King James Version
1 Thessalonians 4
18 verses with commentary
Living to Please God
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. beseech: or, request exhort: or, beseech
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more</strong>—<em>loipon oun, adelphoi, erōtōmen hymas kai parakaloumen en Kyriō Iēsou, kathōs parelabete par' hēmōn to pōs dei hymas peripatein kai areskein Theō, kathōs kai peripaieite, hina perisseēte mallon</em> ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
IV.
(1) We now approach the practical portion of the Epistle. The first point on which the Thessalonians need instruction is in the matter of social purity (1Thessalonians 4:1-8).
**Furthermore** hardly expresses the original. St. Paul is not adding a further injunction, for he has as yet given none. It is literally, *For the rest, then; *and serves to introduce the conclusion of the letter.
**Bes...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**24. also myself--**as well as Timothy.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 4
Chapter Outline
The apostle exhorts the Philippians to stand fast in the Lord.(1)
Gives directions to some, and to all in general.(2-9)
Expresses contentment in every condition of life.(10-19)
He concludes with prayer to God the Father, and his usual blessing.(20-23)
**Verse 1**
The believing hope and prospect of eternal life, should make us steady and constant ...
Read full commentary →For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus</strong>—<em>oidate gar tinas paraggelias edōkamen hymin dia tou Kyriou Iēsou</em> (οἴδατε γὰρ τίνας παραγγελίας ἐδώκαμεν ὑμῖν διὰ τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, 'you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus'). <em>Paraggelia</em> (παραγγελία) indicates authoritative orders, military commands, not mere suggestions. The phrase ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **For ye know.**—He calls on the Thessalonians’ memory to support his statement, “ye received;” at the same time awakening their interest to catch the special point next to come, by laying stress on “w*hat* commandments.”
**By the Lord Jesus.**—Not as if the Lord were the person who took the commandments from St. Paul to the Thessalonians, but the person by means of whose inspiration St. Paul ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. I supposed--**"I thought it necessary."
**to send--**It was properly a sending Epaphroditus back (Php 4:18). But as he had come intending to stay some time with Paul, the latter uses the word "send" (compare Php 2:30).
**fellow soldier--**in the "good fight" of faith (Php 1:27, 30; 2Ti 2:3; 4:7).
**your messenger--**literally, "apostle." The "apostles" or "messengers of the churches" (...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-9**
Let believers be of one mind, and ready to help each other. As the apostle had found the benefit of their assistance, he knew how comfortable it would be to his fellow-labourers to have the help of others. Let us seek to give assurance that our names are written in the book of life. Joy in God is of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and aga...
Read full commentary →For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication</strong>—<em>touto gar estin thelēma tou Theou, ho hagiasmos hymōn, apechesthai hymas apo tēs porneias</em> (τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ ἁγιασμὸς ὑμῶν, ἀπέχεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς πορνείας). <em>Thelēma tou Theou</em> (θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, 'the will of God')—Christians often seek God's will regardi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **For.**—The word further enforces the appeal to their memory: “Ye *know* what commandments . . . for *this* (you will recollect) is what God wants;” “a commandment given through the Lord Jesus,” being, of course, identical with “God’s will.”
**Your sanctification.**—In apposition to the word *this.* The mere conversion, justification, salvation of us are not the aim of God: He would have us h...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26. For--**reason for thinking it "necessary to send" "Epaphroditus. Translate as Greek, "Inasmuch as he was longing after you all."
**full of heaviness--**The Greek expresses the being worn out and overpowered with heavy grief.
**because that ye had heard that he had been sick--**rather, "that he was sick." He felt how exceedingly saddened you would be in hearing it; and he now is hastening...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-9**
Let believers be of one mind, and ready to help each other. As the apostle had found the benefit of their assistance, he knew how comfortable it would be to his fellow-labourers to have the help of others. Let us seek to give assurance that our names are written in the book of life. Joy in God is of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and aga...
