4. ὥστεαὐτοὺςἡμᾶςκτλ.] ‘ so that we on our part …,’ the emphatically placed αὐτούς not being simply reflexive, but serving to draw attention to the fact that the Apostles, as well as the Thessalonians, have ground for boasting, inasmuch as it was through their agency, humanly speaking, that the foundations of the Thessalonians’ faith were laid. For ὥστε with inf. cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:7 note. ἐνκαυχᾶσθαι] Ἐνκαυχᾶσθαι (for form, WH.2 Notes p. 156 f.) instead of the favourite Pauline καυχᾶσθαι (Epp.35) does not occur elsewhere in the N.T., but is found with the same construction as here in Psalms 51. (52.) 3, 96. (97.) 7 (ἐγκ-), 105. (106.) 47. For the thought cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:19 στέφανοςκαυχήσεως, and for ἐν indicating the ground of the boasting see WM. p. 292. ἐντ. ἐκκλησίαιςτ. θεοῦ] i.e. in Corinth and its neighbourhood, cf. 2 Corinthians 1:1. For a similar instance of boasting cf. 2 Corinthians 8:1 ff., and for the use made of the present passage by Polycarp see Intr. p. 76 f. ὑπὲρτῆςὑπομονῆςκτλ.] Ὑπομονή (1 Thessalonians 1:3 note) is usually found associated with ἐλπίς, and its close union here with πίστις under a common art. has led to the latter’ s being taken in the sense of ‘ faithfulness’ . But this passive significance of πίστις is, to say the least, very rare in the N.T. (cf. Romans 3:3, Galatians 5:22), and the occurrence of the word in its ordinary active sense of ‘ faith’ in the immediately preceding verse makes it more natural to give it the same meaning here. Nor need the added clause ἐνπᾶσιντ. διωγμοῖςκτλ. cause any difficulty in this respect. It was the very point of the Apostles’ boast that the Thessalonians had maintained a true religious ‘ faith’ even in the midst of the ‘ persecutions’ and ‘ afflictions’ which had been both numerous (πᾶσιν) and continuous (ἀνέχεσθε pres.). For the combination διωγμ. κ. θλίψ. cf. Matthew 13:21, Mark 4:17, the former being the more special term, with reference to the external persecutions inflicted by enemies of the Gospel (cf. Acts 8:1; Acts 13:50, 2Ma 12:23), the latter (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:6, note), more comprehensively, afflictions of any kind. αἷςἀνέχεσθε] ‘ which ye are enduring.’ Αἷς is generally regarded as an attraction for ὧνἀνέχεσθε, as elsewhere in the N. T. ἀνέχομαι is found with the gen. (e.g. 2 Corinthians 11:1; 2 Corinthians 11:19, Ephesians 4:2). But such an attraction as this would be unique (WM. p. 204 n.2), and it is simpler to regard αἷς as directly governed by ἀνέχεσθε for which we have class, authority, e.g. Eur. Androm. 980 ξυμφοραῖςδʼ ἠνειχόμην. Findlay suggests that the grammatical anomaly may have led to the otherwise interesting variant αἷςἐνέχεσθε (WH. mg.) ‘ in which you are involved,’ αἷς being then regularly governed by ἐν-: cf. Galatians 5:1 μὴπάλινζυγῷδουλείαςἐνέχεσθε, P.Fior. 57, 30 (3./a.d.) ἐνέχεσθεταῖςλειτουργίαις.