Despise (1848)(exoutheneo from ek = an intensifies + outhenéo = bring to naught) is a strong verb which means to despise someone or something on basis it is worthless or of no value. To treat something or someone as of no account. To set at naught. To make something of no account (disregard, reject with contempt, despise). Williams paraphrases it... Stop treating the messages of prophecy with contempt. As noted with the negative command in verse 19, the combination of a negative particle (me) with the present imperative suggests that the recipients are being told to stop doing something they have begun -- they were to stop despising prophetic utterances. Note also that the verb exoutheneo is in the second person plural as are all the commands in 1Thes 5:19, 20, 21, 22 , indicating that the command is intended for the entire Thessalonian church. Barclay sums up Paul's command explaining that... The prophets were really the equivalent of our modern preachers. It was they who brought the message of God to the congregation. Paul is really saying, “If a man has anything to say, don’t stop him saying it.” (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press or Logos) BDAG writes that exoutheneo means... (1) to show by one’s attitude or manner of treatment that an entity has no merit or worth (disdain)....(2) to have no use for something as being beneath one’s consideration (reject disdainfully)... (3) to regard another as of no significance and therefore worthy of maltreatment, treat with contempt. (Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature) There are 11 uses of exoutheneo in the NT... Luke 18:9 And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: Luke 23:11 And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate. Acts 4:11 "He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the very corner stone. Romans 14:3 (note) Let not him who eats regard with contempt him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him. Romans 14:10 (note) But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. 1 Corinthians 1:28 and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, 1 Corinthians 6:4 If then you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? 1 Corinthians 16:11 Let no one therefore despise him. But send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brethren. 2 Corinthians 10:10 For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive, and his speech contemptible." Galatians 4:14 and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. (Paul is saying that during the time of trial in connection with my physical disability, the Galatians showed no disdain.) 1 Thessalonians 5:20 do not despise prophetic utterances. There are 6 uses in the (1 Sam. 8:7; 10:19; Prov. 1:7; Jer. 6:14; Dan. 4:31; Amos 6:1) and here are 2 representative passages... 1 Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected (Hebrew = ma'ac = reject, despise, refuse; Lxx = exoutheneo) you, but they have rejected (Hebrew = ma'ac = reject, despise, refuse; Lxx = exoutheneo) Me from being king over them. Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise (Hebrew = buwz = to despise, hold in contempt; Lxx = exoutheneo) wisdom and instruction. Prophetic utterances (4394) (Propheteia from pró = before or forth + phemà = tell) has the literal meaning of speaking forth, with no connotation of prediction or other supernatural or mystical significance. Vine notes that... Though much of the Old Testament prophecy was purely predictive, see Micah 5:2, e.g., and cp. John 11:51, prophecy is not necessarily, nor even primarily, = foretelling. It is the declaration of that which cannot be known by natural means, Matthew 26:68, it is the forth telling of the will of God, whether with reference to the past, the present, or the future, see Genesis 20:7; Deuteronomy 18:18; Revelation 10:11; 11:3. The relation between Aaron and Moses illustrates the relation between the prophet and God, Exodus 4:16; 7:1... With the completion of the canon of Scripture prophecy apparently passed away, 1Corinthians 13:8, 9. In his measure the teacher has taken the place of the prophet, cp. the significant change in 2Peter 2:1. The difference is that, whereas the message of the prophet was a direct revelation of the mind of God for the occasion, the message of the teacher is gathered from the completed revelation contained in the Scriptures. Instructions given to the prophet of apostolic days serve as a general guide to the teacher now. Building up the saints is to be his sole aim, 1Corinthians 14:5, 12, 26; Ephesians 4:12; to this end his words must be distinctly spoken, and his language must be suited to his hearers, 1Co 14:7, 9, 11, 16; he must avoid confusion of every kind, since confusion is of the flesh, not of the Spirit, 1Co 14:32, 33. Teachers are to defer one to another, 1Co 14:30, nor is any teacher to be judge of the profit, or otherwise, of his own utterances, 1Co 14:29. Acceptance of these divine regulations