I Thessalonians 2:1 and 2:
2:1For you yourselves knew2, brothers, our entrance-way, the (entrance-way) towards you, that it did not become2 empty, .2but, having suffered-beforehand and having been hurtfully-treated according as you knew2 in Philippi, we were bold in our God to utter-forth the good-message of God towards you in much contest,
Continuing on from chapter 1, Paul by revelation writes: in truth you (emphatically) yourselves knew and still know (perceive, see), brothers…. Again addressing these Thessalonian holy-people as "brothers" and so reminding them that they and Paul and all holy-people have received the same gift of holy spirit, therefore all are brothers in the spirit category being children of God.
For you yourselves knew and continue to know, brothers, our entrance (way of entry, manner of going in) towards you, that it did not become empty at that time and it is still not empty (not empty of contents, not void), but on the contrary, though we had previously suffered (had been affected by and experienced many things) before we came to Thessalonica and we had been hurtfully-treated (acted upon by others with wanton-violence, insolence resulting in injury) when we were in Philippi [see Acts 16:12-40], we were bold (with frankness and openness) in our God to utter-forth the good-message of God towards you in much contest.
Bold in Whom? We were bold in our God (within the sphere of action of our God, the God of us, ours, not someone else's so-called "god") to utter-forth the good-message of God (to speak the gospel, evangel belonging-to and proceeding-from God, God's good-message that He makes-known) towards you in much contest (within a lot of contesting). The word “contest” means: being in a place of contest where there are two opposing parties conflicting against each other in order to be the one to gain the prize at the end of the contest. The usage of athletic terminology draws attention to holy-people and the truth of being together moving in the direction of the same objective, being on the same team in the same contest, not a different one or on a different team.
[Reference: Acts 17:1-4; Romans 1:1-6, 16 and 17; I Thessalonians 1:9. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (2) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]
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True Bible Study - First and Second Thessalonians
