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(6) Times and Seasons (5:1-11)
The written request for information “concerning times and seasons” (cf. 4:9, 13) appears to have been made at the suggestion of the faint-hearted who were concerned not only about their friends who had died (4:13-18; cf. 5:10) but also about their own salvation. In doubt about Paul’s teaching in reference to the nearness of the advent and in fear that the day might catch them morally unprepared, they ask him, in their discouragement, for further instruction about the times and seasons. Paul, however, is convinced that they require not further instruction but encouragement (5:11). Accordingly, while reminding them that the day is to come suddenly and is to be a day of judgment on unbelievers (vv. 1-3), he is careful to assure them that the day will not take them by surprise, for they, one and all of them, are sons of light and sons of day, that is, believers (vv. 4-5a). Furthermore, recognising that they need to be exhorted to moral alertness, an exhortation which not only they but all Christians require (hence the tactful change from “you” to “we” in v. 5), he urges that since they are sons of light and sons of day, they must be morally alert and sober, arming themselves with that faith and love, and especially that hope for future salvation, without which they cannot realise their destiny (vv. 5b-8). There is, however, no cause for anxiety, he assures the faint-hearted, for God has appointed them unto salvation, the indwelling Christ enables them to acquire it, and Christ died for their sins in order that all believers, whether surviving until the Parousia, or dying before it, might at the same time have life with Christ (vv. 9-10). Hence they are to encourage and build up one another, as in fact they are doing (v. 11).
1Now as to the times and seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written you; 2for you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief at night. 3When people are saying: “All is well and safe,” then sudden destruction comes on them as travail on her that is with child, and they shall in no wise escape.
4But you, brothers, are not in darkness that the day should surprise you as thieves are surprised; 5for you are all sons of light and sons of day.
We Christians do not belong to night or to darkness. 6So then let us not sleep as do the unbelievers, but let us watch and be sober. 7For it is at night that sleepers sleep and at night that drunkards are drunk. 8But we, since we belong to day—let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9For God has not appointed us to wrath but to the winning of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, that whether we are watching or whether we are sleeping, we might together have life with him.
11So then encourage one another and build up one the other, as in fact you are doing.
1. πρ δ τνχόω κλ With δ, the second (cf. 4:13) eschatological question about which the Thessalonians had written (cf. 4:9, 13) for information is stated: “Concerning the times and seasons.” Perceiving, however, that they really need not instruction but encouragement, he tells them, following the precedent of 4:9 (contrast 4:13-18) but varying the language: “you have no need that anything (sc. τ be written you.”
The plural (cf. κιοςχὶχόο Dan_2:21, Dan_4:34 (Lxx); contrast the singular ἕςχόο χὶχιο Dan_7:12) does not here refer to a future cycle of times and seasons, or to a past cycle now ending (cf. 1Co_10:11), but indicates in traditional language the time of the Parousia. The question put to Paul was an old one (cf. Jer_25:11, Jer_36:10, Dan_9:25 ff.) and was prevalent not only in Christian but in Jewish circles of the time (see Charles, Eschat. 168-175; Volz, Eschat 162 ff.). Notwithstanding the warning of the Lord: οχὑῶ γῶα χόοςἢχιο (Act_1:7; cf. Mar_13:32, Mat_24:36), it was impossible to quell curiosity as to the exact day and hour. Doubtless the converts particularly in mind in 5:1-11 were wondering what Paul’s teaching meant, especially since they feared lest the day might find them morally unprepared. Though as Ammonius (apud Ell.) says: ὁμνχιὸ δλῖπιττ χόο δ πσττ yet in Jewish usage the terms are interchangeable (cf. Dan_7:12 Sap. 7:18). אinserts τυbefore γάεθ; GF smooth χεα ἔε to χεαἐτ
2. ατὶγρἀρβςκλ The reason why (γ as in 4:9) it is unnecessary to write is not that he is unable to teach them anything new (Th. Mops.), but that, in view of the purpose of encouragement, it is inexpedient and superfluous (cf. Chrys.) to do any more than call attention to the facts which they already know accurately, namely (1), that the day of the Lord comes “as a thief at night comes” (sc. ἔχτ), that is, suddenly and unexpectedly; and (2) that, as the explanation (vv. 3-5) indicates, although the day comes suddenly for both believers and unbelievers alike, it is only the latter (v. 3) and not the former (vv. 4-5a) who are taken by surprise.