is evidence of spirituality, 1Co 14:37, 38. Propheteia or prophetic utterances in its purest form is found in the Scriptures themselves, the speaking forth of the the Word of God. Propheteia in fact refers specifically to the Scriptures in Peter's epistle... But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (See notes 2 Peter 1:20; 21) Paul gives perhaps the best definition of the prophetic gift in 1 Corinthians... But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. (1Corinthians 14:3) In short, prophetic utterances are to build up, encourage and comfort believers. The gift of prophecy today is the most clearly illustrated by the gift of preaching, of proclaiming the Word of God. God used many Old and New Testament prophets to foretell future events, but that was never an indispensable part of prophetic ministry. In the well respected theological journal Bibliotheca Sacra, the late Dr John Walvoord makes the following statements... Divine revelation, of course, received a tremendous addition when Jesus Christ came in the flesh. He was a revelation of God in His person and life as well as in His prophetic utterances. Throughout the apostolic period special revelation continued as God communicated truth to individuals and to churches. (Volume 130, page 23) The Olivet Discourse is one of the great prophetic utterances of Scripture dealing not only with the age as a whole in its progress and signs of the end but portraying the great truth of the second coming of Christ later to be expounded in greater detail in the Book of Revelation. (Volume 129, page 315). The OT has a pointed example of despising or showing contempt for prophetic utterance in 2 Kings... Then he (Elijah) went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!" (2 Kings 2:23) There is little doubt that Paul's instructions regarding prophetic utterances followed by the command to examine everything carefully relates in some way to what occurred in the church at Thessalonica between the first and second epistles. In his second letter Paul wrote... Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming (parousia) of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together (episynagoge) to Him (referring to his previous letter where he had explained the Rapture - see 1Th 4:13, 14, 15, 16, 17-see notes 1Th 4:13; 14; 15; 16; 17), that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the Day of the Lord has come. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2) (Comment: Undoubtedly some in their midst had claimed a message or prophetic utterance that the church was in now in the Day of the Lord but when examined carefully with Scripture, this utterance could be proved false.) Hiebert explains that... Prophecies refers to the utterance of various declarations of the divine counsels under the immediate inspiration of the Spirit. The plural noun without the article denotes the individual cases as the Spirit spoke through the prophets for the instruction and edification of the church. The prophetic function held an important place in the life of the early church. In Ephesians 4:11 (note) the prophets are named next to the apostles as Christ's gift to the church. They were the human channels through whom the Spirit made known His will and purpose for His people. The prophetic revelation might at times concern the future (Acts 11:28) but not necessarily so. The prophetic message generally was in the nature of instruction and guidance concerning the present (Acts 13:2). The basic function of the prophet was to "speak forth" the counsel of God. Through this important gift, the Spirit guided the development of the e and doctrine of the young church. With the completion of the divine revelation in the New Testament canon such direct communication of new spiritual revelation has ceased. Today the prophetic ministry in the church is not the disclosure of new revelation directly from the Spirit but rather the proclamation of God's message for His people as gathered from the inspired Scriptures under the illumination of the Spirit and made relevant to the contemporary situation. Believers need to be on guard against any professed revelation from the Spirit today that goes beyond, or is inconsistent with, the revelation embodied in the Scriptures. (Hiebert, D. Edmond: 1 & 2 Thessalonians: BMH Book. 1996) J Vernon McGee applies this passage writing that believers today are not to... look down upon Bible study as something that is beneath you. Do not be indifferent to the Word of God. We have a lot of folk who are in Christian service, but they are ignorant of the Bible and they look down on Bible study. Occasionally I hear such a person saying, “You just spend all your time in Bible study and you don’t do anything. What you need to do is get out and get busy.” Well, what is needed is to get busy studying the Word of God, and after you do that you will see how to get busy and really be effective. