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.