{"commentary":{"id":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamieson-Fausset-Brown_Bible_Commentary","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"db3d4c8b3c1f32ef9d1430a57392e02bda3a17aac1f9bbe398461de021a3cb13","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":66,"totalNumberOfChapters":1187,"totalNumberOfVerses":17056,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"1TH","commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"1 Thessalonians","commonName":"1 Thessalonians","introduction":"The AUTHENTICITY of this Epistle is attested by IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 5.6.1], quoting Th1 5:23; CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [The Instructor, 1.88], quoting Th1 2:7; TERTULLIAN [On the Resurrection of the Flesh, 24], quoting Th1 5:1; CAIUS in EUSEBIUS' Ecclesiastical History [6.20]; ORIGEN [Against Celsus, 3].\n\nThe OBJECT OF THE EPISTLE.--Thessalonica was at this time capital of the Roman second district of Macedonia [LIVY, Histories, 45.29]. It lay on the bay of Therme, and has always been, and still is, under its modern name Saloniki, a place of considerable commerce. After his imprisonment and scourging at Philippi, Paul (Th1 2:2) passed on to Thessalonica; and in company with Silas (Act 17:1-9) and Timotheus (Act 16:3; Act 17:14, compare with Th1 1:1; Th1 3:1-6; Th2 1:1) founded the Church there. The Jews, as a body, rejected the Gospel when preached for three successive sabbaths (Act 17:2); but some few \"believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout (that is, proselytes to Judaism) Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.\" The believers received the word joyfully, notwithstanding trials and persecutions (Th1 1:6; Th1 2:13) from their own countrymen and from the Jews (Th1 2:14-16). His stay at Thessalonica was doubtless not limited to the three weeks in which were the three sabbaths specified in Act 17:2; for his laboring there with his hands for his support (Th1 2:9; Th2 3:8), his receiving supplies there more than once from Philippi (Phi 4:16), his making many converts from the Gentiles (Th1 1:9; and as two oldest manuscripts read, Act 17:4, \"of the devout and of the Greeks a great multitude,\" Act 17:4), and his appointing ministers--all imply a longer residence. Probably as at Pisidian Antioch (Act 13:46), at Corinth (Act 18:6-7), and at Ephesus (Act 19:8-9), having preached the Gospel to the Jews, when they rejected it, he turned to the Gentiles. He probably thenceforth held the Christian meetings in the house of Jason (Act 17:5), perhaps \"the kinsman\" of Paul mentioned in Rom 16:21. His great subject of teaching to them seems to have been the coming and kingdom of Christ, as we may infer from Th1 1:10; Th1 2:12, Th1 2:19; Th1 3:13; Th1 4:13-18; Th1 5:1-11, Th1 5:23-24; and that they should walk worthy of it (Th1 2:12; Th1 4:1). And it is an undesigned coincidence between the two Epistles and Act 17:5, Act 17:9, that the very charge which the assailants of Jason's house brought against him and other brethren was, \"These do contrary to the decrees of CÃ&brvbrsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.\" As in the case of the Lord Jesus Himself (Joh 18:33-37; Joh 19:12; compare Mat 26:64), they perverted the doctrine of the coming kingdom of Christ into a ground for the charge of treason against CÃ&brvbrsar. The result was, Paul and Silas were obliged to flee under the cover of night to Berea; Timothy had probably preceded him (Act 17:10, Act 17:14). But the Church had been planted, and ministers appointed; nay, more, they virtually became missionaries themselves for which they possessed facilities in the extensive commerce of their city, and both by word and example were extending the Gospel in Macedonia, Achaia, and elsewhere (Th1 1:7-8). From Berea, also. Paul, after having planted a Scripture-loving Church, was obliged to flee by the Thessalonian Jews who followed him thither. Timothy (who seems to have come to Berea separately from Paul and Silas, compare Act 17:10, with Act 17:14) and Silas remained there still, when Paul proceeded by sea to Athens. While there he more than once longed to visit the Thessalonians again, and see personally their spiritual state, and \"perfect that which was lacking in their faith\" (Th1 3:10); but (probably using the Thessalonian Jews as his instruments, Joh 13:27) \"Satan hindered\" him (Th1 2:18; compare Act 17:13). He therefore sent Timotheus, who seems to have followed him to Athens from Berea (Act 17:15), immediately on his arrival to Thessalonica (Th1 3:1); glad as he would have been of Timothy's help in the midst of the cavils of Athenian opponents, he felt he must forego that help for the sake of the Thessalonian Church. Silas does not seem to have come to Paul at Athens at all, though Paul had desired him and Timothy to \"come to him with all speed\" (Act 17:15); but seems with Timothy (who from Thessalonica called for him at Berea) to have joined Paul at Corinth first; compare Act 18:1, Act 18:5, \"When Silas and Timothy were come from Macedonia.