Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Thessalonians 5:28
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.
28. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you ] This is St Paul’s usual form of final benediction. He expands it later Into the full Trinitarian blessing of 2Co 13:14, or shortens it into the brief “Grace be with you” of Col 4:18. It contains all spiritual good that one Christian can wish another. Such grace is with us, when it constantly attends us, when it forms the atmosphere we breathe, the light by which we see, the guiding and sustaining influence of our whole lives. Comp. note on ch. 1Th 1:1; and on grace, 2Th 1:12.
The liturgical Amen is added by the Apostle in some of his letters, and was very naturally supplied by devout copyists in others. Here it is not authentic.
The first epistle unto the Thessalonians was written from Athens ] This, like the other “subscriptions” to St Paul’s Epistles, is a note of the Greek editors, which may be perhaps as old as the second century. It is almost certainly erroneous in point of fact; see Introd. pp. 22, 27. In the oldest MSS the words “To the Thessalonians I” are placed at the end, repeated from the beginning of the Epistle. See note on the title, p. 45.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, … – notes, Rom 16:20.
In regard to the subscription at the close of the Epistle, purporting that it was written from Athens, see the introduction, section 3. These subscriptions are of no authority, and the one here, like several others, is probably wrong.
From the solemn charge in 1Th 5:27 that this epistle should be read to all the holy brethren, that is, to the church at large, we may infer that it is in accordance with the will of God that all Christians should have free access to the Holy Scriptures. What was the particular reason for this injunction in Thessalonica, is not known, but it is possible that an opinion had begun to prevail even then that the Scriptures were designed to be kept in the hands of the ministers of religion, and that their common perusal was to be prohibited. At all events, whether this opinion prevailed then or not, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the Holy Spirit, by whom this Epistle was dictated, foresaw that the time would come when this doctrine would be defended by cardinals and popes and councils; and that it would be one of the means by which the monstrous fabric of the Papacy would be sustained and perpetuated. It is worthy of remark, also, that the apostle Paul, in his epistles to the Thessalonians, has dwelt more fully on the fact that the great apostasy would occur under the Papacy, and on the characteristics of that grand usurpation over the rights of people, than he has anywhere else in his Epistle; see 2Th 2:11. It is no improbable supposition that with reference to that, and to counteract one of its leading dogmas, his mind was supernaturally directed to give this solemn injunction, that the contents of the Epistle which he had written should be communicated without reserve to all the Christian brethren in Thessalonica. In view of this injunction, therefore, at the close of this Epistle, we may remark:
(1) That it is a subject of express divine command that the people should have access to the Holy Scriptures. So important was this considered, that it was deemed necessary to enjoin those who should receive the word of God, under the solemnities of an oath, and by all the force of apostolic authority, to communicate what they had received to others.
(2) This injunction had reference to all the members of the church, for they were all to be made acquainted with the word of God. The command is, indeed, that it he read to them, but by parity of reasoning it would follow that it was to be in their hands; that it was to be accessible to them; that it was in no manner to be withheld from them. Probably many of them could not read, but in some way the contents of revelation were to be made known to them – and not by preaching only, but by reading the words of inspiration. No part was to be kept back; nor were they to be denied such access that they could fully understand it; nor was it to be insisted on that there should be an authorized expounder of it. It was presumed that all the members of the church were qualified to understand what had been written to them, and to profit by it. It follows therefore,
(3) That there is great iniquity in all those decisions and laws which are designed to keep the Scriptures from the common people. This is true:
(a)In reference to the Papal communion, and to all the ordinances there which prohibit the free circulation of the Sacred Volume among the people;
(b)It is true of all those laws in slave-holding communities which prohibit slaves from being taught to read the Scriptures; and,
(c)It is true of all the opinions and dogmas which prevail in any community where the right of private judgment is denied, and where free access to the volume of inspiration is forbidden.
