Bible Commentaries

IV

Closing Exhortations: to honor the presidents, to live in peace, to keep themselves free from all bitterness against persecutors, to unite vivacity with sobriety of spirit; ending with the prayer, that God may keep them.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-24

12And [Now, or: But]²⁶ we beseech yon, brethren, to know them which labor [those who toil, τοὺς κοπιῶντας] among you, and are over [preside over]²⁷ you in the Lord, and admonish you; 13and to esteem them very highly [very exceedingly]²⁸ 14in love for their work’s sake. And be [Be] at peace among yourselves.²⁹ Now [or: But]³⁰ we exhort you, brethren, warn [admonish]³¹ them that are unruly [the disorderly],³² comfort [encourage]³³ the feeble-minded [faint-hearted],³⁴ support the weak, be patient [be long-suffering]³⁵ toward all men [all]. 15See that none render evil for evil unto any man [any one, τινί]; but ever follow [always pursue, πάντοτε … διώκετε] that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all 16 men [both toward one another, and toward all]³⁶ Rejoice evermore [always, 17, 18πάντοτε]. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this Isaiah 19[is]³⁷ the will of God [God’s will]³⁸ in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench20, 21not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove [But prove]³⁹ all things; hold fast that which is good 22 Abstain from all appearance [every form]⁴⁰ of evil 23 And the very God of peace [But may the God of peace Himself]⁴¹ sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto [and entire may your spirit and soul and body be kept 24 without blame at]⁴² the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you; who also will do it.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13.) Now [or, But. See Critical Note1.—J. L.] we beseech you, &c.—The closing section contains exhortations, which are improperly described [De Wette, Lünemann] as miscellaneous. It is no fortuitous selection, but we recognize an order and purpose. It is natural that in the Apostle’s closing exhortations there should always be much that is generally available; but in every case the selection proves to be singularly appropriate to the particular exigency, short and striking, every sentence weighty (comp. Romans 12and other places). In our passage Paul passes (δέ, see Lünemann) from what all ought to do ( 1 Thessalonians 5:11) to that which peculiarly concerns the presidents, on whom especially devolves the office of exhortation and edification; Chrysostom: that they might not suppose, that he would raise all to the dignity of teachers; Hofmann: but in your activity forget not what you owe to the office; ἐρωτῶμεν, as 1 Thessalonians 4:1; he begs, where the question is about the presidents, whereas he exhorts, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, when urging upon them their own active duties; he has nothing of the hierarchical temper. Perhaps their neglect of the presidents was connected with the excitement of enthusiasm ( 1 Thessalonians 4:11); he was not willing to have this spread; sobriety ( 1 Thessalonians 5:6 sqq.) was to be shown in this direction also. The presidents are not designated by their official titles (πρεσβύτεροι or ἐπίσκοποι), but by a brief indication of their functions; who labor, take pains; κοπιᾷν denotes severe labor, whereby one is wearied; for that very reason they deserve recognition. Here it is not added as in 1 Timothy 5:17, in word and doctrine; and without this addition the expression has a wider reach, embracing the performance of all service. Ἐν ὑμῖν can mean on you (Hofmann, Winer, § 48. a3) or among you, in your circle; not, in your hearts (Pelt), for that is not man’s business. The κοπιᾷν is defined by what follows; for προΐστασθαι and νουθετεῖν cannot refer to other persons, officers, classes, since participle is joined to participle by a simple καί; under the one article are included statements respecting the same persons; they who labor and preside and admonish are one and the same; the same work is conceived of on different sides: in regard to the exertion of the individuals themselves it is a κοπιᾷν; in its relation to the church, a προΐστασθαι; in application to the erring, a νουθετεῖν. They preside over you in the Lord, since they themselves live in Him; therefore also their work is in Him, in His strength, and a presiding, guiding, overseeing in His behalf; they are no civil magistracy. [Webster and Wilkinson: “ἐν K, added as the highest sanction, and at the same time limitation of their authority.”—J. L.] Unsuitable and not correspondent to the word is the explanation of Chrysostom, Theodoret, and others: who intercede for you with God in prayer; that were rather ἐντυγχάνειν ὑπέρ τινος. Finally, νουθετεῖν is properly to correct one’s ideas, and so to admonish, remind, warn; to this submit yourselves. Nor is that even in later times the business of another office (against Olshausen), but merely a special side of the presidency: the exercise of discipline for the prevention of errors. [Webster and Wilkinson: “By the use of participles instead of nouns of office, ministers as exercising rather than as having certain functions, are represented as the objects of regard.”—J. L.] These men—such is his request—ye ought εἰδέναι, pregnant: respicere, to recognize and acknowledge them as being what they are; like ἐπιγινώσκειν, 1 Corinthians 16:18, and Proverbs 27:23, Septuagint for יָדַע indeed, יָדַע is translated also by εἰδέναι, when the meaning is to interest one’s self in a matter ( Genesis 39:6);—no doubt, a different ease from one in which there is a personal object. But it is unquestionably harsher, when Ewald, declining the pregnant signification of εἰδ., supposes that what is to be known about them is first resumed in ἡγεῖσθαι &c. Hofmann understands it thus: You should know how it is with them, what you have in them; Stockmeyer: what position they hold. But Pelt alone introduces the idea of showing gratitude to them by a stipend.⁴³—And to esteem them very exceedingly, &c.; still dependent on ἐρωτῶμεν. According to the two interpretations that are here possible, ἡγεῖσθαι, &c. is somewhat harsh and without any quite analogous example; either (Theodoret, Grotius [and many others]): to esteem them exceeding highly, and that (modal definition of this esteem) in love, therefore not in fear, or such like sentiments; but elsewhere ἡγεῖσθαι (with an accusative) means to take one to be something, not, by itself, to esteem highly; this would require the addition of περὶ πολλοῦ, π. πλείστου, and for that ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ can hardly answer. Besides, it is then quite too tautological with εἰδέναι. Rather, therefore, with Chrysostom: ἡγεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς ἐν ἀγάπῃ τῇ ὑμῶν ὀφείλειν εἰναι, ἡγ. αὐτ. ἀξίους τοῦ ἀγαπᾶσθαι (Theophylact: thou lovest him who secures for thee an entrance into the kingdom of heaven), or Pelt: in carissimorum eos loco habete; and just so Lünemann, Hofmann: hold them in love, like ἔχειν τινὰ ἐν ὀργῇ (Thucyd. ii18). Thus, along with respect ( 1 Thessalonians 5:12) he recommends ( 1 Thessalonians 5:13) the highest love,⁴⁴ although, nay, rather because, they admonish you.—For their work’s sake; the indolent, therefore, have no claim, but they who faithfully perform the serious work for souls. [Ellicott: “on account both of the importance of the work ( Hebrews 13:17), and the earnest and laborious manner in which it was performed; comp. Philippians 1:22; Philippians 2:30.”—J. L.]—Be at peace among yourselves, ἐν ἑαυτοῖς equivalent to ἐν ἀλλήλοις, John 7:35; for the matter, Mark 9:50 is to be compared. The variation ἐν αὐτοῖς (which arose probably from the brevity of the sentence, that seemed unable to stand independently) is followed by Chrysostom, Theodoret (contradict not what they say), Theophylact, Luther (be at peace with them), Zwingli, Calvin and others. Zwingli: Be well content with them; but he proposes also the explanation: In them (through them) ye have peace. But the connection leads us to expect an imperative; had the word been meant to be indicative, it would have been said: ἐν αὐτοῖς γᾶρ εἰρ. But the reference to the teachers is not good; 1. ἐν would not suit well; μετά (as in Romans 12:18) would in that case be the right word; 2. an exhortation to peace with the presidents would almost necessarily imply a previous quarrel with them, which is at least improbable; 3. lastly, towards presidents the question would not be merely to keep the peace, but to be obedient to them in the Lord. Better, therefore, according to the reading, ἐν ἑαυτοῖς; among yourselves. This exhortation is connected indirectly (De Wette) with the preceding. Peace in the church (like brotherly love, 1 Thessalonians 4:9 sqq.) was most threatened, when any showed themselves meddlesome, neglected ἡσυχάζειν, πράσσειν τὰ ἴδια, &c, and for that reason did not, it is probable, sufficiently esteem the presidents. On the other hand, deference to the presidents and compliance with their exhortations promoted the peace of all. Since the foes of peace are within in every heart, such an exhortation was salutary, even though there were no serious disagreements on foot. Undoubtedly that by which peace was most threatened was the ἀτακτεῖν, to which he forthwith proceeds.

2. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:14.) Now [or, But—see Critical Note5,—J. L.] we exhort you, &c.—Esteem for their presidents and peace among themselves should and will lead to proficiency in their tasks: 1. in reference to the faults which still cleave to the brethren ( 1 Thessalonians 5:14); 2. in relation to their enemies ( 1 Thessalonians 5:15); in both relations he directs them, 3. to the right disposition toward God ( 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), and therefore also toward the gifts of His Spirit ( 1 Thessalonians 5:19 sqq.).—At 1 Thessalonians 5:14, as at 1 Thessalonians 5:11, he exhorts all the brethren; for it is a mistake to regard the exhortation, with Chrysostom, Theophylact [Conybeare], and others, as addressed to the presidents. Truly spiritually minded Christians will, indeed, yield themselves to the guidance of the presidents ( 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13), but will themselves also ( 1 Thessalonians 5:14) assist them in the same spirit The Apostle is far from entertaining extravagant ideas of office. He immediately reverts to what all have to do; the difference from 1 Thessalonians 5:11 consists in this, that Paul now treats particularly of the manner of dealing with the erring, or the in some way weaker members.—Admonish the disorderly; not altogether, in general, those who live in the violation of the commandments of God (Chrysostom: all sinners are ἄτακτοι; Theophylact: he who in any way infringes order, the drunken, the slanderers, the covetous), but here probably in the narrower sense that appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; also 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:11, ἀτάκτως περιπατεῖν, 1 Thessalonians 5:7, ἀτακτεῖν; ἄτακτος (Livy), is the soldier who keeps not his rank and file; then, by transference, whoever forsakes his τάξις, place, rank, station; whoever quits the straight track, driving round irregularly and aimlessly. There were such in this flourishing church.—Encourage ( 1 Thessalonians 2:11) the faint hearted; ὀλιγοψ., Septuagint for various Hebrew words, Isaiah 54:6; Isaiah 57:15; μικροψυχεῖν also occurs. We think first (so already Theodoret) of those who grieved for the dead ( 1 Thessalonians 4:13 sqq.); Hofmann will not allow this, because theirs was a case, not of faint-heartedness, but of error; still the error resulted in faint-heartedness, and they therefore needed to be cheered with comforting truth ( 1 Thessalonians 4:18). No doubt, however, there might be yet other desponding persons, to whom, when under persecution, Christianity seemed too grievous a thing (as in like manner Theodoret; Theophylact: who could not endure trial); or tempted persons, whose thought was: For me there can be no forgiveness.—Support the weak;ἀντέχεσθαι, to hold fast to something, adhærere; Titus 1:9, to cleave to the word; Matthew 6:24, to one’s master; and so here: to the weak, as a precious treasure; but also in Proverbs 4:6 Septuagint for שמר: Wisdom will keep thee, will adhere to thee as a protector. Hofmann: Take pains with them, instead of despising them; a contrast like that in Matthew 6 The temptation would be to become weary of the feeble, as people that are continually making new trouble for us, without ever reaching a definite result. But this would be a dangerous self-pleasing ( Romans 15:1 sqq.). The word ἀσθενεῖς might mean the sick ( 1 Corinthians 11:30), but also those without spiritual strength, the weak in faith and conscience, who do not get forward ( 1 Corinthians 8:10; 1 Corinthians 9:22; Romans 14:1); and to this we are led here by the context; the disorderly and the faint-hearted are single instances, but to be weak shows itself in still another form. It is very conceivable that in so young a church there were yet people who, like young children, easily stumbled, and in whom the old things continued still to work. They might become weakest, when they thought themselves strong ( 1 Corinthians 8, 10). The opposite quality is denoted by ἀνδρίζεσθε, κραταιοῦσθε ( 1 Corinthians 16:13), or again by the ὑγιαίνειν of the Pastoral Epistles.—The most general precept comes last: Be long-suffering toward all; as love acts ( 1 Corinthians 13:4; comp. הֶאֶרִיךְ אַפּוֹ, Proverbs 19:11; Sept.). Patience allows time for the growth of the godly man. A necessary exhortation for such as are yet young Christians, who are apt to be young also in their zeal. Toward all—Theodoret, Olshausen, Lünemann [Alford, Ellicott] would understand this, as in 1 Thessalonians 5:15, of all men; Hofmann [Jowett] would take the clause in immediate connection with 1 Thessalonians 5:15. But ὁρᾶτε, &c. indicates a new start, whereby he passes to the true Christian treatment of all men; whereas in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 it is still the behavior of Christians to one another that is spoken of; and so Theophylact even refers the expression (only somewhat too strictly) to the three classes before mentioned. Therefore: Be long-suffering toward all, the disorderly, the faint-hearted, the weak, and whoever else in the church requires your patience (De Wette). Who does not? [Webster and Wilkinson: certain classes required particular treatment, all required patience.—J. L.]

3. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:15.) See, be careful, be on your guard ( Matthew 8:4); βλέπετε also occurs in this sense; see to it, heedfully, for it is not an easy matter (Calvin); that none render evil for evil unto any one ( 1 Peter 3:9; Romans 12:17; Matthew 5). Not merely, therefore, that ye do not violate μακροθυμία, in an excessive, spiritual zeal, but also that no one, as quite commonly happens, give way to the revengeful disposition of the old man; toward any brother or non-Christian, possibly a persecutor. Chrysostom, Theophylact: If we are not to return evil, then so much the less should we begin by giving evil for good.—Alas, that there is ever fresh need of such exhortations! But Paul does not say: μή τις ὑμῶν, and from this De Wette infers that it is taken for granted, that a spirit of revenge is so unworthy of true Christians, that to them it is merely said: Guard against its breaking out elsewhere even in others. This Lünemann rejects, 1. because Paul could not have supposed, that with those who had been heathens vindictiveness was something so entirely laid aside, since it was rather a new, specifically Christian commandment, to avoid it; 2. because, therefore, all needed for themselves the exhortation to vigilance and self-conquest, whereas3. it is but seldom that one is able to restrain others. Nevertheless it may still be asked: Why does Paul not employ the second person plural? De Wette is somewhat too one-sided; μή τις admits of both applications, to every one for himself, and to the warning of others; Hofmann compares Hebrews 3:12; Hebrews 4:1; Hebrews 12:15; and even among Christians no one is perfectly secure against fits of revengefulness. Accordingly: Let every one look to both himself and others; the discreet is to restrain the passionate. Most judiciously Bengel: He who is incensed by wrongs is prejudiced; therefore should others see to it, and seek to moderate him.⁴⁵—But always pursue that which is good—not merely what is salutary, useful (Olshausen), what is good for one (Hofmann), alienis commodis (Grotius), nor yet beneficence (Pelt), but what is right before God (the opposite: κακόν), morally good ( Romans 12:9; Romans 12:21). Of course, this is also beneficial to one’s neighbor the special application of what is morally good to our neighbor consisting in those offices of love, which are to be rendered to him (Starke). The good is just everything that furthers the triumph of truth and love. Aim at doing this even to him who injures you. Paul does not always move in such generalities and abstractions (to do good for the sake of good, and such like); but to rich, concrete, particular exhortations he subjoins these comprehensive and simplest fundamental principles (comp. 2 Corinthians 13:7, and often). To attain to this (amidst manifestations of enmity) requires a διώκειν. We must pursue that which is good, it does not naturally be long to us; the evil, on the contrary, comes of itself (comp. 1 Corinthians 14:1, follow after charity; Hebrews 12:14, peace and holiness).—Toward one another, that means the brotherly love of Christians ( 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10); and toward all, even non-Christians ( 1 Thessalonians 4:12); here the opposition is expressed. What is good; that is still more than what is becoming ( 1 Thessalonians 4:12).

4. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.) Rejoice always [ 2 Corinthians 6:10; Philippians 3:1; Philippians 4:4.—J. L.].—Whether you attain the end with your neighbor or not, do you pursue after it, so much as lieth in you ( Romans 12:18), and, for your own part, rejoice evermore; Theodoret: even in poverty, sickness, contumely, torture, prison; as those for whom all things work together for good ( Romans 8:28). Here he speaks of the right disposition, no longer toward men, but before God. All that goes before is to be attained only when this peace rules within. Should there be a failure of joy because of the difficulty of overcoming evil with good, then raise yourselves above all that depresses you by prayer.—Pray without ceasing ( 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 1:9). Already Chrysostom and Theophylact recognize the connection: τὴν ὁδὸν ἔδειξε. Without ceasing; this does not mean, with a continual, indolent folding of the hands; as Paul prayed night and day ( 1 Thessalonians 3:10), so likewise he labored night and day ( 1 Thessalonians 2:9); and yet he had also intervals of sleep! The next thing is therefore obvious: Never omit the practice of prayer; be as regularly diligent therein as in labor. This then infers a constant spirit of prayer, breathing through the whole life. But in order to the stirring up ( 2 Timothy 1:6) of this, and so to the quickening of joy, he exhorts further: in everything give thanks; Bengel: even in what seems adverse. Give thanks for the great grace already received (comp. Colossians 4:2; Philippians 4:6). In the last place we find in like manner ἐν παντί. This is not the same thing as πάντοτε (which stands with it at 2 Corinthians 9:8), for καιρῷ should not have been wanting; but it means, in every point, every matter or situation, equivalent to κατὰ πάντα, περὶ παντός, ὑπὲρ πάντων ( Ephesians 5:20).—For this Isaiah 46 God’s will, &c. ( 1 Thessalonians 4:3); not the will, since that of course includes more than this one point. The subject is τοῦτο, this, the giving thanks in everything; Grotius [Schott]: prayer and thanksgiving; but in that case we should have to go still a step further, and, with Von Gerlach [Corn. A. Lapide, Jowett, Alford, Möller] bring in also the rejoicing; not quite everything from 1 Thessalonians 5:14, for that is not so homogeneous that it could well be embraced in τοῦτο as one topic. In consideration also of the fact that ἑν παντὶ εὐχαριστεῖτε is added by asyndeton, it may well seem more advisable to refer the τοῦτο, with Bengel, only to the giving of thanks, which indeed is the means of quickening prayer and joy. Hofmann: The interruption of the exhortations takes place, where one of them is specially confirmed. On the predicate Bengel remarks: Voluntas semper bona, semper spectans salutem vestram in Christo. But not as Calvin gives the turn: Of such a nature is God’s gracious will in Christ, that we have therein abundant cause for thanksgiving; but: God’s will is this, that we give thanks, and this will of God is established in Christ, mediated through Him; Christ strengthens us to give thanks, because in Him all things are ours ( 1 Corinthians 3:21 sqq.), all things work together for good ( Romans 8:28), all. things help forward the subdual of the flesh and the relief of the spirit. Finally εἰςὑμᾶς, toward you, in reference to you.

5. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22.) Quench not the Spirit.—From prayer and thanksgiving he passes to the source from which they flow; a right frame of heart toward God should show itself in the right use of His choicest gifts; in a proper bearing toward the manifestations of the Spirit in the life of the Church;—a supplement to 1 Thessalonians 5:14, where the defects of the church and their proper treatment had been touched upon. The Spirit is He who is received from God ( 1 Thessalonians 4:8; 1 Corinthians 2; Galatians 3), and who, working in original fulness and freshness, distributes manifold-gifts ( 1 Corinthians 12); the connection with 1 Thessalonians 5:20 points in this direction. Calvin: Spiritus genus, prophetia species. Quench—literally, extinguish—Him not; the sacred fire; comp. Romans 12:11, τῷ πνεύματι ζέοντες, and 2 Timothy 1:6, ἀναζωπυρεῖν; Theophylact: In the night of this life God gave us the Spirit for a light. But Wetstein shows by many examples that σβέννυμι is used also of the stilling of a wind. The fire is nourished by prayer, thanksgiving, exercise; is quenched by neglect or suppression, by want of wood or by pouring on water; Von Gerlach: by contempt, suspicion, a fleshly mind, contradiction or inattention; Calvin: by unthankfulness. But a still more precise question is this: Does it mean: Stifle not the Spirit in yourselves by impurity of doctrine and life? or suppress not the Spirit’s utterances, when they meet you in the church? The connection with 1 Thessalonians 5:20 leads to the second explanation; it being always understood, that to decline the Spirit’s influences in our own hearts renders us also averse to what we meet with in others of His extraordinary movements. This disaffection might work not only against prophesying, 1 Thessalonians 5:20, but generally against the most various manifestations of the Spirit. But when De Wette conjectures that there were, in particular, timid, pusillanimous presidents, who, because they saw with regret the spiritual excitement, restrained those inspired from coming forward, there is no satisfactory evidence of this. The exhortation is quite general in its tone ( 1 Thessalonians 5:27 will bring us to a similar question). Altogether unsuitable is Olshausen’s inference from our passage, that Paul can therefore have had no misgiving about the Thessalonians being in danger of becoming a prey to enthusiasm, according to the subsequent indications of the Second Epistle. No; Paul knew how matters stood; he admonished the disorderly; he exhorted to careful examination; but surely he could not write: Quench the Spirit! On the contrary, Hofmann will not allow, that there existed in Thessalonica a partial disinclination to spiritual utterances; Paul, he thinks, would merely regulate their bias towards what was extraordinary, the main emphasis being on the after-clause, prove all things. This may be too exclusive on the other side. How easily, in presence of enthusiasm and even false prophesying, might a distrust of everything out of the common course take possession of other minds! Paul corrects both the one tendency and the other. So already Theodoret: Some wished, on account of the false prophets, to stop also the true.—One particular instance of spiritual manifestations is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:20 : Despise not prophesyings (where they occur). The word stands without the article, in the plural, denoting the Individual cases. Prophesying does not respect the future merely (though this also is not excluded, Acts 21:10 sqq.), but is an utterance of Divine mysteries; mysteriorum retectio et præsentium et futurorum, Pelt; a speaking to the church under a special influence of the Spirit, but with clear conscious ness, and thus distinguished from the speaking with tongues; on the other side, it is not one and the same thing with teaching, the reflective development of thought; but a speaking from Divine inspiration, affecting hearts with a thrilling power, strengthening them with the fulness of consolation, unfolding the mysteries of judgment and of grace in the administration of the kingdom and in the sway of individual hearts. At all times one prophet has connected with the word of another; still mere exposition is not prophesying; to the latter belongs somewhat of originality; but this shows itself as well in the elucidation of the past (prophetic history), as in the spiritual flashes that disclose what is coming (comp. 1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 1 Corinthians 14, especially 1 Thessalonians 5:24-25; Ephesians 4:11; Romans 12:6; Acts 11:27; Acts 13:1; Acts 15:32; Acts 19:6). This gift despise not, old Greek ἐξουδενεῖν; όω likewise occurs ( Mark 9:12, various reading); the Swiss vernüte answers exactly in etymology and import. Other gifts might be more brilliant, although this also, 1 Corinthians 14:1; 1 Corinthians 14:39, is especially commended. The disaffection probably proceeded rather in undue resistance from the intellect and love of order; not, as in Corinth, from an overvaluing of the γλῶσσαι. Not to despise, however, does not mean to receive without judgment and blindly. Hence: Prove all things. The variations, πάντα, πάντα δὲ, δοκιμάζοντες, instead of ζετε, and lastly καὶ τὸ καλόν, seem to lead back to the asyndeton, πάντα δοκιμάζετε, as the simplest reading. But should the preponderance of authorities be deemed decisive in favor of the addition of δέ, the sentence would stand in opposition to what goes before, and the two following sentences would be arranged by the trial enjoined into1. Hold fast that which is good, and2. Abstain from the evil. Prove, the command is to all Christians, not to a privileged class.⁴⁷ The object of the trial is to be all things; primarily, according to the context, what the prophets say. The word has come to be a peculiarly trite commonplace, in which the second half of the verse is frequently forgotten: Hold fast that which is good, fair, noble; what furthers you in the Divine life—what amongst the πάντα (primarily in the prophesyings) you find excellent—that hold fast, in opposition to the ἐξουθενωῖν. A point of peculiar importance, however, is, not merely what, according to the Apostle, is to be proved, but especially how. The object is everything that claims to be spiritual, as in 1 Corinthians 14:29 also it is precisely to what the prophets say that the direction applies: διακρινέτωσαν. There is, therefore, no fanatical demand for a blind submission, not even to the apostolic word ( 1 Corinthians 7; 1 Corinthians 10:15). Of so much the greater consequence is it to be certain that we really possess the true Divine criterion. What that is, Paul does not say; but plainly it is none other than what they bad received from him and through the Spirit had made their own, the apostolic word of truth, originating with the Spirit, and sealed by the Spirit ( 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-2; 2 Thessalonians 2:5; 2 Thessalonians 3:4-5); answering to the anointing of 1 John 2:27. The trial of the spirits is a special charism ( 1 Corinthians 12:10; comp. Hebrews 5:14). See more under the Doctrinal and Ethical head, No4.—To πάντα δοκιμάζετε Cyril of Alexandria prefixes the words, γίνεσθε φρόνιμοι τραπεζῖται (money-changers, argentarii, nummularii). In the other Fathers this sentence is, γ. δόκιμοι τραπ. and from this arises a telling contrast: Be proved yourselves, that you may be able to prove (comp. Hänsel, in the Stud, a. Krit, 1836, I.). This expression is ascribed generally to Holy Writ by Clement of Alexandria and the Constit. Apost.; to Jesus in particular, by Jerome, Epiphanius; to the Apostles, by Dionysius of Alexandria; to Paul (in connection with 1 Thessalonians5), by Origen, Basil, and especially by Cyril. Does it come from some apocryphal book? rather, it is a ῥῆμα ἄγραφον. Such is Hänsel’s view, who thinks that it may at any rate have been in the Apostle’s mind, and that δοκιμάζετε is to be explained by the technical language of exchangers, as also εἶδος in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 : Abstain from every sort of bad money. But unless money-changers and coins had been expressly spoken of, it could occur to no one to think of that; especially not, that εἶδος without νομίσματος, and that too in the second member, instead of the first, could signify a kind of money. We therefore hold to the more general signification.—But what is the meaning of 1 Thessalonians 5:22; The Vulgate: ab omni specie mala, is still itself ambiguous. Luther: Avoid every evil appearance; so also Calvin, Grotius [Wordsworth, Webster and Wilkinson]; the English Version, from all appearance of evil; the Dutch, van allen schijn des kuaads; Martin and Ostervald, de toute apparence de mal. This were an altogether beautiful sense: What is finally to be regarded is the εὐσχημόνως περιπατεῖν (comp. 1 Thessalonians 4:12); it is perhaps impossible for the Christian always to avoid every evil appearance, but to the best of his ability he is to do so. Lünemann objects that this would imply on the other side: Hold fast merely the appearance of what is good; but that does not follow, inasmuch as the opposition might include the climax: Even from that which should have only an appearance of evil we are willingly to abstain, in order to give no offence. Rieger: That we may not forfeit the confidence of others; but first we are to accept what is proved to be good. Still this interpretation must be rejected, as violating the expression; that is to say, εἶδος means form, aspect, then kind, species,⁴⁸ ( Jeremiah 15:3, Sept.), as a subdivision of the genus; but not appearance. Then, to avoid an evil appearance would not suit the matter here spoken of, namely the trial of prophesyings. It would be an independent sentence, introducing something altogether new, whereas evidently πονηρός stands opposed to καλός, and ἀπέχεσθε to κατέχετε, as the two sides, the negative and the positive, of δοκιμάζειν. For Lünemann’s idea is plainly too refined, that, because we have not simply ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ 1 Thessalonians 5:22 cannot form the antithesis to 1 Thessalonians 5:21, but must contain a more general thought. Why should not Paul be able slightly to modify and intensify the expression? We shall see with what good reason. Hilgenfeld is unwilling to understand εἶδος in the sense of kind; that would be too flat; it should rather signify spectacle, figure, and be referred to the shameful and seductive exhibitions of heathenism. Already in like manner Roos thinks that what is meant is an image that seizes the mind, fantasticalness. But in this way also the connection would be given up, and the idea limited to some single matter, of which one does not of one’s own accord readily think; whereas the context lends to the seemingly general idea a more specific import. Still it may be asked whether πονηροῦ, because without the article, belongs as an adjective to εἴδους (Bengel, Schott, Pelt), or as a substantive depending on εἴδους. The former construction would be advisable only in case the expression already implied, of what things the εἶδος, is intended, and those things such as that their good εἶδη are distinguishable from the bad. It is better, therefore, to take it, with De Wette, Lünemann [Jowett, Alford, Ellicott] and others, as a substantive (comp. Hebrews 5:14, πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ, also without article; comp. Joseph. Ant. x31, πᾶν εἶδος πονηρίας; Hofmann refers also to Plato, Rep. p357 c, ὁρᾷς τε εἶδος ἀγαθοῦ [to which may be added Chrysost. Hom. viii. on this Epistle, οὐδέν ἐστιν εἶδος κακίας ὅπερ ἀτόλμητον—J. L.]. So the antithesis is: Hold fast that which is good (the good is one); from every kind of evil abstain (the evil has various εἴδη, and hence the climax); even from the seemingly spiritual kind of evil; Theodoret: as well in doctrine as in conduct. Even that which comes forward as prophesying, or generally as a spiritual gift, is to be proved; even that kind of evil, which asserts itself under sacred pretexts, you are to avoid. There is evil of a human, natural, fleshly sort, but also of a demoniacal (comp. 2 Corinthians 11:14).

6. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.) But may the God of peace Himself, &c.—A contrast both as to the subject and the predicate, as 1 Thessalonians 3:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; not you alone have to do this, nor could you so accomplish it, but God must effect it; and that not merely here a κατέχειν, and there an ἀπέχεσθαι—not isolated acts merely—but the main comprehensive work of life, your sanctification and preservation to the end. He is called the God of peace, its Lord, Author, Source, Romans 15:33; Romans 16:20; similar combinations in Romans 15:5; Romans 15:13. Everything advanced in 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22 is here taken together, and brought into view as all aiming at true peace. And truly the work of God, whereby he guides us to peace, is our sanctification, and, through that, our preservation to the Advent. Our sanctification is, indeed, His will ( 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:7); our entire surrender to His will and service;—a thing which He alone can achieve, to wit, by His Holy Spirit ( 1 Thessalonians 4:8). Already has it begun; in their principles Christians are ἅγιοι; but it is only by slow degrees that perfect sanctification pervades all their powers. And this consummation marks the advance in our passage as compared with 1 Thessalonians 3:13. In what follows Bengel distinguishes between universi (all without exception) et singuli (every one entirely); but that does not lie particularly in the first clause. Ὁλοτελεῖς, in the New Testament ἅπαξλεγ. means either: you as complete, entire, so that no sort of evil is in you; Luther: through and through; or (Pelt and others): May He sanctify you to be a perfect people—accusative of operation; with this verb without example. This word, no less than ὁλόκληρον, may suggest the faultlessness of sacrifice. The latter is equivalent to integer; at James 1:4 it stands with τέλειος; in the Septuagint for תָּמִים, שָׁלֵם; and unhurt, in all parts uninjured, may your spirit, &c. be kept, &c. De Wette, Olshausen, and Lünemann would understand it quantitatively, to distinguish it from ἀμέμπτως: every part by itself entirely, all spotless. But ὁλόκλ. denotes the quality,⁴⁹ the full healthy life, comp. ὁλοκλμρία in the healing of the lame man ( Acts 3:16), and is yet sufficiently distinct from ἀμέμπτως, 1. as a positive expression opposed to the negative; 2. as marking the nature of the subject itself, over against what expresses the verdict of the Judge; and lastly, 3. since ὁλοκλhρία is a predicate, whereas the adverb ἀμέμπτως is to be understood as qualifying the verb. On the latter point most interpreters do not clearly express themselves, or they take the adverb as if it were an adjective, comparing perhaps 1 Thessalonians 2:10, ἀμέμπτως ἐγεήθημεν, and the breviloquence 1 Thessalonians 3:13 (where, however, we find ἀμέμπτους), as if it were τηρηθείη εἰς τὸ ἀμέμπτως γενηθῆναι ἐν—. But that is too artificial. Lünemann understands the adverb as more closely defining ὁλόκληρον τηρηθεῖη;⁵⁰ but to be perfect without blame would be a pleonastic description,⁵¹ since perfection with blame is something inconceivable. There remains, therefore, only (as recommended also by the order of the words) the reference of the adverb to the verb alone. The τηρηθῆναι, it is true, is the act of God, and so far the adverbial qualification seems to be unsuitable; but since the being kept implies nevertheless a reciprocity between God and man, the prayer is in order: May your spirit, &c. be kept in such away as can incur no blame at the Coming.⁵² Ὁλόκληρον, standing foremost, belongs as to sense to all the three members; the construction being, therefore, zeugmatic. The phrase, spirit, soul, body, is not a mere rhetorical amplification [De Wette], nor yet of itself a proof of a trichotomy of human nature (Olsh.), borrowed by Paul from Philo (or Plato). The phraseology of Scripture is as exact as it is popular; but it does not favor such a division. Even the texts, Hebrews 4:12; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 15:44-46, show indeed incontrovertibly, that Scripture distinguishes between the spirit and the soul, but not necessarily as between constituent parts, substances, but as between two relations, sides, functions of the same essence, according to its upward or downward direction. For πνεῦμα, רוּחַ, is the spiritual nature of man as directed upward, and as capable of living intercourse with God. The power of thought, νοῦς, is not the same thing as πνεῦμα (comp. Romans 7, 8); for the νοῦς can be entangled and enchained in the flesh ( Colossians 2:18); the πνεῦμα is the essence quickened, emancipated, become dominant through regeneration by the Spirit of God, and that, by means of which man is lord of nature and of the flesh. Of this there is mention here: May your spirit, in which God’s spirit dwells and rules ( Romans 7:16; 1 Corinthians 2:11 with 1 Thessalonians 5:12), be kept safe. It cannot be the Holy Spirit Himself, for He can suffer no hurt, and so needs not to be kept; to beware of grieving Him ( Ephesians 4) is something different. But man’s spirit is threatened with defilement ( 2 Corinthians 7:1), whereby the divinely renewed life might again become retrograde, so that at last the ψυχικός should (as it were) no longer have any spirit ( Judges 19).—On the contrary, ψυχή, נֶפֶשׁ, is the spiritual nature as the quickening power of the body, as in animals; hence excitable through the senses, with faculties of perception and feeling. Σῶμα, finally, is the wisely arranged instrument of the soul, and destined, therefore, likewise for the service of the Lord ( 1 Corinthians 6:13 sqq.); whereas σάρξ, which denotes first the bodily material, is further used to designate the whole man, as he with all his powers is enthralled by the sin-tainted corporeality; comp. בָּשָׂר already in Genesis 6:3.—The Apostle, then, expresses the wish that not merely the spirit may be kept (with reference to what had just preceded) from falling back out of the life of regeneration, but that the soul also in its strivings may be held still under the discipline of the spirit, and thus the body, freed more and more from the dominion of its lusts, become an obedient instrument in the service of sanctification. In this way covetousness, with its violations of brotherly love, will be overcome; believers become one heart and one soul ( Acts 4:32); and fornication will ever more completely lose its power of allurement. This will be a sanctifying of the personality in all its powers and functions.—[For additional remarks on the scriptural usage in regard to πνεῦμα and ψυχή, see the Doctrinal and Ethical Note5.—Dr. Hodge (on 1 Corinthians 15:43-44) denies, like our Author (and comp. Ebrard on Hebrews 4:12), a triplicity of substance in the constitution of man. “The Bible,” he says, “recognizes in man only two subjects or distinct separable substances, the soul and body. And this has ever been a fundamental principle of Christian anthropology.” In like manner Webster, and Wilkinson (Wordsworth) find here “a tripartite division rather of man’s faculties than of his nature.” On the other hand, Dr. Candlish (Life in a Risen Saviour, p171) remarks on our text: “There, according to a view of man’s organization, or the constitution of his nature, these commonly received, spirit, soul, body, are specified as its constituent parts or elements. The spirit, or that higher principle of intelligence and thought peculiar to man alone in this world, to which we now usually restrict the name of mind or soul; the soul, or that lower principle of animal life,—with its instincts selfish and social, its power of voluntary motion, its strange incipient dawn of reasoning,—which, common alike to man and beast, is so great a mystery in both; and the body, made to be the material organ and instrument of either principle, the higher or the lower; these three in one, this trinity, is our present humanity.”—Alford: “to τὸ πνεῦμα is the spirit, the highest and distinctive part of man, the immortal and responsible soul, in our common parlance: ἡ ψυχή is the lower or animal soul, containing the passions and desires (αἰτία κινήσεως ζωικῆς ζώων, Plato, Deff. p411), which we have in common with the brutes, but which in us is ennobled and drawn up by the πνεῦμα. That St. Paul had these distinctions in mind, is plain (against Jowett) from such places as 1 Corinthians 2:14. The spirit, that part whereby we are receptive of the Holy Spirit of God, is, in the unspiritual man, crushed down and subordinated to the animal soul (ψυχή): he therefore is called ψυχικός, πνεῦμα οὐκ ἔχων, Judges 19.”—To which may be added part of Ellicott’s note in loc.: “Distinct enunciation of three component parts of the nature of man: the πςεῦμα, the higher of the two immaterial parts, being the ‘vis superior, agens, imperans in homine’ (Olsh.); the ψυχή, ‘vis inferior quæ agitur, movetur’ (ib,), the sphere of the will and the affections, and the true centre of the personality.” I should say that, on Ellicott’s own theory, this distinction belongs rather to the πνεῦμα.—J. L.… ‘It may be remarked that we frequently find instances of an apparent dichotomy, ‘body and soul’ ( Matthew 6:25; Matthew 10:28, al.) or ‘body and spirit’ ( 1 Corinthians 5:3; 1 Corinthians 7:34, al.), but such passages will only be found accommodations to the popular division into a material and immaterial part; the ψυχή, in the former of the exceptional cases, including also the πνεῦμα, just as in the latter case the πνεῦμα also comprehends the ψυχή. ... To assert that enumerations like the present are rhetorical (De W.), or worse, that the Apostle probably attached ‘no distinct thought to each of these words’ (Jowett), is plainly to set aside all sound rules of scriptural exegesis. Again, to admit the distinctions, but to refer them to Platonism (Lünem.), is equally unsatisfactory, and equally calculated to throw doubt on the truth of the teaching. If St. Paul’s words do here imply the trichotomy above described …, then such a trichotomy is infallibly real and true. And if Plato or Philo have maintained (as appears demonstrable) substantially the same views, then God has permitted a heathen and a Jewish philosopher to advance conjectural opinions which have been since confirmed by the independent teaching of an inspired Apostle.”—J. L.]

