1 Thessalonians 5:3

1Th_5:3

When they shall say, Peace and Safety

The day of days

If Scripture did not warrant the figure in which the future coming of the Lord is compared to the act of a felon breaking into a house at night to plunder, we should not have ventured on it.

The comparison is suggested by the Lord Himself: Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. If the good man of the house had known in what hour the thief would come, he would have watched.

I. The day stated. By the expression, the day of the Lord, must be meant a day in some unique sense His day; for all days are really days of the Lord of time.

1. By the day of the Lord is signified that day on which He will take the first place in the thoughts of His responsible creatures.

2. It is the day on which He will bring the vast moral account between Himself and His responsible creatures to an end.

II. The figure employed. What are the ideas suggested by the words, As a thief in the night?

1. They are suggestive of fear. The old prophets spoke of the coming day of universal doom as the great and terrible day of the Lord; and we cannot but echo their language. But if we will, the Judge may be our Friend and Saviour. It is during the years of time that men decide how they will meet Him.

2. They are suggestive of suddenness. There is the contrast which it will present to many of Gods judgments in the present life. They approach with measured steps. Neither war, nor famine, nor pestilence, come generally like a thief in the night. But not so will be the Second Advent of Christ. A Christians first practical anxiety should be expressed in his Masters words, Lest coming suddenly He find me sleeping.

3. They are suggestive of that which cannot be prevented by our own efforts. We cannot prevent the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven: all that we can do is to prepare to meet Him by judging ourselves in self-examination. We may erect in our own heart a tribunal, and bid all our life pass before it; and then we may hear, if we will, the echoes of the voice of Christ, in mercy or condemnation, as that voice will sound to us hereafter from the judgment throne. Thus we may make a business like preparation for death; for death, like judgment, comes as a thief. Death is the ante-chamber of the judgment hall of Christ. To prepare, therefore, for death, is a mans true and most serious business during his life. Ye are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. (Canon Liddon.)

The sinners doom

I. In thy midst of imagined security. When enjoying riches, and contemplating, as the rich fool, their further augmentation; and when, perhaps, trusting in the infinitude of the Divine mercy, and thinking the day afar off.

II. Sudden. Without notice: nothing in the course of nature, or the affairs of men, to indicate the catastrophe.

III. Unavoidable: reputation, good works, etc., will be as cobwebs.

IV. Terrible. Destruction. (Sir E. Bayley, D. D.)

Delusions

Manton says well, As the madman at Athens challenged all the ships that came into the harbour for his own, so carnal men claim an interest in heavenly things which are none of theirs. Deceived hearts believe they are running to heaven when they are posting to hell; like rowers in a boat, they look one way, and go contrary. Religious delusions may be very comfortable while they last, but what will be the misery of their breaking up! To have all your fancied godliness vanish like the mists before the sun will be grievous indeed. In proportion to the confidence inspired will be the despair involved. The poor madman in Bedlam in the olden time placed a straw crown upon his head, and issued orders like a Caesar; it was his madness which made such a farce a comfort to him. In the next world the sinners madness will be over, he will be sobered by his despair: what then will he think of his former fancies and fond self-flatteries? What an awaking, from the dreams of bliss to the realities of hell! O my soul, see thou to it that all thy hopes are well grounded! Call not Christ thine, and heaven thine, if they are not so. Do not play the fool with eternal things, but get a sure title to everlasting blessedness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

False overconfidence

You may have a strong faith in everything else but Christ, and yet perish. There was an architect who had a plan for building a lighthouse on the Eddystone Rock. It quite satisfied his mind, and as he sat by the fire looking at the plan, he was quite sure that no storm that ever came could shake the building. He applied for the contract to build the lighthouse, and he did build it, and a very singular looking place it was. There were a great many flags about it and ornaments, and it looked very promising. Some shook their heads a little, but he was very, very firm, and said he should like to be in it himself in the worst wind that ever blew. He was in it at the time he wanted to be, and he was never heard of again, nor was anything more ever seen of his lighthouse. The whole thing was swept away. He was a man of great faith, only it happened to be founded on mistaken principles. (J. L. Nye.)