The richest blessing of heaven to mankind is the Bible; and there is no book ever written so admirably adapted to the common mind, and so fitted to elevate the sunken, the ignorant, and the degraded. There is no more decided enemy of the progress of the human race in intelligence, purity, and freedom, than he who prevents the free circulation of this holy volume; and there is no sincerer friend of the species than he who causes it to be read by all, and who contributes to make it accessible to all the families and all the inhabitants of the world.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 28. The grace of our Lord Jesus] As the epistle began so it ends; for the grace of Christ must be at the beginning and end of every work, in order to complete it, and bring it to good effect.
Amen.] This is wanting in BD*FG and some others. It was probably not written by St. Paul.
The subscriptions are, as in other cases, various and contradictory. The chief MSS. conclude as follows: The first to the Thessalonians is completed; the second to the Thessalonians begins. – DFG. The first to the Thessalonians written from Athens. – AB, and others. From Laodicea. – Cod. Claromont. The first to the Thessalonians, written from Athens. – Common Greek text.
The VERSIONS conclude thus: – The First Epistle to the Thessalonians was written at Athens, and sent by the hands of Timotheus. – SYRIAC. To the Thessalonians. – AETHIOPIC. Nothing in the VULGATE. The end of the epistle: it was written from a city of the Athenians, and sent by the hand of Timotheus. And to the Lord be praise for ever and ever. Amen. – ARABIC. Written from Athens, and sent by Silvanus and Timotheus. – COPTIC.
That it was not sent by either Silvanus or Timothy is evident enough from the inscription, for St. Paul associates these two with himself, in directing it to the Thessalonian Church. Others say that it was sent by Tychicus and Onesimus, but this also is absurd; for Onesimus was not converted till a considerable time after the writing of this epistle. That it was written by St. Paul, there is no doubt; and that it was written at Corinth, and not at Athens, has been shown in the preface.
1. THE two preceding chapters are certainly among the most important and the most sublime in the New Testament. The general judgment, the resurrection of the body, and the states of the quick and dead, the unrighteous and the just, are described, concisely indeed, but they are exhibited in the most striking and affecting points of view. I have attempted little else than verbal illustrations; the subject is too vast for my comprehension; I cannot order my speech by reason of darkness. Though there are some topics handled here which do not appear in other parts of the sacred writings, yet the main of what we learn is this. “Our God will come, and will not keep silence; a fire shall burn before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him; he shall call to the heavens above, and to the earth beneath, that he may judge his people. “The day of judgment! what an awful word is this! what a truly terrific time! when the heavens shall be shrivelled as a scroll, and the elements melt with fervent heat; when the earth and its appendages shall be burnt up, and the fury of that conflagration be such that there shall be no more sea! A time when the noble and ignoble dead, the small and the great, shall stand before God, and all be judged according to the deeds done in the body; yea, a time when the thoughts of the heart and every secret thing shall be brought to light; when the innumerable millions of transgressions, and embryo and abortive sins, shall be exhibited in all their purposes and intents; a time when Justice, eternal Justice, shall sit alone upon the throne, and pronounce a sentence as impartial as irrevocable, and as awful as eternal! There is a term of human life; and every human being is rapidly gliding to it as fast as the wings of time, in their onward motion, incomprehensibly swift, can carry him! And shall not the living lay this to heart? Should we not live in order to die? Should we not die in order to be judged? And should we not live and die so as to live again to all eternity, not with Satan and his angels, but with God and his saints? O thou man of God! thou Christian! thou immortal spirit! think of these things.
