1 Thessalonians 5

CHAPTER V

Instruction regarding the Times and the Seasons

1 Thessalonians 5:1

1 This paragraph is the companion piece to 4:13–18. Paul could not be content to tell the Thessalonians to be comforted and not to grieve about their dead but would add to this that they should be ready for the Parousia of the Lord. So the two paragraphs form a unit. We see this when we note that Paul concludes the first one: “Comfort one another!” (4:18), and the second one: “Comfort one another and build up one the other!” (5:11). Thus 5:1–11 adds upbuilding to the comfort found especially in 4:13–18.

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to be written to, for you yourselves know accurately that the Lord’s day so comes as a thief at night.

Δέ indicates a new subject which is again introduced by περί (as in 4:9, 13) and again followed (4:10, 13) by the address “brethren.” “The times and the seasons” are the subject now considered by the writers themselves in order to add to 4:13–18 instructions as to how the Thessalonians should live in view of the Parousia. To say only: “Be comforted and do not grieve for your dead!” is not enough, for this refers only to the dead. What about the Thessalonians themselves and their thoughts regarding themselves? A word regarding themselves is in place. There is no indication that they had asked about themselves either through Timothy or in writing; why should they have written when Timothy had just been with them?

“The times and the seasons” repeat Acts 1:7 and imply that the writers were acquainted with this word of Jesus’. “The times” simply denote stretches of time while “the seasons” (καιροί) refer to periods that are marked by what occurs in them. The former is a general expression to indicate the mere passing of the years, to which the second is added as being explicative of the years which include this and that that happened in them. We must include the days of the last tribulation, which Jesus mentioned especially as those which would precede his Parousia (Matt. 24:22; Mark 13:20). We cannot agree with those who say that this double plural is only a general formula, for it is nowhere used as a common expression. The plurals are especially worth noting in view of 2 Thess. 2 and the charge that Paul himself had overdone things in I Thess. and had to tone them down in 2 Thess. The disorderly actions rebuked in 2 Thess. 3:6, etc., cannot be charged to Paul as though he had pictured the Parousia as an event that was certain to come in a year or two.

He was acquainted with Acts 1:7 and never pretends to know more than Jesus himself said on this subject. The extravagant ideas of the Thessalonians were in no way traceable to Paul. Such ideas have appeared in far later times and will probably appear again, all that Jesus has said and all that Paul has written to the contrary notwithstanding.

Paul acknowledges that nothing needs to be written to the Thessalonians about the times and the seasons; now he uses the passive γράφεσθαι whereas in 4:9 he has used the active γράφειν since the matter may be expressed in either way. In connection with both infinitives the subject need not be expressed since the active in 4:9 itself suggests the writers and this passive in 5:1 suggests the readers, and the Greek mind needs no more.

1 Thessalonians 5:2

2 From previous instruction on the part of Paul and Silvanus the Thessalonians know accurately (the same adverb that occurs in Luke 1:3) what is the main thing to be known “concerning the times and the seasons,” namely “that the Lord’s day so comes as a thief at night.” The years may pass on, one period after another may bring this or that, no one can be sure when the Lord’s day will arrive. ἩμέραΚυρίου needs no article, for there is only one such day, and the omission of the articles makes the expression a standard one although the articles could also have been added.

The writers know the contents of Matt. 24:43 and Luke 12:39 just as did Peter (2 Pet. 3:10; compare Rev. 3:3; 16:15). They had undoubtedly told the Thessalonians what Jesus had said when he used this illustration of the thief. “As—thus” make the comparison a strong one. To say that the day comes thus is the same as saying that the Lord comes thus; and the present tense “comes” is not used in the sense of the future “will come” but is the present tense that is found in doctrinal statements. The ancients thought that “at night” indicates that Christ would literally return during the night, but “at night” is suggested by the illustration of a thief. The Lord’s day and its arrival are described by Jesus in Matt. 24:29–31. The tertium comparationis in the illustration of a thief is unexpectedness coupled with unpreparedness, which are very clear in Matt. 24:43.

1 Thessalonians 5:3

3 This is made plain by the literal statement which thus needs no connective: When they are saying, Peace and safety! then sudden destruction comes upon them just as the travail upon the woman with child, and they shall in no wise escape.

The indefinite λέγωσιν (the subjunctive after ὅταν which refers to the expected future time) is made definite by its contrast with “you, brethren,” in v. 4: all those who do not know as the Thessalonians know. They will go on saying, “Peace and safety!” and will conduct themselves accordingly, will act as if everything is still as peaceful and safe as it was during the days past (Matt. 24:37, etc.; Luke 17:26, etc.). Some will even scoff at the promise of the Lord’s coming because they are certain that all things will go on as they have ever gone (2 Pet. 3:3–10). The blind world will remain blind to the last despite the great procession of signs during the course of the years, that advertise the Lord’s day as the advertising signs do along our public roads. Rationalists will use scientific learning to prove that the prophecies of Scripture are false.

Then, like lightning, the bolt will fall (Matt. 24:27): “sudden destruction will come upon them.” The Greek can place the adjective far forward and thus give it a powerful emphasis; the subject is placed last and is thereby made equally emphatic; subject and predicate are reversed, and this construction also emphasizes the latter; it is impossible to duplicate this in English. “Sudden” what? We must wait in suspense until after the verb has been written and we read the terrible word “destruction.” The present tense ἐφίσταται is the same as ἔρχεται in v. 2. This is the significant verb which is often used with reference to the sudden appearance of angels and of other manifestations and thus matches the adjective. Consternation will smite the world of worldlings.

The illustration of the woman caught in travail and rendered helpless is used repeatedly in the Old Testament (Exod. 15:14; Isa. 13:8; Jer. 13:21; Hos. 13:13). We have the same tertium of helpless pain in our passage. Jesus used it with a different tertium in John 16:21, 22: birthpains which end in joy and thus illustrated what the disciples and not their enemies shall pass through. Isa. 26:17, 18 use this illustration in a still different way. Ὠδίν is nominative, and “she having in belly” is the Greek idiom for a pregnant woman. No illustration should be extended beyond the one point to elucidate which it is used. Here we are not to introduce the thought that a pregnant woman knows about when the time of her giving birth is due to arrive.

