In the arsenal of anti-Jewish Christian bigotry, 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 holds a prominent place. Here is the NRSV translation, with a key portion underlined.
We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers. For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out; they displease God and oppose everyone by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. (1 Thes 2:13-16. Emphasis added.)
Note particularly the comma following "Jews". As it now reads it would appear that Paul accuses all Jews of killing Jesus. Many NT scholars have suggested that this passage was not originally part of Paul's letter, that it was added at a later time. But Raymond Brown, in his Introduction to the New Testament says that the majority view holds that the text is original with Paul.
In The Judas Brief I suggest that this passage should be considered in the context of Petrine allegations in Acts 2:23 and 3:17. In the first verse Peter allegedly accused the Jews of killing Jesus only in the sense that they handed him over to Pilate, but Peter gives no motive or explanation for this action. In the second passage Peter says that the Jews acted out of ignorance, which should be understood as meaning that whatever responsibility the Jews had stemmed from a failure to understand that Jesus was the Messiah and not from any hostile motives. If Paul's accusation can legitimately be placed in this context, his charge against the Jews should be understood in a much less hostile manner than that exhibited by later Christians. Unfortunately, we can't really be sure what intention Paul had as he was often engaged in polemical attacks on Jews, both non-Christian and Christian.
Recently, I received a note from a prominent academic well-versed in ancient Greek who was kind enough to read The Judas Brief and give me his thoughts. In the course of his remarks he noted that the English translation of 1 Thes 2:14-15 wrongly inserts a comma after the word "Jews". The underlying Greek, he tells me, indicates a restrictive clause. This means we should eliminate the comma and the passage should then be understood as applying not to all Jews, but only to those Jews who engaged in the specific action alleged. If this is correct, then Paul only attacks some Jews, not all Jews. Although in The Judas Brief I reject the idea that any Jewish leaders had any responsibility for the death of Jesus, I do welcome this observation that undermines a major anti-Semitic argument.
