1 Thessalonians 1:8

New Testament Epistle (Pauline) ASV (1901)

What does 1 Thessalonians 1:8 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything.
1 Thessalonians 1:8 — American Standard Version

Context — 1 Thessalonians 1

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
8For from you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith to God-ward is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, etc.] By which is meant the Gospel, and is so called because it is from the Lord, as the author of it: and it is of the Lord, as the subject of it; and it is by the Lord, as the minister or dispenser of it; and it is owing to the efficacy of his grace that it is useful and successful, and ought to be attended to, received, and obeyed, not as the word of man, but as the word of the Lord. This is said to have “sounded out”, alluding to the blowing of a trumpet, to which the Gospel is sometimes compared, as to the silver trumpet under the law, for the gathering of the people of Israel; or to the trumpet blown in the years of jubilee, which…”
Read attributed excerpt →
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“from you sounded . . . the word of the Lord--not that they actually became missionaries: but they, by the report which spread abroad of their "faith" (compare Rom 1:8), and by Christian merchants of Thessalonica who travelled in various directions, bearing "the word of the Lord" with them, were virtually missionaries, recommending the Gospel to all within reach of their influence by word and by example (Th1 1:7). In "sounded," the image is that of a trumpet filling with its clear-sounding echo all the surrounding places. to God-ward--no longer directed to idols. so that we need not to speak any thing--to them in praise of your faith; "for (Th1 1:9) they themselves" (the people in Macedonia,…”
Read attributed excerpt →
Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“For from you sounded out the word of the Lord - The truths of religion were thus spread abroad. The word rendered “sounded out” - ἐξήχηται exēchētai - refers to the sounding of a trumpet (Bloomfield), and the idea is, that the gospel was proclaimed like the sonorous voice of a trumpet echoing from place to place; compare Isaiah 58:1; Revelation 1:10. Their influence had an effect in diffusing the gospel in other places, as if the sound of a trumpet echoed and reechoed among the hills and along the vales of the classic land of Greece. This seems to have been done: (1) Involuntarily; that is, the necessary result of their conversion, even without any direct purpose of the kind of their…”
Read attributed excerpt →
Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“For from you the word sounded forth - (Thessalonica being a city of great commerce.) Being echoed, as it were, from you. And your conversion was divulged far beyond Macedonia and Achaia. So that we need not speak anything - Concerning it. 1 Thessalonians 1:9”
Read attributed excerpt →
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“from: Isa 2:3, Isa 52:7, Isa 66:19; Rom 10:14-18; Co1 14:36; Th2 3:1; Rev 14:6, Rev 22:17 in every: Rom 1:8; Th2 1:4; Jo3 1:12 God-ward: Exo 18:9; Co2 3:4 1 Thessalonians 1:9”
Read attributed excerpt →

Related study paths

Sources and verification