That feature would illustrate something else just as in John 16:21, 22 the pregnant woman’s pain and her child thus born illustrate still another matter. Many a pregnant woman is suddenly seized by birthpains, all at once stricken with helplessness. That is the sole point here.

We see this in the literal addition: “and they shall in no wise escape” (ἐκ, flee and get “out of,” aorist), the futuristic subjunctive in a main sentence (R. 928, etc.), hence also οὐ is added to μή to express the negation. Then the terrible words “Too late!” will seal the tragedy of all these people.

1 Thessalonians 5:4

4 In sharp contrast with these it is stated: But you, brethren, you are not in darkness so that that day (article of previous reference) will catch you as a thief, for all you are sons of light and sons of day; we do not belong to night nor to darkness.

“Brethren” helps to emphasize “you” in contrast with other men. The rest are “in darkness,” in unbelief, in ignorance of the light of the Word, but not you. Ἵνα is consecutive: “so that,” although our versions have it denote purpose. The Lord’s day will not catch the believers as a thief catches the sleeping owner of a house. Καταλαμβάνω means to catch or capture. Believers know all about “the day” and how it will come and thus keep themselves in perfect readiness. All this is said about the Thessalonians (v. 5 includes also the writers) just as we say it regarding ourselves because neither they nor we know when “the day” will come.

1 Thessalonians 5:5

5 The negative statement is re-enforced by the positive; the negation can be made only because of the affirmation, and hence we have γάρ. Paul likes to add something when he writes such corresponding statements; here he adds “all you,” no believer in Thessalonica is excepted. The predication, too, is double and is the reverse of the one found in v. 4. To be “in darkness” is merely to be surrounded by it, to be helpless victims of darkness; but to be “sons of light and sons of day” is more than being surrounded by the light of day; this means to have the nature of light and of day. R. 651 would make the genitives adjectival, but they are evidently more, call them ethical or possessive as in compound terms: Lichtsoehne, Tagessoehne.

In Eph. 5:8 we have both more and less, for there Paul writes: “You were at one time darkness but now are light in the Lord” (which is more); then he calls the Ephesians “children of light” (which is less than “sons of light”). The difference is that existing between “children” who are born as what they are and “sons” who are in the full standing of what they are. “Sons” connotes maturity, full conscious dignity; “children,” only native condition. “Sons of darkness” is never used, neither “children of the darkness,” but only “sons of the disobedience,” Eph. 2:2, and “children of wrath,” because darkness can neither bear children nor have sons because it is full of death and not like light which is full of life. The doubling “sons of light and sons of day” produces an emphasis, but we do not think that “of day” alludes to “the Lord’s day”; both “light” and “day” are opposites of “night” used in v. 4.

Paul makes this emphatic contrast still more pronounced. The negative sets the affirmative into the boldest relief by being placed both before and after it. What is said of the Thessalonians must also be said of the writers; therefore we now have the first person: “we are.” The double positive is now matched by a double negative. “In night” (v. 2) and “in darkness” (v. 4) are not enough; we now have: “We are not of night nor of darkness,” which is the idom for: “do not belong to night, to darkness,” i.e., are not owned by either, for how can night and darkness control sons of light and sons of day? A tone of victorious exultation fills these terse assertions. Read the verse aloud in this tone. Feel how it stiffens and strengthens you. These writers know of no twilight zone or condition.

1 Thessalonians 5:6

6 Now there follow two brief hortations, one negative and positive, the other positive (v. 8), both are supported by instruction. One reason for the “we” used in v. 5 is the “we” occurring in these hortations. This does not, indeed, imply that they are to soften the hortations but to say that the writers do, indeed, apply them also to themselves as being persons who live in constant expectation of “the Day.” Accordingly, then, let us not be sleeping like the rest, but let us be watching and be sober!

Ἄραοὖν is a favorite combination of Paul’s which introduces what is involved in some presentation. Sons of light, sons of day cannot be sleeping “like the rest” who belong to night and darkness. The deduction is simplicity itself. To be sleeping is to lie secure in night and darkness so that no faculty is aroused or awake to be on guard, so that no light of the Word opens our eyes. Note v. 3: “Peace and security!” The subjunctive is hortative.

The two opposites are allied and yet different: “but let us be watching and be sober,” i.e., awake, aroused by the light of the Word, by the impending day of the Lord, and in addition to this sober, the opposite of drunken drowsiness and sleep (v. 7) which dull the senses (see the synonyms under ἀγρυπνέω in Thayer). All the tenses are present to express enduring conditions. Christians must be warned in order not to drop back into their former state.

1 Thessalonians 5:7

7 “For” establishes. For those sleeping sleep at night (genitive of time within which), and those drunken are drunken at night. Sleep and a drunken condition belong to the time of night. We fail to see that being drunken refers to an exaltation that is caused by extravagant ideas about the Parousia and its possible nearness. Since it is here combined with sleeping, which denotes complete spiritual insensibility, being drunken adds the soddenness of vice which intensifies this insensibility. This is not tipsiness, the taking of a drink or two that makes a man gay.

Of course, drunkenness may also occur in daytime just as one may sleep during the day, but to this day the night is the time for carousing. Both genitives are placed emphatically forward: “at night they sleep, at night they are drunk.” The terrible factor is “night” and thus what goes with spiritual night.

Because “at night” is a natural designation of time, this does not imply that this verse is devoid of spiritual significance and refers only to what happens during literal nights. Such an idea ignores the spiritual context with its significant mention of “night,” “darkness,” and “day” and “night.” Μεθύσκω = to make drunk; μεθύω = to be drunk; the participle is a middle: “those making themselves drunk, at night they are drunk.”

1 Thessalonians 5:8

8 The fact that v. 7 has a spiritual content is seen when “of day” is now opposed to “at night,” and being sober to being drunk. But let us, because we belong to daytime, continue to be sober, as having put on the breastplate of faith and love and as helmet hope of salvation.

As in v. 5, the Greek “being of day” is our “belonging to day”; the participle is causal in the present connection: since we no longer belong to pagan night but to the light of day in Christ, let us ever keep sober; this verb which is second and last in v. 6 is enough in the repetition.