Read full commentary →That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour</strong>—<em>eidenai hekaston hymōn to heautou skeuos ktasthai en hagiasmō kai timē</em> (εἰδέναι ἕκαστον ὑμῶν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκεῦος κτᾶσθαι ἐν ἁγιασμῷ καὶ τιμῇ). <em>Skeuos</em> (σκεῦος, 'vessel') is debated: either (1) one's own body (1 Cor 6:19; 2 Cor 4:7) or (2) one's wife (1 Pet 3:7 calls wives 'weaker...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Should know.**—The clause is simply parallel to the last, and, with it, explains the word “sanctification.” The Bulgarian Father, Theophylact, says pointedly in reference to the word “to know” or “understand,” “He indicates that chastity is a matter that requires self-discipline and study.” (Comp. Ephesians 5:17.)
**To possess his vessel.**—The word rendered “to possess” should rather be tra...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
27. Epaphroditus' sickness proves that the apostles had not ordinarily the permanent gift of miracles, any more than of inspiration: both were vouchsafed to them only for each particular occasion, as the Spirit thought fit.
**lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow--**namely, the sorrow of losing him by death, in addition to the sorrow of my imprisonment. Here only occurs anything of a sorrowful t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-9**
Let believers be of one mind, and ready to help each other. As the apostle had found the benefit of their assistance, he knew how comfortable it would be to his fellow-labourers to have the help of others. Let us seek to give assurance that our names are written in the book of life. Joy in God is of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and aga...
Read full commentary →Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God</strong>—<em>mē en pathei epithymias kathaper kai ta ethnē ta mē eidota ton Theon</em> (μὴ ἐν πάθει ἐπιθυμίας καθάπερ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ εἰδότα τὸν Θεόν). <em>Pathos epithymias</em> (πάθος ἐπιθυμίας, 'passion of lust/lustful passion') describes sexuality driven by selfish desire rather than covenant love. <em>Pathos</...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Not in the lust of concupiscence, **for such a method of using one’s faculties, such an attempt to acquire mastery of vital powers, is really to abandon them altogether to others. This notion is involved in the very word here translated “lust,” which is more often rendered “passion,” and implies something which *befalls* a man, something *done to* him: “Not in the helpless passivity of concu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-9**
Let believers be of one mind, and ready to help each other. As the apostle had found the benefit of their assistance, he knew how comfortable it would be to his fellow-labourers to have the help of others. Let us seek to give assurance that our names are written in the book of life. Joy in God is of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and aga...
Read full commentary →That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. defraud: or, oppress, or, overreach in: or, in the matter
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified</strong>—<em>to mē hyperbainein kai pleonektein en tō pragmati ton adelphon autou, dioti ekdikos Kyrios peri pantōn toutōn, kathōs kai proeipomen hymin kai diemartyroametha</em> (τὸ μὴ ὑπερβαίνειν καὶ πλεονεκτεῖν ἐν τῷ πράγματι τὸν ἀδελ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **That no man.**—The form of the Greek shows that this is not exactly *parallel* with the preceding clauses, as if it ran, “this is God’s will, your sanctification, for you to abstain, for you to know how to possess, for you not to go beyond,” &c. It is a *final* clause, expressing the *purpose* of such continence as has just been described. Men are to be chaste and self-possessed, not only fo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. Receive him--**There seems to be something behind respecting him. If extreme affection had been the sole ground of his "heaviness," no such exhortation would have been needed [Alford].
**in reputation--**"in honor."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-9**
Let believers be of one mind, and ready to help each other. As the apostle had found the benefit of their assistance, he knew how comfortable it would be to his fellow-labourers to have the help of others. Let us seek to give assurance that our names are written in the book of life. Joy in God is of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and aga...
Read full commentary →For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness</strong>—<em>ou gar ekalesen hēmas ho Theos epi akathars ia alla en hagiasmō</em> (οὐ γὰρ ἐκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ ἀλλὰ ἐν ἁγιασμῷ). This verse grounds sexual ethics in soteriology: God's calling determines lifestyle. <em>Akatharsia</em> (ἀκαθαρσία, 'uncleanness/impurity') encompasses moral filth, especially sexual im...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **For God.**—This gives the reason for stating that the Lord will take vengeance on such sins; because they are not part of the terms on which His Father called us. It should be “*did* not call.” These 1Thessalonians 4:7-8, sum up the little disquisition, returning to the principle announced in 1Thessalonians 4:3.
**Unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.**—The preposition translated “unto” has t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**30. for the work of Christ--**namely, the bringing of a supply to me, the minister of Christ. He was probably in a delicate state of health in setting out from Philippi; but at all hazards he undertook this service of Christian love, which cost him a serious sickness.
**not regarding his life--**Most of the oldest manuscripts read, "hazarding," &c.
**to supply your lack of service--**Not...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-9**
Let believers be of one mind, and ready to help each other. As the apostle had found the benefit of their assistance, he knew how comfortable it would be to his fellow-labourers to have the help of others. Let us seek to give assurance that our names are written in the book of life. Joy in God is of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and aga...
Read full commentary →He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. despiseth: or, rejecteth
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit</strong>—<em>toigaroun ho athetōn ouk anthrōpon athetei alla ton Theon ton kai donta to pneuma autou to hagion eis hymas</em> (τοιγαροῦν ὁ ἀθετῶν οὐκ ἄνθρωπον ἀθετεῖ ἀλλὰ τὸν Θεὸν τὸν καὶ δόντα τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ τὸ ἅγιον εἰς ὑμᾶς). <em>Atheteō</em> (ἀθετέω, 'to reject/set aside/despise') indi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) “So you see that to act contumeliously in the matter is to act contumeliously not only towards your neighbour, but towards God Himself, and that, too, after He has given you a gift which should have preserved you from these corruptions.”
**He . . . that despiseth.**—The verb means to treat as insignificant either persons or things. Here the *object* is not supplied in the first instance, in or...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-9**
Let believers be of one mind, and ready to help each other. As the apostle had found the benefit of their assistance, he knew how comfortable it would be to his fellow-labourers to have the help of others. Let us seek to give assurance that our names are written in the book of life. Joy in God is of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and aga...
Read full commentary →Brotherly Love
But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another</strong>—<em>peri de tēs philadelphias ou chreian echete graphein hymin, autoi gar hymeis theodidaktoi este eis to agapan allēlous</em> (περὶ δὲ τῆς φιλαδελφίας οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε γράφειν ὑμῖν, αὐτοὶ γὰρ ὑμεῖς θεοδίδακτοί ἐστε εἰς τὸ ἀγαπᾶν ἀλλήλους). Paul transitions from...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **But . . .**—This forms the second subject of instruction, following naturally on the first. “We are very glad to hear of so strong a Christian feeling of brotherhood among you, and think it almost unnecessary to say anything more to you about it; still your charity is hardly *catholic* enough, nor have you exercised it with sufficient sobriety and thrift.”
**Brotherly love.**—Not love of men...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 3 Php 3:1-21. Warning against Judaizers: He Has Greater Cause than They to Trust in Legal Righteousness, but Renounced It for Christ's Righteousness, in Which He Presses after Perfection: Warning against Carnal Persons: Contrast of the Believer's Life and Hope.
**1. Finally--**rather, not with the notion of time, but making a transition to another general subject, "Furthermore" [Bengel an...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 2-9**
Let believers be of one mind, and ready to help each other. As the apostle had found the benefit of their assistance, he knew how comfortable it would be to his fellow-labourers to have the help of others. Let us seek to give assurance that our names are written in the book of life. Joy in God is of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and aga...
Read full commentary →And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more</strong>—<em>kai gar poieite auto eis pantas tous adelphous tous en holē tē Makedonia. parakaloumen de hymas, adelphoi, perisseuein mallon</em> (καὶ γὰρ ποιεῖτε αὐτὸ εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς τοὺς ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ. παρακαλοῦμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, περισσεύειν...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **And indeed ye do** ***it**—i.e., *“love one another;” but the words seem to imply a very practical form of love. This fact justifies St. Paul in saying that the Thessalonians were so taught of God.
**Toward.**—Rather, *even unto; as far as unto.* The Thessalonians’ charity has travelled already a long way from its starting-point at home, extending over all northern Greece. As Thessalonica h...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. Beware--**Greek, "Have your eye on" so as to beware of. Contrast "mark," or "observe," namely, so as to follow Php 3:17.
**dogs--**Greek, "the dogs," namely, those impure persons "of whom I have told you often" (Php 3:18, 19); "the abominable" (compare Re 21:8, with Re 22:15; Mt 7:6; Tit 1:15, 16): "dogs" in filthiness, unchastity, and snarling (De 23:18; Psa 59:6, 14, 15; 2Pe 2:22): especi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-19**
It is a good work to succour and help a good minister in trouble. The nature of true Christian sympathy, is not only to feel concern for our friends in their troubles, but to do what we can to help them. The apostle was often in bonds, imprisonments, and necessities; but in all, he learned to be content, to bring his mind to his condition, and make the best of it. Pride, unbel...
Read full commentary →And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you</strong>—<em>kai philotimeisthai hēsychazein kai prassein ta idia kai ergazesthai tais chersin hymōn kathōs hymin parēngeilamen</em> (καὶ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι ἡσυχάζειν καὶ πράσσειν τὰ ἴδια καὶ ἐργάζεσθαι ταῖς χερσὶν ὑμῶν καθὼς ὑμῖν παρηγγείλαμεν). Three commands address idleness: (1) ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11)**And that ye study to be quiet.**—The word means more than “study;” “and that ye make it your ambition to keep quiet”—their ambition having formerly been to make a stir among the Churches. It is a strong use of the rhetorical figure called *oxymoron, *or combining words of contrary meaning in order to give force and point to the style. The warnings in this verse are not directed against *defi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3. "We are the (real) circumcision" (Ro 2:25-29; Col 2:11).
**worship God in the Spirit--**The oldest manuscripts read, "worship by the Spirit of God"; our religious service is rendered by the Spirit (Joh 4:23, 24). Legal worship was outward, and consisted in outward acts, restricted to certain times and places. Christian worship is spiritual, flowing from the inworkings of the Holy Spirit, not ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-19**
It is a good work to succour and help a good minister in trouble. The nature of true Christian sympathy, is not only to feel concern for our friends in their troubles, but to do what we can to help them. The apostle was often in bonds, imprisonments, and necessities; but in all, he learned to be content, to bring his mind to his condition, and make the best of it. Pride, unbel...
Read full commentary →That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. of: or, of no man
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing</strong>—<em>hina peripateēte euschēmonōs pros tous exō kai mēdenos chreian echēte</em> (ἵνα περιπατῆτε εὐσχημόνως πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω καὶ μηδενὸς χρείαν ἔχητε). Two purposes for diligent work: (1) <em>euschēmonōs peripatein pros tous exō</em> (εὐσχημόνως περιπατεῖν πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω, 'walk properly/honorabl...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Honestly.**—Not in our modern sense of the word, but “honourably,” “creditably.”
**Toward**—i.e.*, *”in reference to,” “in your connection with.” The heathen were certain to be watching the conduct of the members of the new religion, and it would bring down political suspicion if they were seen to be acting more like agitators for a secret society than honest citizens who worked at their ha...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
4. "Although I (emphatical) might have confidence even in the flesh." Literally, "I having," but not using, "confidence in the flesh."
**I more--**have more "whereof I might have confidence in the flesh."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-19**
It is a good work to succour and help a good minister in trouble. The nature of true Christian sympathy, is not only to feel concern for our friends in their troubles, but to do what we can to help them. The apostle was often in bonds, imprisonments, and necessities; but in all, he learned to be content, to bring his mind to his condition, and make the best of it. Pride, unbel...