On ατὶγροδτ see 2:1. ἁρβ (Act_24:22) occurs elsewhere in Paul only Eph_5:15 and elsewhere in Gk. Bib. about a dozen times. Findlay thinks that ἀρβ is quoted from the letter sent to Paul. The O. T. (ἡ ἡέα(τῦ χρο which appears first in Amo_5:18 (see Robertson Smith, Prophets, 396, and Davidson, HDB I, 736) is retained by Paul, though χροis Christ, as the context here and elsewhere (e. g. Php_1:10, Php_1:2:16, 1Co_1:8, 2Co_1:14) attests. The omission of the articles (here and Php_1:6, Php_1:10, Php_1:2:16; cf. Isa_2:12, Isa_2:13:6, Isa_2:9, etc.) indicates a fixed formula (cf. θὸ πτ, 1:1). A reads with Amo_5:18a ἡἡέαχροThe mention of ν, literal here and v. 7, prepares the way for the metaphors in the contrasts between darkness and daylight (v. 4), darkness and light (v. 5), and night time and daytime (v. 5; cf. v. 8). On ὡ…οτ, cf. 1Co_7:17 (οτςχι Rom_5:15, Rom_5:18, etc.). As the emphasis is on ὡχέτ not on ἔχτ, the present tense is general or gnomic (BMT 12), not present for future, or prophetic. For the early belief that the Lord would come at night, expecially Easter eve, see Lü ad loc. who quotes Lactantius, Inst. 719, and Jerome on Mat_25:
Paul does not tell us (contrast 4:15) whence he derived the information assumed to be possessed by the readers. The comparison to a thief is in itself natural enough (cf. Jer_29:10 ὡ χέτιἐ νκὶἐιήοσνχῖαατ; also Job_24:14, Joe_2:9); but the first extant comparison of the coming of the Lord to a thief appears to be the word of Jesus in Luk_12:39 = Mat_24:43: ε ἤε ὁοκδσόη πί ὥᾳὁχέτςἔχτ To be sure ἐ νχιdoes not appear in the logion, and it is the Lord himself (by context) not the day of the Lord that is compared to a thief. But despite these differences, it is better to see in our passage an allusion to that word of the Lord than to postulate an agraphon or a citation from an unknown Jewish apocalypse (as Brü does in his Entstehung der paulinischen Christologie, 179 ff.). Ephr. (who wrongly takes ὅ as = quia) remarks on οδτ “sicut didicistis etiam haec a nobis; quoniam et nos ex ipso evangelio Domini nostri didicimus. 2Pe_3:10 (where CKL add ἐ νκι is evidently based on our passage.
3. ὅα λγσνκλ “When people are saying: There is (sc. ἐτ) security and safety,” etc. Starting from ἡέακροas a day of judgment, and from the idea of moral indifference suggested by ἐ νκι(cf. v. 4 οκἐτ ἐ σόε Paul proceeds, without connecting particle (cf. v. 5 οκἐμ; 1Co_14:26, Col_3:4) to explain the bearing first on unbelievers of the sudden coming of the Lord (v. 2). Though λγσ is impersonal (cf. 1Co_10:20 and Bl 30:4) and ατῖis undefined, yet clearly unbelievers alone are in mind, as the sharply contrasted ὑεςδ ἀεφι(v. 4) makes plain. By the phrase ερν κὶἀφλι we are reminded with Grot. of Eze_13:10, λγνε ερν κὶοκἦ ερν(cf. Jer_6:14 = 8:11); and of the false repose and safety of the people described in the word of the Lord (Luk_17:26 f. = Mat_24:37 f.) to which Ephr. alludes: “istud est quod dixit Dominus noster: sicut fuit in diebus Noëet Loth, etc.
The asyndeton (א et al.) is corrected by BD, et al., which insert δ, and by KLP, Vulg (enim), et al., which insert γ For ὅα δ, cf. 1Co_13:10, 1Co_15:27, etc; ἕα γ, 1Co_3:4, 2Co_12:10, etc. GF, et al., read λγυι(cf. σήε 3:8). On ὅα…ττ cf. 1Co_15:28, 1Co_15:54, Col_3:4. For the present general condition, see BMT 260, 312. ερνand ἀφλι united only here in Gk. Bib., are virtually synonymous (cf. Lev_26:5 f.); but Ell. would distinguish them: “ερνbetokens an inward repose and security; ἀγλιa sureness and safety that is not interfered with or compromised by outward obstacles.”
