1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
περὶ τῶν χρόνων καὶ τῶν καιρῶν.... [ Continue Reading ]
περὶ τῶν χρόνων καὶ τῶν καιρῶν.... [ Continue Reading ]
The _times and periods_ are not “simply the broad course of time, of which the ἡμέρα Κυρίου constitutes the closing scene” (Baur); καιρός denotes a section of time more definitely than χρόνος, in Greek usage. “No nation has distinguished so subtly the different forms under which time can be logicall... [ Continue Reading ]
οἴδατε, referring to the teaching of Jesus on this crucial point, which Paul had transmitted to them (see Introduction).... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅταν, κ. τ. λ., when the very words, “All's well,” “It is all right,” are on their lips. ἐπίσταται, of an enemy suddenly appearing (Isocrat., _Evag._, § 58 ἐπὶ τὸ βασίλειον ἐπιστάς, Herod. iv. 203). αὐτοῖς, _i.e._, while the Day comes suddenly to Christians and unbelievers alike, only the latter are... [ Continue Reading ]
From the sudden and unexpected nature of the Last Day, Paul passes, by a characteristic inversion of metaphor in κλέπτας, to a play of thought upon the day as light. A double symbolism of ἡμέρα, as of κοιμᾶσθαι, thus pervades 4 8. Lightfoot cites a very striking parallel from Eur., _Iph. Taur._, 102... [ Continue Reading ]
The present age is utter night (שֶׁכֻּלּוֹ לַיְלָה), as contemporary rabbis taught; the age to come is all day. Meantime faith is to be held fast through this night (_cf._ passages quoted in Schlatter's _die Sprache u. Heimat des vierten Evangelisten_, 17, 18). υἱοὶ φ. καὶ ὑ. ἡμέρας is a stronger an... [ Continue Reading ]
To be alert, in one's sober senses (νήφειν), is more than to be merely awake. Here, as in 1 Thessalonians 5:8, the Christians are summoned to live up to their privileges and position towards the Lord. “There are few of us who are not rather ashamed of our sins and follies as we look out on the bless... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cf._ Plutarch, _De Iside_. vi., Οἶνον δὲ οἱ μὲν ἐν Ἥλιου πόλει θεραπεύοντες τὸν θεὸν οὐκ εἰσφέρουσιν τοπαράπαν εἰς τὸ ἱερόν, ὡς οὐ προσῆκον ἡμέρας πίνειν, τοῦ κυρίου καὶ βασιλέως ἐφορῶντος.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐνδυσάμενοι θώρακα κ. τ. λ., the thought of 1 Thessalonians 2:12-13; the mutual love of Christians, which forms the practical expression of their faith in God, is their true fitness and equipment for the second advent. Faith and love are a unity; where the one goes the other follows. They are also n... [ Continue Reading ]
The mention of the future σωτηρία starts Paul off, for a moment, on what it involves (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10).... [ Continue Reading ]
Life or death makes no difference to the Christian's union and fellowship with Jesus Christ, whose death was in our eternal interests (_cf._ Romans 14:7-9). For this metaphorical use of γρηγ. εἴτε καθ. (different from that in 6), Wohl. cites Plato, _Symp._, 203a: διὰ τούτου (i.e. Eros) πᾶσα ἐστιν ἡ... [ Continue Reading ]
The modification in the primitive attitude of Christians to the Parousia of Jesus is significant. Instead of all expecting to be alive at that blessed crisis, the inroads of death had now forced men to the higher consolation that “it did not make the least difference whether one became partaker of t... [ Continue Reading ]
General instructions for the church.... [ Continue Reading ]
These προϊστάμενοι are not officials but simply local Christians like Jason, Secundus, and perhaps Demas (in whose houses the Christians met), who, on account of their capacities or position, had informally taken the lead and made themselves responsible for the welfare and worship of the new society... [ Continue Reading ]
“Regard them with a very special love for their works' sake” (so thorough and important it is). “Be at peace among yourselves” (instead of introducing divisions and disorder by any insubordination or carping).... [ Continue Reading ]
The particular form of insubordination at Thessalonica was idleness (for the contemporary use of ἀτ. in this sense, see _Oxyrh. Papyri_, ii. 1901, p. 275). Similarly, in _Olynth_. iii. 11, Demosthenes denounces all efforts made to shield from punishment τοὺς ἀτακτοῦντας, _i.e._, those citizens who s... [ Continue Reading ]
The special circumstances which called for forbearance (1 Thessalonians 5:14) were likely to develop a disposition to retaliate upon those who displayed an ungenerous and insubordinate spirit (_e.g._, the ἄτακτοι); but the injunction has a wider range (εἰς πάντας, including their fellow-countrymen,... [ Continue Reading ]
To comment adequately upon these diamond drops (16 18) would be to outline a history of the Christian experience in its higher levels. π. χαίρετε, _cf._ Epict., i. 16 (“Had we understanding, ought we to do anything but sing hymns and bless the Deity and tell of His benefits?… What else can I do, a l... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Pray always_, says the Apostle; that is, have the habit of prayer, turning your thoughts into acts by connecting them with the idea of the redeeming God” (Coleridge, _Notes on the Book of Common Prayer_), cp. iii. II, 1 Thessalonians 5:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
Chrysostom, who wrote: τὸ ἀεὶ δηλονότι εὐχαριστεῖν, τοῦτο φιλοσόφου ψυχῆς, gave a practical illustration of this heroic temper by repeating, as he died in the extreme hardships of an enforced and painful exile, δόξα τῷ θεῷ πάντων ἕνεκα. For thanksgiving even in bereavement, _cf._ Aug., _Conf._, ix.... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῦτο κ. τ. λ. The primary reference is to εὐχαριστεῖτε, but the preceding imperatives are so closely bound up with this, that it is needless to exclude them from the scope of the θέλημα. ἐν Χ. Ἰ. This glad acceptance of life's rain and sunshine alike as from the hand of God, Jesus not only exemplif... [ Continue Reading ]
As εὐχαριστεῖν was a special function of the prophets in early Christian worship (_cf._ Did. x. 7), the transition is natural. The local abuses of ecstatic prophecy in prediction (2 Thessalonians 2:2) or what seem to be exaggerated counsels of perfection (1 Thessalonians 5:16 f.) must not be allowed... [ Continue Reading ]
A further general precept, added to bring out the negative side of κατέχετε, κ. τ. λ. πονηροῦ neut. abstract = “of wickedness,” as Genesis 2:9 (τοῦ εἰδέναι γνωστὸν καλοῦ καὶ πονηροῦ). παντὸς κ. τ. λ., perhaps an allusion to the manifold ways of going wrong (Arist., _Nik. Eth._, ii. 6 14, τὸ μὲν ἁμαρ... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰρήνης, with a special allusion to the breaches of harmony and charity produced by vice (_cf._ connection of 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3 f.), indolence, impatience of authority or of defects in one another (1 Thessalonians 5:13 f.), retaliation (1 Thessalonians 5:15), and differ... [ Continue Reading ]
The call implies that God will faithfully carry out the process of ἁγιάζεσθαι and τηρεῖσθαι (_cf._ Philippians 1:6), which is the divine side of the human endeavour outlined in the preceding verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
Closing words of counsel and prayer.... [ Continue Reading ]
Neither here, nor above at 1 Thessalonians 5:14, is there any reason to suppose that Paul turns to address the leaders of the local church (so _e.g._, Bornemann, Ellicott, Alford, Askwith, Zimmer, Lightfoot, Weiss, Findlay) as though they were, in the name of the apostle(s), to convey the holy (_i.e... [ Continue Reading ]