We regard the second participle as an expounding of ἡμέραςὄντες: as belonging to day and not to night we did put on faith, love, and hope, which made us sons of light, sons of day (v. 5). All three are produced in us by God, and it is thus that we put them on. The military figures of a thorax or breastplate and of a helmet do not denote mere clothing for the sons of day as though those who are drunk at night lie around naked. In Eph. 6:13, etc., Paul describes the entire panoply or armor of the Christian, which is necessary for victory against all satanic attacks, because the picture is that of a decisive battle. Here there is only a contrast between men who are living in sodden drunkenness in constant night and Christians who are living in continuous light and day, awake and sober. The sober are not to fight the drunken, hence no sword or offensive weapon is mentioned. The tertium in “thorax” and “helmet” does not extend beyond conservation and preservation.

Faith, love, hope occur in this order in 1:3. “Faith’s and love’s breastplate” has appositional genitives, and genitives always make the governing noun definite even when they are not appositional; here no other breastplate exists except faith and love. No objects of faith and love are mentioned, for these concepts are regarded as being complete in themselves and as including their well-known objects. So also these two are a unit as the breastplate, for neither is ever without the other, and both in their conjunction, like a breastplate, cover the heart.

Breastplate and helmet are of a similar nature, the one graces and conserves the heart, the other the head. We might have had just the one word “hope”; but since “faith and love” are two, and since the third in a series is often given greatest fulness, we here have “hope of salvation,” the genitive being objective: hope for the final rescue and state of safety. Thus, too, “hope” is not again a genitive like “faith and love” but the object accusative with “as helmet” as its predicative accusative, a beautiful rhetorical variation.

Conscious of our separation from “the rest” and of the new state into which faith, love, and hope have placed us, these three will ever control us.

1 Thessalonians 5:9

9 Ὅτι states the reason for the whole of v. 8, and this reason is the act and the intent of God regarding us: Because God did not appoint us unto wrath but unto possession of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, him who died in our behalf, so that, whether we are watching or sleeping, we shall live together with him.

Our own faith, love, and hope should ever keep us sober as being men belonging to the day, and they should do this for the greatest reason of all: God himself has set or appointed us not for wrath but for the opposite, for salvation and everlasting life. Some would place the aorist ἔθετο back into eternity, but we should then expect πρό or some equivalent expression with this aorist. True, all God’s acts and purposes are eternal, yet they are not always so presented. It is sufficient to make the action of this aorist contemporary with the action of the preceding participle ἐνδυσάμενοι: the divine appointment and our putting on faith, etc., occur at the same time.

The main thought concerns itself with the final result, i.e., the consummation at the Parousia, which the writers treat in 4:13–5:11. God did not appoint us “for wrath,” i.e., “the wrath to come” (1:10) from which Jesus saved us. “On the contrary (ἀλλά), for salvation’s possession” by means of this Savior, περιποίησις, “possession” (our versions, “obtaining”). God wants us to enjoy eternal salvation, σωτηρία as in v. 8. Διά names the Mediator and does so with his full soteriological title and name: “our Lord Jesus Christ.” To this is added the apposition: “he who died in our behalf.” His resurrection has been mentioned in 1:10, and there, too, in connection with his rescuing us from the wrath to come. It is typical of Paul to name the death; in naming the resurrection the death is not forgotten, and the double reference to the wrath connects the two. But that is only one point.

1 Thessalonians 5:10

10 Another is that Christ’s death bought our eternal salvation which God wants us to have; ὑπὲρἡμῶν makes this so plain that one wonders why certain commentators seemingly go out of their way to deny it. To be sure, the brevity here used does not explain how Christ’s death operates in securing our final salvation; this the Thessalonians knew, but “died for us” certainly = 2 Cor. 5:14, 15; Rom. 5:6; 8:32, not to mention other passages regarding Christ’s atoning death.

The reading varies between περὶἡμῶν and ὑπὲρἡμῶν, “concerning us” and “in our behalf”; this is also the case in a few other similar passages. While the former would not directly state that Christ died as our substitute, it does so indirectly, because if he did not die as our substitute, his death cannot be the means for bestowing eternal salvation upon us. We note that Dobschuetz seems to think that ἀντί is necessary to express the idea “instead of,” and that ὑπέρ means less. To settle this point reread Robertson, The Minister and his Greek New Testament, chapter 3; ὑπέρ is the preposition for substitution throughout the Koine. We are linguistically correct when we translate: “he who died in our stead.” If we are content with “in our behalf,” this by no means loses the substitution just as περί does not lose it. Christ died only one death, which, however we may speak of it, avails nothing for our salvation if it was not died in our stead.

The older supposition that ἵνα can denote only purpose still leads some expositors to prefer the idea of purpose wherever it is at all possible. It will probably take time to overcome this and to recognize that ἵνα has expanded its force in the Koine. We think that it expresses result here: “so that we shall live with him,” the result God had in mind when he appointed us for salvation. Just as εἰςπεριποίησινσωτηρίας, “for possession of salvation,” undoubtedly indicates a result, so does this clause which says that this salvation is our living with him who died in our stead. See the paradox which is beautifully Pauline: with him who died we shall live. But see the solution: died in our stead, together with him we shall live.

His efficacious death makes possible this life with him. “I am he that liveth and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, amen; and have the keys of hell and of death,” Rev. 1:18, with him shall we live. The adverb ἅμα intensifies associative σύν: “together with.”

Here we have εἴτε—εἴτε, two εἰ with subjunctives instead of indicatives just as though we had ἐάν. We do not accept the explanation that this is due to the fact that the double clause is inserted into a ἵνα clause which has its natural subjunctive. R. 1017 points to the classics and to later examples of the Koine, plus others in the New Testament. But is there not a reason for using εἰ instead of ἐάν? The latter expresses an expectation, the former advances this to an expectation (hence still subjunctives) which shall, indeed, become a reality (hence εἰ). Some will be awake and watching at the Parousia, some will be sleeping in their graves.

