1 Thessalonians 4:2

For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord jesus Lit., charges … through the Lord Jesus; similarly in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, "as we charged you," and in 2 Thessalonians 3:4, &c. The Greek word signifies an announcement, then a commandor advice publicly delivered. In 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Timothy 1:18 the whole practical teaching of Christianity is called a "charge." Here the Apostle is referring to particular items of conduct as matter of so many "charges." These charges were given "throughthe Lord Jesus," since His name and authority were used to support them (comp. 2 Thessalonians 3:6, "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"); while they were given "inthe Lord Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 4:1), as they appealed to the Christian standing of the readers and their conscious relationship to Christ, Whose coming in glory they expected.

The Apostle is "writing no new commandment;" he recalls to his readers" remembrance what he had so often urged upon them (see note on ch. 1 Thessalonians 1:5). It is on one prominent subject of those well-remembered charges that he has now to dwell: