§ 9. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. The Coming of the Day The second misgiving of the Thessalonians respecting the παρουσία (see _Introd._ to § 8, and general _Introd._ p. xxxvi.) was closely connected with the first (1 Thessalonians 4:13 ff.). If only “the living, οἱ περιλειπόμενοι,” might count on witnes... [ Continue Reading ]
1. For ΕΧΕΤΕ, ΕΧΟΜΕΝ in Augep 199. “_non opus habemus vobis scribere_, vel sicut alii codices habent, _non opus habetis vobis scribi_.” The same variation in 1 Thessalonians 4:9 (see note above); other latt _non est necesse vobis scribere_ (Tert _non est necessitas scribendi vobis_), vg _non indiget... [ Continue Reading ]
AKL introduce η before ΗΜΕΡΑ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ: cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:2, &c. 2. ΑΥ̓ΤΟῚ ΓᾺΡ�. _For of yourselves you know precisely_. On αὐτοὶ οἴδατε, see 1 Thessalonians 2:1; and cf. again 1 Thessalonians 4:9. The readers “know,” because they have been already told (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:4... [ Continue Reading ]
3. (_a_) ΟΤΑΝ alone: א*AG, 17, 47, latt syrpesh, Tert Cyp Orint. (_b_) ΟΤΑΝ ΔΕ, אcBD, cop syrhcl. (_c_) οταν γαρ, KLP, &c., vg, Dam Ambrst. This grouping of witnesses is peculiar. (_c_) may be ruled out as a Syrian emendation; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:31. (_b_) makes a rather difficult sense (see Ex... [ Continue Reading ]
υμας η ημερα (in this order), ADG latt vg Ambrst; a Western deviation. The case of (_a_) ΚΛΕΠΤΑΣ in AB cop, _versus (b)_ ΚΛΕΠΤΗΣ in אDGKLP and every other witness, is one of crucial difficulty. Is -ΗΣ a conformation to 1 Thessalonians 5:2, or -ΑΣ to the foregoing υμας (cf. τυπους, for -ον, 1 Thessal... [ Continue Reading ]
(ΠΑΝΤΕΣ) ΓΑΡ in all uncials except (probably) K, and all versions. υιοι ημερας: several latt read _filii dei_, instead of _diei_,—a slip easily made in Latin. D*G and latt read εστε (bis) for ΕΣΜΕΝ. 5. ΠΆΝΤΕΣ ΓᾺΡ ὙΜΕΙ͂Σ ΥἹΟῚ ΦΩΤΌΣ ἘΣΤΕ ΚΑῚ ΥἹΟῚ ἩΜΈΡΑΣ: _for you are all sons of light and sons of da... [ Continue Reading ]
ΩΣ without και, א*AB 17, cop syrpesh: και belongs to the Western and Syrian witnesses; cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13; Ephesians 2:3. 6. ἌΡΑ ΟΥ̓͂Ν ΜῊ ΚΑΘΕΎΔΩΜΕΝ ὩΣ ΟἹ ΛΟΙΠΟΊ, ἈΛΛᾺ ΓΡΗΓΟΡΩ͂ΜΕΝ ΚΑῚ ΝΉΦΩΜΕΝ: _accordingly then let us not sleep on like the rest, but let us be wakeful and sober_. This consequen... [ Continue Reading ]
The υἱοὶ ἡμέρας must be γρηγοροῦντες and νήφοντες, for the opposite conditions belong to the σκότος and are proper to its children: ΟἹ ΓᾺΡ ΚΑΘΕΎΔΟΝΤΕΣ ΝΥΚΤῸΣ ΚΑΘΕΎΔΟΥΣΙΝ, ΚΑῚ ΟἹ ΜΕΘΥΣΚΌΜΕΝΟΙ ΝΥΚΤῸΣ ΜΕΘΎΟΥΣΙΝ, _for those that sleep, sleep by night, and those who get drunk are drunken by night,—day_ i... [ Continue Reading ]
ἩΜΕΙ͂Σ ΔῈ ἩΜΈΡΑΣ ὌΝΤΕΣ ΝΉΦΩΜΕΝ: _but let us, since we are of the day_ (not _qui diei sumus_, Vulg., &c., as if οἱ … ὄντες; but _quum diei simus_), _be sober_. The νήφω of 1 Thessalonians 5:6 is resumed, with the added force gathered from 1 Thessalonians 5:7, and to be supported by the participial cl... [ Continue Reading ]
ο θεος ημας (in this order) B 37, 116; similarly in 1 Thessalonians 2:16 B distinguishes itself by the order εφθακεν η οργη επʼ αυτους. B aeth omit ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ: the general probability of the insertion of χριστος by copyists where it was previously absent, must be weighed against the special probabilit... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΕΡΙ in א*B 17, against all other codd., which have υπερ: cf. the variants in 1 Corinthians 1:13; Galatians 1:4; and see Expository Note. 10. ΤΟΥ͂�, ἽΝΑ … ἍΜΑ ΣῪΝ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ͂Ι ΖΉΣΩΜΕΝ, _who died for us, that … together with Him we might live_. Περὶ ἡμῶν specifies “us” as the objects of the Saviour’s dea... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙῸ ΠΑΡΑΚΑΛΕΙ͂ΤΕ�, a repetition of 1 Thessalonians 4:18, showing that the matter of this section is closely bound up with that of the last; their misgiving about the lot of Christians dying prematurely before the Lord’s return, and their uncertainty about the precise time of the return, were troubli... [ Continue Reading ]
προιστανομενους in אA (? Alexandrian); cf. Romans 12:8, and 1 Timothy 3:4, for the reading of א. 12. ἘΡΩΤΩ͂ΜΕΝ ΔῈ ὙΜΑ͂Σ, ἈΔΕΛΦΟΊ, ΕἸΔΈΝΑΙ ΤΟῪΣ ΚΟΠΙΩ͂ΝΤΑΣ ἘΝ ὙΜΙ͂Ν κ.τ.λ. _But we ask you, brothers, to know those that toil among you, &c._ For the ἐρωτᾶν of _request_, and its difference from παρακαλεῖν... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 10. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15. The Church’s Internal Discipline The specific ὑστερήματα of this Church’s faith (1 Thessalonians 3:10) are now made good, in ch. 1 Thessalonians 4:1 to 1 Thessalonians 5:11, so far as they can be by Apostolic admonition and comfort. On the basis of the instruction thus... [ Continue Reading ]
For ΗΓΕΙΣΘΑΙ, B cop go syrhcl aeth have ηγεισθε—an error partly of itacistic confusion, and partly of misinterpretation. B shows the same trick in 2 Thessalonians 2:2, θροεισθε (-αι); cf. the double alternative of imperative or infinitive in 2 Thessalonians 3:14. ΥΠΕΡΕΚΠΕΡΙΣΣΩΣ: so in BD*G (WH _mar... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΡΑΚΑΛΟΥ͂ΜΕΝ ΔῈ ὙΜΑ͂Σ, ἈΔΕΛΦΟΊ. _But we exhort you, brothers_. Upon the analysis suggested at the head of the section, ὑμᾶς is distinctive: the writers now _speak to_ those _spoken of_ in 1 Thessalonians 5:12 f., viz. the Church-officers; ἐνταῦθα πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας διαλέγεται (Chrysostom). They nee... [ Continue Reading ]
For ΑΠΟΔΩΙ, ΑΠΟΔΟΙ in א*DbG; in D*, αποδοιη: these latter are not optatives, but subjunctives of the κοινή; see Winer-Moulton’s _Grammar_, p. 95, note3. ΚΑΙ before ΕΙΣ ΑΛΛΗΛΟΥΣ given by BאcKLP, &c. (so WH _margin_): omitted in א*ADG, 17, 37, 67**; 1 Thessalonians 3:12 may have prompted the omission... [ Continue Reading ]
16–18. ΠΆΝΤΟΤΕ ΧΑΊΡΕΤΕ, ἈΔΙΑΛΕΊΠΤΩΣ ΠΡΟΣΕΎΧΕΣΘΕ, ἘΝ ΠΑΝΤῚ ΕΥ̓ΧΑΡΙΣΤΕΙ͂ΤΕ. _Always rejoice; unceasingly pray; in everything give thanks_. The adverbs, emphatically prefixed to the three imperatives, continue the strain of 1 Thessalonians 5:15 in its wide inclusiveness; see the note there on πάντοτε.... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 11. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24. Directions for Holy Living In § 7 (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12) _the saintship_ of the Thessalonians supplied the basis and the nerve of the Apostles’ charge. The virtues of chastity, brotherly affection, and diligence in labour were enforced on the readers under the sense... [ Continue Reading ]
D*G and several minn. insert εστιν in 2nd clause (ΤΟΥΤΟ ΓΑΡ ΕΣΤΙΝ)—an example of seeming Latinisms in the Western text; cf. note on 1 Thessalonians 4:17 above. Or is εστιν due to the parallel in 1 Thessalonians 4:3? א*A, του θεου for θεου. 18. ἘΝ ΠΑΝΤῚ ΕΥ̓ΧΑΡΙΣΤΕΙ͂ΤΕ contains the same paradox, for... [ Continue Reading ]
