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1Th_4:17. Σὺν αὐτοῖς ] i.e. with the raised νεκροὶ ἐν Χριστῷ .
ἁρπαγησόμεθα ] we will be snatched away. The expression (comp. 2Co_12:4; Act_8:39) depicts the swiftness and irresistible force with which believers will be caught up. But, according to 1Co_15:50-53, the apostle must have conceived this ἁρπάζεσθαι as only occurring after a change has taken place in their former earthly bodies into heavenly, to qualify them for a participation in the eternal kingdom of the Messiah.
ἐν νεφέλαις ] not instead of εἰς νεφέλας (Moldenhauer), but either in clouds, i.e. enveloped in clouds, or better, on clouds, i.e. enthroned in their midst. According to the Old Testament representation (Psa_104:3), God rides on clouds as on a triumphal chariot. Also the Messiah appears on clouds (Dan_7:13). According to Act_1:9, Christ ascended to heaven on a cloud; and according to Act_1:11, Mat_24:30, He will return on a cloud. Theodoret: Ἔδειξε τὸ μέγεθος τῆς τιμῆς · ὥσπερ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ δεσπότης ἐπὶ νεφελῆς φωτεινῆς ἀνελήφθη , οὕτω καὶ οἱ εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστευκότες κ . τ . λ .
εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ κυρίου ] to the meeting of the Lord, i.e. in order to be led towards the Lord. εἰς ἀπάντησιν , corresponding to the Hebrew ìÄ÷ÀøÇàú , is united both with the genitive (Mat_25:1; Mat_25:6), as here, and with the dative (Act_28:15). From the words it follows that the apostle did not think of Christ descending completely down to the earth.
εἰς ἀέρα ] into the air, belongs to ἁρπαγησόμεθα , and can as little be considered as equivalent to εἰς τοὺς οὐρανούς (Flatt) as it can denote through the air, i.e. through the air to the higher regions (Flatt). Nor, on the other hand, can it be the apostle’s meaning—although Pelt, Usteri, Paulin. Lehrbegr. pp. 356, 359 (hesitatingly), and Weizel in the Theol. Stud. u. Krit. 1836, p. 935 f. assume it—that the Christian host would be caught up into the air, in order to have their permanent abode with Christ in the air. For, according to 2Co_5:1, the future eternal abode of Christians is ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς .[60] Nevertheless the apostle was constrained to express himself as he has done. For when Christ descends down from heaven, and Christians are caught up to meet Him, the place of meeting can only be a space between heaven and earth, i.e. the air. Comp. Augustine, de civit. Dei, xx. 20, 1 Thessalonians 2 : Quod enim ait … non sic accipiendum est, tanquam in aëre nos dixerit semper cum domino esse mansuros; quia nec ipse utique ibi manebit, quia veniens transiturus est. Venienti quippe ibitur obviam, non manenti. But that Paul adds nothing concerning the removal of the glorified Christian host to heaven, following their being caught up with Christ, and of the resurrection of all men connected with the advent, along with the judgment of the world, is naturally explained, because the description of the advent as such is not here his object, but his design is wholly and entirely to satisfy the doubts raised by the Thessalonians in respect of the advent.[61] But to effect this purpose it was perfectly sufficient that he now, specifying the result of the points described, proceeds: ΚΑῚ ΟὝΤΩς ΠΆΝΤΟΤΕ ΣῪΝ ΚΥΡΊῼ ἘΣΌΜΕΘΑ ] and so shall we ever be united with the Lord.
οὕτως ] so, that is, after that we have actually met with Him. It refers back to εἰς ἀπάντησιν .
σύν ] imports more than ΜΕΤΆ . It expresses intimate union, not mere companionship.
ἘΣΌΜΕΘΑ ] comprehends as its subject both ΝΕΚΡΟῚ ἘΝ ΧΡΙΣΤῷ and the ΖῶΝΤΕς .
[60] Also on this account Paul cannot have thought on a permanent residence on the glorified earth (Georgii in Zeller’s theol. Jahrb. 1845, I. p. 6, and Hilgenfeld in the Zeitsch. f. wiss. Theol., Halle 1862, p. 240).
[61] For the same reason also the silence concerning the change of believers who happened to be alive at the advent is justified. Against Schrader, who thinks on account of this silence that the author must have conceived the circumstances of the advent “in an entirely sensible manner;” “the incongruities of this representation, if it is understood sensibly,” cannot be Pauline, because with Paul the doctrine of the last things has a “purely (?) spiritual character.”