\" The Epistle makes no mention of Silas at Athens, as it does of Timothy (Th1 3:1).\n\nTimothy's account of the Thessalonian Church was highly favorable. They abounded in faith and charity and reciprocated his desire to see them (Th1 3:6-10). Still, as nothing human on earth is perfect, there were some defects. Some had too exclusively dwelt on the doctrine of Christ's coming kingdom, so as to neglect the sober-minded discharge of present duties (Th1 4:11-12). Some who had lost relatives by death, needed comfort and instruction in their doubts as to whether they who died before Christ's coming would have a share with those found alive in His kingdom then to be revealed. Moreover, also, there had been committed among them sins against chastity and sobriety (Th1 5:5-7), as also against charity (Th1 4:3-10; Th1 5:13, Th1 5:15). There were, too, symptoms in some of want of respectful love and subordination to their ministers; others treated slightingly the manifestations of the Spirit in those possessing His gifts (Th1 5:19). To give spiritual admonition on these subjects, and at the same time commend what deserved commendation, and to testify his love to them, was the object of the Epistle.\n\nThe PLACE OF WRITING IT was doubtless Corinth, where Timothy and Silas rejoined him (Act 18:5) soon after he arrived there (compare Th1 2:17) in the autumn of A.D. 52.\n\nThe TIME OF WRITING was evidently immediately after having received from Timothy the tidings of their state (Th1 3:6) in the winter of A.D. 52, or early in 53. For it was written not long after the conversion of the Thessalonians (Th1 1:8-9), while Paul could speak of himself as only taken from them for a short season (Th1 2:17). Thus this Epistle was first in date of all Paul's extant Epistles. The Epistle is written in the joint names of Paul, Silas, and Timothy, the three founders of the Thessalonian Church. The plural first person \"we,\" is used everywhere, except in Th1 2:18; Th1 3:5; Th1 5:27. \"We\" is the true reading, Th1 4:13. The English Version \"I,\" in Th1 4:9 Th1 5:1, Th1 5:23, is not supported by the original [EDMUNDS].\n\nThe STYLE is calm and equable, in accordance with the subject matter, which deals only with Christian duties in general, taking for granted the great doctrinal truths which were not as yet disputed. There was no deadly error as yet to call forth his more vehement bursts of feeling and impassioned argument. The earlier Epistles, as we should expect, are moral and practical. It was not until Judaistic and legalizing errors arose at a later period that he wrote those Epistles (for example, Romans and Galatians) which unfold the cardinal doctrines of grace and justification by faith. Still, later the Epistles from his Roman prison confirm the same truths. And last of all, the Pastoral Epistles are suited to the more developed ecclesiastical constitution of the Church, and give directions as to bishops and deacons, and correct abuses and errors of later growth.\n\nThe prevalence of the Gentile element in this Church is shown by the fact that these two Epistles are among the very few of Paul's writings in which no quotation occurs from the Old Testament. \n\n\n\nNext: 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1\n\n","order":52,"numberOfChapters":5,"sha256":"1328cb6079a2a921189859a0c136c94f2139a4537b96b436358efd8e231cc958","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/1TH/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"1TH","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":5,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/1TH/5.