αφίιςὄερ. That is, either “all of a sudden” (adjective for adverb; Bl 44:2) or “sudden” (adjective) “destruction comes on them.” It is probable that ὄερ, like θντ (2Co_2:15, 2Co_7:10) and ἀώε (II 2:10, 1Co_1:18, 2Co_2:15, Php_1:28) is the opposite of στρ; and that the point is not annihilation of existence but separation from the presence of Christ; hence ὄερ may be αώι (II 1:9) as well as αφίι
On the idea, see Kennedy, Last Things, 314. In 1Co_5:5, ὄερςτςσρόis contrasted with the salvation (σζσα of τ πεμ in 1Ti_6:9, we have εςὄερνκὶἀώεα. αφίι is rare in Gk. Bib. (Luk_21:34 Sap. 17:15, 2 Mac. 14:17, 3 Mac. 3:24); WH. edit here αφίι (Bא but in Luk_21:34 ἐφίι (so here, ADFLP, et al.). ἐιτν, frequent in Lxx appears in N. T. only here and 2Ti_4:2, 2Ti_4:6, apart from Lk. Acts. It is construed with dat. (here and Sap. 6:5. 8, Luk_2:9, Luk_24:4, etc.), or with ἐιand accus. (Sir. 41:22, Jer_21:2, etc.; Luk_21:34, Act_10:17, Act_11:11). On ἐίττ (Bא etc.) for ἐίττ (DEKP, et al.), see Bl 6:7. GF, read φνστ; B puts ατῖafter ἐίττ
ὥπρἡὠί κλ “As travail comes upon (sc. ἐίττ) her that is with child.” The point of the comparison is not ὁπνςτνὠίω(cf. Isa_66:7), as the common Lxx phrase ὠῖε ὡ τκοσ might suggest (so Th. Mops.); not the certainty (an interpretation which Chrys. combats); but the suddenness as αφίι indicates. The idea of inevitableness, brought out by ο μ ἐφγσ, arises probably not from the comparison but from ὄερ
For ὠῖε ὠ τχοσ, cf. Psa_47:6, Hos_13:3, Mic_4:9, Jer_6:24, Jer_6:8:21, Jer_6:22:33, Jer_6:27:43; also Jer_13:21, Isa_13:8; and Isa_26:17 Eth. En. 62:4. The singular (א read ἡὠε) is rare in Gk. Bib.; but even if the plural were read with GF, there would be here no reference to the dolores Messiae (Mar_13:8 = Mat_24:8; cf. Volz, Eschat 173 and Bousset, Relig 2 286). On ἐφύε (Rom_2:3, 2Co_11:33), cf. Luk_21:36; on ο μ with aor. subj. instead of fut. indic. (which DGF here read; cf. Gal_4:30), see 4:15 and cf. Rom_4:8, 1Co_8:13, Gal_5:16. It is unnecessary to supply an object with ἐφγσ; contrast 2 Mac. 6:26: τςτῦπνορτπςχῖα οτ ζνοτ ἀοαὼ ἐφύοαHere only does Paul use γσή elsewhere in N. T. apart from Tit_1:12, Luk_1:31, it is used in the common Lxx phrase, as here, ἔενἐ γσρ = ενιἔχο
Lft. remarks on v. 3: “The dissimilarity which this verse presents to the ordinary style of St. Paul is striking.” To be sure, ὅα…ττ ὥπρ ἐφύεν ὄερςor ο μ with aor. subj. need excite no wonder; but the use of ερν= “security,” of ἀφλι, αφίις ἐιτν and ὠί and of the impersonal λγσ might suggest that Paul (a) is citing from a Jewish apocalypse, or (b) from an agraphon, or is writing under the influence either (c) of a Jewish apocalypse or (d) a word of the Lord (as in v. 2). In the light of v. 2, (a) is improbable. In favour of (d) rather than (c) is to be urged not Mar_13:8 = Mat_24:8, or Mar_13:17 and par., but Luk_21:34-36: “Take heed to yourselves that your hearts be not dulled by debauches and μθ and the distractions of life; and take heed lest ἐιτ ἐʼὑᾶ ἐνδο ἡἡέ as a trap (ὡ πγ; cf. Jer_5:27). For it will surely come upon all those who sit on the face of all the earth. ἀρπετat every season, praying that ye may be able ἐφγῖall these things which are going to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.” This passage may have affected vv. 4-8 below; cf. Rom_13:11 ff. In favour of (b) is not the concrete and definite character of the utterance (cf. 4:16), but the indefinite ατῖ “If, as seems not unlikely, the sentence is a direct quotation from our Lord’s words, the reference implied in the word ατῖis to be sought for in the context of the saying from which St. Paul quotes” (Lft.).
