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1 Thessalonians Chapter 4

1 Thessalonians Chapter 4

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
Walk to Please God
  1. Finally then brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus that just as you received from us how it’s necessary for you to walk and to please God (just as you also walk now), so you should overflow more,
  2. for you *know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
  3. For this is the will of God: that you become holy, you are to keep far awayfn“to keep far away” is one word in Greek.  It also contains the sense of gaining something else because you have discarded the old thing. from fornication,
  4. and each of you is to *know how to acquirefn“to acquire” is literal.  It’s one word in Greek meaning to acquire or to obtain, or a “false step” with the implication of purchasing.  This exact same word in the exact same form is used in Acts 8:20, where Simon the sorcerer wished “to purchase” God’s gift with money.  It was sometimes used of “acquiring” a wife in marriage by paying a bride price to her father; see note on verse 6.  (For this usage, see Ruth 4:10 in the Septuagint, and the apocryphal book Sirach 36:29.)  Some contend it means “to possess” here, in the sense of “gain mastery over”.  However, the word only means “to possess” when in the perfect tense, and it’s not in the perfect tense here, nor anywhere else in the New testament.  Further, the Greek word for “vessel” is also used in 1 Peter 3:7 referencing wives (“the weaker vessel“), and it was used in reference to wives in other writings as well.  The word “weaker” was added (in italics to indicate a translator addition) to make the reference to wives clear.  It’s worth noting that the Greek word translated “fornication” in the previous verse can also refer “whoredom” in the sense of prostitution. Thus, Paul could be drawing a parallel between paying for fornication/prostitution vs. legitimately acquiring a wife. a weaker vesselfn“weaker vessel”, i.e. a wife.  See previous note, and also the note on verse 6. for himself in holiness and honor,
  5. not in lustful passion just as even the gentiles do (not *knowing God),
  6. and not to defraud and to take advantage of his brother in the matterfn“matter”.  This Greek word generally refers to anything which a person does; i.e. his affairs or deeds.  It can also refer to business affairs.  Given the context of verse 4, (see note on verse 4) some say this refers to Christians acquiring a wife from her father (see note on verse 4) who is a fellow Christian and thus a “brother”. (Their rational being verse 4, 1 Corinthians 7:36-38, Exodus 22:16-17, and Numbers 30:3-5; their assumption in Numbers 30 being that even marriage vows can be annulled)   This process is called “betrothal”, and almost always included the payment of a “bride price” from the prospective groom to the father to get his permission to marry the daughter.  See note on Matthew 1:18 for a summary of the practice. because the Lord is an avengerfnquotation/allusion to Deuteronomy 32:35 and Psalm 94:1 concerning all these things, just as we also forewarned you and solemnly testified.
  7. (For God didn’t call us to impurity, but in holiness.)
  8. Consequently, the man rejecting this doesn’t reject man, but God, the One also giving His Holy Spirit to you.fnquotation/allusion to Ezekiel 36:27
  9. But concerning brotherly love, you have no need for me to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to ^love one another.
  10. For you also do the same for all the brothers in the whole of Macedonia.  Yet brothers, we encourage you to overflow more,
  11. and to eagerly seek to live a quiet life,fn“to live a quiet life” is one word in Greek.  It refers to those who aren’t “running hither and thither” (Thayer’s) but instead are restful and mind their own business. and to attend to your own affairs, and to work with your own hands, just as we commanded you,
  12. so you might walk properly toward the men outside the church assembly and so no one might have a need.
The Lord’s Return
  1. Now brothers, we don’t want you to be ignorant about the men sleeping so you won’t be grieved, even as the rest are (the men not having hope).
  2. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in this way also, God will bring with Him the men who fell asleep through Jesus.
  3. For we declare this to you by a word from the Lord, that we – the men living and remaining at the coming of the Lord – definitely won’t precede the men who fell asleep,
  4. because the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a commanding shout – with the voice of an archangel and with God’s trumpet – and the dead in the Anointed will rise first.
  5. Afterwards we – the men living and remaining – will be snatched up together with them in the clouds and meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
  6. So then, encourage one another with these words.

 

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