We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you both do and will do the things we command.
Parallel Translations
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We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you both do and will do the things we command.
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We have confidence thorow the lorde to you warde that ye both do and will do that which we commaude you.
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And we are perswaded of you through the Lord, that ye both doe, and will doe the things which we warne you of.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to 2 Thessalonians 3:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:10 for indeed you do it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, that you abound more and more;
- Philemon 1:21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even beyond what I say.
- 2 Corinthians 2:3 And I wrote this very thing to you, so that, when I came, I wouldn’t have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy would be shared by all of you.
- Philippians 2:12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks in rebellion, and not after the tradition which they received from us.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:12 Now those who are that way, we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they work with quietness and eat their own bread.
- Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
- Romans 15:14 I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others.
- Romans 2:7 to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life;
- Romans 15:18 For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,
- 1 Corinthians 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
- 1 Corinthians 14:37 If any man thinks himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him recognize the things which I write to you, that they are the commandment of the Lord.
- 2 Corinthians 2:9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might know the proof of you, whether you are obedient in all things.
- 2 Corinthians 7:15-16 His affection is more abundantly toward you, while he remembers all of your obedience, how with fear and trembling you received him. I rejoice that in everything I am confident concerning you.
- 2 Corinthians 8:22 We have sent with them our brother, whom we have many times proved earnest in many things, but now much more earnest, by reason of the great confidence which he has in you.
- Galatians 5:10 I have confidence toward you in the Lord that you will think no other way. But he who troubles you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4 We have confidence. By this preface he prepares…
4 We have confidence. By this preface he prepares the way for proceeding to give the instruction, which we shall find him immediately afterwards subjoining. For the confidence which he says he has respecting them, made them much more ready to obey than if he had required obedience from them in a way of doubt or distrust. He says, however, that this hope, which he cherished in reference to them, was founded upon the Lord, inasmuch as it is his to bind their hearts to obedience, and to keep them in it; or by this expression, (as appears to me more probable,) he meant to testify, that it is not his intention to enjoin anything but by the commandment of the Lord. Here, accordingly, he marks out limits for himself as to enjoining, and for them as to obeying — that it should be only in the Lord. All, therefore, that do not observe this limitation, do to no purpose resort to Paul’s example, with the view of binding the Church and subjecting it to their laws. Perhaps he had this also in view, that the respect which was due to his Apostleship might remain unimpaired among the Thessalonians, however the wicked might attempt to deprive him of the honor that belonged to him; for the prayer which he immediately subjoins tends towards this object. For provided men’s hearts continue to be directed towards love to God, and patient waiting for Christ, other things will be in a desirable state, and Paul declares that he desires nothing else. From this it is manifest, how very far he is from seeking dominion for himself peculiarly. For he is satisfied provided they persevere in love to God, and in the hope of Christ’s coming. In following up with prayer his expression of confidence, he admonishes us that we must not relax in eagerness of prayer on the ground that we cherish good hope.
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 second admonition is, that they follow always the…
The second admonition is, that they follow always the doctrine of the Apostles as a rule for their life.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 4 And we have confidence in the Lord touching…
4 And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
Ver. 4. That ye both do and will do] Qui monet ut facias quod iam facis, ille monendo laudat, &c. Here the apostle, like an orator, entereth their bosoms; and by praising their present obedience, artificially wresteth from them a redoubled diligence; Virtus laudata creseit. Thus being crafty, he catcheth them with guile, as he did those Corinthians, 2Co 12:16. It must be an elaborate discourse that shall work upon the heart.
