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1 Thessalonians

About this book
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 Enoch 62:4 and 1 Thessalonians 5:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

1 Thessalonians 5 describes sudden destruction like labor pains for a pregnant woman, apocalyptic language also found in 1 Enoch 62 where rulers experience anguish like a woman in childbirth when confronted with judgment.

Passages

1 Enoch 62:4

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
3 On that day, all the kings, the mighty, the exalted, and those who hold the earth will stand, and they shall see and recognize how he sits on the throne of his glory, and how righteousness is judged before him, and no false word is spoken before him. 4 Pain will come upon them as upon a woman in childbirth, when her child enters the birth canal, and she feels the agony of delivery. 5 One group will look at another in terror, their faces will fall, and pain will seize them when they see the Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory. 6 The kings, the mighty, and all who possess the earth shall bless, glorify, and exalt him who reigns over all, who was hidden.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

1 Thessalonians 5:3

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

References

"... A significant reason to regard 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 as a literary unit is based on Paul's use of apocalyptic symbols throughout the passage. Many of the symbols which Paul uses can be found in the Old Testament as well as in Jewish apocalyptic material. (That Paul is not creating his own imagery can be shown from its occurrence in Jewish apocalyptic material - e.g., the figure of judgment as 'travail upon an expectant mother' [compare 1 Thess 5:3; Matt 24:8] can be found in 1 Enoch 62:4 ...) However, the imagery Paul uses bears a striking resemblance to the eschatological teaching regarding the coming of the Son of Man in the Olivet discourse of the synoptic gospels, particularly the Matthean form. Although many of the symbols do occur in Jewish apocalyptic, the figures appear in isolated texts but never all together as one finds in the Matthean parallels. That Paul is drawing on traditional eschatological material is implied by his statement in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 in which he says, 'We say this to you by the word of the Lord.' ..."
Tracy L. Howard, “The Literary Unity of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11,” GTJ 9.2 (1988): 163–190.

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

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1 Enoch 62:4 and 1 Thessalonians 5:3

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