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"1TH","chapter":5},"totalNumberOfVerses":84},"chapter":{"number":5,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["as a thief in the night--The apostles in this image follow the parable of their Lord, expressing how the Lord's coming shall take men by surprise (Mat 24:43; Pe2 3:10). \"The night is wherever there is quiet unconcern\" [BENGEL]. \"At midnight\" (perhaps figurative: to some parts of the earth it will be literal night), Mat 25:6. The thief not only gives no notice of his approach but takes all precaution to prevent the household knowing of it. So the Lord (Rev 16:15). Signs will precede the coming, to confirm the patient hope of the watchful believer; but the coming itself shall be sudden at last (Mat 24:32-36; Luk 21:25-32, Luk 21:35).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["they--the men of the world. Th1 5:5-6; Th1 4:13, \"others,\" all the rest of the world save Christians. \n\nPeace-- (Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:9, Jdg 18:27-28; Jer 6:14; Eze 13:10). \n\nthen--at the very moment when they least expect it. Compare the case of Belshazzar, Dan 5:1-6, Dan 5:9, Dan 5:26-28; Herod, Act 12:21-23. \n\nsudden--\"unawares\" (Luk 21:34). \n\nas travail--\"As the labor pang\" comes in an instant on the woman when otherwise engaged (Psa 48:6; Isa 13:8). \n\nshall not escape--Greek, \"shall not at all escape.\" Another awful feature of their ruin: there shall be then no possibility of shunning it however they desire it (Amo 9:2-3; Rev 6:15-16).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["not in darkness--not in darkness of understanding (that is, spiritual ignorance) or of the moral nature (that is, a state of sin), Eph 4:18. \n\nthat--Greek, \"in order that\"; with God results are all purposed. \n\nthat day--Greek, \"THE day\"; the day of the Lord (Heb 10:25, \"the day\"), in contrast to \"darkness.\" \n\novertake--unexpectedly (compare Joh 12:35). \n\nas a thief--The two oldest manuscripts read, \"as (the daylight overtakes) thieves\" (Job 24:17). Old manuscripts and Vulgate read as English Version.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["The oldest manuscripts read, \"FOR ye are all,\" &c. Ye have no reason for fear, or for being taken by surprise, by the coming of the day of the Lord: \"For ye are all sons (so the Greek) of light and sons of day\"; a Hebrew idiom, implying that as sons resemble their fathers, so you are in character light (intellectually and morally illuminated in a spiritual point of view), Luk 16:8; Joh 12:36. \n\nare not of--that is, belong not to night nor darkness. The change of person from \"ye\" to \"we\" implies this: Ye are sons of light because ye are Christians; and we, Christians, are not of night nor darkness.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["others--Greek, \"the rest\" of the world: the unconverted (Th1 4:13). \"Sleep\" here is worldly apathy to spiritual things (Rom 13:11; Eph 5:14); in Th1 5:7, ordinary sleep; in Th1 5:10, death. \n\nwatch--for Christ's coming; literally, \"be wakeful.\" The same Greek occurs in Co1 15:34; Ti2 2:26. \n\nbe sober--refraining from carnal indulgence, mental or sensual (Pe1 5:8).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["This verse is to be taken in the literal sense. Night is the time when sleepers sleep, and drinking men are drunk. To sleep by day would imply great indolence; to be drunken by day, great shamelessness. Now, in a spiritual sense, \"we Christians profess to be day people, not night people; therefore our work ought to be day work, not night work; our conduct such as will bear the eye of day, and such has no need of the veil of night\" [EDMUNDS], (Th1 5:8).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["Faith, hope, and love, are the three pre-eminent graces (Th1 1:3; Co1 13:13). We must not only be awake and sober, but also armed; not only watchful, but also guarded. The armor here is only defensive; in Eph 6:13-17, also offensive. Here, therefore, the reference is to the Christian means of being guarded against being surprised by the day of the Lord as a thief in the night. The helmet and breastplate defend the two vital parts, the head and the heart respectively. \"With head and heart right, the whole man is right\" [EDMUNDS]. The head needs to be kept from error, the heart from sin. For \"the breastplate of righteousness,\" Eph 6:14, we have here \"the breastplate of faith and love\"; for the righteousness which is imputed to man for justification, is \"faith working by love\" (Rom 4:3, Rom 4:22-24; Gal 5:6). \"Faith,\" as the motive within, and \"love,\" exhibited in outward acts, constitute the perfection of righteousness. In Eph 6:17 the helmet is \"salvation\"; here, \"the hope of salvation.