False peace

Your peace, sinner, is that terribly prophetic calm which the traveller occasionally perceives upon the higher Alps. Everything is still. The birds suspend their notes, fly low, and cower down with fear. The hum of bees among the flowers is hushed. A horrible stillness rules the hour, as if death had silenced all things by stretching over them his awful sceptre. Perceive ye not what is surely at hand? The tempest is preparing; the lightning will soon cast abroad its flames of fire. Earth will rock with thunder blasts; granite peaks will be dissolved; all nature will tremble beneath the fury of the storm. Yours is that solemn calm today, sinner. Rejoice not in it, for the hurricane of wrath is coming, the whirlwind and the tribulation which shall sweep you away and utterly destroy you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Secure in sin

A Swiss traveller, says the Edinburgh Review, describes a village situated on the slope of a great mountain, of which the strata shelve in the direction of the place. Huge crags directly overhanging the village, and massy enough to sweep the whole of it into the torrent below, have become separated from the main body of the mountain in the course of ages by great fissures, and now scarce adhere to it. When they give way, the village must perish; it is only a question of time, and the catastrophe may happen any day. For years past engineers have been sent to measure the fissures, and report them constantly increasing. The villagers, for more than one generation, have been aware of their danger; subscriptions have been once or twice opened to enable them to remove; yet they live on in their doomed dwellings, from year to year, fortified against the ultimate certainty and daily probability of destruction by the common sentiment Things may last their time and longer. Like the dwellers in this doomed village, the worlds inhabitants have grown careless and secure in sin. The scoffers of the last days are around us, saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers have fallen asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. But in saying this, they are too confident. Nothing is permanent that has sin about it, nothing secure that has wrath above it, and flames of fire beneath it. Sin has once deluged the world with water, it shall deluge it again with waves of fire. Sodom and Gomorrah are the types that foreshadow the doom of those that live ungodly in these latter times, and he who can walk this reeling world unmoved by all the tokens of its fiery doom, must either have a rock of refuge where his soul may rest secure, or else must have fallen into a strange carelessness, and a sad forgetfulness of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Procrastination leads to sudden destruction

Do any of you remember the loss of the vessel called the Central America? She was in a bad state, had sprung a leak and was going down, and she therefore hoisted a signal of distress. A ship came close to her, the captain of which asked, through the trumpet, What is amiss? We are in bad repair, and are going down: lie by till morning, was the answer. But the captain on board the rescue ship said, Let me take your passengers on board now. Lie by till morning, was the message which came back. Once again the captian cried, You had better let me take your passengers on board now. Lie by till morning, was the reply which sounded through the trumpet. About an hour and a half after, the lights were missing, and though no sound was heard, she and all on board had gone down to the fathomless abyss. Oh, unconverted friends, for Gods sake, do not say, Lie by till morning. Today, even today, hear ye the voice of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

A deadly peace

The old fable described the vampire bat, in tropical countries, as hovering above its victims, and drinking their life blood, while it soothes them to sleep on by fanning them with its wings all the while. So the devil soothes souls into deadly sleep. (J. W. Hardman.)

Danger near and man unconscious of it

Many years ago there was a terrible murder in one of our rural counties. A desperate man determined to kill the squire of the village. No danger was thought of, no such peril was dreaded. With unclosed shutters the doomed man sat in his house, his family moving in and out, his books, his papers around him in perfect security, as he thought. But meanwhile, creeping behind the shrubs of the lawn, in the gathering twilight, with his loaded gun, crept the armed assailant, till the bringing in of the evening lamp cast its glow through the comfortable chamber within, and enabled a sure and deadly aim to be taken by the murderer outside. Even so does the devil plot our ruin. (J. W. Hardman.)

Unconsciousness of the approach of death

Even when death is not absolutely sudden, how often have I seen persons, who were ill, wholly refuse to believe or realize that their sickness was unto death. Almost till the day of their departure they have talked quite confidently of what they intended to do when they rose from the bed of sickness; have perhaps even seemed to themselves to be much better just before they sank into the long swoon which can only end in the last fluttering sigh. O God, they have deceived me then; and this is death! was the startling exclamation of a sinful English king, and with those words he sank back and died. And very commonly for hours, and even days, before death, men and women lie quite unconscious; the pulse still beats, the breath still labours, possibly the tongue still murmurs, as the imagination floats amid the confused reminiscences of the past, and babbles of green fields far away. But no voice of exhortation can reach them then; they can gather no thought into consecutive meaning; they can breathe no prayer unto Him into whose awful presence they are about to enter. (Canon Farrar.)