Γρηγορῶμεν is the same verb that was used in v. 6, yet the R. V. translates the latter “watch,” the former “wake” (margin “watch”). Both should be translated alike, “watch”; for of those who are alive at the Parousia only such as watch will live together with him. But the second verb καθεύδωμεν is the same verb that was used in v. 7 with reference to the pagan sleepers and drunkards; it is not a form of κοιμάω as in 4:13, 14 with reference to the godly dead. This change of verbs with reference to the godly dead arrests attention. Those who translate: “whether we are awake or asleep,” get rid of all difficulty, “awake” means to be alive, “asleep” to be dead. But the first verb is “watching,” the second means done with watching and “asleep.” It seems that Paul purposely did not use the verb he employed in 4:13, 14 but the one employed in 5:7 in order to make us think of the two kinds of sleep: the one that of the ungodly while they are yet alive, and, in contrast with it, the other that of the godly when they lie down in peace and sleep in death.

This double “whether” clause undoubtedly reverts to 4:13–17 and to the answer there given regarding the Thessalonian dead. This means that the two sections 4:13–18 and 5:1–11 belong together and are the real burden of the second part of the epistle.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

11 This certainty is increased by the closing admonition which plainly recalls 4:18 although an addition is now made: Therefore, comfort one another and build up one the one even as also you are doing. The first clause is so plainly an exact repetition of 4:18 that we cannot translate: “Exhort one another” (R. V. and A. V. margin); this is the less possible since “build up” follows. No; comfort is also proper in 5:1–10, and this is what the Thessalonians needed first of all.

When Paul repeats he usually adds something; he does so here: “and build up one the other one,” etc. This is Biblical edification, namely increase in knowledge, assurance, spiritual strength. It is this upbuilding which will produce comfort. Instead of a second ἀλλήλους, or instead of omitting this and allowing it to be supplied, we have εἷςτὸνἕνα, “the one the one,” one Christian another one. B.-D. calls this a Hebraism; R. 692 does better when he calls this a distributive explaining the reciprocal ἀλλήλους and in W. P. points to 1 Cor. 4:6. Wohlenberg cites an example from the classics that duplicates Paul’s expression. Individual is to build up individual; this goes beyond reciprocity, for he who has shall supply him who yet lacks.

“Even as also you are doing” is commendation. This was the practice followed among the Thessalonians in regard to all other Christian matters; it was to be the practice also in regard to this important matter. So all unnecessary grieving would cease, all the bereaved would be comforted by being built up in clear, sound knowledge and blessed conviction.

Admonitions regarding Congregational Matters

1 Thessalonians 5:12

12 The hortations given in 4:1–12 pertain to the individual lives of the members; the hortations found in 5:12–22 deal with the membership as a whole. The admonitions are intended for the congregation. They are the reaction to information brought by Timothy. We may call them fitting; yet not as though they are correcting glaring faults but only as helping the Thessalonians “to abound more and more” (4:1). A simple transitional δέ introduces them.

Now we request you, brethren, to know those toiling among you and superintending you in the Lord and remonstrating with you and to consider them very much on account of their work.

“We request” is used as it was in 4:1 without again adding “we admonish.” It is a fruitless effort to prove that Paul is not speaking of the presbyters of the Thessalonian church but only of voluntary workers which the church is to hold in esteem. Was the church still unorganized? If it was still unorganized when Paul and Silvanus had to leave, had not Timothy attended to proper organization? If, however, the church had presbyters, would they be passed by and the church be told to honor only voluntary workers?

The Thessalonians are “to know” their spiritual leaders because of the blessed work they are doing and, knowing them as such workers, they are ever “to consider” them “very much” (literally, “exceedingly”) for their work’s sake. In Rev. 2:2 Jesus, too, uses οἶδα: “I know thy works.” Simple knowledge is referred to, for the effect of this knowledge upon those who know is expressed by the second infinitive, and hence γινώσκειν is not used. The second perfect εἰδέναι is used in the sense of the present.

The writers give great credit to the Thessalonian elders when they describe these elders as “those toiling among you and superintending you in the Lord and training you,” the one article denotes one group and not three. These elders toil, preside, train. No work is too hard and ardous for them; they take the forefront and preside or superintend; they also train and discipline the Thessalonians. M.-M. 541 and others argue that because “preside over you” occurs in the second place, and because this word is used in so many connections, therefore it does not mean “official” presiding, i.e., that it does not refer to elders.

So much is true, official position is not the point of these participles, the Thessalonians are not asked to esteem these men because of the high office for which they have been chosen. It is because of what they do for the Thessalonians that they are to be considered; but that fact in no way implies that, when they are doing this, they cannot be elders but must be only energetic volunteer workers. Like all verbs of ruling, the second participle governs the genitive, and “in the Lord” means that their taking the lead is done in a truly Christian way.

Trench has νουθετέω = to train by word, “by the word of encouragement when no more than this is wanted, but also by the word of remonstrance, of reproof, of blame, where these may be required.” “The word indicates much more than a mere Eli-remonstrance: Nay, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear’ (1 Sam. 2:24); indeed, of Eli it is expressly recorded, as regarding his sons: οὐκἐνουθέτειαὐτούς (3:13).” Consider the three descriptive participles together; they certainly describe what we to this day would call good pastors.

1 Thessalonians 5:13

13 “To consider them very much in love on account of their work” implies appreciation, esteem, and thus willingness to be led and trained. Intelligent Christian love is to be the inward motive for this consideration, and the work these faithful men do is to be the outward motive. “Their work” sums it up in one word. Wherever we have faithful pastors such as these and appreciative members the right condition obtains for spiritual success and progress in the work of the church.

Note that no request is made of the Thessalonian elders, which says a good deal in regard to their faithful work. Also, only a request is made of the membership to continue to esteem the elders, which means that the good condition already existing is to continue. The two durative infinitives say a great deal. In line with them is the durative present imperative: “Continue to be at peace among your own selves.” This implies that they are at peace and is thus a commendation. But when a congregation has beautiful peace in its midst, the devil likes to stir up trouble. He likes to destroy the lovely garden. Let him not do this! “Among your own selves” includes elders and members jointly.

