1 Thessalonians 1:10

To wait for [α ν α μ ε ν ε ι ν]. N. T. o. Several times in LXX, as Job 2:9; Job 7:2; Isaiah 59:11. Paul's usual word is ajpekdecomai : see Romans 8:19; Romans 8:28; Romans 8:25; 1 Corinthians 1:7; Philippians 3:20.

From heaven [ε κ τ ω ν ο υ ρ α ν ω ν]. Lit. from the heavens. Comp. 1 Corinthians 14:47; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:7. Paul uses the unclassical plural much oftener than the singular. Although the Hebrew equivalent has no singular, the singular is almost universal in LXX, the plural occurring mostly in the Psalm. Oujranov is from a Sanscrit word meaning to cover or encompass. The Hebrew shamayirn signifies height, high district, the upper regions. Similarly we have in N. T. ejn uJyistoiv in the highest [π λ α χ ε σ], Matthew 21:9; Matthew 2:14; ejn uJyhloiv in the high [π λ α χ ε σ], Hebrews 1:3. Paul's usage is evidently colored by the Rabbinical conception of a series of heavens : see 2 Corinthians 12:2; Ephesians 4:10. Some Jewish teachers held that there were seven heavens, 14 others three. The idea of a series of heavens appears in patristic writings, in Thomas Aquinas's doctrine of the celestial hierarchies, and in Dionysius the Areopagite, Through the scholastic theologians it passed into Dante's Paradiso with its nine heavens. 15 The words to await his Son from heaven strike the keynote of this Epistle.

Jesus which delivered [ι η σ ο υ ν τ ο ν ρ υ ο μ ε ν ο ν]. More correctly, delivereth. See on Matthew 1:21. Ruesqai to deliver, mostly in Paul. Lit. to draw to one's self. Almost invariably with the specification of some evil or danger or enemy. Swzein to save is often used in a similar sense, of deliverance from disease, from sin, or from divine wrath : see Matthew 1:21; Mark 6:56; Mark 8:36; Acts 2:40; Romans 5:9 : but swzein is a larger and more comprehensive term, including not only deliverance from sin and death, but investment with all the privileges and rewards of the new life in Christ.

The wrath to come [τ η ς ο ρ γ η ς τ η ς ε ρ χ ο μ ε ν η ς]. Lit. the wrath which is coming. The wrath, absolutely, of the wrath of God, as Romans 5:9; Romans 7:19; 1 Thessalonians 2:16. Sometimes for the punishment which wrath inflicts, as Romans 12:4; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:6. See on J. 3 36. The phrase wrath to come is found in Matthew 3:7; 50, 3 7. Coming does not necessarily imply the thought of speedy or imminent approach, but the general tone of the Epistle points in that direction.