Men lured to destruction

The other day I was going down the street and I saw a drove of pigs following a man. This excited my curiosity, so that I determined to follow. I did so, and to my great surprise I saw them follow him to the slaughterhouse. I was very anxious to know how this was, and I said to the man, My friend, how did you manage to induce those pigs to follow you here? Oh, did you not see? said the man; I had a basket of beans under my arms, and I dropped a few as I came along, and so they followed me. Yes, and I thought, so it is; the devil has a basket of beans under his arm, and he drops them as he goes along, and what multitudes he induces to follow him to an everlasting slaughter house! Yes, friends, and all your broad and crowded thoroughfares are strewn with the beans of the devil. (Rowland Hill.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:3 “Everything is peaceful and secure”: The expression “peace and safety” was common during the era of the pax Romana (Roman peace). Amid such presumed security, God’s ultimate judgment comes without warning and is inescapable.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Th 5:3. Λέγωσιν, they say) all the others (the rest, οἱ λοιποί), who are of darkness, 1Th 5:5-6 [ch. 1Th 4:13].—εἰρήνη καὶ ἀσφάλεια, peace and safety) They will regard it as an established fact, that the world is eternal.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Th_5:3. Paul carries on in a vivid manner (therefore asyndetically) the description of the sudden and unexpected nature in which the advent is to break in, whilst he indicates that precisely at the time when man fancies himself in the greatest security, the advent will occur. But with this thought is the wider and more special thought blended, that they who dream of security and serve earthly things will reap the fruit of their carelessness, namely, destruction.

ὅταν λέγωσιν] when they shall say, when it is said. As the subject of the verb, the apostle naturally thinks not on the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Harduin), but, as is evident from the nature of the expression of opinion added, and from the apodosis, unbelievers and merely nominal Christians, the children of this world; comp. Mat_24:38 ff.; Luk_17:26 ff. For the pious and true Christian never abandons himself to the feeling of security, but is always mindful of his salvation with fear and trembling; comp. Php_2:12.

εἰρήνη καὶ ἀσφάλεια] sc. ἐστίν; comp. Eze_13:10.

ἐφίσταται] imminet, or it surprises them.

ἐκφύγωσιν] stands absolutely. Camerarius and others unnecessarily supply τὸν ὄλεθρον. Moreover, de Wette justly remarks, that in the comparison of the pangs of a pregnant woman, the supposition is contained that the advent is close at hand; for although the day and the hour, indeed, is not known to her, yet the period of her bearing is proximately known. Comp. Theodoret: σφόδρα πρόσφορον τὸ παράδειγμα· καὶ γὰρ ἡ κύουσα οἶδεν ὅτι φέρει τὸ ἔμβρυον, ἀγνοεῖ δὲ τὸν τῶν ὠδίνων καιρόν· οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς, ὅτι μὲν ἐπιφανήσεται τῶν ὅλων ὁ κύριος, ἴσμεν, σαφῶς δὲ αὐτὸν τὸν καιρὸν οὐδαμῶς ἐδιδάχθημεν. Oecumenius: καλῶς δὲ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα τέθεικε τῆς ἐν γαστρὶ ἐχούσης· καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὕτη σημεῖα μὲν ἔχει τοῦ τόκου πολλά, αὐτῆς δὲ τῆς ὥρας ἢ τῆς ἡμέρας οὐκ ἔτι.

REMARK.

If ὅταν δέ (see critical remark) is read, we might, with Schott, whom Koch follows, find the following contrast with αὐτοί in 1Th_5:2 expressed: ye indeed know certainly that the day of the Lord will infallibly and suddenly arrive; but the day of the Lord, bringing destruction, will surprise the unbelieving and ungodly, who live in carelessness and security. But were such an emphatic opposition of persons the intention of the apostle, he would have attached to the simple verb ὅταν δὲ λέγωσιν a particular personal designation. Besides, αὐτοί, 1Th_5:2, already forms a contrast with the person of the writer, 1Th_5:1; accordingly, it is improbable that αὑτοί, 1Th_5:2, should be so emphatically placed first, in order at the same time to introduce a contrast to third persons who are not mentioned until 1Th_5:3. Lastly, it is evident from the context that it is by no means the design of the apostle to explain that the day of the Lord will befall Christians prepared, but unbelievers unprepared; but he purposes to remind them only of the sudden and unexpected entrance of the advent itself.