1 Thessalonians 5:14

14 Commendation underlies v. 12, 13 as we have seen; the present imperatives which now follow likewise tell the Thessalonians to continue and thus in a way also commend them because they ask for no new courses of action. But now faulty members are named; the Thessalonians had some, which is no surprise seeing that all had been pagans not so long ago, that all faults could not be sloughed off at once by all, and that new converts were constantly coming into the congregation. Παρακαλοῦμεν is now in place, and the repetition of “brethren” indicates a new line of admonition.

Now we admonish you, brethren, keep remonstrating with the disorderly, keep encouraging the fainthearted, keep supporting the weak, keep being longsuffering toward all.

The imperatives are oratio recta, which is stronger than the infinitives used in v. 12, 13 and stronger than ἵνα found in 4:1. Note that Paul is flexible in the use of his language. Some have thought that these imperatives are intended for the elders, especially also since νουθετεῖτε repeats the participle used in v. 12 regarding the elders. Correcting faults in members is, however, the duty of the whole congregation; the elders would certainly also do their part.

The ἄτακτοι are those out of line, they are like the careless soldier who is too far forward or too far back and thus needs a sharp word of rebuke. The ones who are out of order are usually thought to be the members who stopped work in view of the nearness of the Parousia; 4:11 is referred to and 2 Thess. 3:6 where ἀτάκτως appears. But we know as little about this lack of Christian order as we know about the form the “weakness” took. All the statements are so brief, there are four of them in rapid succession; accordingly, none of them could have been grave. Disorderliness could have been of various kinds just as weakness was.

The fainthearted (literally, “small-souled”) are thought to be those who grieved for their dead (4:13, etc.), but we doubt this, for the grieving was done by the members in general, and twice (4:18 and 5:11) we see that they are to be comforted while they are here to be encouraged. These small-souled members are perhaps those who had small courage to face the afflictions that were caused them by hostile outsiders.

The weak are not the physically sick but those who were spiritually and morally weak, who thus need to be supported; ἀντέχω is used in the New Testament only in the middle and means “to hold to” and thus governs the genitive. They are not to be let go and to be abandoned as persons who amount to little but are to be held to and to be supported.

Longsuffering toward all means not only toward all in the three groups mentioned but toward all, including even outsiders, who may be very trying at times because of their hostile actions. The verb means to hold out long before taking action; God himself is long-suffering toward us.

1 Thessalonians 5:15

15 Thus the next admonition is in line with the thought: See that no one renders meanness for meanness, but always keep pursuing the thing that is good (in the sense of beneficial) in regard to one another and in regard to all.

The whole congregation is to see to it that none of its members gives way to revengeful actions. There was provocation enough, for 2:14 states that the Thessalonians had suffered because of persecution. The old feeling to pay back some persecutor when the opportunity offered itself could easily arise in young Christians. Κακόν = “meanness,” baseness; and ἀπό in the verb = to give back “in full” (as ἀπέχω, Matt. 6:2, 5, 16, to have all that is due, receipted in full). The absence of the article means “anything bad in exchange for anything bad,” tit for tat.

“On the contrary” (ἀλλά), the Thessalonians must ever keep on pursuing the thing that is good (now we have the article, not just something that is good but the thing that is good and beneficial to others, friend or foe) in regard to one another (in the congregation) and in regard to all (even those outside). One wonders whether the Greek readers felt the double sense in which they used διώκειν, “to pursue or chase” and “to persecute,” that, whereas someone persecuted them, they were not to persecute in turn but were to pursue and to get for their persecutors the thing that was beneficial for them. But this applies also to fellow members who may on occasion serve us a mean turn. Take it with longsuffering and, when an opportunity offers itself, do them the best thing in return.

These are the astonishing ethics of Jesus, Luke 6:27, etc.; Matt. 5:39, etc.; 44, etc., which are constantly inculcated by the apostles, 1 Pet. 3:9; Rom. 12:14, etc.; 1 Cor. 4:12, etc.; 6:7, etc. What a contrast to the world’s ethics! Yet how sensible, for when I receive a slap and slap in return I only provoke a second slap to my own hurt and thus slap after slap, hurt after hurt to myself; but when I reward a slap with a favor I make it hard for the man to slap me again, he will soon cease, and I gain less harm to myself and may very likely win the man himself as my friend. Yet we persist in being resentful and vengeful.

1 Thessalonians 5:16

16 From actions toward other persons the admonition turns to actions that are spiritual in themselves. Always rejoice! The adverb is placed forward for the sake of emphasis; this is also done in the next admonition, and in the third the phrase is placed forward. This helps to show that the trio belongs together: joy—prayer—thanks, these three are well called die Grundstimmung des Christen. No special connection with what precedes is necessary: Rejoice in spite of meanness and persecution. The joy of the Christians is the product of the whole gospel and of the salvation that is theirs in Christ.

Earthly joys fade after a brief moment; our joy of salvation never fades. Yet we need to be told ever to rejoice, for we let so many little adversities lessen and even darken our joyfulness. The Christian life is the only truly joyful and happy life even as it merges into eternal joy. 2 Cor. 6:10.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

17 Ceaselessly pray! Eph. 6:18, “at every season”; Rom. 12:12, “continuing steadfastly”; Luke 18:1, “always.” All these have the same meaning. Paul himself did not constantly murmur and utter prayers so that his mind was occupied with nothing else. “Ceaselessly” does not mean that our regular custom of praying in the morning, the evening, at meals, in church, is not to be broken. The “always” of Jesus and this “ceaselessly” = that we are always to be fit and ready for an approach to God in worshipful praying. This verb is never used with reference to praying to men; it is used only in the full sacred sense of turning to God in worshipful forms. The heart which is ever attuned to God as being his child turns to God as well in its secret thoughts as in its many utterances.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

18 In everything giving thanks! Ἐνπαντί is not ἐνπαντὶκαιρῷ (Eph. 6:18), “on every occasion,” but “in connection with everything.” The explanation of this πᾶν is found in the πάντα, “all things,” of Rom. 8:28, all of which cooperate for good to God’s children and thus call forth our thanks to God.

We need to learn this secret of the happy Christian life—thankfulness. If everything actually conspires to do us good, how can we do otherwise than always rejoice? What if we do not always at once see and feel the good, is there not joy in anticipating the sight? The Christmas tree is already being decorated although the doors are still closed, yet how the little hearts beat with expectant joy!