Faithful is he who calleth you; not disappointing confidence, worthy of credit; Theodoret: ἀληθής. The participle is in the present: He does so continually ( 1 Thessalonians 2:12; Galatians 5:8); or as a substantive: Such is His nature ( Galatians 1:17 [ Galatians 1:12]); He ever lets operate the drawing of His Spirit.—Who also will do it, the sanctifying and keeping, positively; through grace is not irresistible, yet so that there is no failure on His part. The little word also gives prominence to the idea, that the keeping will answer to the calling of the faithful God, as carrying it out even to the end. He perfects His entire work ( Psalm 22:32 [ Psalm 22:31]; Psalm 37:5). The Epistle began with thanksgiving to God and His ἐκλογή; it closes with praise of His faithfulness to the end.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13.) In all churches, however young, πρεσβύτεροι were soon appointed ( Acts 15:23), without whom a church could not exist as such. God is a God of order ( 1 Corinthians 14:33); and, without regulated guidance, the πράσσειν τὰ ἴδια must have been neglected, and the περιεργάζεσθαι must have prevailed ( 1 Thessalonians 4:11). In the earliest Epistles, however, the presidents have certainly as yet very little prominence; the προϊστάμενος ( Romans 12:8) and the κυβερνήσεις ( 1 Corinthians 7:28) occupying a modest position behind other gifts and functions. Government, command, is not in the Church of Christ the first thing. In this place teaching is not yet attached to superintendency, but stands beside it as a special free gift. Nor even for the exercise of discipline (for example, 1 Corinthians 5) is the office at all described as exclusively authorized, and so responsible; and quite as little is obedience to the bishops commended, as in the Ignatian Epistles, as a panacea; rather the Apostle foresees the possibility of corruptions even among the elders ( Acts 20:20). But a due esteem for faithful and laborious presidents is for the welfare of the church. The simple way in which our Epistle speaks of these relations, marks it as one of the earliest. But if at a later date we meet with fuller instructions ( Ephesians 4:11, and especially in the Pastoral Epistles), still nowhere are the presidents clothed in the post-apostolic fashion with a character of absolute authority, as if they had an exclusive dignity different from the general priesthood of Christians ( 1 Peter 2:9). Their rule is rather conceived of always as standing in necessary connection with the Holy Spirit ruling in the whole Church (comp. 1 Peter 5:3); the spiritually minded members of the church must exercise the ministry of office, that it may really appear to be spiritual work, and not merely an acting of hierarchical supremacy, or even of a paid office. Nor does even the abuse of the περιεργάζεσθαι drive the Apostle to a narrow and anxious one-sidedness in putting life into official chains—a proceeding, indeed, to which Moses himself was averse.—As regards the designation of office-bearers, the opinion that has most widely prevailed is, that in the earliest period πρεσβύτερος (elder) and ἐπίσκοπος (overseer) are synonymous; and this is, in fact, favored by such texts as Acts 20:11; Acts 20:28; Titus 1:5; Titus 1:1, Yet the view of Gundert (in Rudelbach and Guericke’s Zeitschrift, 1854, p56, sqq.) is worthy of examination, that in the earliest period πρεσβύτρος was the general title of honor for all church functionaries, who fell apart into1. ἐπίσκοποι and2. διάκονοι, the two divisions that meet us Philippians 1:1 and in the Pastoral Epistles; James 5:14 speaks of those who waited on the sick, and calls them πρεσβύτεροι;⁵³ on the other hand, Acts 20 and Titus 1speak only of the higher class of presbyters, the bishops;⁵⁴ whereas 1 Timothy 5:17 distinguishes amongst the elders those who labor in the word and doctrine from others who do not, and yet 1 Thessalonians 3:2 requires from every ἐπίσκοπος that he be apt to teach. Those κοπιῶντες, therefore, amongst the elders would probably be bishops. If one desired to maintain, even in the passage of the 5 th chapter, the identity of bishops and elders generally, he would have to find in κοπιῶντες the description of those who take pains therein; but in that, case would the others who proved deficient be nevertheless worthy of double honor?⁵⁵ With the teaching bishop, and under his direction, there might be developed the richest abundance of spiritual gifts, which were not confined to office ( 1 Corinthians 14:26-32). The mode of election, finally, is not yet constitutionally regulated. Roos: There was at that time no disputing about the right of patronage.—If the Apostle requires that a bishop must have a good report even of them which are without ( 1 Timothy 3:7), so much the less, certainly, would presidents have been forced on a church, in whom it had no confidence. The Apostles could allow the churches large scope, for they could trust them, that they yielded themselves to the guidance of Christ’s Spirit. But where this prerequisite should not exist, to think of helping the Church by committing to the congregations comprehensive rights of government—this were a proceeding for which there could, at least, be no appeal to the Apostles. It is certain that the Apostles would have laid hands on no one of whom they had known: He stands not in our doctrine, which we have received from the Lord (comp. Acts 2:42; 1 Timothy 5:22).

2. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:13-15.) Respect for the presidents is connected with the peace of the church; and, on the other hand, peace relieves for them the burden of office. Peaceableness, however, must not be a corrupt allowance of all disorder. A true keeping of the peace does not exclude, but includes, discipline. It is a morbid symptom of our time, that it can so little endure discipline. It is true that to administer it in a proper way is a delicate matter, requiring both inwardly and outwardly much Wisdom of Solomon, love, patience, and self-denial. But it is none the less a false lenity and a criminal selfishness, listlessly to allow others, who are intrusted to us, to go to ruin. If a man is willing, not merely to deliver lordly admonitions to others, but to begin with the beam in his own eye, and also not to sin against his brother by neglecting to admonish him ( Leviticus 19:17; Ezekiel 3:17 sqq.), but to warn him at whatever risk of suffering for it, he can in this way maintain peace even amidst the assaults of enemies.

3. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.) The gospel produces no joyless sullenness, but true joy for all people ( Luke 2:10), in hope ( Romans 12:12), in the Holy Ghost ( Romans 14:17), in the Lord ( Philippians 4:1, 4]). When vexed with temptations, we cannot, indeed, feel it as joy, but we should so account it ( James 1:2). Whatever occasion of sadness is contained in affliction ( 1 Thessalonians 1-3), it nevertheless promotes our salvation; and the man who not merely seeks, but has the Lord, in him is the fulness of joy ( John 15:11; John 16:24; John 17:13). Prayer is the means to this end. Prom fear of mechanism in prayer, some would regard merely its free spirit. But the likely result of that is a yielding to hindrances. We are not so free from corruption, that we should be able to leave the matter to our inclination. Practice, when attended to not as a legal penalty, but in hearty fidelity, awakens the right disposition; only in this way can one καιρός assist another, so that the intervening χρόνος shall be filled with the spirit of prayer, and prayer become the keynote of the soul. Pelag.: Si jugiter non potes lingua, tamen corde. Who acts thus? who not? why not? Comp. Luke 18:1; Romans 12:12; Ephesians 6:18. If, for the quickening of devotion, the Apostle counsels us to give thanks, it is but the other side of the same truth, when the counsel of an experienced Christian was: Still repent! for that only is true thanksgiving, which confesses: Of Thy favor I am not worthy; and that only true repentance, which utters itself in thanksgiving, that God is nevertheless our God.

4. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22.) It is a real trial of the spirit, the way in which a man treats the manifestations of spiritual gifts, and also their excesses. How easily do we fall either into a temper of undue excitement, whereby the limits of propriety and discretion are broken through, or, in opposition to this, into an uneasy or haughty, cold distrust of everything unusual! In movements of the stronger sort there is, indeed, an element of discomfort, disturbance, offence; they contain a presumption of abandoning the common track, and the danger is imminent, that with confused or even impure minds every path of order may be despised, and that what began in the Spirit may find its sad end in the flesh. By word and example the Apostle shows us, that we are neither blindly to assent to everything, nor suspiciously to reject everything. Quench not the Spirit. What is really spirit, should develop itself in a free and living way. The only thing required is, that it stand the proof that it is really spirit from the Spirit of God. In that case, though it may be strange and troublesome to the world, a spiritual man confesses it. It is owing to the narrowness of our hearts, that we are so annoyed by whatever is not according to our way. On the other hand, there, may be a large-heartedness that neglects to try whether something is of Divine quality, and that perhaps just while a false appeal is made to the apostolic word: Prove all things. On this point Rieger has already remarked, that that has come to be a huntsman’s halloo, as if in every heap of rubbish we must look for pearls. When, for example, one asks us to inquire whether there is not more truth in the Chinese religion than in the Christian, that has nothing at all to do with the word of the Apostle. According to this, as according to that of John ( 1 John 4:1), the question is, to try the spirits, whether they are of God. But there are, spirits which are not so; false prophets ( 2 Thessalonians 2); deceivers or deceived; nay, with an honest intention erroneous human inferences may be drawn from what the Spirit saith (comp. Acts 21:4; Acts 21:11-14). There is really nowhere a formula, in which a man can comfortably rest. The matter must therefore be tried; but how? The great thing is to try by the right test, and not mere cavils and idle talk. Even in the things of this world it is folly to, criticise aught without knowledge; much more, then, in Divine things. There we must be sure that we actually have the Divine rule. Even entrance into the faith does not take place blindly and without proof ( John 7:17); the knowledge, that the gospel is what our deepest necessity requires, admits of systematic development as a branch of apologetic science. But here Paul speaks of a trial, where a standing within the evangelical faith is already presupposed, and the question now is, whether this or that novelty is in accordance therewith. On what assurance of the truth the Apostle himself proceeds is shown by Galatians 1:8. A trial, therefore, in the Apostle’s sense proceeds on the certainty of the fundamental apostolic truth. Even De Wette does not claim, that the rationalistic first principle, as to natural reason being the judge of Divine Revelation, is to be derived from our passage. For, 1. he says that the object of the trial is not revelation itself, but its reproduction, application, appropriation, by those Christianly inspired; and, 2. that the rule is not to be the rationalistic reason (that unknown x), but the Christian πνεῦμα; a legitimate trial requiring faith as a prerequisite. But then De Wette himself again in some measure introduces rationalism, when he says, 1. that in Scripture we have simply the apostolic reproduction of the original revelation (as if the latter were not thus reduced to an x!), and, 2. that man carries in himself the germ of the πνεῦμα, the reason, which, indeed, is first unbound and unfolded through Christ; Christians, consequently, would have to test by means of the Christian consciousness awakened in them, with the Christianly enlightened reason. But Christian consciousness is too weak an expression for the πνεῦμα according to the sense of Scripture. For this supposes, not merely illumination, but regeneration, and so a real, practical process of sanctification in submission to the word. At all events, we attain to the πνεῦμα in quite another way than that of criticism. Whoever has received it, bears in himself the witness that the Spirit is truth, and that this spiritual life is attained in no other way than from this source. Comp. Gess, Das Zeugniss des Heil. Geites in the Apologetische Beiträge of Gess and Riggenbach, Basel, 1863. Hence follows the right treatment of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit in different directions. The prophetic element, awakenings amongst the people, and such like, should not, alongside of the regular ministry, be despised, or suppressed, but tested, and held to a steady sobriety. And Song of Solomon, on the other hand, with regard to the gift of γνῶσις, a profounder scientific research and knowledge, against which there easily arises in excited circles a spirit of contempt and distrust. The gospel, however, is no dead letter, but itself invites to ever-new labor of thought. Nor is the right of examination limited to teachers, or even to a council of bishops. According to 1 Corinthians 12:10 the διάκρισις πνευμάτων is a peculiar charism, a kind of receptive prophesying, incapable, therefore, of producing, but of inestimable value as a sound counterpoise to possible irregularities; a mark of the ὁλοκληρία of an apostolic church. This gift must show itself by its connection with the truth of God; only one in whom God’s word is a living, sanctifying power gives evidence of the ability to test; and it is then a spiritual labor of no slight character, nor to be reached through external regulation. To train the laity to a Christian self-dependence is the aim of a truly evangelical ministry. Where that gift is present, there is possible a wise, confident treatment of intellectual and spiritual movements; people then stop saying to one another what the Würtemberg superintendent Weber heard from the peasant Michael Hahn: “How comes it that our parsons are always preaching that men ought to be converted, and, when one is converted, they cannot bear it?” to which, after being silent for some time, he replied, “God knows he is right!” None the less mindful, however, are we still of the truth, that it is not everything claiming to be Divine that is so; as the lady Von Krüdener confessed on her deathbed: “Often have I taken for the voice of God what was nothing but the fruit of my fancy and my pride.” Yet she was able to add: “What good I have done will remain; what evil I have done, God’s mercy will blot out.”

5. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.) Peace is here properly to be taken in its fulness of meaning, Hebr. שָׁלוֹם, life unimpaired (comp. ὁλόκληρος, שָׁלֵם), the full feeling of life in the strength of the atonement. With this agrees also the opposite, confusion ( 1 Corinthians 14:33). This peace alone makes joy possible even in suffering, and thanksgiving even in distress and affliction. But God alone brings us to the enjoyment of a true peace, not only with one another ( 1 Thessalonians 5:13), but first in and with Himself. This comes to pass through an all-pervading sanctification. Spirit and soul—the two designations may be used indifferently, when the question is not about diversity of functions, but solely about the one and the same substance; thus ψυχή stands with σῶμα, Matthew 10:28; and again πνεῦμα with σῶμα, 1 Corinthians 7:34 (whereas here the point is, not simply the preservation of life, but sanctification and the service of God); πνεῦμα with σάρξ ( 1 Peter 3:18-19; 2 Corinthians 7:1) denotes the two ruling principles. But where the exact testing and sifting of the motives of action are spoken of, whether they proceed from above or from beneath, there it is said that the word of God, as a two-edged sword, pierces to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit ( Hebrews 4:12). And so here the discourse regards the sanctifying and keeping of all man’s functions. For the spirit cannot truly serve God, if soul and body continue in their natural state of estrangement from the life that is of God, but they too must (slowly, gradually, with conflict and trial, with daily mortifying of the σάρξ, and yet with carefulness for the σῶμα) be drawn into the sanctifying process, and that must be inwrought into them. Otherwise our reason apologizes for sin; it savoreth not the things that be of God, but those that be of men; the conscience is lulled to sleep; the emotions and feelings of the soul sway up and down; the body is allowed to go unchecked in its wants and impulses. The whole must be changed. Very well Von Gerlach: The spirit of man is sanctified and kept, when God’s Spirit dwells in it and rules it; the soul is sanctified, when the Divinely sanctified spirit controls it, when all its feelings, all its longings and strivings, however necessary to the maintenance in man of his proper life, and to the exertion thereby of an influence also on the world around, are yet perfectly subordinated to God and the spirit. The body is sanctified, when its instincts and wants are ruled and regulated by the spirit through the soul, and its members are made altogether instruments of holiness. It might seem as if in the sanctification of the spirit the sanctification of the soul and the body were already included. But it is of importance that the latter also is mentioned here and frequently, to guard us against the dangerous error, that possibly the spirit might serve God, whilst the soul and the body persist in serving sin.—The Apostle here, as throughout the entire Epistle ( 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:15), directs our view toward the coming of the Lord. Then only will the true judgment be held, as never once before the private conscience ( 1 Corinthians 4:3-5).

No peace, therefore, with sin! In order to our standing in that judgment, we need to place our reliance not on ourselves, but solely on the faithfulness of God. Having begun His work in us, He will also perfect it ( Philippians 1:6; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Peter 1:5). Human exhortations and resolutions, necessary as they are, and though an emanation from God’s faithfulness, an instrument in His hand, an occasion of growth in a varied experience, yet do not carry within themselves the guarantee of success. Only that which the grace of God supplies is a pledge of the greater gift: He will not forsake His own work. This alone secures for us the possibility of reaching perfection. Am I already holy? perfectly holy? who would dare to make such an assertion, in presence of Philippians 3:12; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8-10? and still we are not at liberty to indulge ourselves in a comfortable repose. Certainly the last text shows us, how little 1 John 3:9 is to be explained in the sense of a frightfully erroneous perfectionism. Even the maturest Christians, when dying, draw their comfort from the thought, not how holy they are, but that they are in Christ. The holiness of the Saviour covers their sins and imperfections. But this new garment consumes the old man. Faith, which, apprehended by Christ, apprehends Christ [ Philippians 3:12], is no idle amusement of vain hopes, but a going forth out of ourselves, and a casting of ourselves with all our powers on Christ. To be kept in Christ with spirit, soul, and body, that is to be kept indeed. The man who stands there is not yet, it is true, perfectly holy, but that is the point, nevertheless, toward which he will strive heartily. Such is the evangelical doctrine of perfection. On the certainty of salvation, comp. the Apolog. Beiträge of Gess and Riggenbach, pp230–233.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13. Heubner: Paul beseeches. A sentiment of cordial esteem and gratitude is something so tender, that it does not at all admit of the coercion of a command; especially esteem for our teachers.—Berlenburger Bibel: What the Holy Spirit might command, for that He beseeches and implores.—The same: Know them; that it may not be said: They knew nothing of Joseph.—Who labor amongst (or on) you; Zwingli: Non enim est otiandum, non stertendum. Et labor arduus Esther, prædicare verbum Dei.—Calvin: From the number of masters must be excluded all slow bellies [ Titus 1:12].—Berlenburger Bibel: Teachers are not called to laziness, nor yet to an animal (mere outward bodily) activity. Spiritual labor is the soul’s earnest painstaking, wrestling, and searching, not only for one’s self, but for others; a laboring in prayer and patience (comp 2 Corinthians11; also Colossians 1:29; Colossians 2:1; Galatians 4:19).—Heubner: Teachers desire to make something of men; this labor is a great thing; but it is not always recognized as such.—To choose laboring for souls as one’s exclusive calling is a service that requires effort, and in which at the same time the heart of faithful labor shuns admeasurement.—Calvin: It is not in vain that these marks are noted; by them believers are to distinguish the true pastors.—Chrysostom has already very unapostolic effusions on ill-will towards the priests, through whom alone we receive admission to the kingdom of heaven and its tremendis mysteriis.—Heubner: To misapprehend those who wish us well, and to frustrate their labor, brings us sensible damage.—Berl. Bib.: The labor divided into presiding and exhorting.—If thou observest defects in the presidents, do not withdraw from them thy loving intercession.—To preside is not to domineer ( 1 Peter 5:3; 2 Corinthians 1:24).—The same: To preside is to lead the way, not haughtily to tyrannize.—A legitimate presidency is exercised in the Lord, therefore not in one’s own name. It is subject to the trial of spirits. But the presidents are not merely the mouths by which the church speaks; they serve the church as belonging to Christ; they serve Christ in it.—Admonition is not the pleasantest duty, but the severest.—The same: Presidents must learn to have zeal with knowledge, to correct with Wisdom of Solomon, to rebuke in love.—The same: Exhortation includes all Divine methods of admonition, encouragement, excitation. It is the particular application of the word to this and that person; not merely publicly, but in private.