(3) 1Th_5:4-11. Exhortation to be ready and prepared for the coming of the advent, occasioned and also softened by the previous indication of their character as of the light, which the readers by reason of their peculiarity as Christians possessed.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Th 5:3 . ὅταν , κ . τ . λ ., when the very words, “All’s well,” “It is all right,” are on their lips. ἐπίσταται , of an enemy suddenly appearing (Isocrat., Evag. , § 58 ἐπὶ τὸ βασίλειον ἐπιστάς , Herod. iv. 203). αὐτοῖς , i.e. , while the Day comes suddenly to Christians and unbelievers alike, only the latter are surprised by it. Christians are on the alert, open-eyed; they do not know when it is to come, but they are alive to any signs of its coming. Thus there is no incompatibility between this emphasis on the instantaneous character of the advent and the emphasis, in II., 2Th 2:3 f., on the preliminary conditions.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

they--the men of the world. Th1 5:5-6; Th1 4:13, "others," all the rest of the world save Christians.

Peace-- (Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:9, Jdg 18:27-28; Jer 6:14; Eze 13:10).

then--at the very moment when they least expect it. Compare the case of Belshazzar, Dan 5:1-6, Dan 5:9, Dan 5:26-28; Herod, Act 12:21-23.

sudden--"unawares" (Luk 21:34).

as travail--"As the labor pang" comes in an instant on the woman when otherwise engaged (Psa 48:6; Isa 13:8).

shall not escape--Greek, "shall not at all escape." Another awful feature of their ruin: there shall be then no possibility of shunning it however they desire it (Amo 9:2-3; Rev 6:15-16).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. For when they shall say, Peace and safety] This points out, very particularly, the state of the Jewish people when the Romans came against them; and so fully persuaded were they that God would not deliver the city and temple to their enemies, that they refused every overture that was made to them.

Sudden destruction] In the storming of their city and the burning of their temple, and the massacre of several hundreds of thousands of themselves; the rest being sold for slaves, and the whole of them dispersed over the face of the earth.

As travail upon a woman] This figure is perfectly consistent with what the apostle had said before, viz.: that the times and seasons were not known: though the thing itself was expected, our Lord having predicted it in the most positive manner. So, a woman with child knows that, if she be spared, she will have a bearing time; but the week, the day, the hour, she cannot tell. In a great majority of cases the time is accelerated or retarded much before or beyond the time that the woman expected; so, with respect to the Jews, neither the day, week, month, nor year was known. All that was specifically known was this: their destruction was coming, and it should be sudden, and they should not escape.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3 For when they shall say. Here we have an explanation of the similitude, the day of the Lord will be like a thief in the night. Why so? because it will come suddenly to unbelievers, when not looked for, so that it will take them by surprise, as though they were asleep. But whence comes that sleep? Assuredly from deep contempt of God. The prophets frequently reprove the wicked on account of this supine negligence, and assuredly they await in a spirit of carelessness not merely that last judgment, but also such as are of daily occurrence. Though the Lord threatens destruction, they do not hesitate to promise themselves peace and every kind of prosperity. And the reason why they fall into this destructive indolence is, because they do not see those things immediately accomplished, which the Lord declares will take place, for they reckon that to be fabulous that does not immediately present itself before their eyes. For this reason the Lord, in order that he may avenge this carelessness, which is full of obstinacy, comes all on a sudden, and contrary to the expectation of all, precipitates the wicked from the summit of felicity. He sometimes furnishes tokens of this nature of a sudden advent, but that will be the principal one, when Christ will come down to judge the world, as he himself testifies, (Matthew 24:37) comparing that time to the age of Noe, inasmuch as all will give way to excess, as if in the profoundest repose.

As the pains of child-bearing. Here we have a most apt similitude, inasmuch as there is no evil that seizes more suddenly, and that presses more keenly and more violently on the very first attack; besides this, a woman that is with child carries in her womb occasion of grief without feeling it, until she is seized amidst feasting and laughter, or in the midst of sleep.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(3) They.—Quite vague and general, like the French on. The plural is so used frequently in St. Luke (Luk_12:11; Luk_12:20, margin; Luk_16:9, probably; Luk_23:29-31). Of course, however, no Christian could say so, for they are ever on the watch, so that “they” will mean “the world.” The word “for” at the beginning of the verse should (according to the best MSS.) be struck out—the abruptness helps to enforce the lesson.

Peace and safety.—Carrying on the thought suggested by the word “night; they are taking their repose in security, without dreaming of any interruption to their slumbers. Is it possible that there may here be a faint recollection of the parable related in Mat_25:1-13?

