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1Th_5:20. Paul passes from the genus to a species.
προφητεία ] denotes prophetic discourse. Its nature consisted not so much in the prediction of future events, although that was not excluded, as in energetic, soul-captivating, and intelligent expression of what was directly communicated by the Holy Ghost to the speaker for the edification and moral elevation of the church. See Meyer on Act_11:27; Rückert on 1 Cor. p. 448 f.; Fritzsche on Rom_12:6. The Thessalonians were not to despise these prophetic utterances; they were rather to value them as a form of the revelation of the Holy Spirit; comp. 1Co_14:5. The undervaluing of the gifts of the Spirit, of which some members of the church must at least have been guilty, had its reason probably in their abuse, whilst partly deceivers who pursued impure designs under the pretext of having received divine revelations, and partly self-deceivers who considered the deceptions of their own fancy as divine suggestions, appeared (see 2Th_2:2), and thus spiritual gifts in general might have been brought into discredit among discerning and calmer characters.