1Paul exhorteth the Thessalonians to proceed in their endeavours to please God by a holy and just conversation. 9He commendeth their love to one another, entreating them to abound in it, 11and quietly to follow their respective callings. 13And that they might not sorrow for the dead, as men without hope, he briefly describeth the resurrection of the just, and Christ's second coming.
1FURTHERMORE1 then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you 2by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have 3received of us howa ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
1 Or, What remaineth, brethren.
2 That is, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, or for Jesus Christ’s sake. See 2 Cor. 5:20.
3 That is, learned or were instructed.
a Philip. 1:27; 1 Thes. 2:12.
2For ye know 4what commandments we gave you 5by the Lord Jesus.
4 He does not speak here of any hidden, secret commands, but of manifest ones which he relates again afterwards.
5 That is, on account of the Lord, or by command from the Lord Jesus.
3Forb this is 6the will of God, even your 7sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
b Rom. 12:2; Eph. 5:27; Philip. 4:8.
6 That is, what God requires from you, or will have done by you.
7 This word may be taken in general for all manner of holiness, or in particular for chastity or honesty, as is declared hereafter.
4That every one of you should know how to possess 8his vessel in sanctification and 9honour;
8 That is, his body, which by a Hebraism is so called, because it is an instrument of the soul.
9 That is, honesty. For, nothing dishonors the person’s body more than immodesty. See 1 Cor. 6:16, etc.
5Not in the 10lust of concupiscence,c even as the Gentiles whichd11know not God:
10 Or, immodest motion.
c strong desire or appetite, especially of a sexual nature
d 1 Cor. 15:34; Eph. 4:18.
11 Namely, as they ought, and as He has revealed Himself in His Word, 2 Thes. 1:8; otherwise the Gentiles also know God by nature, but this knowledge was not powerful enough to move them duly unto the love and obedience of Him, Rom. 1:19, etc.
6That no man go 12beyond and 13defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
12 Gr. climb over, and signifies to injure any man by force, or take more from him than is proper, as the following words declares.
13 Gr. covet, which signifies to deceive or injure anyone out of covetousness. See 2 Cor. 2:10; 12:17.
7For God hath not called us unto 14uncleanness, bute unto holiness.
14 Among this the apostle does not only comprehend lasciviousness, but also covetousness and injustice, whereby the soul itself is also defiled.
e John 17:19; 1 Cor. 1:2.
8Hef therefore that 15despiseth, despiseth 16not man, but God, whog hath also given 17unto us his holy Spirit.
f Luke 10:16.
15 That is, those aforementioned commands, as he called them in the verse 2.
16 Namely, only, but especially God, Who gave these commands Himself, by His prophets and apostles.
g 1 Cor. 7:40.
17 This may either be understood of the apostles, who, being moved by God’s Spirit, had given these commands; or, also of all Christians, who are sanctified by God’s Spirit, in order that they would no more follow the desires of the flesh, but of the Spirit, Gal. 5:24, 25.
9Buth as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught 18of God to love one another.
h Lev. 19:18; Mat. 22:39; John 13:34; 15:12; Eph. 5:2; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 3:23; 4:21.
18 Gr. God-taught, whereof see John 6:45.
10And indeed 19ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
19 That is, you also prove indeed that you love the brethren.
11Andi that 20ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, andj to work 21with your own hands, as we commanded you;
i 2 Thes. 3:7, 12.
20 Namely, as they do, who seek after honor, or place honor in anything, as the Greek word requires. This the apostle says because worldly men commonly place honor in and are diligent to trouble themselves with many things which do not concern themselves, against which fault he here warns believers, and exhorts them rather to seek honor, and to give diligence themselves to look to their own affairs in quietness.
j Acts 20:34; Eph. 4:28.
21 Namely, to provide you and yours of proper necessities of life, which the apostle speaks unto them, who, under a pretext of busying themselves with common business outside their calling, sought to live off other men’s labor, whereof is spoken in more detail in 2 Thes. 3:10, etc.