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 apostle had before declared his confidence that God…
The apostle had before declared his confidence that God would establish them and keep them from evil, and now here declares his confidence in them concerning their obedience; for he knew well that this is the way of God’s keeping men; and hereby he shows that he built his confidence concerning what he had before declared about their election, calling, establishment, and preservation upon some good ground. And he describes their obedience by doing what the apostle and his fellow labourers in the gospel among them commanded them, whether they were commandments about the duties of the law of the first or second tables, or the doctrine, order, worship, or discipline of the gospel; so that their commandments were no other but the commandments of the Lord himself, Mat 28:20; 1Co 14:37. Ministers are not arbitrary commanders in the church; not lords over God’s heritage, 1Pe 5:3, or have dominion over the people’s faith, 2Co 1:24; nor may they, as the Pharisees, teach for doctrines the commandments of men, Mat 15:9. And he speaks before of these Thessalonians, that they received the word preached by them, not as the word of men, but of God, 1Th 2:13. Both our faith and practice in religion are to be built upon Divine authority; either upon what God hath expressly declared, or what by clear consequence may be derived from it. So that what they command the people is from the Lord, and not themselves. Their work is to search out the mind and will of Christ, as revealed in the Scripture, seeing they have not that immediate infallible inspiration that the apostles had, who were called to lay the foundation which others were to build upon. And as to those things that are but appendices, and not of the substance of religion, and for which no particular rule is or can be laid down, Christian prudence is to regulate them according to general rules, wherein the advice, appointment, and authority of the minister is to be regarded in every church. Yet nothing ought to be enjoined in these things that is uncomely, that is not for edification, that is not of good report, that hath an appearance of evil, that gives just occasion of offence, that transgresseth the general rule of mercy, that is a direction of superstition, whereby many of the commandments of the Romish Church are justly condemned. And obedience to these commandments of the apostle he describes by the universality of it,
the things that we command you; that is, all things; the indefinite being equivalent to the universal. And by the constancy of it, that ye both do and will do, & c.; ye will persevere to do what commandments ye have already received, or any new commandments we shall further give you; some whereof are probably such as are mentioned in the following part of this chapter. And their present obedience gave the apostle confidence about that which was future; at least he declares to them this confidence, as an insinuating argument to persuade them thereunto.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain As if the apostle had said, "Although I gave…
As if the apostle had said, "Although I gave you the assurance of God’s faithful readiness, according to his promise, to do every thing that is requisite on his part, in order to your establishment in holiness, and preservation from sin; yet you must not, you cannot, expect the assistance of God, except you also add your own endeavours, as I have commanded; and accordingly, I have good confidence, that what I command you in the Lord, or by the authority of the Lord, both now and hereafter, at all times, shall be performed by you."
Where note, The character of that obedience which the gospel directs; it must be universal and perpetual: Ye do all things that I command you, and I have confidence that ye will do.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And we have confidence in the Lord touching you,....…
And we have confidence in the Lord touching you,.... The ground of confidence concerning them was not in themselves, in their grace, and strength, and wisdom, and conduct, and good behaviour; but in the Lord, in his grace and strength, and in the power of his might, without whom they could do nothing, but through him strengthening them, could do all things.
That ye both do, and will do the things which we command you; referring both to the commandments, which they had already given them by Christ, and they had showed, and continued to show a proper regard unto, see Th1 4:1 and also to what would be observed to them, as in Th2 3:6.
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 We trust in the Lord concerning you - Thus…
We trust in the Lord concerning you - Thus only should we trust in any man.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. And we have confidence] We have no…
Verse 4. And we have confidence] We have no doubt of God's kindness towards you; he loves you, and will support you: and we can confide in you, that ye are now acting as we have desired you, and will continue so to do.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And we have confidence in the Lord - Not…
And we have confidence in the Lord - Not primarily in you, for you have hearts like others, but in the Lord. It is remarkable that when Paul expresses the utmost confidence in Christians that they will live and act as becomes their profession, his reliance is not on anything in themselves, but wholly on the faithfulness of God. He must be a stranger to the human heart who puts much confidence in it even in its best state; see Phi 1:6; Phi 4:7; 2Ti 1:12; compare Jud 1:24; Rev 3:10; Pro 28:26.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain we have confidence in the Lord--as "faithful" (Th2 3:3).…
we have confidence in the Lord--as "faithful" (Th2 3:3). Have confidence in no man when left to himself [BENGEL].
that ye both do--Some of the oldest manuscripts insert a clause, "that ye both have done" before, "and are doing, and will do." He means the majority by "ye," not all of them (compare Th2 3:11; Th2 1:3; Th1 3:6).
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 4. Confidence in the Lord touching you—That on the…
4. Confidence in the Lord touching you—That on the divine side, since the Lord is faithful, every thing possible will be done; that possibility and faithfulness being limited only by the laws of God’s action in the kingdom of grace, laws prescribed by himself upon himself. And among those laws is the postulate by him required, that man, as free-agent, should use granted grace, and power to meet the conditions necessary to justification, sanctification, persevering grace, and eternal life.
Ye both do and will do—That they will do he trusts, first, because God, on the divine side, will stablish and keep; and you, on the human side, will consent to be stablished and kept; that is, that you will do the conditions of the full realization of God’s stablishing and keeping.