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos) Comment: As an aside I spoke recently to the secretary in a local Bible church in which the leadership has made the decision that they want to avoid teaching too much doctrine! Paul would tell them stop looking with contempt on sound doctrine or perhaps he would say don't hypocritically call yourself a Bible church! Clarke comments that Paul is saying... Do not suppose that ye have no need of continual instruction Without it ye cannot preserve the Christian life, nor go on to perfection. God will ever send a message of salvation by each of his ministers to every faithful, attentive hearer. Do not suppose that ye are already wise enough; you are no more wise enough than you are holy enough. They who slight or neglect the means of grace, and especially the preaching of God’s holy word, are generally vain, empty, self-conceited people, and exceedingly superficial both in knowledge and piety. Ray Stedman has an excellent summary writing that Paul's command says in essence... Do not ignore the Scripture's wisdom: Do not despise prophesying. Unfortunately, because of certain cultic tendencies in our day, we think of prophesying as some special power to predict the future either for ourselves individually or for the world at large. But prophesying was not that. Dr. F. F. Bruce, who is one of the great expositors of our day, says prophesying is declaring the mind of God in the power of the Spirit. In those early days, before the New Testament was written, this was done orally; prophets spoke the mind of the Spirit in an assembly. But since the writing of the Scriptures we have very little need for any kind of prophesying other than that based upon the Scriptures. So prophesying really becomes what we call today expository preaching and teaching. It is what I am doing right now. It is opening the mind of God from the Word of God. Do not despise that, says the apostle. That is the wisdom of God. That is telling you how to act, how to think and how to order your life. Do not treat it lightly. It will save you countless headaches and heartaches if you observe it. (Loving Christianly) (Bolding added) John Calvin has a similar explanation observing that... This sentence is appropriately added to the preceding one, for as the Spirit of God illuminates us chiefly by doctrine, those who give not teaching its proper place, do, so far as in them lies, quench the Spirit, for we must always consider in what manner or by what means God designs to communicate himself to us. Let every one, therefore, who is desirous to make progress under the direction of the Holy Spirit, allow himself to be taught by the ministry of prophets. By the term prophecy, however, I do not understand the gift of foretelling the future, but as in 1 Corinthians 14:3, the science of interpreting Scripture,  so that a prophet is an interpreter of the will of God. For Paul, in the passage which I have quoted, assigns to prophets teaching for edification, exhortation, and consolation, and enumerates, as it were, these departments. Let, therefore, prophecy in this passage be understood as meaning—interpretation made suitable to present use.  Paul prohibits us from despising it, if we would not choose of our own accord to wander in darkness. Matthew Poole surmises that some of the Thessalonians... despise it (prophecy) because of the outward meanness of the persons which prophesy; some, through a proud conceit of their own knowledge; some, by a contempt of religion itself. (Matthew Poole's Commentary on the New Testament) Barnes feels that... The reference here seems to be to preaching. They were not to undervalue it in comparison with other things. It is possible that in Thessalonica, as appears to have been the case subsequently in Corinth, (cp. 1Co 14:19), there were those who regarded the power of working miracles, or of speaking in unknown tongues, as a much more eminent endowment than that of stating the truths of religion in language easily understood. It would not be unnatural that comparisons should be made between these two classes of endowments, much to the disadvantage of the latter; and hence may have arisen this solemn caution not to disregard or despise the ability to make known divine truth in intelligible language. A similar counsel may not be inapplicable to us now. The office of setting forth the truth of God is to be the permanent office in the church; that of speaking foreign languages by miraculous endowment, was to be temporary. But the office of addressing mankind on the great duties of religion, and of publishing salvation, is to be God's great ordinance for converting the world. It should not be despised, and no man commends his own wisdom who contemns it (Albert Barnes. Barnes NT Commentary) Guzik writes... We recognize that the Lord speaks to and through His people today, and we learn to be open to His voice. Of course, we always test prophecies (following the command to test all things), but we do not despise