Verse Lens · Context pointer
1 Thessalonians 1:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The receivers become an example to believers across two provinces, advancing the movement from healthy imitation to reproducible witness.
Read It With
- 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10
Read 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10 as one complete movement. Verse 6 turns from how the gospel came to how it was received; verses 7-8 describe the church's exemplary witness; verses 9-10 report the movement from idols to service and waiting. Chapter 2 returns to the missionaries' entry and conduct. The Thessalonians received the word with Spirit-given joy amid affliction, became an example across Macedonia and Achaia, turned from idols to serve the living and true God, and wait for the risen Son who rescues from coming wrath.
Why It Needs Context
Read this line within 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10. Verses 2-5 remember the church's active faith, love, and hope and the gospel's powerful arrival. Chapter 2:1-8 reopens the story of the missionaries' arrival and defends its courage, motives, gentleness, and self-giving care.
Read 1 Thessalonians 1:6–10 together
Why these verses belong together: Reception amid affliction develops into example, public witness, turning from idols, service, and resurrection-grounded waiting.
Verse 6. 6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:
Verse 7. 7 So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.
Verse 8. 8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.
Verse 9. 9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
Verse 10. 10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10 — Afflicted Imitators Become an Example as They Turn, Serve, and WaitSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: The exact pinned KJV wording and immediate English context for 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10.
Exact location: eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the shared library policy.
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording, connective structure, lexical forms, and variation markers.
Exact location: Official SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/1Thess.txt, 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10.
Open the 1 Thessalonians Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible - 1 Thessalonians with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005-2026 online edition
Supports: Material translation choices, syntax, and textual variants checked at the cited verses.
Exact location: NET Bible official 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 print view, translator, study, and textual notes attached to verses 6-10.
Open NET 1 Thessalonians 1 notesmodern open commentary
1 Thessalonians
David W. Chapman
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: A complete current evangelical commentary check on literary flow, historical setting, grammar, theology, and major interpretations.
Exact location: David W. Chapman, The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, “1 Thessalonians,” Thanksgiving to God for the Thessalonians (1:6-10).
Open source ↗modern annotated new testament
1 Thessalonians introduction and annotations in The Jewish Annotated New Testament
David Fox Sandmel; edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler
Oxford University Press, 2011
Supports: A Jewish-context and historical-critical check on audience, persecution, polemic, ethics, resurrection, day-of-the-Lord imagery, and communal practice.
Exact location: David Fox Sandmel, “1 Thessalonians,” in The Jewish Annotated New Testament (2011 first edition), print p. 373 annotations on 1:6-10.
Open source ↗