\" In one aspect \"salvation\" is a present possession (Joh 3:36; Joh 5:24; Jo1 5:13); in another, it is a matter of \"hope\" (Rom 8:24-25). Our Head primarily wore the \"breastplate of righteousness\" and \"helmet of salvation,\" that we might, by union with Him, receive both.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["For--assigning the ground of our \"hopes\" (Th1 5:8). \n\nappointed us--Translate, \"set\" (Act 13:47), in His everlasting purpose of love (Th1 3:3; Ti2 1:9). Contrast Rom 9:22; Jde 1:4. \n\nto--that is, unto wrath. \n\nto obtain--Greek, \"to the acquisition of salvation\"; said, according to BENGEL, Of One saved out of a general wreck, when all things else have been lost: so of the elect saved out of the multitude of the lost (Th2 2:13-14). The fact of God's \"appointment\" of His grace \"through Jesus Christ\" (Eph 1:5), takes away the notion of our being able to \"acquire\" salvation of ourselves. Christ \"acquired (so the Greek for 'purchased') the Church (and its salvation) with His own blood\" (Act 20:28); each member is said to be appointed by God to the \"acquiring of salvation.\" In the primary sense, God does the work; in the secondary sense, man does it.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["died for us--Greek, \"in our behalf.\" \n\nwhether we wake or sleep--whether we be found at Christ's coming awake, that is, alive, or asleep, that is, in our graves. \n\ntogether--all of us together; the living not preceding the dead in their glorification \"with Him\" at His coming (Th1 4:13).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["comfort yourselves--Greek, \"one another.\" Here he reverts to the same consolatory strain as in Th1 4:18. \n\nedify one another--rather as Greek, \"edify (ye) the one the other\"; \"edify,\" literally, \"build up,\" namely, in faith, hope, and love, by discoursing together on such edifying topics as the Lord's coming, and the glory of the saints (Mal 3:16).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["beseech--\"Exhort\" is the expression in Th1 5:14; here, \"we beseech you,\" as if it were a personal favor (Paul making the cause of the Thessalonian presbyters, as it were, his own). \n\nknow--to have a regard and respect for. Recognize their office, and treat them accordingly (compare Co1 16:18) with reverence and with liberality in supplying their needs (Ti1 5:17). The Thessalonian Church having been newly planted, the ministers were necessarily novices (Ti1 3:6), which may have been in part the cause of the people's treating them with less respect. Paul's practice seems to have been to ordain elders in every Church soon after its establishment (Act 14:23). \n\nthem which labour . . . are over . . . admonish you--not three classes of ministers, but one, as there is but one article common to the three in the Greek. \"Labor\" expresses their laborious life; \"are over you,\" their pre-eminence as presidents or superintendents (\"bishops,\" that is, overseers, Phi 1:1, \"them that have rule over you,\" literally, leaders, Heb 13:17; \"pastors,\" literally, shepherds, Eph 4:11); \"admonish you,\" one of their leading functions; the Greek is \"put in mind,\" implying not arbitrary authority, but gentle, though faithful, admonition (Ti2 2:14, Ti2 2:24-25; Pe1 5:3). \n\nin the Lord--Their presidency over you is in divine things; not in worldly affairs, but in things appertaining to the Lord.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["very highly--Greek, \"exceeding abundantly.\" \n\nfor their work's sake--The high nature of their work alone, the furtherance of your salvation and of the kingdom of Christ, should be a sufficient motive to claim your reverential love. At the same time, the word \"work,\" teaches ministers that, while claiming the reverence due to their office, it is not a sinecure, but a \"work\"; compare \"labor\" (even to weariness: so the Greek), Th1 5:12. \n\nbe at peace among yourselves--The \"and\" is not in the original. Let there not only be peace between ministers and their flocks, but also no party rivalries among yourselves, one contending in behalf of some one favorite minister, another in behalf of another (Mar 9:50; Co1 1:12; Co1 4:6).