οτι παραλαβοντες . . . εδεξασθε,
“because, having received . . . you accepted.” The
verb παραλαμβανειν is used especially of receiving a
message or body of instruction handed down by tradition, to be delivered (παραδιδοναι) to others in turn. Compare the noun παραδοσις (“tradition”) in 2 Thess 2:15; 3:6 (also 1 Cor
11:2). The correlative verbs παραλαμβανειν and παραδιδοναι are used together in 1 Cor 11:23; 15:3. Here,
as in 1 Cor 15:3, the reference is to the gospel, delivered by Paul and his
coworkers and received by the Thessalonians. (Seyoon Kim and F. F.
Bruce, 1 & 2 Thessalonians [2d ed.; Word Biblical Commentary 45;
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Academic, 2023], 239)
Paul uses the term “the word of
God” for God’s promises in the OT (Rom 9:6) are for God’s instruction for the
church spoken through prophets (1 Cor 14:36). But most frequently he uses the
term for the missionary preaching of the gospel, as in our verse and in 2 Cor
2:17, 4<2, Phil 1:14, and Col 1:25.
. . .
εδεξασθε ου λογον ανθρωπων αλλα καθως εστιν αληθως λογον θεου, “you
accepted it, not as the word of human beings, but as it truly is, the word of
God.” While παραλαβοντες
indicates that the message was delivered to them, εδεξασθε indicates their own initiative in
eagerly embracing it or accepting it as valid, as God’s word. (Seyoon Kim and
F. F. Bruce, 1 & 2 Thessalonians [2d ed.; Word Biblical Commentary
45; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Academic, 2023], 239, 240)