12That ye may walk 22honestly toward them 23that are without, and that ye may have 24lack of nothing.
22 That is, without reproach. For, the Gentiles themselves also disapprove such doings. The Greek word signifies that which is comely or noble.
23 That is, who are yet strangers from the faith, as 1 Cor. 5:12.
24 Or, of nought, or, of no man, namely, of them who are outside; for, the Greek word may bear both.
13But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them 25which are asleep, thatk ye sorrow not, 26even as others 27which have no hope.
25 That is, who have passed away, or have fallen asleep, as John 11:11, etc.
k Lev. 19:28; Deut. 14:1; 2 Sam. 12:20.
26 Hereby the apostle shows that he does not forbid all sorrow for the dead, which even Christ Himself showed for Lazarus, John 11:35, the congregation for Stephen, Acts 8:2, and Paul for Epaphroditus when he was deadly sick, Philip. 2:27, but he speaks here only of immoderate and pagan sorrow.
27 Namely, of the blessed resurrection, whereof he speaks in the following verses. For, although the pagans believed the immortality of the souls, yet they were never able to comprehend or believe the resurrection of the bodies and re-uniting them with their souls. See Acts 17:32; 26:23, etc.
14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep 28in Jesus will God 29bring 30with him.
28 Or, through Jesus, that is, through the power of Jesus, the Judge of the quick and the dead, John 5:21, etc.
29 Namely, in life and in glory, when He shall have raised them up from their graves, and shall have united them with their souls.
30 Namely, when He shall appear from heaven at the last day, in judgment.
15For this we say unto you 31by the word of the Lord, thatl32we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not 33preventm them which are asleep.
31 Gr. in the word of the Lord, whereby some understand the promises of Christ, Mat. 24:31 and John 5:28, where there are almost such like words. Others, a special and further revelation of Christ made hereof to Paul, as he testifies, 1 Cor. 15:51.
l 1 Cor. 15:22, 51.
32 Namely, faithful persons, putting himself also among them, because of the uncertainty of the day of Christ’s coming. See further hereof 1 Cor. 15:51.
33 Namely, to be glorified by Christ.
m go before, anticipate*
16Forn the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with 34a shout, with 35the voice 36of the archangel, and with the trumpo of God: and the dead 37in Christ shall rise first:
n Mat. 24:31; 1 Cor. 15:52; 2 Thes. 1:7.
34 The Greek word keleusma properly signifies a cry which is joined with a command, as used to be made to such as were to do any work jointly, or, those who ply oars together in a ship, or begin a battle.
35 What voice or trump this shall be, the Scripture does not declare further, but the great power and glory of Christ in His second coming is thereby set before our eyes, Who shall come with His angels as a commander of his army, with sound of trumpets and a great noise; which shall be terrible for His enemies, and give courage and comfort to His friends. See similar description, Mat. 25:31; John 5:28; 1 Cor. 15:52; 2 Thes. 1:7, 8; Jude verse 14; Rev. 11:15, etc.
36 That is, of the chiefest angel, who is here expressly distinguished from Christ. See further hereof Jude verse 9.
o trumpet
37 That is, in the faith of Christ, as Rev. 14:13.
17Then we which are alive and remain shall be 38caught up together with them 39in the clouds, to meet the Lord 40in the air: and so shall we ever be 41with the Lord.
38 Gr. snatched, taken up, namely, after that they shall be changed and in a moment of time be made conformable to His glorious body, 1 Cor. 15:51; Philip. 3:20, 21.
39 Namely, which shall be as a chariot, whereby they shall be carried up to Christ in the air, as is said of Elijah, 2 Kings 2:11, and of Christ Himself, Acts 1:9.
40 Namely, where He shall keep His judgment, before the eyes of all men, who shall be brought together by the angels at His right and at His left hand. See Mat. 25:31, etc.; Rev. 1:7.
41 Namely, Christ Jesus in heaven, John 14:2, 3.
18Wherefore comfort one another 42with these words.
42 Gr. in these words, that is, speeches and considerations.