Destruction cometh upon them.—Literally, stands over them; or takes its stand over them; presents itself. The present tense is used for the sake of a more vivid effect. The extreme similarity of this passage to Luk_21:34 (with other indications) inclines Bishop Wordsworth to think that the Thessalonians had the Gospel of St. Luke to refer to.

As travail.—A common Oriental simile to express not only suddenness, but horror also. Theodoret fairly says, “The woman with child knows that she has the child to bear, but knows not the exact time for her pangs; so we also know that the Lord of all will appear, but the moment itself we have by no means been explicitly taught.” The comment, however, hardly suits this passage, as the persons on whom the destruction will thus burst are not persons who live in any expectation of such a judgment.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. For when they shall say] Rather, when they are saying (R. V.). In the very act of their saying “Peace and safety”—just when men of the world pronounce everything secure and quiet—then the thief comes, who steals from them the possessions they imagined safe from all attack. A reminiscence of Eze_13:10, “Saying Peace, and there was no peace!” Such times of security are pregnant with judgement to the wicked, and premonitory of some “day of the Lord.”

then sudden destruction cometh upon them] Or, in the vivid order of St Paul’s Greek, then suddenly over them stands destruction. Without a moment’s warning ruin comes,—not seen approaching, but first visible hanging over the doomed transgressors! We hear again Christ’s warning of Luk_21:34, “lest that day come upon you suddenly (a Greek word found only in these two places in the N. T.), as a snare; for so will it come on all them that dwell on the face of all the earth.” Christ compares His advent to the coming of the Flood “in the days of Noah” (Mat_24:36-39).

The Apostle describes the calamity under another figure, frequently applied in the O. T. to Divine inflictions: as the birth-pang upon her that is with child. This image signifies, beside the suddenness of the disaster, its intense pain, and its inevitableness. Accordingly he continues: and they shall in no wise escape. See 2Th_1:9, and note; and comp. the terrible picture of the Judgement in Rev_6:15-17.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For when they shall say,.... Or men shall say, that is, wicked and ungodly men, persons in a state of unregeneracy:

peace and safety; when they shall sing a requiem, to themselves, promise themselves much ease and peace for years to come, and imagine their persons and property to be very secure from enemies and oppressors, and shall flatter themselves with much and long temporal happiness:

then sudden destruction cometh upon them; as on the men of the old world in the times of Noah, and on the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot; for as these, will be the days of the Son of man, as at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, so at the last day; see Luk 17:26 and as was the destruction of literal Babylon, so of Babylon in a mystical sense, or antichrist and his followers: and which will be

as travail upon a woman with child; whose anguish and pains are very sharp, the cause of which is within herself, and which come suddenly upon her, and are unavoidable; and so the metaphor expresses the sharpness and severity of the destruction of the wicked, thus the calamities on the Jewish nation are expressed by a word which signifies the sorrows, pangs, and birth throes of a woman in travail, Mat 24:8, and likewise that the cause of it is from themselves, their own sins and transgressions; and also the suddenness of it, which will come upon them in the midst of all their mirth, jollity, and security; and moreover, the inevitableness of it, it will certainly come at the full and appointed time, though that is not known:

and they shall not escape; the righteous judgment of God, the wrath of the Lamb, or falling into his hands; to escape is impossible, rocks, hills, and mountains will not cover and hide them; before the judgment seat of Christ they must stand, and into everlasting punishment must they go.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Ver. 3. For when they shall say] Security is the certain usher of destruction, as in Benhadad’s army, and Pompey’s before the Pharsalian field. Some of them contended for the priesthood, which was Caesar’s office, others disposed of the consulships and offices in Rome, as if all were already their own; Pompey himself being so wretchedly reckless, that he never considered into what place he were best to retire if he lost the day.

Then shall sudden destruction] As philosophers say, that before a snow the weather will be warmish; when the wind lies, the great rain falls; and the air is most quiet when suddenly there will be an earthquake.

As travail upon a woman] 1. Certainly; 2. Suddenly; 3. Irresistibly, inevitably.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For when they shall say, Peace and safety - That is, when the wicked shall say this, for the apostle here refers only to those on whom “sudden destruction” will come; compare Mat 24:36-42 notes; 2Pe 3:3-4 notes. It is clear from this:

(1) That when the Lord Jesus shall come the world will not all be converted. There will be some to be “destroyed.” How large this proportion will be, it is impossible now to ascertain. This supposition, however, is not inconsistent with the belief that there will be a general prevalence of the gospel before that period.