For this (is) God’s will in Christ in regard to you. What is? The three just mentioned and surely not only the last. God wants us to rejoice always, to pray ceaselessly, to give thanks in everything. If it is all his will, we certainly must not frustrate that will with our folly. Θέλημα is the thing God wants in regard to us (εἰς). This is his sweet gospel will “in connection with Christ,” in connection with all that is embodied in the Anointed One. To what a new, high, blessed plane these injunctions lift us!

1 Thessalonians 5:19

19 The γάρ clause separates the trio of imperatives from the new group which now follows. Formally, the first two are negatives with μή, the others positive, although the last (“hold yourselves away from”) is negative in thought. Really, we have but three admonitions; the third about testing everything is only expounded by the last two. The Spirit do not extinguish! The present imperative indicates a course of action. In all five injunctions the imperative is placed last, thus both object and verb are emphatic, all is striking brevity.

This is scarcely “the spirit” of the new life in the Thessalonians but the Holy Spirit who moves their hearts. The writers of this epistle are not referring to the special miraculous charismata such as speaking with tongues, inspired prophetic utterances, healings, and the like. They are writing about the ordinary and regular work of the Spirit and not about his extraordiuary, miraculous manifestations. All that v. 12–18 contain, and all that follows in v. 20–22 deals with nothing exceptional. All of the Thessalonians are addressed, all of them are to let the Holy Spirit guide and prompt them, and none are to squelch these holy promptings.

They must not “extinguish” the Spirit, quench the holy fire and ardor he kindles in their hearts. The expression “to extinguish the Spirit” is concentrated, the Spirit being identified with what he produces; “extinguish” is figurative for putting out the holy fire upon the altar of the heart. Such quenching occurs when the fervor that the Spirit kindles in us is greatly lessened or put out altogether by fleshly, worldly objections. Many a noble, generous, godly impulse dies without producing fruit in action or brings only a fraction of what it might produce. Who has not seen many a good suggestion, plan, appeal, which certainly came from the Spirit, literally extinguished in whole or in part by unspiritual objections of ignorant or hostile brethren? So often some refuse to respond to the Spirit’s promptings and yield to the flesh.

These are worthy of blame. This occurs both in the individual, in the inner circle of his own motives and impulses, as well as in meetings where united efforts for some plan or work are to be set going.

1 Thessalonians 5:20

20 Prophesyings do not set at nought! Because prophesyings are mentioned, some commentators regard this as a reference to the extraordinary charismata. They overlook the fact that two gifts of prophecy are clearly distinguished in the apostolic church: one was the reception of immediate revelation, the other the acquisition of mediate revelation and the ability to transmit this acquired revelation to others. The former was miraculous, highly exceptional, and could not be acquired. Paul received such revelations but not Silvanus and Timothy, the other writers of this epistle; Agabus received minor revelations. Yet Silvanus and Timothy prophesied by transmitting revelation that had already been given in the Word (Old Testament) and in the apostolic teaching.

In 1 Cor. 14 all the Corinthians are urged to seek this gift and ability. In Rom. 12:7 this kind of prophecy stands at the head of the list of gifts, none of which are miraculous.

This kind of prophesying is certainly suggested in v. 12, for elders were chosen for their ability along this line. In no way does this foster the “clerical idea,” for in the apostolic church, even more than in ours today, this ability to deal with the Word was cultivated by the members in general. That is one reason for the rapid spread of the church; that, too, is the reason that Paul could write the letters he wrote, which often have so many quotations from the Old Testament, quotations which our people, including preachers, can scarcely find in the Old Testament without the aid of printed references.

Such prophesyings (note the plural) might be “set at nought,” regarded as being worth little or nothing. Some made light of the instruction and admonition thus offered and made derogatory, unspiritual, or even flippant objections, especially when the prophesyings were offered by fellow members and not by the elders themselves. Against this sort of thing the writers warn the Thessalonians: let it never occur (durative present imperative).

1 Thessalonians 5:21

21 All things, however, test! Adversative δέ is fully supported. Instead of setting prophesyings at nought, the Thessalonians ought to test everything, not only prophesyings but “everything” (πάντα) that might affect their religious life. For the idea of testing prophesyings compare 1 Cor. 14:29. Some had a special gift for this, 1 Cor. 12:10. The rule to be applied is indicated in Rom. 12:7, the Analogy of Faith. See the author’s interpretation of this passage. Everything in the church was to be tried and tested by means of the Word. Δοκιμάζω is a favorite word of Paul’s: to test as coins or metals are tested in order to see whether they are genuine and of full weight. This figurative meaning lay back of the common use of this word.

A true test may have one of two results: the thing tested may prove to be genuine or may prove to be spurious. Paul does not, however, stop with what the thing itself may prove to be, he advances at once to what the Thessalonians ought to do with the thing, whatever way the tests may result. The excellent thing hold fast! From every form of what is wicked hold off!

These two commands complete the order to test everything. Note the verbal correspondence in κατέχετε and ἀπέχεσθε; both mean “to hold,” but the active means “to hold the excellent thing fast,” the middle “to hold oneself away from the wicked thing.” Τὸκαλόν is generic, “the excellent thing” that you have found so by applying the real test, no matter what this thing may be. This word has a fine flavor in the Greek and means excellent, fair, and beautiful, something that is an honor and a grace to the possessor. Κατά in the verb is perfective and lends it energy: hold firmly fast. Since prophecies have been mentioned, we think especially of the excellent doctrines, individual truths, spiritual principles and precepts that are often offered in a most effective way by such prophecy. This epistle is full of such εαλά. Hold to them!

1 Thessalonians 5:22

22 On the other hand: “from every form of what is wicked hold yourselves off.” Since τὸκαλόν is a substantive, its opposite, πονηροῦ must also be. The point to be noted is that τὸκαλὸν is definite while πονηροῦ is not; for the opposite of “the excellent thing” is not merely πονηροῦ but the entire expression: παντὸςεἴδουςπονηροῦ, “every form of what is wicked.” This “every” is both definite and comprehensive, and πονηροῦ must thus be anarthrous: “what is wicked” (qualitative).