2. The subject in verse 27 of the last chapter I have but slightly noticed: I charge you, by the Lord, that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. This is exceedingly strange; the Epistles to the Romans, the Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, were directed to the whole Church in each of those places; why, then, after directing this, as he did all the rest, to the whole Church, should he at the conclusion adjure them, by the Lord, that it should be read to all the holy brethren; that is, to the very persons to whom it was addressed? Is there not some mystery here? Has it not been the endeavour of Satan, from the beginning, to keep men from consulting the oracles of God; and has he not used even the authority of the Church to accomplish this his purpose! Was not the prohibiting the use of the Scriptures to the people at large the mystery of iniquity which then began to work, and against which the adjuration of the apostle is directed? see second epistle, chap. 2; this mystery, which was the grand agent in the hands of Mystery, Babylon the Great, to keep the people in darkness, that the unauthorized and wicked pretensions of this mother of the abominations of the earth might not be brought to the test; but that she might continue to wear her crown, sit on her scarlet beast, and subject the Christian world to her empire. Was it not the Christian world’s total ignorance of God’s book which the Romish Church took care to keep from the people at large, that induced them patiently, yet with terror, to bow down to all her usurpations, and to swallow down monstrous doctrines which she imposed upon them as Christian verities? Was it not this deplorable ignorance which induced kings and emperors to put their necks, literally, under the feet of this usurped and antichristian power? This mystery of iniquity continues still to work; and with all the pretensions of the Romish Church, the Scriptures are in general withheld from the people, or suffered to be read under such restrictions and with such notes as totally subvert the sense of those passages on which this Church endeavours to build her unscriptural pretensions. It is generally allowed that the Vulgate version is the most favourable to these pretensions, and yet even that version the rulers of the Church dare not trust in the hands of any of their people, even under their general ecclesiastical restrictions, without their counteracting notes and comments. How strange is this! and yet in this Church there have been, and still are, many enlightened and eminent men; surely truth has nothing to fear from the Bible. When the Romish Church permits the free use of this book, she may be stripped, indeed, of some of her appendages, but she will lose nothing but her dross and tin, and become what the original Church at Rome was, beloved of God, called to be saints; and have her faith, once more, spoken of throughout all the world, Ro 1:7-8. She has, in her own hands the means of her own regeneration; and a genuine Protestant will wish, not her destruction, but her reformation; and if she consent not to be reformed, her total destruction is inevitable.
Finished correcting for a new edition, on the shortest day of 1831. – A. C.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Having exhorted them to salute one another, he now sends them his own salutation; not in a lip compliment, as the mode now is, but in a serious expression of the desire of his soul: and this, or words to the same purpose, are his salutation in every Epistle, which he makes to be his token, 2Th 3:17. And by grace here he means favour and good will, rather than inherent grace: and all blessings which spring from grace, as sometimes all are comprehended under the word peace. Yet grace and peace are sometimes in his salutations both joined together. And though here Christ is only mentioned, yet in many other places God the Father is mentioned with him, 2Th 1:2; 2Pe 1:2; yea, and God the Holy Ghost also, 2Co 13:14; and where they are not mentioned, yet are all to be understood, for in all works ad extra they co-operate. And because grace is so eminently manifested in the whole work of our salvation, therefore the apostle doth still mention it in all his salutations. And with this he concludes this Epistle, and with this St. John concludes the whole Bible, Rev 22:21. And the seal added, not to shut up, but confirm the whole is: Amen; and is added as the voice of the whole church upon reading the Epistle, as some think, and not by the apostle himself.
The first (epistle) unto the Thessalonians was written from Athens. These postscripts to the apostles Epistles are judged to be added by some scribes that copied them out, and not by the apostle himself, as might be made evident; and they are not found in any Epistles but in St. Pauls alone. But as it is usual to date letters from the places where they are written, so is this dated from Athens. Hither he was conducted by some brethren after his persecution at Thessalonica and Berea, Act 17:15, and here we read he stayed for some time; but that from thence he wrote this Epistle, either then, or any time after, is but conjecture; it is more probable he wrote it from Corinth, because he sends it from Timotheus and Silvanus, as well as from himself, and they came to him from Macedonia when he was at Corinth, as Act 18:5.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. (See on 2Co13:14.) Paul ends as he began (1Th1:1), with “grace.” The oldest manuscripts omit “Amen,”which probably was the response of the Church after the publicreading of the Epistle.