(2) The impenitent and wicked world will be sunk in carnal security when he comes. They will regard themselves as safe. They will see no danger. They will give no heed to warning. They will be unprepared for his advent. So it has always been. it seems to be a universal truth in regard to all the visitations of God to wicked people for punishment, that he comes upon them at a time when they are not expecting him, and that they have no faith in the predictions of his advent. So it was in the time of the flood; in the destruction of Sodom Gomorrah, and Jerusalem; in the overthrow of Babylon: so it is when the sinner dies, and so it will be when the Lord Jesus shall return to judge the world. One of the most remarkable facts about the history of man is, that he takes no warning from his Maker; he never changes his plans, or feels any emotion, because his Creator “thunders damnation along his path,” and threatens to destroy him in hell.

Sudden destruction - Destruction that was unforeseen (αἰφνίδιος aiphnidios) or unexpected. The word here rendered “sudden,” occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, except in Luk 21:34, “Lest that day come upon you unawares.” The word rendered “destruction” - ὄλεθρος olethros - occurs in the New Testament only here and in 1Co 5:5; 2Th 1:9; 1Ti 6:9, in all of which places it is correctly translated destruction. The word destruction is familiar to us. It means, properly, demolition; pulling down; the annihilation of the form of anything, or that form of parts which constitutes it what it is; as the destruction of grass by eating; of a forest by cutting down the trees; of life by murder; of the soul by consigning it to misery. It does not necessarily mean annihilation - for a house or city is not annihilated which is pulled down or burnt; a forest is not annihilated which is cut down; and a man is not annihilated whose character and happiness are destroyed. In regard to the destruction here referred to, we may remark:

(1)It will be after the return of the Lord Jesus to judgment; and hence it is not true that the wicked experience all the punishment which they ever will in the present life;

(2)That it seems fairly implied that the destruction which they will then suffer will not be annihilation, but will be connected with conscious existence; and,

(3)That they will then be cut off from life and hope and salvation.

How can the solemn affirmation that they will be “destroyed suddenly,” be consistent with the belief that all people will be saved? Is it the same thing to be destroyed and to be saved? Does the Lord Jesus, when he speaks of the salvation of his people, say that he comes to destroy them?

As travail upon a woman with child - This expression is sometimes used to denote great consternation, as in Psa 48:6; Jer 6:24; Mic 4:9-10; great pain, as Isa 53:11; Jer 4:31; Joh 16:21; or the suddenness with which anything occurs; Jer 13:21. It seems here to be used to denote two things; first, that the coming of the Lord to a wicked world will be sudden; and, secondly, that it will be an event of the most distressing and overwhelming nature.

And they shall not escape - That is, the destruction, or punishment. They calculated on impunity, but now the time will have come when none of these refuges will avail them, and no rocks will cover them from the “wrath to come.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For when they shall say, Peace and safety: by these words the apostle proves that the day of the Lord will come unexpected, by the security that will be then found in the world. They say it in their hearts and practice, if not with their tongues. And he useth two words the better to express the greatness of this security, present peace, and no danger of sliding, as the words import. And as the effect of Christ’s coming will be

destruction to such, which will be salvation to others, Heb 9:28; so through their security it will be

sudden destruction, which he describes under the similitude of travail upon a woman with child, which doth for the most part come of a sudden, and is the most exquisite pains in nature, and is often made use of in Scripture to set forth extremity of misery, Isa 13:8; Jer 13:21. And these pains come upon her unavoidably; so saith the apostle of these men’s destruction,

and they shall not escape, or in no wise escape, expressed in the Greek by two negatives, which do strongly affirm.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. They shall say—A sudden and significant change from ye to they; the they of the age of the advent, who will be in no state of faith and preparation. Comp. Mat_24:38, and Luk_17:26.

Then—At whatever age of the world this event takes place, its then shall be a sudden one, and the result shall be destruction, that is, not annihilation, but ruin to the unbelieving rioters.

Travail—Lunemann unhappily sanctions the false inference of De Wette, that as the woman knows the near approach though not the hour, so the apostle claimed the unknown hour to be within his own day. But the only point of comparison is between the suddenness, of the birth-pang and that of the advent; nothing of the woman’s earlier knowledge is adduced.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For; the best manuscripts omit this conjunction; the description is continuous. When they shall say; namely, the unbelieving world. Peace and safety; peace denoting internal rest, and safety external security.

