32 a phrase expressive of the abounding of their sins, and of their being under a divine appointment, and of their being limited and restrained by a divine power, and overruled by infinite wisdom, to answer some ends and purposes of God's glory;
for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost: which is to be understood, not of their wrath and fury being come to its highest degree and pitch against the followers of Christ, but of "the wrath of God", as the Vulgate Latin version and Beza's ancient copy express it; and designs not so much "eternal punishment", as the Ethiopic version renders the phrase, or everlasting wrath and damnation on the reprobate part of that people, as temporal ruin and destruction, which was now near at hand, and hung over their heads; and therefore is said to be come to them, and which in a little time fell upon their nation and city, and temple, even to the uttermost, to the last degree; and was, as the Arabic version renders it, "wrath consuming"; or "the consummation, and that determined poured upon the desolate", spoken of in Dan 9:27 and which, as it is come upon them, will remain "unto the end", as the phrase may also be rendered; unto the end of the world, until the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in, and then God's elect among the Jews shall obtain mercy, and be called, and so all Israel shall be saved, Rom 11:25.
(f) Zohar in Lev. fol. 30. 2, 3. (g) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 59. 1. Maimon. Hilchot Melachim, c. 10. sect. 9.
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 To fill up - The measure of their sins…
To fill up - The measure of their sins always, as they have ever done. But the vengeance of God is come upon them - Hath overtaken them unawares, whilst they were seeking to destroy others, and will speedily complete their destruction.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. 1Th 2:15.
Verse 16. 1Th 2:15.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles - see…
Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles - see Act 17:5, Act 17:13. No particular instance is mentioned in the life of Paul previous to this, when they had formally commanded him not to preach to the pagan, but no one can doubt that this was one of the leading points of difference between him and them. Paul maintained that the Jews and Gentiles were now on a level with regard to salvation; that the wall of partition was broken down; that the Jew had no advantages over the rest of mankind in this respect, and that the pagan might be saved without becoming Jews, or being circumcised; Rom 2:25-29; Rom 3:22-31; notes, Col 1:24. The Jews did not hold it unlawful “to speak to the Gentiles,” and even to offer to them eternal life Mat 23:15, but it was only on condition that they should become proselytes to their religion, and should observe the institutions of Moses. If saved, they held that it would be as Jews - either originally such, or such by becoming proselytes. Paul maintained just the opposite opinion, that pagans might be saved without becoming proselytes to the Jewish system, and that, in fact, salvation was as freely offered to them as to the children of Abraham. Though there are no express instances in which they prohibited Paul from speaking to the Gentiles recorded before the date of this Epistle, yet events occurred afterward which showed what were their feelings, and such as to make it in the highest degree probable that they had attempted to restrain him; see Act 22:21-22, “And he (Christ) said unto me (Paul), Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. And they (the Jews) gave him audience unto this word, and then lift up their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live.”
That they might be saved - That is, as freely as others, and on the same terms, not by conversion to Judaism, but by repentance and faith.
Read full note →
To fill up their sins alway - At all times - πάντοτε pantote - in every generation. That is, to do now as they have always done, by resisting God and exposing themselves to His wrath. The idea is, that it had been a characteristic of the nation, at all times, to oppose God, and that they did it now in this manner in conformity with their fixed character; compare Act 7:51-53, and notes on Mat 23:32, on the expression, “Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.”
For the wrath is come upon them - This cannot mean that the wrath of God had been then actually poured out upon them in the extreme degree referred to, or that they had experienced the full expressions of the divine displeasure, for this Epistle was written before the destruction of their city and temple (see the Introduction); but that the cup of their iniquity was full; that they were in fact abandoned by God; that they were the objects even then of his displeasure, and that their destruction was so certain that it might be spoken of as an indubitable fact. The “wrath of God” may be said to have come upon a man when he abandons him, even though there may not be as yet any external expressions of his indignation. It is not punishment that constitutes the wrath of God. That is the mere outward expression of the divine indignation, and the wrath of God may in fact have come upon a man when as yet there are no external tokens of it. The overthrow of Jerusalem and the temple, were but the outward expressions of the divine displeasure at their conduct. Paul, inspired to speak of the feelings of God, describes that wrath as already existing in the divine mind; compare Rom 4:17.
To the uttermost - Greek - εἰς τέλος eis telos - “to the end;” that is, until wrath shall be “complete” or “exhausted;” or wrath in the extremest degree. It does not mean “to the end of their race or history;” nor necessarily to the remotest periods of time, but to that which constitutes completion, so that there should be nothing lacking of that which would make indignation perfect: “εἰς τέλος eis telos - gantz und gar” - thoroughly, entirely, through and through.” Passow. Some have understood this as meaning “at the last,” or “at length,” as Macknight, Rosenmuller, Koppe, and Wetstein; others as referring to duration, meaning that it would follow them everywhere; but the more correct interpretation seems to be to refer it to that extremity of calamity and woe which was about to come upon the nation. For an account of this, see the notes on Mat 24:21.
