What is the function of "and" at the beginning of this verse?
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (ESV)
13And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
The conjunction And (Gk καὶ/kai) introduces additional material which is closely associated with what has gone before. This means that 1 Thessalonians 2:13 adds to what has been said in 1 Thessalonians 2:1–12, and that the additional material is related to what has already been said.1,2
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.