1 Thessalonians 1:9

For they themselves show of us,.... Either the above reports of the preaching of the Gospel to the Thessalonians, and of their faith in God; or rather the persons to whom these reports were brought,…

For they themselves - They who have visited you, and they whom you have sent out; all persons testify of your piety. The apostle seems to refer to all whom he had met or had heard of “in all places,”…

How ye turned to God from idols - This could not be spoken either of the Jews or of the devout persons, but of the heathen Greeks, and of such it appears that the majority of the Church was formed.…

In these words we have the evidence of the apostle's success among the Thessalonians, which was notorious and famous in several places. For,

I. They were careful in their holy conversation to imitate…

For they themselves shew of us Rather, report concerning us (R.V.) "They" points to "those in Macedonia and Achaia" and "in every place," any whom the Apostle visited, or to whom he had thought of…