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 To full up the measure of their sins, after…
To full up the measure of their sins, after which God’s justice would punish them. (Witham) --- The Jews filled up the measure of their iniquities by the opposition they every where manifest to the religion of Christ. The earliest Fathers of the Church testify that they dispersed people into every nation to blaspheme the name of Christ; and hence sprang the evil fame which Christians bore among the pagans. See the apologies of St. Justin, Tertullian, Origen, &c. --- For the wrath of God is come upon them to the end. It seems a foretelling of their entire destruction, which happened not long after under Vespasian and Adrian. (Witham)
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 Forbidding--Greek, "Hindering us from speaking," &c.
Forbidding--Greek, "Hindering us from speaking," &c.
to fill up their sins alway--Tending thus "to the filling up (the full measure of, Gen 15:16; Dan 8:23; Mat 23:32) their sins at all times," that is, now as at all former times. Their hindrance of the Gospel preaching to the Gentiles was the last measure added to their continually accumulating iniquity, which made them fully ripe for vengeance.
Read full note →
for--Greek, "but." "But," they shall proceed no further, for (Ti2 3:8) "the" divine "wrath has (so the Greek) come upon (overtaken unexpectedly; the past tense expressing the speedy certainty of the divinely destined stroke) them to the uttermost"; not merely partial wrath, but wrath to its full extent, "even to the finishing stroke" [EDMUNDS]. The past tense implies that the fullest visitation of wrath was already begun. Already in A.D. 48, a tumult had occurred at the Passover in Jerusalem, when about thirty thousand (according to some) were slain; a foretaste of the whole vengeance which speedily followed (Luk 19:43-44; Luk 21:24).
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 16. Forbidding… speak… Gentiles—See note on Act_21:40.
16. Forbidding… speak… Gentiles—See note on Act_21:40.
Saved—Through faith in Christ. All this they do to this sad result, namely, to fill, etc.
Read full note →
Always—Persistently.
The wrath—Which belongs to them as a race fallen by apostasy.
The uttermost—Literally, the end, the finality, the ultimate downfall inflicted by the wrath, in consequence of their apostasy. Rom_9:21-22. The most conspicuous manifestation of this end was the destruction of Jerusalem.
St. Paul here speaks severely but judicially, and worthily of the prophetic spirit. No mere human love for his people ever surpassed his. Rom_9:1-5. Yet from his first conversion Judaism pursued him with reckless hate, just because his great heart opened wide for the conversion of mankind. He was held false to Judaism, because he was true to humanity. The Jews arrested him in their temple, arraigned him before Lysias, before Felix, before Festus, and finally before. Nero, and the only reason why they did not execute him was, because no pagan court would sanction their hate.
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 16. forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that…
16. forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved] R. V., may be saved. As much as to say: “These Jews, if they had their way, would prevent us speaking a single word to you about the Gospel; they would willingly see all the Gentiles perish!” This stamped them as enemies of the human race. They were furious to think that unclean Gentiles claimed a share in their Messiah! Their murderous hatred against Paul was due to the fact that he preached Christ to the heathen and declared God to be the God of Jews and Gentiles equally, saving both alike through faith in Christ. So when in his defence before the Jewish multitude at the Temple he came to the words, “Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles,” they broke out in uncontrollable rage, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live!” (Act_22:21-23). The Jews of Thessalonica seem to have been especially mean and fanatical (Act_17:5; Act_17:11; Act_17:13); and the Apostle wishes his readers to see how entirely he is on their side as against his fellow-countrymen.
to fill up their sins alway] After the death of Christ a space for repentance was allowed them, the “forty years” alluded to in Heb_3:9; Heb_3:17. Had they accepted Christ’s message of reconciliation through the apostles and become His witnesses to the Gentiles, the judgement would have been averted (Act_3:19). The measure allowed to the nation’s sins was not yet full; but this last refusal made their cup overflow—slowly filling, as it had been, for many ages. “Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers,” Jesus had said to them (Mat_23:32); and this they had done, beyond all question. The phrase fill up their sins, signifying ripeness for judgement, is used in Gen_15:16 of the Amorites in Abraham’s time—an ominous parallel. “Alway:” comp. Stephen’s reproach, “As did your fathers, so do ye” (Act_7:51).
