1 Thessalonians 2:16

hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul writes to the Thessalonian believers while separated from them, recounting his recent ministry and the active hostility of Jewish opponents. He identifies these opponents as the agents currently blocking his gospel mission to non-Jewish populations.

The words — The participle κωλυόντων (kōluontōn) literally means "hindering" or "preventing," describing an ongoing obstruction of Paul and his companions. The infinitive λαλῆσαι (lalēsai) "to speak" connects directly to ἵνα σωθῶσιν (hina sōthōsin) "that they may be saved," specifying the exact content of the prevented message.

The thread — This pattern of pursuit and obstruction appears in Acts 17:13, where hostile groups track Paul from Thessalonica to Berea, and in Acts 14:19, where antagonists incite crowds against his ministry. The warning of completed guilt and arriving judgment parallels Malachi 4:1, which describes a coming day of burning wrath.

Why it lands — The text states that active opposition to preaching salvation results in the accumulation of sin until wrath arrives. It demands recognition that spiritual obstruction carries immediate moral consequences and final divine judgment.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

Cross-references

Acts 17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds.
Acts 14:19 Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.
Malachi 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
Matthew 23:32 Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.
Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Acts 14:5 But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,
Matthew 21:41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”
Acts 13:50 The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.
Acts 22:21 Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
Galatians 5:11 Now, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.