ζβεννυτε: so spelt in B*D*G. See WH _Appendix_, p. 148.... [ Continue Reading ]
19, 20. ΤῸ ΠΝΕΥ͂ΜΑ ΜῊ ΣΒΈΝΝΥΤΕ, ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΊΑΣ ΜῊ ἘΞΟΥΘΕΝΕΙ͂ΤΕ. _The Spirit do not quench; prophesyings do not despise_. From _joy, prayer_, and _thanksgiving_ it is a natural transition to _the Spirit_ and _prophesying_ (see 1 Thessalonians 1:6; also Romans 8:26; Ephesians 6:18; Jude 1:20). “Praying” a... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΕ in the first clause is omitted by א*A and many minn., cop syrpesh, Or Bas Chr Tert Ambrst, probably through confusion with the following syllable in the continuous uncial script: πανταδεδοκιμαζετε; cf. note on disputed δε in 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Intrinsic probability speaks for the antithetic con... [ Continue Reading ]
ΑΥ̓ΤῸΣ ΔῈ Ὁ ΘΕῸΣ ΤΗ͂Σ ΕἸΡΉΝΗΣ—. _But may the God of peace Himself_ …: cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:11 (see note), and 2 Thessalonians 2:16, where a like contrast seems to be implied, under Αὐτὸς δέ, between human wish or effort and Divine power. Philippians 2:12 f. (“Work out your own salvation, for God it... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΙΣΤῸΣ Ὁ ΚΑΛΩ͂Ν ὙΜΑ͂Σ, ΔΣ ΚΑῚ ΠΟΙΉΣΕΙ. _Faithful is He that calls you, who also will do (it)_. The Thessalonians are conscious that God is calling them to a life of consecration to Himself, to be crowned by heavenly glory (see 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:18, and note... [ Continue Reading ]
BD*, and some good minn., insert ΚΑΙ after ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΕΣΘΕ. 25. ἈΔΕΛΦΟΊ, ΠΡΟΣΕΎΧΕΣΘΕ [ΚΑῚ] ΠΕΡῚ ἩΜΩ͂Ν. _Brothers, pray [also] for us_. The καί of the R.V. margin (see Textual Note) is appropriate; since the Apostles have just prayed for their readers (1 Thessalonians 5:23), _their_ prayers for the write... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 12. 1 Thessalonians 5:25-28. The Conclusion The conclusion of the Epistle is very brief. It makes no reference to the autograph signature, which the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 3:17, and in subsequent letters, is careful to notify. The request “that the Epistle be read to all the brethren” (1... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΣΠΆΣΑΣΘΕ ΤΟῪΣ�. _Salute the brothers all in a holy kiss_. In 1 Peter 5:14 the kiss is defined, by its quality, φίλημα�: _love_ and _holiness_ were identified in the prayer of 1 Thessalonians 3:12 f. above (see notes); the injunction of the φίλημα is followed by words upon love, and of love, in 1 Co... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕΝΟΡΚΙΖΩ, as against ορκιζω, is preserved in *Obadiah 1:17 : a _hapax legomenon_ for the N.T., and rare in Greek; see Grimm-Thayer, _Lexicon_ s.v. αγιοις, before ΑΔΕΛΦΟΙΣ, in AאcKLP &c., cop syrr vg go, wanting in א*BDG latt. The only parallel to αγιοι αδελφοι _in Paul_ is αγιοις αποστολοις of Ephe... [ Continue Reading ]
αμην wanting in BD*G 17 67** latt; stands in ADb, c KLP &c. Is this a Western omission, or Alexandrian supplement to the text? Cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:13, and note above: the case for retention is stronger there than here. In the subscription: אB* read προς Θεσσαλονικεις ᾱ (B -νεικεις). 28. Ἡ ΧΆΡΙΣ Τ... [ Continue Reading ]