1 Thessalonians 2:14 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

1 Thessalonians 2:14.— Having before commended them for their ready and cheerful reception of the gospel, and hinted at their resolution in suffering for the cause, he goes on to commend them for their patience and fortitude, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 and then again expresses his great affection for the Thessalonians, and his earnest desire to make them another visit; which he assures them he had more than once attempted; but Satan had always hindered him: by which vehement expression he again obliquely reflects on the unbelieving Jews, 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20. St. Paul probably calls the Christian churches in Judea, churches in Christ Jesus, to distinguish them from the Jewish churches, or the synagoguesin Judea, as well as to intimate that all the members of Christ's true church are one in him. As to the patience and fortitude of the Christian churches there, see Acts 12 and Hebrews 10:32-34. How these Thessalonians imitated them, see ch. 1 Thessalonians 1:6. Acts 17:5. &c. The Jews of Jerusalem had desired Pilate, a Gentile, to crucify our Lord; the Jews of Thessalonica had exasperated the Gentiles, and even the governors of that city, to persecute his apostle and disciples. From the representation both of the history of the Acts, and the Apostolic Epistles, as well as from other ancient writings, it appears, that most of the primitive persecutions proceeded from the malice and opposition of the unbelieving Jews.