Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia, in which St. Paul, having
preached the Gospel, converted some Jews and a great number of the
Gentiles: but the unbelieving Jews, envying his success, raised such a
commotion against him that he, and his companion, Sylvanus were obliged
to quit the city. Afterwards he went to Athens, where he heard that the
converts in Thessalonica were under a severe persecution, ever since
his departure; and lest they should lose their fortitude, he sent
Timothy to strengthen and comfort them in their sufferings. In the
meantime St. Paul came to Corinth, where he wrote this first Epistle,
and also the second to the Thessalonians, both in the same year, being
the nineteenth after our Lord's Ascension. These are the first of his
Epistles in the order of time.