14. ὑμεῖςγάρκτλ.] A practical confirmation of the ἐνέργεια just spoken of. The Thessalonians in their turn (ὑμεῖς emph.) had shown themselves not idle hearers, but active ‘ imitators’ of the Churches of God in Judaea, which are apparently specially mentioned here simply because they were the earliest Christian communities, and had throughout their history been exposed to severe hostility. For the added clause ἐνΧρ. Ἰης. cf. 1:1 note, and for similar appeals to the lessons of past sufferings cf. 1 Corinthians 15:32, Galatians 3:4, Hebrews 10:32 ff. ὑπὸτ. ἰδίωνσυμφυλετῶν] According to derivation συμφυλέτης (ἅπ. λεγ. N.T.) means literally ‘ one belonging to the same tribe’ (Vg. contribulibus), but is evidently used here in a local rather than a racial sense (Ambrstr. conciuibus), and need not therefore exclude all reference to those Jews by whom, as we know from Acts 17:5; Acts 17:13, the persecutions at Thessalonica were first instigated. If so, this would seem to be one of the instances where a certain weakened force must be allowed to ἰδίων (cf. ἑαυτῆς, v. 7) in accordance with a not infrequent tendency in Hellenistic Gk., e.g. Job 7:10 οὐδʼ οὐμὴἐπιστρέψῃεἰςτὸνἴδιονοἶκον: cf. Matthew 22:5, 1 Corinthians 7:2, and the memorial inscription found at Thessalonica ἈπολλωνίαΝεικῶνιτῷἰδίῳἀνδρὶμνήμηςχάριν (Heuzey p. 282). See further Deissmann BS. p. 123 f., Mayser p. 308, and on the danger of pushing this ‘ exhausted’ ἴδιος too far Moulton Prolegg. p. 87 ff. For the thoroughly class, use of ὑπό with an intrans. verb to point to the author cf. such a passage from the Κοινή as P.Amh. 78, 4 f. (2./a.d.) βίανπάσχωνἑκάστοτεὑπὸἙκύσεως. καθὼςκαὶαὐτοίκτλ.] Αὐτοί, i.e. the persons included in the collective ἐκκλησιῶν. For the imperfect antecedent cf. WM. p. 181, and for the repetition of καί in order to strengthen the comparison with the immediately preceding καὶὑμεῖς cf. Romans 1:13, Colossians 3:13. Ἰουδαία is here used in its larger sense of all Palestine including Galilee, cf. Luke 4:44, Acts 10:37, Jos. Antt. 1. 160 (7. 2) εἰςτὴντότεμὲνΧαναναίανλεγομένηννῦνδὲἸουδαίαν, μετῴκησε. Of the precise nature of the sufferings of the Judæan churches after St Paul began his missionary labours we have no record in Acts, but they would doubtless consist in excommunication and social outlawry, as well as in actual legal persecution (cf. Ramsay C.R.E. p. 349). In any case the mere mention of ‘ the Jews’ is sufficient to recall to the Apostle what he himself had suffered at the hands of his fellow-countrymen, and accordingly he ‘ goes off’ at the word into a fierce attack upon them.