Read full commentary →The Coming of the Lord
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope</strong>—<em>ou thelomen de hymas agnoein, adelphoi, peri tōn koimōmenōn, hina mē lypeēsthe kathōs kai hoi loipoi hoi mē echontes elpida</em> (οὐ θέλομεν δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, περὶ τῶν κοιμωμένων, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε καθὼς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **But.**—We pass to the *third* clearly marked point: the share of the Christian dead in the Coming of Christ. Possibly an association of ideas may have caused St. Paul to join these two subjects, of quietude and the Advent, so closely (see Note on 1Thessalonians 4:11). “You need have no distress about your dead: when Christ comes, they will be there too; they will come with Him, and we shall...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5. In three particulars he shows how he "might have confidence in the flesh" (Php 3:4): (1) His pure Jewish blood. (2) His legal preciseness and high status as such. (3) His zeal for the law. The Greek is literally, "Being in circumcision an eighth day person," that is, not one circumcised in later life as a proselyte, but on the eighth day after birth, as the law directed in the case of Jew-born ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-19**
It is a good work to succour and help a good minister in trouble. The nature of true Christian sympathy, is not only to feel concern for our friends in their troubles, but to do what we can to help them. The apostle was often in bonds, imprisonments, and necessities; but in all, he learned to be content, to bring his mind to his condition, and make the best of it. Pride, unbel...
Read full commentary →For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him</strong>—<em>ei gar pisteuomen hoti Iēsous apethanen kai anestē, houtōs kai ho Theos tous koimēthentas dia tou Iēsou axei syn autō</em> (εἰ γὰρ πιστεύομεν ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἀνέστη, οὕτως καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς κοιμηθέντας διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ). The conditional 'if' isn't d...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **For if . . .**—A reason for thinking that if the Thessalonians knew and believed the truth, they ought not to be so miserable. The “if” implies no doubt: “if we believe (as we do), then,” &c.—merely clearing the ground for a logical deduction. The writer does not care to *prove* so well-known a fact as the resurrection of Christ; he only argues from the clear faith of the Thessalonians with...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. Concerning--**Translate as before and after, "As touching Zeal" (compare Ac 22:3; 26:9).
**blameless--**Greek, "having become blameless" as to ceremonial righteousness: having attained in the eyes of man blameless legal perfection. As to the holiness before God, which is the inner and truest spirit of the law, and which flows from "the righteousness of God by faith," he on the contrary decl...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-19**
It is a good work to succour and help a good minister in trouble. The nature of true Christian sympathy, is not only to feel concern for our friends in their troubles, but to do what we can to help them. The apostle was often in bonds, imprisonments, and necessities; but in all, he learned to be content, to bring his mind to his condition, and make the best of it. Pride, unbel...
Read full commentary →For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. prevent: or, come before, or, anticipate, or, precede
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep</strong>—<em>touto gar hymin legomen en logō Kyriou, hoti hēmeis hoi zōntes hoi perileipomenoi eis tēn parousian tou Kyriou ou mē phthasōmen tous koimēthentas</em> (τοῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν λέγομεν ἐν λόγῳ Κυρίου, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμεν...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **By the word of the Lord.**—Literally, *in.* A most direct claim to plenary inspiration (see references). It does not mean “According to certain words which Christ spoke,” nor yet “*By means* of a revelation from the Lord to me,” but “*By way of* a divine revelation:” “I tell you this as a message straight from God.” In what way apostles and prophets became *conscious* of supernatural inspir...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. gain--**rather as Greek, "gains"; including all possible advantages of outward status, which he had heretofore enjoyed.
**I counted--**Greek, "I have counted for Christ's sake loss." He no longer uses the plural as in "gains"; for he counts them all but one great "loss" (Mt 16:26; Lu 9:25).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-19**
It is a good work to succour and help a good minister in trouble. The nature of true Christian sympathy, is not only to feel concern for our friends in their troubles, but to do what we can to help them. The apostle was often in bonds, imprisonments, and necessities; but in all, he learned to be content, to bring his mind to his condition, and make the best of it. Pride, unbel...