Read full note →
for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost] but the wrath (R. V.), not for; as though he said, “But the end comes at last: they have always been sowing this harvest; now it has to be reaped.” Whose wrath this is, goes without saying; so in Rom_5:9 God’s anger is called with impressive emphasis “the wrath.” It is indeed “the wrath” of ch. 1Th_1:10 (see note): there regarded in its final and general manifestation to the world, here in its imminent relation to the people of Israel. There it is “coming;” here it “is come,” or has arrived.
These words are prophetical; but the announcement goes beyond prediction. The Jews as a people had decisively refused the gospel of Jesus Christ, and their fate was sealed. The nation was moving swiftly and visibly down the inclined plane to ruin. And this calamity was to be final. “To the uttermost,” says the Apostle; lit., unto an end. In former threatenings the Lord had said, “Yet will I not make a full end” (Jer_4:27, and often). He does make a full end this time—an end of the Old Covenant and of national Israel as the elect people; still it is not “the end,” as though God had no further dealings with ancient Israel: see on the contrary Romans 11.
In the year 70 of our Lord Jerusalem fell, after the most dreadful and calamitous siege known in history; and the Jewish people ever since have wandered without a home and without an altar. Tristis exitus, says Bengel: urgebat miseros ira Dei, et εἰς τέλος (tandem, at length) urbem cum templo delevit.
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 (16) Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles.—The Apostle…
(16) Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles.—The Apostle indicates the special way in which their contrariety showed itself.
To fill up.—Literally, unto the filling up. Not exactly their intention in forbidding, but, the end to which such conduct was steadily (“alway”) tending. (Again comp. Act_7:51, and Mat_23:32.) St. Paul seems to mean that there may be a certain sum of wickedness which God will allow a nation, a church, a person, to complete, before cutting” them off from all spiritual help; the Jews were industriously labouring to complete the sum.
Read full note →
For.—The Greek word is but; and the point is this:—“The Jews have been working up to the rounded perfection of their sin; but (they had not much left to do) the wrath burst suddenly upon them to its uttermost.” The word for “is come” (which should be the simple preterite “came”) is the same as that used in Mat_12:28, Luk_11:20, of a sudden, unexpected apparition. “The wrath” is the wrath from which Jesus is delivering us (1Th_1:10), and it had already come upon the Jews, though its outward manifestation in the destruction of Jerusalem was not to come yet awhile. The particular moment at which St. Paul means that the wrath “came” must have been the moment of their final rejection of the Messiah.
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 Forbidding us by contradicting, blaspheming, slandering, laying snaresto speak…
Forbidding us by contradicting, blaspheming, slandering, laying snaresto speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved. Not that the Jews were averse to the proselytism of the Gentiles, provided they were circumcised -rod kept the Law of Moses; on the contrary, Judaism at this period was a proselytizing religion; but their great objection to the preaching of the gospel was that the preachers did not insist on the Gentiles becoming Jews before they became Christians. And, accordingly, we learn from the Acts of the Apostles that the unbelieving Jews were the most violent and implacable enemies of the gospel. Of the numerous persecutions mentioned in the Acts, there were only two, namely, those at Philippi and Ephesus, which were not occasioned by the Jews. To fill up their sins always; so that the measure of their iniquity became full to overflowing. Their forbidding the apostles to preach to the Gentiles was the last drop which caused the cup of their iniquity to overflow. (cutup Gen_15:16, "The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full The remark of Professor Jowett is well worthy of notice: "In the beginning of sin and evil it seems as if men were free agents, and had the power of going on or of retreating. But as the crisis of their fate approaches, they are bound under a curse and the form in which their destiny presents itself to our minds is as though it were certain, "rod only a question of time how soon it is to be fulfilled." For the wrath; that wrath which was predicted and is merited by them. "Wrath" is here used for punishment, which is the effect of wrath. Is come upon them to the uttermost; literally, to the end. The apostle here refers to the judgments of God, which were impending on Jerusalem and the Jewish people; judgments which were fearfully executed in the awful sufferings they endured in the Jewish war, and in the destruction of their city by the Romans. Beware of opposing the gospel.
The Jews did so. They endeavored to prevent the apostle preaching to the Gentiles, and wrath came upon them to the uttermost; and so will all opposition made to the gospel terminate. (Psa_2:6, Psa_2:9) If we ourselves will not embrace the gospel, let us beware of throwing obstacles in the way of those who would. Especially let parents beware how they act toward their children when under religious impressions.