Heubner: The love of an honest teacher has no price; only warm love is its worthy reward.

Diedrich: Quarrels and divisions easily, occur, when the preacher’s office is not honored.—On the other hand, where there is a tendency to strife, there the warnings of the presidents are disregarded.—[Vaughan: Subordination is peace.—J. L.]

[M. Henry: Ministers should rather, mind the work and duty they are called to, than affect venerable and honorable names they may be called by.—J. L.]

[Lectures: Christian liberty not an anarchy.—All Church organization finds its warrant, vitality, and blessing in Christ. The whole relation of pastor and people grows out of their joint relation to Him.—Thiersch: The Church, although composed of members who are all called to be filled with the Holy Ghost, has yet been from the beginning not mere Spirit, but the very Body of Christ, in which every part has that place and duty which have been assigned to it by God, and no other. The Church is the most perfect of all organizations, and Christianity the completion of all ordinances.—J. L.]

1 Thessalonians 5:14. Heubner: It is the duty of all to further the teacher’s work, and to take part in his cares.—Rieger: There is nothing more unhandsome, than when one will be everything, and is afraid of missing aught through the co-operation of others; whatever God grants to another to perform, that we ought to enjoy as really a common good.—Zwingli: It is the duty of all to exhort one another, and so much the less to be displeased, when others perform it.—By no means should we leave exhortation to teachers, and ourselves maintain a sluggish peace. It is not to maintain peace, when no one dares to say aught, and no one allows aught to be said to him. True peace exists, only where the truth sanctifies all.—Every one is known by his neighbors better than by his minister, from whom much is concealed.

Calvin: Remedia morbis sunt accommodanda.—Heubner: It is truly a Christ-like work [ein wahres Jesuswerk], to interest one’s self in souls for which others regard labor as lost. Rude persons, who will submit to no order, need earnest correction, reproofs, challenges; faint-hearted ones, the class opposite to the rude, despondent, never satisfied with themselves, need comfort; the weak, failing often, doing their part imperfectly, need help and support; every man needs patience, because every man has something about him that others find troublesome and repugnant.—The sooner exhortation is given, the easier it goes.—To comfort may prove wearisome, especially when what is desired is not the evangelical comfort, to be still under the hand of God.—Calvin: When with one or two attempts at consolation we do not reach our end, we easily become annoyed.—Berl. Bib.: We must not take on airs with the lowly, but put ourselves on their level.—Those weak in understanding, faith, love, inclination to holiness, we must so much the less abandon to themselves.—Patience is not indifference, for it endures what it recognizes as evil; therefore is it a grace, to be able to be patient ( 1 Peter 2:19).⁵⁶ Impatience is weakness.—Starke: This Divine disposition (to be slow to wrath) we too should have in ourselves; as a fruit of the Spirit ( Galatians 5:22).—Every Christian has yet his faults; what is there in me that others have to bear ( Ephesians 4:32)? Let us therefore exercise patience towards the members of our family, and not merely towards strangers; towards those in a humble position, and not merely towards the eminent.

1 Thessalonians 5:15. Heubner: It is the duty of Christians to maintain the spirit of love in the Church, and destroy all seeds of bitterness.—Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, is a principle of Divine justice; but selfishness would execute it in an arbitrary style.—Starke: To requite good with evil is devilish; to requite evil with evil is heathenish.; to requite good with good is commendable; to requite evil with good is Christian.—Chrysostom: What harm can be done to the man, who is able even to requite evil with good? Whereas the bee, along with its sting, parts with its life.—Abigail knew how to warn David. Zinzendorf said, that his chief aim was to love those who injured him.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-15. Stockmeyer: The Apostle is concerned about two things, that there be mutual exhortation, and that peace be maintained. Both are important; both must go hand in hand. Neither should be a hindrance in the way of the other. The one can prosper only when the other does; and the welfare of the Church, only when both are duly regarded.

1 Thessalonians 5:16. Heubner: The Christian is always under the cross, and always in joy. Christianity the way to true gladness. But the gladness of a Christian is inward, deep, silent. And the path to this gladness lies only through sorrow. Res severa verum gaudium.—There is much sorrow in the world; but it is only true mourning that is blessed ( Matthew 5:4). The work of God’s grace is the most glorious that can gladden the heart of man. Joy likewise belongs to the fruit of the Spirit ( Galatians 5:22).—Rieger: We may even be assailed by a variety of fortune; only the foundation of hope, as the proper source of Christian joyousness, should under all changes remain the same.—Berl. Bib.: Many suppose that there is not in the world a more wretched, unhappy man than a true Christian; in this way the devil disheartens people.—But prayerful joy alone is true joy.—[Barrow’s Sermon on this text opens thus: “Rejoice evermore! O good Apostle, how acceptable rules dost thou prescribe! O gracious God, how gracious laws dost Thou impose!”—See also a Sermon by Dr. Donne, and four by Dr. Gale.—J. L.]

1 Thessalonians 5:17. Zwingli: True prayer is the lifting of the heart to God, not empty, wordy babble.—Luther, in Starke: The whole life of a genuine Christian goes on continually in prayer. For, though he is not constantly moving his lips or multiplying words, yet the heart, like the artery and heart in the body, goes on beating unceasingly with sighs, and the more that blows, vexation, and distress become severely afflictive and urgent, with so much the greater force does this sighing and praying proceed, even orally, so that you can as little find a Christian without prayer as a living man without a pulse, which stands never still, though the man is sleeping or doing something else, and he is not aware of it.—Rieger: To pray without growing weary, without yielding to hindrances, without despairing of the salvation of God, is to pray without ceasing. All sayings of Scripture must be reduced to practice also in that Spirit by whom they were uttered; under whose auspices we never take aim too high, nor is any indulgence given to the sluggishness of the flesh.—When you do not at once receive the thing prayed for, do not therefore give over; hold on ( Romans 12:12).—Berl. Bib.: Four great hindrances to prayer: 1. too much outward business uncommanded by God; 2. too little subduing of the body; 3. too little privacy; 4. too great slothfulness.—The same: If thou wouldst not cease to pray, cease not to desire. The fervor of love is the cry of the heart. [Augustine, as quoted by Wordsworth: Continuous desire is continuous prayer. If you cease to desire, you are dumb, you have ceased to pray.—J. L.]—Kündig (in the Erfahrungen am Kranken- und Sterbebette, p218) does not allow the validity of the complaint: I cannot pray; as you have complained thus to me, a man, you can just as certainly sigh to God, and say: Alas, O God, I can no longer pray! and so you are already engaged in prayer.—[See two Sermons by Barrow on this verse.—J. L.]

1 Thessalonians 5:18. That man is very unthankful to God, to whom the righteousness of Christ and the hope of eternal life are not of so much consequence, that he can rejoice in the midst of sorrow. Thanksgiving is a bridle on our desires. We are indeed permitted to pray earnestly, yet so that God’s will be dearer to us than our own.—Rieger: One finds always occasion for thanksgiving, when we learn to understand how even that which, seems adverse is thus well, arranged for the quelling of the flesh and its disposition, and for the relief of the Spirit.—Berl. Bib.: The best thanksgiving is expressed in obedience, so that we again present to Him all that we have received from Him.—Chrysostom: Hast thou suffered some evil thing? Why, if thou dost so choose, there is nothing evil in it. Give God thanks, and then it is changed into a blessing. With Chrysostom it was an axiom: There is but one calamity, sin. And after many sorrows he died with the words: God be praised for everything! [δόξα τῷ Θεῷ πάντων ἕνεκεν]—To the thankful there is ever imparted an increase of blessing, Psalm 50:23⁵⁷ [A beautiful hymn on this verse by Mrs. Meta Heusser, see in Schaff’s German Hymn-Book, Philad1859, No30.]