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 4. And we have confidence in the Lord touching…
4. And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you] “The Lord” is not, as the English phrase may suggest, the object of this confidence—2Th_3:3 declared the Apostle’s trust in Him—but the ground on which rests his confidence in the Thessalonian Church. His relations with them and feelings towards them have the common relationship of both to Christ for their foundation and background, their vital underlying bond; comp. 1Th_3:2; 1Th_4:1; 1Th_4:16; 1Th_5:12 and 2Th_3:12 below. No idiom is more frequent or characteristic of St Paul than this—in the Lord, in Christ. But it is “to you” that his confidence is now directed; the construction of the Greek is identical with that of 2Co_2:3, “having confidence in you all.” Let us accordingly read here, in the Lord we have confidence in you. Such is the trust that all true Christians should give to each other.
For command read charge, as in 1Th_4:2‚ 11 (see notes). The word is taken up again in 2Th_3:6. The Apostle seems to have an eye already to the “charge” that he is about to give, which will put to the test his readers’ obedience. The like satisfaction he has repeatedly expressed (ch. 2Th_1:3; 2Th_1:5; 2Th_2:13; 1Th_1:3; 1Th_3:6-10; 1Th_4:1; 1Th_4:9-10; 1Th_5:11).
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 (4) We have confidence in the Lord touching you.—Rather,…
(4) We have confidence in the Lord touching you.—Rather, We rely upon you in the Lord: the clause forms the counterpart to the last verse. St. Chrysostom’s whole comment is worth transcription:—“God, saith he, is faithful, and having promised to save, save He assuredly will, but as He promised. And how did He promise? If we would be agreeable, and would hear Him; not unconditionally, nor while we remain inactive like stocks and stones. Yet, well has he added his, ‘We rely in the Lord:’ that is, ‘We trust to His love of men.’ Once more he takes them down, ascribing the whole matter to that quarter; for had he said ‘We trust to you,’ it would have been a great compliment indeed, but would not have taught them to ascribe all to God; and had he said ‘We rely on the Lord that He will keep you,’ without adding ‘upon you,’ and ‘that ye both do and will do what things we command,’ he would have made them less active by casting the whole upon the power of God.” (See the passage of Galatians referred to in the margin.)
Both do and will do.—The emphasis of the sentence is on the future tense, the commendation of the present being only intended to do away the rebuke which might have been conveyed by the future alone. How careful St. Paul is not to wound susceptibilities, though he never “pleases men”! (See, for instance, Notes on 1Th_4:1; 1Th_4:9-10; 1Th_5:11.) This expression of confidence is a happy rhetorical means of preparing readers for the commands which are to follow.
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 And we have confidence in the Lord. The apostle…
And we have confidence in the Lord. The apostle confidently expects the obedience of the Thessalonians, but his confidence is not fixed on them on their own efforts, endeavours, and resolutions but on the Lord, namely, Christ; on his grace and strength communicated to and perfected in weakness. The obedience of the Thessalonians flowed from the grace of Christ; it was in consequence of the communication of the influences of his Spirit that they were enabled to make progress and to persevere in the Christian life. "Here," observes Professor Jowett, "as elsewhere, the apostle speaks of believing, hoping, doing all things in Christ. We lead an ordinary life as well as a religious one; but, with the apostle, his ordinary life is his religious one, and hence he uses religious expressions in reference to all that he says and does." The apostle lives in the sphere of Christ. Touching you; with reference to you the direction of his confidence. That ye both do and will do the things which we command you. There is here the same union of Divine assistance and human effort, of God"s working and man"s working, which pervades the whole scheme of the gospel salvation. (see Php_2:12, 13)
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 4. We have confidence in the Lord. That by…
4. We have confidence in the Lord. That by the Lord's power and protection ye both do and will do the things” commanded.
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 And we have confidence in the Lord touching you,…
And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command . [The faithfulness of God to supply power and protection gave the apostle confidence that the Thessalonians were living in obedience to his instructions, and would continue to so live.]
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 We have confidence
We have confidence
"We have faith" or "We trust"
Read full note →
direct your hearts
Here "heart" is a metonym for a person's thoughts or mind. AT: "cause you to understand" (See: Metonymy)
to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ
Paul speaks of God's love and Christ's endurance as if they were destinations on a path. AT: "how much God loves you and how much Christ has endured for you" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
heart
love
God
endure
Christ
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.