The subscription is acomparatively modern addition. The Epistle was not, as it states,written from Athens, but from Corinth; for it is written in the namesof Silas and Timothy (besides Paul), who did not join the apostlebefore he reached the latter city (Ac18:5).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen. This is the apostle’s usual salutation in all his epistles, and the token of the genuineness of them, 2Th 3:17.
[See comments on Ro 16:20],
[See comments on 1Co 15:23],
[See comments on 2Co 13:14].
The subscription to this epistle is not genuine, which runs thus, “The first Epistle unto the Thessalonians was written from Athens”; whereas it appears from 1Th 3:1 compared with Ac 18:1 that it was written from Corinth, and not from Athens; nor are these last words, “from Athens”, in Beza’s Claromontane copy; though they stand in the Syriac and Arabic versions of the London Polygot Bible, which add, “and sent by Timothy”, and in the Alexandrian copy, and Complutensian edition.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The grace ( ). Paul prefers this noble word to the customary (Farewell, Be strong). See 2Th 3:18 for identical close save added (all). A bit shorter form in 1Cor 16:23; Rom 16:20 and still shorter in Col 4:18; 1Tim 6:21; Titus 3:15; 2Tim 4:22. The full Trinitarian benediction we find in 2Co 13:13.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” (he charis tou kuriou hemon lesou Christou) “The grace of our Lord (Master) Jesus (Savior) Christ (anointed one); Grace is the sum and source of all blessings obtained through Christ and the greatest happiness we can desire for others.
2) “Be with you. Amen.” (Meth’ humon) “be with you all”; 2Th 3:18. Paul never ceased to pray and desire that the grace and peace he had received through Jesus Christ might abound richly, exceedingly, continually on those brethren of the churches of Jesus Christ who loved and sought to do the bidding of Christ to them both as individuals and as true churches. Rom 16:20-24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Text (1Th. 5:28)
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Translation and Paraphrase
28.
(Now) may the favor of our Lord Jesus, the anointed one, be with you. (Amen)
Notes (1Th. 5:28)
1.
The benediction of grace is found at the end of every one of Pauls letters (including Hebrews). See Rom. 16:24; 1Co. 16:23; etc.
2.
It is not found at the close of the letters by Peter, Jude, James, or John. The book of Revelation, however, closes with a benediction of grace. Rev. 22:21.
3.
Grace means favor, as explained in the notes on 1Th. 1:1, paragraph 12.
4.
The word Amen is not given at the close of Nestles Greek text (it is in the margin), nor in the American Standard version. But it is included in many ancient manuscripts, and we include it in our paraphrase. It seems such an appropriate closing, both here and at the end of Part One of the epistle. See notes on 1Th. 3:13, paragraph 6.
5.
The postscript at the close of I Thessalonians in the King James version, The first epistle unto the Thessalonians was written from Athens, is NOT part of the inspired text by Paul, and also it is not true. See Introductory Section IV, paragraph 4.
STUDY SUGGESTION
Turn now to the Did You Learn? questions on the following pages [see Chapter Comments], and answer questions 19 to 51.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(28) The grace.St. Pauls autograph to conclude the letter. (See 2Th. 3:17-18.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. Grace you Wordsworth remarks, that of the thirteen epistles to which the name of Paul is prefixed, all contain near the close the formula “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” During St. Paul’s life no one else, he says, “ever used this formula; but after his death it was appropriated by St. John in the Apocalypse, and by St. Clement at the close of his epistle to the Corinthians.” Hence he infers that this formula was that “salutation of Paul with mine own hand,” of which the apostle speaks, and was always autographic.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.’ This again is Paul’s personal greeting. It partly repeats the greeting in 1Th 1:1. Grace is God’s undeserved active favour given in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, which Paul prays will be active in all the members of the church at Thessalonika.
1Th 5:28 . Paul concludes with the usual benediction.