4. ὑεςδ κλ The δ is adversative by context and contrasts the brethren with the ατῖ(v. 3) who are now seen to be unbelievers. The latter are in the realm of night, as ἐ νκι(v. 2) suggests, that is, of wickedness; and the day of the Lord with its inevitable destruction comes on them suddenly and finds them unprepared. The brethren on the other hand (δ) are not in darkness (ἐ σόε that is, in the realm of wickedness, and the day of the Lord, now designated as the daylight in contrast with the dark, while it comes suddenly for them also, does not (and this is the point of the new comparison) surprise them as thieves are surprised by the coming of the dawn.
“Christians are on the alert, open-eyed; they do not know when it is to come, but they are alive to any signs of its coming. Thus there is no incompatibility between the emphasis on the instantaneous character of the advent and the emphasis in II 2:3 f. on the preliminary conditions” (Moff.). On σόο cf. Rom_13:12, 1Co_4:5, 2Co_6:14, etc.; cf. ἡἐοσατῦσόο Col_1:13, Luk_22:53. The clause with ἵ is not of purpose but of conceived result (cf. 2Co_1:17 and BMT 218 f.). The daylight is a metaphor for “the day,” that is, ἡἡέαἐεν(GF; cf. II 1:10); on ἡἡέ, cf. 1Co_3:13, Rom_13:12; also Rom_2:16, Eze_36:33. κτλμάε is here not “attain” (Rom_9:30, 1Co_9:24, Php_3:12 f.), or “ understand” (Eph_3:18), but “overtake” (Gen_19:19, Sir. 7:1:Joh_12:35), with a touch of surprise and detection. GF read κτλβ ADGF place ὑᾶbefore ἡἡέ Rom_13:11-14, where the time before the Parousia is designated as ὕνς σόο and νξaffords a striking parallel to vv. 4-7. The advent is ἡἡέ and Christians are to put on τ ὅλ τῦφτ and to conduct themselves ὡ ἐ ἡέᾳ that is, are to avoid κμι, μθι κλ for ἡνξποκψνἡδ ἡέαἤγκν
ὡ κέτς“That the day should surprise you as thieves are surprised.” As Grotius has observed, the comparison here is not the same as in v. 2, though it follows naturally from it. In v. 2, “the day of the Lord comes as a thief at night,” suddenly and unexpectedly; here the day of the Lord (compared to the daylight) does not surprise the believers as it does the unbelievers (ὡ κέτ), that is, does not catch the Christians unawares and unprepared.
κέτ, read by BA Boh, is accepted by Lachmann, WH., De W., Ewald, Koch, Lft., Moff. and Field (Otium Norv. III, 123). Most commentators, however, prefer the numerically better attested κέτ (see Souter, ad loc.). In this case, the same comparison is used as in v. 2, but here the point is not “suddenness” but “surprise.” The usual objection to κέτ, that it spoils the metaphor (see on νπο2:7), is too incisive, in view of the inversion of metaphors in Paul, especially in this section (cf. κθύε and γηοε in vv. 6, 10); see Lft. on 2:7 and ad loc. Weiss (17) thinks that κέτ is a mechanical conformation to ὑᾶ(cf. τπυ1:7). Zim (cf. Mill. and Dibelius) suggests that κέτ involves a change of sense that overlooks the reference to Luk_12:39 = Mat_24:43.
5. πνε γρὑεςκλ The γ explains why “the day” should not surprise them; and the πνε(cf. πσ II 1:10) singles out the faint-hearted for special encouragement. The readers, one and all, are not “in darkness” but are “sons of light,” that is, belong to Christ; and, with a slight advance of meaning, are “sons of day,” that is, belong to the realm of future light and salvation, the unexpressed reason being that the indwelling Christ or Spirit guarantees their ability so to live a blameless life that they may even now, if they are vigilant and sober, be assured of the rescue from the wrath that comes (1:10), and of an entrance into God’s own kingdom and glory (2:12; v. infra, vv. 9-10).