Read full commentary →For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first</strong>—<em>hoti autos ho Kyrios en keleusm ati, en phōnē archangelou kai en salpingi Theou, katabēsetai ap' ouranou, kai hoi nekroi en Christō anastēsontai prōton</em> (ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου καὶ ἐν ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **For.**—A justification of the statement that we shall certainly not *prevent* the dead; therefore, the words as far as “trump of God” are logically *parenthetical; *and the proof only begins at “*They* shall rise *first: then* we shall be caught up.”
**With a shout.**—The Greek word means a *shout of* *command or encouragement, *such as a captain gives to his soldiers, or a boatswain to his...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. Yea doubtless--**The oldest manuscripts omit "doubtless" (Greek, "ge"): translate, "nay more." Not only "have I counted" those things just mentioned "loss for Christ's sake, but, moreover, I even DO count ALL things but loss," &c.
**for the excellency--**Greek, "On account of the surpassing excellency (the supereminence above them all) of the knowledge of Christ Jesus."
**my Lord--**b...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-19**
It is a good work to succour and help a good minister in trouble. The nature of true Christian sympathy, is not only to feel concern for our friends in their troubles, but to do what we can to help them. The apostle was often in bonds, imprisonments, and necessities; but in all, he learned to be content, to bring his mind to his condition, and make the best of it. Pride, unbel...
Read full commentary →Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord</strong>—<em>epeita hēmeis hoi zōntes hoi perileipomenoi hama syn autois harpagēsometha en nephelais eis apantēsin tou Kyriou eis aera, kai houtōs pantote syn Kyriō esometha</em> (ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς ἁ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Shall be caught up.**—“Our Assumption,” as Bishop Ellicott well calls it. The spiritualising of our natural bodies without death, as described in 1Corinthians 15:50, *et seq., *will enable us to be “caught up” equally well with, and in company with (both of which thoughts are included in “together with”), the resurgent dead. “Clouds” and “air” will be support enough for material so immateri...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. be found in him--**"be found" at His coming again, living spiritually "in Him" as the element of my life. Once lost, I have been "found," and I hope to be perfectly "found" by Him (Lu 15:8).
**own righteousness ... of the law--**(Php 3:6; Ro 10:3, 5). "Of," that is, from.
**righteousness ... of God by faith--**Greek, "which is from God (resting) upon faith." Paul was transported from lega...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-19**
It is a good work to succour and help a good minister in trouble. The nature of true Christian sympathy, is not only to feel concern for our friends in their troubles, but to do what we can to help them. The apostle was often in bonds, imprisonments, and necessities; but in all, he learned to be content, to bring his mind to his condition, and make the best of it. Pride, unbel...
Read full commentary →Wherefore comfort one another with these words. comfort: or, exhort
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore comfort one another with these words</strong>—<em>hōste parakaleite allēlous en tois logois toutois</em> (ὥστε παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις). The entire rapture passage (vv. 13-18) aims at <em>paraklēsis</em> (παράκλησις, 'comfort/encouragement'). <em>Parakaleite allēlous</em> (παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους, 'comfort one another') indicates mutual ministry—every believer ca...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Comfort one another.**—Here is a balm for the “sorrow” of 1Thessalonians 4:13. Bather, “*in* these words” than “*with*;” “Repeat these very words to one another, and you will find the comfort.” What bereaved Christian has not found this true?
**Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. That I may know him--**experimentally. The aim of the "righteousness" just mentioned. This verse resumes, and more fully explains, "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ" (Php 3:8). To know HIM is more than merely to know a doctrine about Him. Believers are brought not only to redemption, but to the Redeemer Himself.
**the power of his resurrection--**assuring believers of their justif...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-19**
It is a good work to succour and help a good minister in trouble. The nature of true Christian sympathy, is not only to feel concern for our friends in their troubles, but to do what we can to help them. The apostle was often in bonds, imprisonments, and necessities; but in all, he learned to be content, to bring his mind to his condition, and make the best of it. Pride, unbel...
Read full commentary →