Read full note →
Fullness of sins.
fill up their sins always." This is a terrible and mysterious expression. Some light may be gained by considering it in relation to the history of the Jews, as it is of these people that it is here written. They had accumulated sin upon sin in slaying Christ and the prophets, in expelling the apostles from their communion, and finally in hindering the Gentiles from receiving that gospel which they had rejected for themselves. But there was to come an end to this tale of wickedness. The time was drawing near when the Jews would no longer have power to hurt the cause of Christianity, and when swift punishment for their accumulated iniquities would descend in the destruction of their city and nation. They were hastening to fill up the sins, which must issue in this fearful doom.
I THE GREATEST SIN IS THAT OF SINNING WITHOUT RESTRAINT. It is a mistake to speak of every sin as of infinite guilt, or of all sins as equally guilty. Such an assertion is not only false, it tends either to despair or to reckless excess in sinning. However far one has gone in sin, it is better to stop than to go on to greater enormities. To be adding sin to sin, and to be sinning "always," are signs of reckless, abandoned depravity.
II THERE IS A FULLNESS OF SINS WHICH BRINGS ITS OWN PENALTY. When sin reaches this point the penalty can no longer be stayed. The cup once full flows over in wrath and ruin. It is as though forbearance and guilt were in the scales. When guilt is full the balance dips. There is an end to all possible long-suffering. The more men go on in excesses of sin, the faster do they approach the inevitable day of reckoning. The sooner the sin is filled up to the measure which passes endurance, the sooner must the stroke of doom fall.
III FULLNESS OF SINS MUST LEAD TO FULLNESS OF PUNISHMENT. They who fill up their sins always will have the wrath "come upon them to the uttermost." The worst debtor must be made to pay the last farthing. The swifter the rush downhill, the greater the crash at the bottom. The more tares that are sown in spring, the more bundles to burn in harvest. He who fills the present life with sins will have the next life filled with wrath.
IV THERE SEEMS TO BE A LIMIT TO SINS. There is a fullness of sins. There is no fullness of virtues; these can be developed indefinitely. The good man is growing up to a perfection. The bad man is being corrupted, not to a perfection, but to a fullness. Evil has limits; goodness has none. Satan is let loose for a time. God restrains the wrath of the wicked. Sin, through rebellion against God, cannot break away from all Divine control. Sins are limited by several means:
1. Capacity. We have a limited power of sinning.
2. Time. God sometimes cuts the sinner off in the midst of his days, and brings the guilty nation to destruction.
3. Providential control. The fullness of sins is not the amount which God predestines to be committed, for God is not the author of sin, nor does he will or permit it. This fullness is the measure beyond which God stays the evil from proceeding. When the tide of iniquity, driven onwards by rebellious powers, reaches this fullness, God says, "Here shall thy proud waves be stayed," and the storm beats itself out in impotent fury. W.F.A.
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 16. Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles. Nothing…
16. Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles. Nothing created such animosity on the part of the Jews as preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. See Acts 22:21–23. To fill up their sins alway. To fill the measure of their sins so full that God would reject them as a people. Compare Gen. 15:16; Matt. 23:32. For the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. They were ripe for destruction. Before twenty years it came.
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 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they…
forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always [ Gen_15:16 ; Mat_23:32 ]: but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost . [While narrating the course of events at Thessalonica, Paul notes the similarity between the history of the Thessalonian church and that of the Judæan churches, and reviews the latter history for the encouragement of the Thessalonians. Surely the opposition of their pagan countrymen ought not to cause these Thessalonian Christians to doubt that God favored or approved them, for such opposition was to be expected. Even the Jews, though professedly the people of God, had killed God's prophets and Christ their Lord, and had driven out the apostles and evangelists. Though the Jews were God's people, their conduct in rejecting God's Son showed that they did not please God; and that they were haters of their fellow-men was very apparent, for they even forbade Christ's apostles to attempt to save the Gentiles by preaching the gospel to them. Their opposition to churches either in Judæea or Greece was therefore no evidence that God disapproved these churches: on the contrary, God patiently permitted them to do all this, that their wickedness might be fully ripened and exposed, so that a full and notable punishment might be meted out to them--punishment which began just before the siege of Jerusalem, and continues to this day. Wrath unto the uttermost, or unto the end, signifies a wrath which fully expends itself in executing judgment. It does not mean wrath unto the end of the world-- Rom_11:15 ; Rom_11:25-26 ]
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain saved (See Scofield "Rom 1:16")
saved (See Scofield "Rom 1:16")
sins Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:16 The mission to the Gentiles was one of…
2:16 The mission to the Gentiles was one of the most important issues in the early church (Acts 11:18; 13:46-49; 28:28; Rom 1:16). • Judgment comes when sins pile up to their complete measure (Gen 15:16; Dan 8:23; cp. Matt 23:31-36).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.