υὸ φτ suggests the possible influence of the word of the Lord in Luk_16:8; cf. Joh_12:36, Eph_5:8 (τκ); the phrase does not occur in Lxx υὸ ἡέαis not found elsewhere in Gk. Bib. The use of υόwith a gen. to denote the intimate relation of a person with a thing or person appears to be Semitic in origin (see on II 2:3 and cf. Deiss. BS 161-166); the idiom is common in the Gk. Bib.
οκἐμνκλ The change from ὑε (vv. 4-5a) to ἡε (vv. 5b-10) should not be overlooked. In saying that all the brethren are sons of light and sons of day, Paul seems already to be preparing the way tactfully for an exhortation that they conduct themselves as such, especially since blamelessness of life (3:13) alone assures them of escape from judgment (cf. 2Co_5:10, Rom_14:10). Not wishing to discourage the faint-hearted but at the same time recognising that they need the warning, he includes in the exhortation not only them but himself and all other Christians, and proceeds (v. 5b) asyndetically: “We Christians, all of us, do not belong to night or to darkness.” He thus prepares for the exhortation to sobriety and vigilance (vv. 6-7), and for the encouraging assurance of future salvation (vv. 9-10). This done, the ὑε of v. 5 a (cf. v. 4) is resumed in v. 11. It is obvious that οκἑμννκὸ οδ σόο forms the transition to the exhortation.
ενινκό, σόος ἡέα(v. 8) is logically equivalent to υο νκό etc. In view of 1Co_3:23, 2Co_10:7, Rom_14:8, etc., it is unnecessary to supply υο The arrangement of φτς ἡέα, νκό, σόο is chiastic. Day and night are the periods; light and darkness the characteristics of the periods. GF put κιbefore οκἐμ to relieve the asyndeton. On ο…οδ, see 2:3 and II 3:8.
6. ἄαονμ κθύωε κλ“So then let us not sleep as do the rest (ο λιο as 4:13) but let us watch and be sober.” The figurative use of κθύε and νφιis suggested, as v. 7 intimates, by the fact that sleepers sleep at night and drunkards get drunk at night. κθύε covers all sorts of moral laxity; γηοε, its opposite, denotes watchfulness, moral alertness, vigilance against the assaults of unrighteousness. The point of νφιis less certain; for since drunkenness may suggest either stupid unconsciousness or abnormal exaltation (B. Weiss, Dob.), νφμ may be an exhortation either to perfect control of the senses without which vigilance is impossible or to quietness of mind (4:11) without which the peaceable fruits of righteousness essential to future salvation are unattainable.
Since κθύωεand γηοῶεare metaphorical, it is unlikely that νφμ here (and v. 8) is literal, as if some of the converts were intemperate; or that it is both literal and metaphorical (Find.). At the same time, as v. 7 intimates, the sons of day and the sons of light in Thessalonica as elsewhere may have been tempted to indulge in habits characteristic of those who belong not to day but to night. ἄαο, found in Gk. Bib, only in Paul, is followed by the hortatory subj. (here and Gal_6:10, Rom_14:19); or by the imperative (II 2:15). KLP read κθύοεand GF νφμ; cf. Rom_14:19 (א —κθύε is used by Paul only in this section and in the fragment of a hymn cited in Eph_5:14. In v. 7 it is literal; in v. 10 it is = κιᾶθ = ἀονσεν ὡ κίwhich DGF read here for the simple ὡ is rare in Paul (Rom_9:25, 1Co_7:7 f. 1Co_7:9:5, Eph_2:3, Eph_5:23), and is perhaps a reminiscence of Eph_2:3 ὡ κὶο λιο. γηοε is infrequent in Paul (1Co_16:13, Col_4:2) and the Lxx (cf. 1 Mac. 12:27: γηοενκὶενιἐὶτῖ ὅλι, ἑομζσα εςπλμνδʼὅη τςνκό It is employed in the eschatological passages Mar_13:33 ff. Luk_12:37 ff. and Mat_24:43 ff.; but in Luk_21:36 and Mar_13:33 we have ἀρπεννφι rare in Gk. Bib., is used metaphorically in the N. T. (v. 8, 2Ti_4:5, 1Pe_1:13, 1Pe_1:4:7; 1Pe_5:8 (νψτ, γηοήα); cf. ἐνφι(1Co_15:34, Joe_1:5, etc.) and ἀαήε (2Ti_2:26).