Sudden destruction cometh upon them. When they thought themselves most secure, they were then in the greatest danger; when they were most off their guard, then the crisis came. As travail upon a woman with child. The primary point of resemblance is certainly the suddenness and unexpectedness of the event; as labor comes upon a woman suddenly, so sudden destruction cometh upon the ungodly world. Still, however, the unavoidableness of the judgment may also be here intimated; there is no possibility of escape: this is implied in the last clause, and they shall not escape.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When they - The men of the world say.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

When they [the thoughtless and careless] are saying, Peace and safety [i. e., there is no ground for apprehension], then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape .

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. When they shall say. When the thoughtless are persuading themselves that there is no ground for apprehension, then destruction shall come as suddenly as the pangs of childbirth.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

3. (a) οταν alone: א*AG, 17, 47, latt syrpesh, Tert Cyp Orint.

(b) οταν δε, אcBD, cop syrhcl.

(c) οταν γαρ, KLP, &c., vg, Dam Ambrst.

This grouping of witnesses is peculiar. (c) may be ruled out as a Syrian emendation; cf. 1Co 11:31. (b) makes a rather difficult sense (see Expos. Note); and with cop and Harclean syr testifying in its favour, and G and the latt against it, the δε can hardly be a Western addition. Moreover Δε before λεΓωϲΙΝ might easily escape the eye of the copyist; cf. δε δοκιμαζετε, 1Th 5:21, and note.

For αιφνιδιος AD*G read, itacistically, εφνιδιος.

επισταται in אB 17 37, against the εφισταται of DKP, &c.; see Expository Note.

3. ὄταν λέγωσιν Εἰρήνη καὶ ἀσφάλεια. When they are saying, (There is) peace and safety (security). This verse stands in abrupt (asyndetic) explanatory relation to ὅτι … ἔρχεται (1Th 5:2). Once more the prophetic language of the O.T. is drawn upon: see Mic 3:5 f.; Jer 6:14 f., Jer 8:11; Eze 13:10—where the false assurances of lying prophets are denounced. “It seems not unlikely that this sentence,” continuing as it does 1Th 5:2 without a break, “is a direct quotation from our Lord’s words” unrecorded elsewhere (Lightfoot): cf. notes above on αὐτοὶ … οἴδατε and ὡς κλέπτης ἐν νυκτί; also note below on τότε αἰφνίδιος κ.τ.λ. The subject of λέγωσιν is given by the context, viz., the men “of night” and “of darkness.” Εἰρήνη κ.τ.λ. forms an elliptical clause—the utterance of those cherishing a false security. At the very moment when men of the world are wrapped in ease and are assuring each other that all is well, the ruin breaks upon them,—e.g. in the case of the πλούσιος ἄφρων of Luk 12:16 ff. Periods of self-complacent prosperity are pregnant with calamity, and prelude some awful “Day of the Lord.”

τότε αἰφνίδιος αὐτοῖς ἐπίσταται ὄλεθρος: then suddenly over them stands destruction. Tunc repentinus eis superveniet interitus (Vulg.), imminet excidium (Beza)—not seen approaching, but first visible as it presses close upon the doomed transgressors and is on the point of overwhelming them. The words of Jesus reported in Luk 21:34 are distinctly echoed, not in thought only but in phraseology: προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς μή ποτε βαρηθῶσιν αἱ καρδίαι ὑμῶν ἐν κραιπάλῃ καὶ μέθῃ (cf. 1Th 5:7 below) καὶ μερίμναις βιωτικαῖς, καὶ ἐπιστῇ ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς αἰφνίδιος (in these two places only in N.T.) ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη ὡς παγίς; cf., besides Mat 24:38 ff., Luk 17:26 ff. “One out of several special points of coincidence between St Paul’s Epistles and the Third Gospel, where it diverges from the others” (Lightfoot); cf. 1Co 11:23-26; 1Co 15:5, 1Ti 5:18. Αἰφνίδιος bears emphasis by its place at the beginning, and ὄλεθρος at the end of the sentence; being a secondary adjectival predicate, the former is best rendered by the English adverb. For ὄλεθρος, see note to 2Th 1:9.

Ἐπίσταται stands for ἐφίσταται in the best mss. (see Textual Note above). The earlier Greek Codices show considerable variation and uncertainty in regard to the aspirate: “the spiritus asper tended gradually to disappear” (Winer-Schmiedel, Grammatik, p. 38). Here the form of the cognate verb ἐπίσταμαι probably reacted on the middle voice of ἐφίστημι; “aspiration is” almost “universal in the other 14 examples of compounds of ἴστημι with a preposition capable of showing aspiration” (WH). The same double spelling appears in the mss. of Wis 6:8 (9); and D makes the opposite confusion, ἐφ- (for ἐπ-)ίστασθε, in Act 10:28.

