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In 1 Thessalonians, the “sons of light” echoes language from the Dead Sea Scrolls, where the Community Rule divides humanity into dualistic sons of light and sons of darkness, describing human behavior as part of a larger struggle between good and evil.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1QS 3:13
Community Rule
Dead Sea Scrolls, Sectarian and Community Texts
13 For the instructor, to give insight and to teach all the sons of light about the generations of all the sons of man, 14 as to all the kinds of their spirits, with their signs, as to their works in their generations, and as to the visitation of their afflictions together with 15 their ages of peace. From the God of knowledge comes all that is and all that will be. Before they existed he set in place their whole design, 16 and when they come to exist at their appointed times, they fulfill their task according to his glorious design, and nothing can be changed. In his hand 17 are the judgments of all things, and he sustains them in all their needs. He created humankind to rule 18 the world, and he set for it two spirits in which to walk until the appointed time of his visitation. They are the spirits of
Date: 160–100 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Thessalonians 5:5
New Testament
3 Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would. 5 For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. 6 So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.
Date: 41–51 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... As a designation of Christian disciples Paul uses the expression huioi photos, 'sons of light'. Though the counterpart 'sons of darkness' is not found in his writings, or anywhere else in the New Testament, the phrase echoes a peculiarly dualistic way of thinking. The figurative use of huios is a Septuagintism ... but the Semitic phrase used to distinguish all humanity into two groups as 'sons of light' or 'sons of darkness' is not found in the Old Testament or in later rabbinic literature. Yet it has turned up often in Qumran literature as a favorite way of designating members of the sectarian community ... it is thus striking that Paul's designation of Christian disciples makes use of an anarthrous Semitic sounding phrase that is the exact Greek counterpart of such a Palestinian sectarian Jewish locution ..."
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, According to Paul: Studies in the Theology of the Apostle (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1993), 28–29.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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