7. ο γρκθύοτςκλThe exhortation to vigilance and sobriety is illustrated by a fact of observation familiar to the readers (cf. Rom_13:11 ff). “Those who sleep (usually) sleep at night (νκό cf. 2:9) and those who get drunk (usually) are drunk at night.” These habits, characteristic of those who are not sons of day and sons of light, are mentioned, not without reference to the temptations to which all Christians, including the readers, are exposed.
The distinction between μθσεθ “get drunk” (Eph_5:18, Luk_12:45, Pro_23:31) and μθε (B reads μθοτ) “be drunk” (1Co_11:21, cf. ὁμθωJob_12:25, Isa_19:14, Isa_24:20, etc.) is doubted by Ell. Lft. and others. Since Paul does not say ο κθύοτςνκό εσνκλ “the sleepers belong to night,” etc., it is improbable that v. 7 is figurative (see Lü Schmiedel would exscind v. 7 as a marginal note, and v. 8a as a connecting link inserted by a later reader.
8. ἡεςδ ἡέα κλThe emphasis on νκό(v. 7), already implied in vv. 2, 4-6, prepares for the contrast here, δ being adversative by context, and for the exhortation. Sleep and drunkenness are the affairs of those who belong to the night; “but let us, since we belong not to night (the realm of evil), but to day (the future glory; cf. v. 5), be sober.”
ἐδσμνικλ“It is not sufficient to watch and be sober, we must also be armed” (Chrys.). “Perhaps the mention of vigilance suggested the idea of a sentry armed and on duty” (Lft. who compares Rom_13:11 ff.). As in 1:3, Paul describes the Christian life on the religious side as faith and on the ethical side as love, and singles out for special remark the moral quality of hope; hence to the breastplate he adds the helmet, the hope for future salvation, thus giving to conduct an eschatological sanction.
One is reminded here and even more strongly in Eph_6:14 of Isa_59:17: κὶἐεύαοδκισν (cf. Job_29:14) ὡ θρκ(cf. Sap. 5:18) κὶπρέεοπρκφλινοτρο ἐὶτ The figure, however, is natural to Paul (cf. Rom_13:12 ἐδσμθ τ ὅλ τῦφτ and Eph_6:11 ἐδσσετνπνπίντῦθο). The purpose of the armour, tacit here but expressed in Eph_6:11, is probably: πὸ τ δνσα ὑᾶ σῆα πὸ τςμθδα τῦδαόο the Satan who, as an angel of darkness, transforms himself into an ἄγλςφτ (2Co_11:14). ἐδεθ, a common word in Lxx, is used metaphorically by Paul with various objects (cf. Gal_3:27, 1Co_15:53 ff. Rom_13:14, Col_3:12, Eph_4:24). The aorist part. is of identical action (BMT 139). θρξhere and Eph_6:14 in Paul, is quite frequent in Gk. Bib. (cf. ἐδεθιθρκ1 Reg. 17:5, Jer_26:4, Eze_38:4, Eze_38:1 Mal_3:3). πρκφλι in N. T. only here and Eph_6:17, is literal in Lxx except Isa_59:17. On the complete armour of the hastati, see Polyb. VI, 23. The gen. πσε and ἀάηare appositional.
ἐπδ στρα Salvation is both negatively freedom from wrath (cf. 1:10) and positively fellowship with Christ, as vv. 9-10 declare. Since στρ is an eschatological conception (cf. Rom_13:11), something to be acquired (v. 9), Paul says not στραbut ἐπδ στρα(objective gen. as 1:3, Rom_5:2, Col_1:27).
The significance of this exhortation to hope lies in the conviction that without blamelessness of life (3:13) even believers cannot escape the judgment (cf. Rom_14:10, 2Co_5:10). To be sure, as Paul forthwith encourages the faint-hearted to remember (vv. 9-10), this hope is virtually certain of realisation.
Here and v. 9, he speaks generally of στπαIn Rom_8:23, he singles out the redemption of the body as the object of hope; “for by that hope we have been (proleptically) saved”; and in Php_3:20 f., Jesus Christ as στ is to transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformable to the body of his glory (note ἀεδχμθin both passages and cf. Gal_5:5). Though Paul here may have this specific hope also in mind, he contents himself with a general statement, ἐπςστρα(cf. Job_2:9 for the objective gen.: ποδχμνιτνἐπδ τςστρα μ).
