First Epistle to the Thessalonians

[5][7] Most New Testament scholars believe Paul wrote this letter from Corinth only months after he left Thessalonica,[5] although information appended to this work in many early manuscripts (e.g., Codices Alexandrinus, Mosquensis, and Angelicus) state that Paul wrote it in Athens[8] after Timothy had returned from Macedonia with news of the state of the church in Thessalonica.

[5] A majority of modern New Testament scholars date 1 Thessalonians to 49–51 AD,[11] during Paul's 18-month stay in Corinth coinciding with his second missionary journey.

Because of this, some scholars see this as an indication that this letter was written before the Epistle to the Galatians, where Paul's positions on these matters were formed and elucidated.

[23] Some scholars, such as Schmithals,[24] Eckhart,[25] Demke[26] and Munro,[27] have developed complicated theories involving redaction and interpolation in 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

Paul, speaking for himself, Silas, and Timothy, gives thanks for the news about their faith and love; he reminds them of the kind of life he had lived while he was with them.

Fragments showing 1 Thessalonians 1:3–2:1 and 2:6–13 on Papyrus 65 , from the third century.
The first page of the epistle in Minuscule 699 gives its title as προς θεσσαλονικεις, "To the Thessalonians."