King James Version · Under Rome
1 Thessalonians 2
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For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in : But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at , we were bold in our to speak unto you of with much contention. For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: But as we were allowed of to be put in with , even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but , which trieth our . For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; is : Nor of men sought we , neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as of Christ. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not of only, but also our own , because ye were dear unto us. For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you of . Ye are , and also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that : As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a doth his children, That ye would walk worthy of , who hath called you unto and . For this cause also thank we without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of , which effectually worketh also in you that . For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of which in are in Christ : for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the : Who both killed , and their own , and have persecuted us; and they please not , and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the that they might be , to fill up their alway: for the is come upon them to the uttermost. But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in , not in , endeavoured the more abundantly to see your with great . Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I , once and again; but hindered us. For what is our , or joy, or of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the of our at his coming? For ye are our and joy.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.