Trench and C.-K. make a distinction between μορφή and σχῆμα, “form” and “fashion” inherent in the object irrespective of the fact whether it is seen by others or not, and εἶδος, “form” as seen. Yet the latter is not a mere appearance without a corresponding substance as Luther has translated it: allen boesen Schein; which is also the translation of the A. V.: “all appearance of evil.” The latter would mean that we are to avoid everything that looks wicked to those who happen to see it although it may not be wicked at all. What is said by Paul is that wickedness has many forms, every one of which is really wickedness and also appears so to men, and we are to keep away from every form that wickedness may assume.

Πονηρός is always to be understood in the active sense as denoting something malignant, working mischief, hurting all with whom it comes into contact. Who, then, would want to have contact with such a thing in any form? It blasts, poisons, kills. Keep away from it entirely. We should not restrict this command to the field of morals. The worst forms of wickedness consist of perversions of the truth, of spiritual lies, although today many look upon these forms with indifference and regard them rather harmless.

The fact that moral perversions are included is self-evident; these also work to destroy the spiritual life and appear in many forms. Only he will be “without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” who follows the Spirit, obeys his Word as true prophesyings bring it to him, holds to the good, and rejects every form of what is wicked.

The Conclusion

1 Thessalonians 5:23

23 As the first part of the epistle closes with a prayer-wish (3:11–13), so also does this second part. Now he, the God of the peace, may he sanctify you wholly, and your spirit entire and (your) soul and (your) body, may they blamelessly, in connection with the Parousia of our Lord Jesus Christ, be preserved!

The synonymous adjectives ὁλοτελεῖς, predicate accusative to ὑμᾶς, and ὁλόκληρον, predicative nominative, are placed so closely together, one at the end, the other at the beginning of its clause, in order to obtain an emphasis for each. They resemble one another very much in sound, in sense they are synonymous. God is to sanctify vos totos; Luther: euch durch und durch; R., W. P.: “the whole of each of you, every part of you.” In English we should use an adverb “totally” or “wholly.” To what extent this is to occur is added by specifying still more closely: spirit, soul, body, each “as entire,” is to be preserved blamelessly.

Αὐτός is not in contrast to anyone else; it merely intensifies the subject: “Now he, the God of the peace.” He is named according to the divine peace he bestows (see “peace” in 1:1). “The peace” is articulated because there is only one of this kind which, through Christ, repairs the rupture caused by sin. The genitive characterizes. Paul does not refer to strife among the Thessalonians; he is not trying to overcome such strife. He would not strike at a new fault in a closing wish. The God of the peace who has bestowed all his saving peace upon us, Paul says, may he finish his work by sanctifying you each in totality, i.e., set you apart for himself in toto. Some think the adjective denotes quality, but the thought is evidently one of extent: sanctify your complete being.

No nook nor corner of your life is to be left where the peace of God does not penetrate; it is to reign undisturbed in every province of your being. Many are satisfied with a partial Christianity, some parts of their life are still worldly. The apostolic admonitions constantly prod into all the corners of our nature so that none may escape purification. Here sanctification refers to the whole work of God, which follows the kindling of faith in our hearts. The aorist optative of wish ἁγιάσαι is constative. The sanctification is not wrought in one instant, as many perfectionists imagine, but is a steady development (2 Pet. 3:18; Eph. 4:15).

Καί is explicative. The wish is stated in another way and also with more fulness. Instead of the simple pronoun “you” we now have what “you” means: “your spirit and soul and body.” Instead of the predicate adjective ὁλοτελεῖς we have the allied ὁλόκληρον, which is neuter only because the first noun τὸπνεῦμα is neuter, but is to be construed with all three nouns just as is ὑμῶν. Instead of “sanctify” we now have “be preserved,” τηρηθείη, another constative optative of wish which sums up the whole preservation just as the first aorist sums up the whole sanctification. When God sanctifies us, our spirit, soul, and body are to be preserved. This sanctification preserves and keeps us.

But we have two necessary additions, an adverb and a phrase. These are necessary because, while “may sanctify” is a complete concept, “may be preserved,” when it is used with reference to the spirit, soul, and body as “entire,” is incomplete, the more so since this might mean that no constituent of our spirit or of our soul or of our body is to be lost, which is, of course, not what is meant. So we have: “may they be blamelessly preserved.” The adverb is used for the simple reason that a predicative adjective precedes, and the use of another predicative adjective: “preserved as blameless,” would not be good rhetoric. To think that the adverb is “hard” (really meaning that it is out of place) is unfair to Paul because the subject is not God but “your spirit,” etc., because the verb of this subject is passive, and because any adverbial modification of this verb, like the verb itself, automatically pertains to the subject. What undergoes a blameless preservation is blameless. The kind of act governs the kind of result.

The ἐν phrase does not state the date of this being preserved, for the preservation occurs in this life and not “at the Parousia of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This ἐν is exactly like the one occurring in Rom. 2:16 (on which see the author). The conscience of the pagans does not accuse and at times excuse them on judgment day but here and now in this life “in connection with a day when God shall judge the hidden things of men.” Conscience would not judge as it does if no such day were impending. So here our being preserved now is “in connection with” Christ’s Parousia. If there were no Parousia, this preservation would be pointless. The context in which ἐν is used always indicates what connection is had in mind. In Rom. 2:16 it is the connection of conscience facing the coming judgment; in the present passage it is the connection of what is done for our spirit, soul, and body in view of the Parousia of our Lord.

Trench defines ὁλόκληρος as retaining all that was at first allotted (ὅλος plus κλῆρος), entire in all its parts, nothing that is necessary to completeness being lacking. An unhewn stone has as yet lost nothing through the shaping process. The word is used with reference to an entire week, a whole skin. A Levitical priest, a sacrifice, dare not be maimed. Some apply the idea of sacrifice in our passage, but this is only one use of this word. It is the Latin integer and integritas and came to be used with reference to mental and moral entireness.

One is spiritually ὁλόκληρος when no grace is missing, but τέλειος when grace has not merely made a beginning but has produced a mature condition. Here “the spirit, the soul, the body,” each entire = unmaimed, unversehrt (C.-K. 605); if they are unpreserved they will be maimed. This thought is involved in passages such as 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:27; Col. 1:22, 28.

