1. LSJ, σημεῖον 1. b. cites examples of this term as “proof of the genuineness of a communication” and gives some koinē examples.
1. John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Thessalonians 2 (NPNF1 13:330).
2. First Timothy is a probable exception to that rule: the Ephesian church had fallen into an inward-looking mysticism (1 Tim 1:3–4) that cut off concern for the outer world (indicated by 2:1–2). Timothy should reinstruct them to be evangelists by being a pattern for them (2 Tim 4:5).
3. The “word” (always λόγος, never ῥῆμα) in the sense of the Christian message is called “the word of God” (1 Thess 2:13), “of the Lord” (1:8; 2 Thess 3:1) or simply “the word/message” (1 Thess 1:6; 2:13 in the Greek). In these cases “word” refers to the oral proclamation, not the written canon. It is also used more generally to mean a “message” (2 Thess 3:14). The “gospel” is “of Christ” (1 Thess 3:2), “of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess 1:8), “of God (1 Thess 2:2, 8, 9), or simply “the [or ‘our’] gospel” (1 Thess 1:5; 2:4; 2 Thess 2:14). Its cognate verb “to announce good news” (εὐαγγελίζομαι) appears once (1 Thess 3:6), but not in the sense of “evangelize.” Paul also uses the term “tradition” (παράδοσις) to refer to the content of the apostolic message (2 Thess 2:15; 3:6).
4. Irenaeus, Haer. 2.29.2 (ANF 1:403).
5. Did. 10.5.