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["brethren--This exhortation to \"warm (Greek, 'admonish,' as in Th1 5:12) the unruly (those 'disorderly' persons, Th2 3:6, Th2 3:11, who would not work, and yet expected to be maintained, literally, said of soldiers who will not remain in their ranks, compare Th1 4:11; also those insubordinate as to Church discipline, in relation to those 'over' the Church, Th1 5:12), comfort the feeble-minded (the faint-hearted, who are ready to sink 'without hope' in afflictions, Th1 4:13, and temptations),\" applies to all clergy and laity alike, though primarily the duty of the clergy (who are meant in Th1 5:12).\" \n\nsupport--literally, \"lay fast hold on so as to support.\" \n\nthe weak--spiritually. Paul practiced what he preached (Co1 9:22). \n\nbe patient toward all men--There is no believer who needs not the exercise of patience \"toward\" him; there is none to whom a believer ought not to show it; many show it more to strangers than to their own families, more to the great than to the humble; but we ought to show it \"toward all men\" [BENGEL]. Compare \"the long-suffering of our Lord\" (Co2 10:1; Pe2 3:15).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["(Rom 12:17; Pe1 3:9.) \n\nunto any man--whether unto a Christian, or a heathen, however great the provocation. \n\nfollow--as a matter of earnest pursuit.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":16,"content":["In order to \"rejoice evermore,\" we must \"pray without ceasing\" (Th1 5:17). He who is wont to thank God for all things as happening for the best, will have continuous joy [THEOPHYLACT]. Eph 6:18; Phi 4:4, Phi 4:6, \"Rejoice in the Lord . . . by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving\"; Rom 14:17, \"in the Holy Ghost\"; Rom 12:12, \"in hope\"; Act 5:41, \"in being counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ's name\"; Jam 1:2, in falling \"into divers temptations.\"\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":17,"content":["The Greek is, \"Pray without intermission\"; without allowing prayerless gaps to intervene between the times of prayer.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":18,"content":["In every thing--even what seems adverse: for nothing is really so (compare Rom 8:28; Eph 5:20). See Christ's example (Mat 15:36; Mat 26:27; Luk 10:21; Joh 11:41). \n\nthis--That ye should \"rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, (and) in every thing give thanks,\" \"is the will of God in Christ Jesus (as the Mediator and Revealer of that will, observed by those who are in Christ by faith, compare Phi 3:14) concerning you.\" God's will is the believer's law. LACHMANN rightly reads commas at the end of the three precepts (Th1 5:16-18), making \"this\" refer to all three.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":19,"content":["Quench not--the Spirit being a holy fire: \"where the Spirit is, He burns\" [BENGEL] (Mat 3:11; Act 2:3; Act 7:51). Do not throw cold water on those who, under extraordinary inspiration of the Spirit, stand up to speak with tongues, or reveal mysteries, or pray in the congregation. The enthusiastic exhibitions of some (perhaps as to the nearness of Christ's coming, exaggerating Paul's statement, Th2 2:2, By spirit), led others (probably the presiding ministers, who had not always been treated with due respect by enthusiastic novices, Th1 5:12), from dread of enthusiasm, to discourage the free utterances of those really inspired, in the Church assembly. On the other hand, the caution (Th1 5:21) was needed, not to receive \"all\" pretended revelations as divine, without \"proving\" them.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":20,"content":["prophesyings--whether exercised in inspired teaching, or in predicting the future. \"Despised\" by some as beneath \"tongues,\" which seemed most miraculous; therefore declared by Paul to be a greater gift than tongues, though the latter were more showy (Co1 14:5).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":21,"content":["Some of the oldest manuscripts insert \"But.