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Stockmeyer: In what way may we attain to the ability of complying with the summons to be always joyful? The will of God is first of all, that thou too shouldst be in Christ. Then hast thou God for thy Father; then is thy whole life in God and with God, with a heart that ever prays, that is, is ever directed toward God. Then art thou joyful in God ( Psalm 73:25 sqq.), though not always triumphing aloud. When in the very depths of the soul is a still unreconciled conscience, no man can be truly glad; but let the peace of God dwell in the heart’s depths, and it is possible for thee, as a child of God, to weep as if thou wept not—to be sorrowful, and yet always rejoicing2. But how shall we attain to this sure and constant communion through Christ with God? There are very many interruptions to the course of our prayers; pleasure and sorrow find us often unprepared. Now even that must incite us to prayer, and also to thanksgiving. If still unable to give thanks for everything, we may nevertheless in all things, at least for the earlier blessings already received; not as if all that was to go for nothing; till we learn also to give thanks even for chastisement itself. But especially is that, which God in Christ has done in thee, worthy of the loftiest praise. To be still uncertain as to our gracious state is a heart-trouble, sorer than all suffering. Whereas to have found mercy makes temporal afflictions light. We perceive also how little salutary would be a time of undisturbed prosperity, in which the heart would become corrupted and ever more greedy. Not till sin and infirmity lie wholly behind us, will our whole life be everlasting devotion and unspeakable joy.—Comp. Paul Gerhardt’s Hymn, Nicht so traurig, nicht so sehr, &c.

1 Thessalonians 5:19. Stähelin: The Holy Spirit in His gracious workings is quenched by the pious against their will through carelessness, so that the light of joy and strength declines in them, and they have to rekindle it with ardent sighs; but the ungodly suppress the Holy Spirit’s knocking by wanton resistance.—Berl. Bib.: Check the power of the Spirit neither in yourselves nor in others. By dissipation amongst vanities we quench the Spirit in ourselves. We should always resist ourselves rather than others.—Rieger: In things of the Spirit we do not exercise as much reasonableness as in the affairs of civil life, where we know how to turn to use the gifts and intelligence of every citizen; whilst in spiritual things, on account of the apprehended abuse, we attempt an utter extinction.—Von Gerlach: One main cause of the decay of our Church is, that the activity of the laity, the manifestation of the gifts vouchsafed to them for the common advantage, has no regular sphere of operation (comp 1 Corinthians14).—There the life is contracted and withered.

1 Thessalonians 5:20. Heubner: Prophesyings are, strictly speaking, considered by the Christian; he is not a sceptic, nor an unbeliever, but neither is he credulous.—Prophets appear even along with the written word; only not in opposition to it; they are rather those in whom the word becomes living, and through them also for others. The Reformers were the prophets of their century; Spener one of those of the century that followed. Nor was there wanting to them also the stamp of the hatred which they had to endure ( Matthew 5:11-12).—Berl. Bib.: We should duly regard the manner in which God works wondrously even in novices, and give the glory to Him alone.

[On 1 Thessalonians 5:16-20 Bishop Beveridge has Brief Notes, and a Sermon on 1 Thessalonians 5:18.—J. L.]

1 Thessalonians 5:21. Zwingli: Prove all things; that holds good of things that are still doubtful, and respecting which the judgment is still unsettled.—Berl. Bib.: It is one thing, to prove; another, to destroy. For the trial there is needed the Spirit of God, and a humble mind, that will bend and bow.—Whatever novelty presents itself is to be proved by the already authenticated gospel. We are required to discern, not only ungodly spirits, but likewise human admixtures with the truth. We are to allow ourselves to be proved by the Spirit of God ( Psalm 139). Human reason judges differently in different individuals, so long as we are unenlightened ( 1 Corinthians 2:14); the Apostle’s exhortation is directed to such as stood in the faith.

[Benson: What a glorious freedom of thought do the Apostles recommend! And how contemptible in their view is a blind and implicit faith!—Waterland’s Sermon on this verse: I. Care and discretion in choosing; II. Firmness and steadiness in retaining.—J. L.]

1 Thessalonians 5:22. Verum index sui el falsi.—Heidelberg Catechism, Quest. 1 Thessalonians 114: (We should) with earnest purpose begin to live, not only according to some, but all, the commandments of God.—Stockmeyer: Shun evil of every kind, even when there is no intention of evil; when it is not a lie, but an error; even when it is found in an otherwise well-enlightened, respectable, beloved person; even when it is proposed in connection with what is true and good; even when it has much that is plausible and attractive. Whatever conflicts with the word of God is of evil, let it seem never so obvious.

1 Thessalonians 5:23. Without peace no sanctification [Charnock: God is first the God of peace, before He be the God of sanctification.—J. L.], without sanctification no peace.—Rieger: Man can indeed do nothing without God; but God also will do nothing without man, and the proof of his obedience at every step.—Starke: Blessed the man, to whom God is a God of peace in Christ, and not a God of vengeance out of Christ.⁵⁸—The God of peace has thoughts of peace toward us.—Rieger: Peace with God is first of all the atonement, effected on the cross by the blood of Jesus, and received by us in faith. But here the idea is still broader, and embraces likewise everything whereby God holds us in subjection to Himself, so that all striving and cavilling against God ceases, and on the contrary everything in man submits itself contentedly under God, passes under the easy yoke of Christ, is kept by a cheerful and willing spirit to a joyful life according to the will of God, and so peace with God and in God rules in the heart. This God of peace, drawing us thus entirely to Himself, by the very same means sanctifies us. For truly our sanctification is the willing and contented surrender to God, to His will and service, and cleaving to Him forever.—This requires on our side pursuit and effort, but in the strength which God furnishes ( Philippians 2:12 sq.). Therefore, no peace with sin, not even with any favorite sin; entire sanctification is the aim.—Berl. Bib.: By the fall we are wholly corrupted; the sanctifying process would take possession of us wholly. Presently we are afraid that we may become too holy.—[Bishop Wilson: spirit, soul, body. All these have been defiled, and all must be regenerated.—J. L.]

1 Thessalonians 5:24. Bengel: In this brief word is contained the sum of all consolation.—Berl. Bib.: We must not rest in the best of rules, but betake ourselves to God Himself. Otherwise an idolatry grows out of the rules.

[Vaughan: God not only speaks, but will do. With Him words are never disjoined from deeds, nor promises from their performance.—J. L.]

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. Stockmeyer: From the Apostle’s benediction, as earnest as it is comforting, we may see that the question concerns a thorough sanctification; 1. What is it? Not a superficial transformation here and there, but a renovation of our entire nature; 2. Why is it so highly necessary? Because that will be the subject of inquiry and judgment on the day of judgment and decision of our eternal destiny; 3. How is it possible? Not in our own strength; nor are we referred to ourselves, where we should find only weakness and corruption, but to the steadfast, gracious will, and the thoughts of peace, of Almighty God.—[Irenæus, in Wordsworth: What reason had the Apostle to pray for a perfect preservation of those elements (soul, body, and spirit), unless he knew the reunion of all three, and that there is one salvation for them all? They will be perfect, who present all three blameless to God.—J. L.]

Footnotes

V

Conclusion of the Epistle with Salutation and Benediction

1 Thessalonians 5:25-28.

25, 26, 27Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I charge [adjure]⁵⁹ you by the Lord, that this [the, τήν] epistle be read unto all the holy⁶⁰ brethren 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.⁶¹

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:25.) Brethren, pray for us (καὶ περί, B. D1, is unsuitable [Lachmann inserts the καί in brackets.—J. L.]). The closing words are concise and hearty. First, he solicits intercession in behalf of his apostolic calling; this he frequently does, laying stress upon it, and humbly suing for it ( 2 Thessalonians 3:1; Romans 15:30; Colossians 4:3; Ephesians 6:18-19; Philemon 1:22).⁶² Bengel notes that in the Epistle to the Galatians and in the First to the Corinthians he does not do Song of Solomon, because he was there compelled to admonish his readers with fatherly severity.⁶³

2. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:26.) Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss; φίλημα, a love-token ( Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12); φίλημα ἀγάπης ( 1 Peter 5:14); in the Latin Fathers, and first Tertullian, osculum pacis [signaculum pacis.—J. L.], also simply pax. The kiss, a general mark of salutation, especially in the East, was here to be hallowed as an expression of brotherly love, and of the common joy in the Lord. It had its place especially after prayer, and before taking the Holy Supper, &c. According to Tertullian it was omitted on Good Friday (on account of the kiss of Judas). Later ecclesiastical rules (with a view particularly to cutting off every pretext for heathen calumnies) insisted that only men should kiss men, and women women. The custom remained till the middle ages, and it still prevails in the East at Easter (comp. Augusti, Handbuch der chr. Archäol., II. p, 718 sqq.). Because in the other Pauline passages it is said: ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλονς, but here: τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς πάντας, De Wette and Lünemann infer that the Epistle, received and read in public by the presidents, requires them, first of all, to salute and kiss all the brethren in the Apostle’s name. Ewald even asserts that 1 Thessalonians 5:25-27, beginning so abruptly, were plainly added by Paul in his own hand for the authentication of the letter, according to 2 Thessalonians 3:17 (in pursuance of the untenable hypothesis, that our First Epistle was rather the Second); and that these words, accordingly, were intended first for the presidents; Timothy having probably informed him that our Second Epistle (which was rather the First) had not been duly read in public before the assembled church. But even the appeal to 3 John 1:9 has no power to lift all this out of the category of utterly groundless hypotheses. In opposition to it Hofmann properly reminds us, that the invitation in 1 Thessalonians 5:25 is addressed to all the Thessalonians, and therefore also the next 1 Thessalonians 5:26; hence: Deliver my salutation (in connection with the holy kiss) to all the brethren—this the Thessalonians did collectively, when on hearing these words they kissed one another.

3. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:27.) I adjure you, &c.; δρκίζω or ἐνορκίζω has also a different construction from

Footnotes