9-10. ὅιοκἔεοκλWith ὅ “because,” he confirms the propriety of the exhortation to the ἐπδ στραby encouraging the faint-hearted to be assured that that hope is bound to be fulfilled. The ground of assurance is stated, first, negatively, “God did not appoint us Christians for wrath,” that is, for condemnation at the day of judgment (cf. 1:10, 2:16); and then positively, “but to gain salvation.” Since, however, it is impossible to work out one’s own salvation (Php_2:13) unless the divine power operates in the believer, Paul next recalls the means by which salvation is to be acquired, namely, “through” the causal activity of the indwelling “Jesus Christ our Lord.” Furthermore, since death and resurrection are inseparable factors in the redemptive work of Christ (cf. 4:14), he adds: “who died for us,” that is, for our sins, “in order that we might live, have life with him,” the future life in fellowship with Christ, which is the consummation of Christian hope.
The construction τθνιτν εςτ only here in Paul, but frequent in Lxx, is not the equivalent of Act_13:47 = Isa_49:6 (τθιάσ εςφ; contrast Rom_4:17 = Gen_17:5), but nevertheless “appears to have a partially Hebraistic tinge” (Ell.; cf. Psa_65:9, Hos_4:7, Mic_1:7, Jer_25:12, etc.). ἔε (= ἔηε Bl 55:1) indicates the purpose of God, but like ελτ(II 2:13) is less specific than ἐλγ (1:4); πρπίσςrare in Gk. Bib., is used absolutely in the passive sense of “possession,” “remnant,” in 2Ch_14:13, Mal_3:17, Hag_2:9, Eph_1:14, 1Pe_2:9; here, however, and II 2:14, Heb_10:39, where a genitive follows, it is active, acquisitio (Vulg, Ell., Mill. and most), “gaining,” “winning,” as indeed γηοῶεand νφμ (Find.) and the clause with δα(Dob.) intimate. B and some minuscules invert the order to read ὁθὸ ἡᾶ(cf. 2:16).
δὰτῦκρο ἡῶ Ἰ ΧThis clause is to be construed not with ἔε but with the adjacent εςπρπίσνστρα The δαindicates the causal activity of the risen Lord conceived of as a spiritual power resident in the hearts of believers, enabling them to bring forth the fruits of righteousness essential to salvation and guaranteeing their resurrection from the dead and eternal fellowship with himself.
The phrase is the logical but not grammatical equivalent of ἐ τ κρῳ see on 4:2, 14. On the divine name, see 1:3; B Eth. omit Χιτυ(cf. 2:19).
10. τῦἀοαότςκλThe risen Lord through whose indwelling power the believer gains salvation is also he who died for us, that is, for our sins (Gal_1:3, 1Co_15:3; cf. Rom_5:8, Rom_4:25).
Bאread πρ (cf. Gal_1:3 where B has ὑέ but most have ὑέ(cf. Rom_5:8); the distinction between these prepositions is becoming enfeebled (Moult I, 105). By the phrases ἀονσενὑέ(Rom_5:6 ff. Rom_5:14:15, 1Co_15:3, 2Co_5:15), δδνιπρ (Gal_1:3), and πρδδνιὑέ(Gal_2:20, Rom_8:32), Paul indicates his belief in the sufferings and especially the death of Christ, the righteous for the unrighteous, as an atonement (cf. Moore, EB 4229 ff.). In speaking of the death of Christ for us, Paul uses regularly the category not of forgiveness (Rom_4:7, Col_1:14, Eph_1:7; cf Col_2:13, Col_3:13, Eph_4:32) but of reconciliation (Rom_5:10 ff. 2Co_5:18 ff. Col_1:20 ff.) and especially justification. “Forgiveness he calls justification. It is the same thing as atonement, or reconciliation, terms in which somewhat different aspects of the same process are emphasised” (Ropes, Apostolic Age, 156). The absence of these terms in I, II, and the fact that this is the only passage in I, II in which the death of Christ for us is mentioned, suggests not that the significance of that death was not preached prominently in Thessalonica, but that the purpose of these letters did not call for a discussion of justification, law, works, etc. Nothing is here said explicitly of Christ’s death “to sin” (Rom_6:10) or of the believers’ dying and rising with Christ (Gal_2:19 f. Rom_6:3 ff. Col_2:12, Col_2:20, Col_2:3