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Bold unafraid true witness
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
1 But you have no need to have anything written to you, brothers, about the times and dates when this will happen; 2 because you yourselves well know that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “Everything is so peaceful and secure,” then destruction will suddenly come upon them, the way labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there is no way they will escape.
4 But you, brothers, are not in the dark, so that the Day should take you by surprise like a thief; 5 for you are all people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We don’t belong to the night or to darkness, 6 so let’s not be asleep, like the rest are; on the contrary, let us stay alert and sober. 7 People who sleep, sleep at night; and people who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us stay sober, putting on trust and love as a breastplate and the hope of being delivered as a helmet.a 9 For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, 10 who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. 11 Therefore, encourage each other, and build each other up — just as you are doing.
a a Isaiah 59:17
Stern, D. H. (1989). Jewish New Testament: A translation of the New Testament that expresses its Jewishness (1st ed.) (1 Th 5-11). Jerusalem, Israel; Clarksville, Md., USA: Jewish New Testament Publications.
Commentary
1–3 Only the Father knows the times and dates when this will happen (Mt 24:36), and you have no need to know them (Ac 1:7). You need only to be prepared (Mt 24:44, 25:13), since, using a comparison made by Yeshua himself (Mt 24:43), the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night (the analogy is also used at 2 Kefa/Peter 3:10). The expression, “the Day of the Lord,” is from the Tanakh (Amos 5:18–20; Isaiah 2:9; Zephaniah 1:7, 14; 2:2–3; 3:8). See the same or similar expressions at John 6:39–40, 1Cor 1:8, Philippians 1:6, 2 Th 1:10, 2 Kefa/Peter 3:12, John 6, Rev 1:10.
3 The picture of destruction coming suddenly in the midst of apparent peace echoes the Tanakh (Isaiah 57:19–21; Jeremiah 6:14, 8:11; Ezekiel 13:10).
4–5 A play on words: the Day of Judgment won’t take believers by surprise, since they are not in the dark about it; nor does the brightness of day surprise people who belong to the light (literally, “sons of light”; see Eph 5:8).
8 Imagery from Isaiah is also used at Eph 6:14, 17.
11 Compare 4:18.
Stern, D. H. (1996, c1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary: A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (1 Th 5:1-11). Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications.
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