prophecies. James Denney adds that... The prophet was a man whose rational and moral nature had been quickened by the Spirit of Christ, and who possessed in an uncommon degree the power of speaking edification, exhortation, and comfort. In other words, he was a Christian preacher, endued with wisdom, fervor, and tenderness; and his spiritual addresses were among the Lord’s best gifts to the Church. Such addresses, or prophesyings, Paul tells us, we are not to despise. Now despise is a strong word; it is, literally, to set utterly at naught, as Herod set at naught Jesus, when he clothed Him in purple, or as the Pharisees set at naught the publicans, even when they came into the Temple to pray. Of course, prophecy, or, to speak in the language of our own time, the preacher’s calling, may be abused: a man may preach without a message, without sincerity, without reverence for God or respect for those to whom he speaks, he may make a mystery, a professional secret, of the truth of God, instead of declaring it even to little children; he may seek, as some who called themselves prophets in early times sought, to make the profession of godliness a source of gain; and under such circumstances no respect is due. But such circumstances are not to be assumed without cause. We are rather to assume that he who stands up in the Church to speak in God’s name has had a word of God entrusted to him; it is not wise to despise it before it is heard. It may be because we have been so often disappointed that we pitch our hopes so low; but to expect nothing is to be guilty of a sort of contempt by anticipation. To despise not prophesyings requires us to look for something from the preacher, some word of God that will build us up in godliness, or bring us encouragement or consolation; it requires us to listen as those who have a precious opportunity given them of being strengthened by Divine grace and truth. We ought not to lounge or fidget while the word of God is spoken, or to turn over the leaves of the Bible at random, or to look at the clock; we ought to hearken for that word which God has put into the preacher’s mouth for us; and it will be a very exceptional prophesying in which there is not a single thought that it would repay us to consider. (Classic Commentary Collection. See AGES Software for their full selection of highly recommended resources) Vincent has a lengthy, interesting note on prophetic utterances writing that... The emphasis on prophesyings corresponds with that in 1 Cor. 14:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 22 ff. Prophecy in the apostolic church was directly inspired instruction, exhortation, or warning. The prophet received the truth into his own spirit which was withdrawn from earthly things and concentrated upon the spiritual world. His higher, spiritual part (pneuma), and his moral intelligence (nous), and his speech (logos) worked in harmony. His spirit received a spiritual truth in symbol: his understanding interpreted it in its application to actual events, and his speech uttered the interpretation. He was not ecstatically rapt out of the sphere of human intelligence, although his understanding was intensified and clarified by the phenomenal action of the Spirit upon it. This double action imparted a peculiarly elevated character to his speech. The prophetic influence was thus distinguished from the mystical ecstasy, the ecstasy of Paul when rapt into the third heaven, which affected the subject alone and was incommunicable (2Cor. 12:1, 2, 3, 4). The gift of tongues carried the subject out of the prophetic condition in which spirit, understanding, and speech operated in concert, and into a condition in which the understanding was overpowered by the communication to the spirit, so that the spirit could not find its natural expression in rational speech, or speech begotten of the understanding, and found supernatural expression in a tongue created by the Spirit. Paul attached great value to prophecy. He places prophets next after apostles in the list of those whom God has set in the Church (1Co 12:28). He associates apostles and prophets as the foundation of the Church (Eph. 2:20). He assigns to prophecy the precedence among spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 14:1, 2, 3, 4, 5), and urges his readers to desire the gift (1Co 14:1, 39). Hence his exhortation here. In summary in issuing this negative command, Paul is saying that some in the Thessalonian church had a low opinion of prophesying and/or viewed this activity with contempt. Whatever the exact nature of the problem that evoked the tendency to undervalue prophecy, Paul is declaring that they must guard themselves against the reaction of despising all prophesying. Believers need to remember that wherever the Spirit of God is at work, the devil will seek to introduce confusion. They must not disparage the true manifestations of the Spirit but be alert to detect the false, which leads into the next section.