Delitzsch, Biblische Psychologie, 84, etc., offers information on the various views of trichotomists and dichotomists. The question is simple: “Is man composed of two or of three parts?” In other words, can spirit and soul be divided as soul and body can? A reference to Heb. 4:12 does not establish the affirmative. Man’s material part can be separated from his immaterial part, but the immaterial part cannot be divided; it is not a duality of spirit and soul. Where, as here, spirit and soul are distinguished, the spirit designates our immaterial part as it is related to God, as being capable of receiving the operations of the Spirit of God and of his Word; while soul (ψυχή) designates this same immaterial part in its function of animating the body and also as receiving impressions from the body it animates. Death is described as the spirit’s leaving the body and as the soul’s leaving, for it is the sundering of the immaterial from the material.

The spirit ought to rule supreme; wholly controlled by God’s Spirit, man ought to be πνευματικός. Sin enabled the ψυχή to control so that man became ψυχικός, his bodily appetites having sway. The subject is extensive and can only be touched here. Modern psychology disregards it despite its supreme importance. The view that Paul was influenced by the pagan views of his day is unwarranted; the whole Scriptural revelation knows the constitution of man as it really is and speaks accordingly. We note one wrong opinion, that in our passage πνεῦμα. signifies the new heavenly life that is kindled in us by God’s Spirit. The word is at times so used, but certainly not here where it is associated with ψυχή and σῶμα.

When we study this subject we should bear in mind that the English word “soul” is not a true equivalent of the Greek ψυχή. While πνεῦμα and ψυχή are at times used as being practically identical when the context requires no specific distinction, in English we quite generally speak of “the soul” as amounting to “the spirit.” This is different in the Greek. For ψυχή furnishes us the adjective ψυχικός while in English “soul” supplies us no such adjective, and we are compelled to translate this important Greek adjective with “carnal” which is derived from the Latin carnis and not from “soul.”

The three are merely named side by side in our passage and should be left so and not be changed as though the wording combines spirit and soul, or as though it combines soul and body. Yet “your” is most significant and thus also the order of the nouns. These Thessalonians are Christians, whose spirit is controlled by God’s Spirit and is not like the helpless spirit of pagans. Their soul (ψυχή) is thus also controlled by the spirit (πνεῦμα) and is not like the soul of pagans, which runs away with the spirit and gives rein to the body. Their body is thus also with the animating soul submissive to the spirit and not like the body of pagans which is urged on by its own low desires. Of your spirit, soul, and body it can be said that they are preserved in a blameless way, the passive implying the divine Spirit as the agent.

1 Thessalonians 5:24

24 This doubled wish is sealed with the assurance of fulfillment for the writers who make the wish and for the readers in regard to whom it is made. Faithful (is) he who calls you, who also will do (this) ! “Faithful” = we may trust him. That is why he is here named “he who calls you,” for why this call if he is not faithful, if we cannot depend upon him to do this, i.e., to sanctify and preserve? Ὁκαλῶν simply characterizes, the participle is used irrespective of time, yet (as always in the epistles) this calling is efficacious, successful, having produced acceptance.

“He also will do this” is not absolute but like the calling; this sanctifying and this preserving are accomplished only through the Word and the Spirit’s grace. These are sufficiens, we can rely on them to the utmost. The Christian knows: “With strength of ours here nought is done” (Luther).

1 Thessalonians 5:25

25 The writers give the readers first consideration, only in the second place do they think of themselves. Brethren, keep praying for us! Περί, “concerning,” is the Greek idiom. This request is based on the efficacy of prayer and at the same time on the relationship of spiritual brotherhood. Paul seldom begins with “brethren”; this fact makes this construction effective when he employs it.

1 Thessalonians 5:26

26 Now the salutation: Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss! This is the regular form and not “we salute you”; all the Thessalonians are to act for the writers in conveying to all of themselves the salutation sent. On doing this “in connection with a holy kiss” see Rom. 16:16. “All,” not one is to be omitted.

1 Thessalonians 5:27

27 The adjuration that follows is exceptional: I adjure you by the Lord (two accusatives) that this letter be read to all the brethren! We naturally wonder why Paul should use this strong final adjuration. In the first place, it demands that the letter be read to the congregation, for this is what “all the brethren” means; it was not to pass from hand to hand so that it would not reach some. That, too, is why the passive is used. In the second place, this letter was not carried to Thessalonica by Silvanus and Timothy (Coptic versions, note at the end) or by Timothy (Peshito), but by an ordinary messenger and would be handed to some Christian, perhaps not even to an elder, in Thessalonica. Thus, whoever receives and first reads it in a small circle is to see to it that it be read to all in the congregation. The supposition that, because Paul did not come in person, a mere letter would perhaps be regarded as amounting to little, does not seem warranted.

Paul uses the first person singular even as he is the one who is most responsible for the whole work in Thessalonica as also for the contents of this epistle. So it is he who is deeply concerned that the whole congregation with all its members shall get to hear these admonitions, instructions, and evidences of his love. If a special and peculiar reason existed in Thessalonica for an adjuration such as this, the epistle nowhere betrays that fact, and no one has yet successfully stated what it could have been.

1 Thessalonians 5:28

28 The final benediction: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with you! is exclamatory and needs no verb to complete the thought. Other final greetings vary a little, the one in Col. 4:18 being the briefest. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” with all its saving power and all its heavenly gifts summarizes everything. Let this be μετά, in company with you!

The note in the A. V.: “The first (epistle) unto the Thessalonians was written from Athens,” is the opinion of the early collectors of the sacred manuscript copies. The letter was written from Corinth; the amanuensis is not known.

Soli Deo Gloria

R A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research. 4th edition..

B.-D Friedrich Blass’ Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch, vierte, voellig neugearbeitete Auflage, besorgt von Albert Debrunner.

M.-M The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and other non-Literary Sources, by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan.

C.-K Biblisch-theologisches Woerterbuch der Neutestamentlichen Graezitaet von D. Dr. Hermann Cremer, zehnte, etc., Auflage, herausgegeben von D. Dr. Julius Koegel.