One of the most common phrases I hear today is “thank you” directed toward people who have done some thing for another person. The question I am attempting to address is this, “Is there any Biblical basis for giving thanks to people for what they have done?” The Bible is replete with thanksgiving to God, but almost never is thanksgiving directed to man. It seems that the early church and the Old Testament saints recognized that every little act of goodness done towards another was ultimately God at work, so these saints learned to direct their gratitude to God and not to man. A few examples:
In The Old Testament, it seems that thanksgiving is always directed to God
“And it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever”” (2 Chr 5:13).
“For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God” (Neh 12:46). (see also Lev 7:12–13, 15; 22:29; 1 Chr 16:7; 25:3; 2 Chr 5:13; 33:16; Neh 12:8, 46; Ps 26:7; 50:14, 23; 69:30; 95:2; 100:4; 107:22; 116:17; 147:7; Isa 51:3; Jer 30:19; Amos 4:5; Jonah 2:9; 1 Chr 16:8, 34–35, 41; 2 Chr 7:3, 6; 20:21; 30:22; 31:2; Ezra 3:11; Neh 11:17; 12:24, 31, 38, 40; Ps 7:17; 9:1; 28:7; 30:4, 12; 33:2; 44:8; 54:6; 57:9; 75:1; 79:13; 86:12; 92:1; 97:12; 100:0, 4; 105:1; 106:1, 47; 107:1; 108:3; 109:30; 111:1; 118:1, 19, 28–29; 122:4; 136:1–3, 26; 138:1–2, 4; 140:13; 142:7; 145:10; Isa 12:1, 4; 38:19; Jer 33:11; Dan 2:23; 6:10)
In the New Testament, it seems that thanksgiving is always directed to God
“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruitsto be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thess 2:13).
“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing” (2 Thess 1:3).
“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 1:4).
“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed” (Rom 6:17). (See also Matt 15:36; 26:27; Mark 8:6; 14:23; Luke 2:38; 17:16; 22:17, 19; John 6:11, 23; Acts 27:35; Rom 1:21; 6:17; 7:25; 14:6; 1 Cor 1:4; 10:30; 11:24; 14:16–17; 15:57; 2 Cor 1:11; 2:14; 8:16; 9:15; Eph 1:16; 5:20; Col 1:12; 3:17; 1 Thess 1:2; 5:18; 2 Thess 1:3; 2:13; Rev 4:9; 11:17; 1 Cor 14:16; 2 Cor 4:15; 9:11; Eph 5:4; Phil 4:6; Col 2:7; 4:2; 1 Thess 3:9; 1 Tim 4:3–4; Rev 7:12; Heb 12:28; Luke 18:11; John 11:41; Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:14; 14:18; Phil 1:3; Col 1:3; 1 Thess 2:13; 1 Tim 1:12; 2 Tim 1:3; Phlm 1:4)
Thanks to Men?
There are three texts in the New Testament where thanksgiving is seemingly directed towards men. The first is in Luke 17:1–10, and according to 17:10, the point Jesus is making is that masters do not thank their servants. Servants are unworthy of thanksgiving because they only do what is required of them, thus they don’t deserve thanksgiving for something that’s already expected of them. So it is with all Christians since every good work we do was prepared beforehand by God for us (Eph 2:10).
The second instance is Acts 24:3 where Tertullus deceitful expresses gratitude (by flattery) to Felix in order to have Paul killed. However, Tertullus is a God–despiser who is seeking to kill God’s servant and should not be a model for us to follow.
The most significant text to consider in this section is Romans 16:4. The ESV renders it as “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.” (Rom 16:3–4). Based on the ESV, it seems Paul and the churches are expressing thanks to Prisca and Aquila. But given the overwhelming evidence of Paul’s rendering of thanks only to God for people and never to people, it is possible that the thanks in Romans 16:4 is directed to God as well. I propose that the use of the dative relative pronoun oi[v is what Wallace calls “dative of reference” (Wallace 144). If it is a dative of reference then the verse should be rendered “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, about whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles as well.” With this reading, it means that Paul and the Gentile churches are giving thanks to God in reference to the work of Prisca and Aquila. James Dunn renders it as “for whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles” (James D. G. Dunn, Romans 9–16, 892-893.) If Dunn and I are correct, then we can conclude that Paul always direct thanks to God for what He is doing in and through the churches and her members.
Proposal
If, as shown above, the Bible is replete with thanksgiving only to God and if my data is correct, how then should we express gratitude today? Here’s what I propose: since we know that whatever good we do is done with the power that God supplies (1 Pet 4:21), and all that we are and have is a gift of God (John 3:27; 1 Cor 7:4), we should rather thank God for each other instead of thanking ourselves. Maybe we should say like Paul, “I thank God for you.” If all things are from God, then thanksgiving should be directed to God.
Therefore, we should not be peeved if people do not express thanksgiving to us because we are not worthy to be thanked. God intends for all praise and gratitude to culminate in him and not in us “for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever Amen” (Rom 11:36).
Thanking God for you all
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