\" You ought indeed not to \"quench\" the manifestations of \"the Spirit,\" nor \"despise prophesyings\"; \"but,\" at the same time, do not take \"all\" as genuine which professes to be so; \"prove (test) all\" such manifestations. The means of testing them existed in the Church, in those who had the \"discerning of spirits\" (Co1 12:10; Co1 14:29; Jo1 4:1). Another sure test, which we also have, is, to try the professed revelation whether it accords with Scripture, as the noble Bereans did (Isa 8:20; Act 17:11; Gal 1:8-9). This precept negatives the Romish priest's assumption of infallibly laying down the law, without the laity having the right, in the exercise of private judgment, to test it by Scripture. LOCKE says, Those who are for laying aside reason in matters of revelation, resemble one who would put out his eyes in order to use a telescope. \n\nhold fast that which is good--Join this clause with the next clause (Th1 5:22), not merely with the sentence preceding. As the result of your \"proving all things,\" and especially all prophesyings, \"hold fast (Luk 8:15; Co1 11:2; Heb 2:1) the good, and hold yourselves aloof from every appearance of evil\" (\"every evil species\" [BENGEL and WAHL]). Do not accept even a professedly spirit-inspired communication, if it be at variance with the truth taught you (Th2 2:2).\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":22,"content":["TITTMANN supports English Version, \"from every evil appearance\" or \"semblance.\" The context, however, does not refer to evil appearances IN OURSELVES which we ought to abstain from, but to holding ourselves aloof from every evil appearance IN OTHERS; as for instance, in the pretenders to spirit-inspired prophesyings. In many cases the Christian should not abstain from what has the semblance (\"appearance\") of evil, though really good. Jesus healed on the sabbath, and ate with publicans and sinners, acts which wore the appearance of evil, but which were not to be abstained from on that account, being really good. I agree with TITTMANN rather than with BENGEL, whom ALFORD follows. The context favors this sense: However specious be the form or outward appearance of such would-be prophets and their prophesyings, hold yourselves aloof from every such form when it is evil, literally, \"Hold yourselves aloof from every evil appearance\" or \"form.\"\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":23,"content":["the very God--rather as the Greek, \"the God of peace Himself\"; who can do for you by His own power what I cannot do by all my monitions, nor you by all your efforts (Rom 16:20; Heb 13:20), namely, keep you from all evil, and give you all that is good. \n\nsanctify you--for holiness is the necessary condition of \"peace\" (Phi 4:6-9). \n\nwholly--Greek, \"(so that you should be) perfect in every respect\" [TITTMANN]. \n\nand--that is, \"and so (omit 'I pray God'; not in the Greek) may your . . . spirit and soul and body be preserved,\" &c. \n\nwhole--A different Greek word from \"wholly.\" Translate, \"entire\"; with none of the integral parts wanting [TITTMANN]. It refers to man in his normal integrity, as originally designed; an ideal which shall be attained by the glorified believer. All three, spirit, soul, and body, each in its due place, constitute man \"entire.\" The \"spirit\" links man with the higher intelligences of heaven, and is that highest part of man which is receptive of the quickening Holy Spirit (Co1 15:47). In the unspiritual, the spirit is so sunk under the lower animal soul (which it ought to keep under) that such are termed \"animal\" (English Version. \"sensual,\" having merely the body of organized matter, and the soul the immaterial animating essence), having not the Spirit (compare Co1 2:14; see on Co1 15:44; Co1 15:46-48; Joh 3:6). The unbeliever shall rise with an animal (soul-animated) body, but not like the believer with a spiritual (spirit-endued) body like Christ's (Rom 8:11). \n\nblameless unto--rather as Greek, \"blamelessly (so as to be in a blameless state) at the coming of Christ.\" In Hebrew, \"peace\" and \"wholly\" (perfect in every respect) are kindred terms; so that the prayer shows what the title \"God of peace\" implies. BENGEL takes \"wholly\" as collectively, all the Thessalonians without exception, so that no one should fail. And \"whole (entire),\" individually, each one of them entire, with \"spirit, soul, and body.\" The mention of the preservation of the body accords with the subject (Th1 4:16). TRENCH better regards \"wholly\" as meaning, \"having perfectly attained the moral end,\" namely, to be a full-grown man in Christ. \"Whole,\" complete, with no grace which ought to be wanting in a Christian.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":24,"content":["Faithful--to His covenant promises (Joh 10:27-29; Co1 1:9; Co1 10:23; Phi 1:6). \n\nhe that calleth you--God, the caller of His people, will cause His calling not to fall short of its designed end. \n\ndo it--preserve and present you blameless at the coming of Christ (Th1 5:23; Rom 8:30; Pe1 5:10). You must not look at the foes before and behind, on the right hand and on the left, but to God's faithfulness to His promises, God's zeal for His honor, and God's love for those whom He calls.