. . .] See Meyer on Gal 1:6 .
] sc. .
REFLECTIONS
READER! here is a Chapter highly calculated, under God, to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: While the ungodly are scoffing at the threatened judgment of the Lord’s coming, behold with what awful and alarming account it is said that day will be known. As a thief in the night, so sudden, so unexpected. And, while the graceless will be thus surprised, both with the greatness and unlooked for horrors of that day; the prospect, like the Cloud in the camp of Israel, while dark with the blackness of despair to the enemies of our God and his Christ, will be bright and shining to all the Lord’s people, who are the children of the light, and of the day. Oh! the blessedness of that assurance, God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but unto salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Blessed be God the Holy Ghost for commanding his Scriptures to be read unto all the holy brethren. A plain proof of the sin and folly of that class of men, who would shut up the word of God from the common people. God be blessed for his mercy to this land, in that we have the Scriptures open to us, which are able to make us wise unto salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. And blessed be the Lord for the ministry of his faithful servant Paul; in this very sweet Epistle, and for all the inspired writings which God the Spirit taught him to send to the Churches! Ere long, the Church will meet with him, and all the faithful servants of the Lord, in every age of the Church, which have ministered in the name of the Lord. In the mean time, may God the Spirit cause his unction to enlighten all his people in the reading of them. And while the grace of God is directing the Church upon earth, may both the Church in earth and heaven be continually ascribing glory to the united source of all mercy, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, now, and forevermore. Amen
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. << The first epistle to the Thessalonians was written from Athens.>>
Ver. 28. Amen ] Amen Isa 1:1-31 . Assenting; 2. Assevering; 3. Assuring.
28 .] See on 2Co 13:13 .
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Th 5:28
28The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
1Th 5:28 Paul probably wrote this himself to authenticate the letter (cf. 2Th 3:17-18).
grace. Greek. charis. App-184.
with. Greek. meta. App-104.
28.] See on 2Co 13:13.
1Th 5:28
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.-[This contains all spiritual good that one Christian can wish another. Such grace is with us, when it constantly attends us, when it forms the atmosphere we breathe, the light by which we see, the guiding and sustaining influence of our whole lives.]
Rom 1:7, Rom 16:20, Rom 16:24, 2Th 3:18
Reciprocal: 2Pe 3:16 – speaking
A GREAT WISH
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
1Th 5:28
Here we have brought before us
I. A great Person.Our Lord Jesus Christ.
II. A great gift.His grace.
III. A great wish.May His grace be with you all.
Bishop G. H. Wilkinson.
1Th 5:28. Grace is the unmerited favor of Christ, which Paul wishes for the Thessalonians. It was a benediction with which he closed most of his epistles.
1Th 5:28. The grace. That is, the free favour, the unmerited kindness. This is the usual closing benediction with which Paul concludes his letters.
Thus concludes our apostle his excellent epistle, with his usual valediction or farewell wish, desiring, that though the Thessalonians had been large partakers of the grace andd Spirit of Christ, that yet they might receive fresh, farther and fuller supplies from himself, the fountain of all grace and goodness.
From whence note, that so inexhaustible is the fountain of divine grace, and so copious the streams of spiritual blessings flowing from it, that no such measures can be attained, but, as more is wanting, more is had, more is provided, more is allowed, more is to be thirsted after, and laboured for. Blessed be God for Jesus Christ, that overflowing, that never failing fountain of grace and comfort, in whom all fullness dwells, that of his fullness all his members may receive, further receive, grace for grace. Amen.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. [This is the benediction with which Paul closes most of his Epistles. It is a prayer that they may have all the blessings which the loving favor of God can bestow.]
Finally, he expressed his longing that the unmerited favor of God would continue to be his readers’ experience and source of joy. Paul typically mentioned God’s grace in his farewells. It was one of his favorite themes. This benediction is identical to the ones in Rom 16:20 and 1Co 16:23.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)