Chapter 5

1 Now on the topic of times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night. 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. 8 But since we are of the day, we must stay sober by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation.⁠ 9 For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep, we will come to life together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing. 12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who labor among you and preside over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them most highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all. 15 See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.⁠ 16 Always rejoice,⁠ 17 constantly pray, 18 in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not extinguish the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. 22 Stay away from every form of evil.⁠ 23 Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this. 25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us too. 26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I call on you solemnly in the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Thessalonians 5:22 and Pirkei Avot 1:7

New Testament · Rabbinic

Summary

1 Thessalonians urges believers to reject evil in every form, using language also found in Rabbinic traditions, such as Pirkei Avot, which teaches to distance yourself from sinners and not follow them.

Passages

1 Thessalonians 5:22

New Testament

15 See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all. 16 Always rejoice, 17 constantly pray, 18 in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not extinguish the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. 22 Stay away from every form of evil.

41–51 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Thessalonians

Pirkei Avot 1:7

Rabbinic · Mishnah

5 Yose ben Yochanan of Jerusalem used to say: Let your house be wide open, and let the poor be members of your household. Do not engage in too much conversation with women. They said this about one's own wife; how much more does the rule apply to another man's wife. From here the Sages said: as long as a man engages in too much conversation with women, he causes evil to himself, he neglects the study of the Torah, and in the end he will inherit Gehinnom. 6 Joshua ben Perahiah and Nittai the Arbelite received the oral tradition from them. Joshua ben Perahiah used to say: appoint a teacher for yourself, acquire a companion for yourself, and judge every person with the scale weighted in his favor. 7 Nittai the Arbelite used to say: keep a distance from an evil neighbor, do not become attached to the wicked, and do not abandon faith in divine retribution.

190–230 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Pirkei Avot

References

"... Distance yourself from evildoers: The rejection of retribution found in the Sermon on the Mount closely relates to the Jewish ethical statements in Pirkei Avot. Some of the Jewish listeners to the Sermon on the Mount would have understood that the Pirkei Avot teaches that maintaining an ethical and moral life requires not seeking retribution against another person, not even a wicked person. The ethical-political advice of the Avot teaches that a person should avoid association and fellowship with the wicked and should also avoid acts of retribution ... The Mishna teaches that one should distance oneself from evildoers. Pirkei Avot 1:7 suggests such a lifestyle. Associating with evildoers creates the propensity to adopt views of the evildoer as well as to mimic the wrongs that person commits. The intent of the Avot is to keep temptation from people who may be inclined toward wrongdoing by providing guidance for those who may fall into the temptation of acting unjustly toward other people ..."

Roger Ewald Lang Jr., “Those Who Heard It First: The Political Implications of the Sermon on the Mount to Jesus' Jewish Audience” (MA diss., The University of Waikato, 2013), 28–29.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

1 Thessalonians5 chapters

Compare 1 Thessalonians 5:22 and Pirkei Avot 1:7

Summary

Passages

1 Thessalonians 5:22

Pirkei Avot 1:7

References

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