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":25,"content":["Some oldest manuscripts read, \"Pray ye also for (literally, 'concerning') us\"; make us and our work the subject of your prayers, even as we have been just praying for you (Th1 5:23). Others omit the \"also.\" The clergy need much the prayers of their flocks. Paul makes the same request in the Epistles to Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and in Second Corinthians; not so in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus, whose intercessions, as his spiritual sons, he was already sure of; nor in the Epistles, I Corinthians, and Galatians, as these Epistles abound in rebuke.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":26,"content":["Hence it appears this Epistle was first handed to the elders, who communicated it to \"the brethren.\" \n\nholy kiss--pure and chaste. \"A kiss of charity\" (Pe1 5:14). A token of Christian fellowship in those days (compare Luk 7:45; Act 20:37), as it is a common mode of salutation in many countries. The custom hence arose in the early Church of passing the kiss through the congregation at the holy communion [JUSTIN MARTYR, Apology, 1.65; Apostolic Constitutions, 2.57], the men kissing the men, and the women the women, in the Lord. So in the Syrian Church each takes his neighbor's right hand and gives the salutation, \"Peace.\"\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":27,"content":["I charge--Greek, \"I adjure you.\" \n\nread unto all--namely, publicly in the congregation at a particular time. The Greek aorist tense implies a single act done at a particular time. The earnestness of his adjuration implies how solemnly important he felt this divinely inspired message to be. Also, as this was the FIRST of the Epistles of the New Testament, he makes this the occasion of a solemn charge, that so its being publicly read should be a sample of what should be done in the case of the others, just as the Pentateuch and the Prophets were publicly read under the Old Testament, and are still read in the synagogue. Compare the same injunction as to the public reading of the Apocalypse, the LAST of the New Testament canon (Rev 1:3). The \"all\" includes women and children, and especially those who could not read it themselves (Deu 31:12; Jos 8:33-35). What Paul commands with an adjuration, Rome forbids under a curse [BENGEL]. Though these Epistles had difficulties, the laity were all to hear them read (Pe1 4:11; Pe2 3:10; even the very young, Ti2 1:5; Ti2 3:15). \"Holy\" is omitted before \"brethren\" in most of the oldest manuscripts, though some of them support it.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":28,"content":["(See on Co2 13:14.) Paul ends as he began (Th1 1:1), with \"grace.\" The oldest manuscripts omit \"Amen,\" which probably was the response of the Church after the public reading of the Epistle.\n\nThe subscription is a comparatively modern addition. The Epistle was not, as it states, written from Athens, but from Corinth; for it is written in the names of Silas and Timothy (besides Paul), who did not join the apostle before he reached the latter city (Act 18:5).\n\n\n\n\n\nNext: 2 Thessalonians Introduction\n\n"]}],"introduction":"THE SUDDENNESS OF CHRIST'S COMING A MOTIVE FOR WATCHFULNESS; VARIOUS PRECEPTS: PRAYER FOR THEIR BEING FOUND BLAMELESS, BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT, AT CHRIST'S COMING: CONCLUSION. (1Th. 5:1-28)\n\ntimes--the general and indefinite term for chronological periods. \n\nseasons--the opportune times (Dan 7:12; Act 1:7). Time denotes quantity; season, quality. Seasons are parts of times. \n\nye have no need--those who watch do not need to be told when the hour will come, for they are always ready [BENGEL]. \n\ncometh--present: expressing its speedy and awful certainty.\n\n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/1TH/5.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"1TH","chapter":5},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/2TH/1.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"2TH","chapter":1},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/1TH/4.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"1TH","chapter":4},"numberOfVerses":27}