ὥσπερ ἡ ὠδὶν τῇ ἐν γαστρὶ ἐχούσῃ, as the birth-pang (comes on) her that is with child: another O.T. simile (Isa 13:6-8; Isa 37:3; Hos 13:13; Mic 4:9 f.; thrice in Jeremiah); used by Jesus, on the happier side of its application, in Joh 16:21; also in Gal 4:19. Ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχειν, or φέρειν, is an established Greek locution for pregnancy. There lie in this comparison the three points of inevitable certainty, suddenness, and intense pain. Hence the added clause, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐκφύγωσιν, and they shall in no wise escape: a further reminiscence of the warning of Luke 21—ἵνα κατισχύσητε ἐκφυγεῖν ταῦτα πάντα (Luk 21:36); for ἐκφεύγειν in similar threatenings, cf. Rom 2:3; Heb 2:3; Heb 12:25.

1Th 5:4-6 contrast the outlook of the readers, in view of the dread “day”—so certain in itself, so uncertain in its date—with that of the careless world around them.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3.] Following out of the comparison ὡς κλ. ἐν νυκτί, into detail.

λέγωσιν, viz. men in general—the children of the world, as opposed to the people of God: cf. ὄλεθρος below. The vivid description dispenses with any copula.

εἰρ. κ. ἀσφ., scil. ἐστιν, see ref. Ezek.

αἰφνίδ. has the emphasis, becoming a kind of predicate.

ἐφίσταται, generally used of any sudden unexpected appearance: see reff., and Act 4:1.

It is pressing too close the comparison ὥσπερ ἡ ὠδὶν κ.τ.λ., when De W. says that it “assumes the day to be near,—for that such a woman, though she does not know the day and the hour, yet has a definite knowledge of the period:” for it is not the woman, nor her condition, that is the subject of comparison, but the unexpected pang of labour which comes on her.

4,

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. ὅταν λέγωσιν κτλ. “When people are saying: There is (sc. ἐστί) security and safety,” etc. Starting from ἡμέρα κυρίο as a day of judgment, and from the idea of moral indifference suggested by ἐν νυκτι (cf. v. 4 οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σκότε), Paul proceeds, without connecting particle (cf. v. 5 οὐκ ἐσμέ; 1Co 14:26, Col 3:4) to explain the bearing first on unbelievers of the sudden coming of the Lord (v. 2). Though λέγωσι is impersonal (cf. 1Co 10:20 and Bl 30:4) and αὐτοῖ is undefined, yet clearly unbelievers alone are in mind, as the sharply contrasted ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀδελφοι (v. 4) makes plain. By the phrase εἰρήνη καὶ ἀσφάλει, we are reminded with Grot. of Eze 13:10, λέγοντες εἰρήνη καὶ οὐκ ἦν εἰρήν (cf. Jer 6:14 = 8:11); and of the false repose and safety of the people described in the word of the Lord (Luk 17:26 f. = Mat 24:37 f.) to which Ephr. alludes: “istud est quod dixit Dominus noster: sicut fuit in diebus Noë et Loth, etc.

The asyndeton (אAGF, et al.) is corrected by BD, et al., which insert δε, and by KLP, Vulg (enim), et al., which insert γά For ὅταν δε, cf. 1Co 13:10, 1Co 15:27, etc; ἕταν γά, 1Co 3:4, 2Co 12:10, etc. GF, et al., read λέγουσι (cf. στήκετ 3:8). On ὅτα … τότ, cf. 1Co 15:28, 1Co 15:54, Col 3:4. For the present general condition, see BMT 260, 312. εἰρήν and ἀσφάλει, united only here in Gk. Bib., are virtually synonymous (cf. Lev 26:5 f.); but Ell. would distinguish them: “εἰρήν betokens an inward repose and security; ἀσγάλει a sureness and safety that is not interfered with or compromised by outward obstacles.”

αἰφνίδιος ὄλεθρο. That is, either “all of a sudden” (adjective for adverb; Bl 44:2) or “sudden” (adjective) “destruction comes on them.” It is probable that ὄλεθρο, like θάνατο (2Co 2:15, 2Co 7:10) and ἀπώλει (II 2:10, 1Co 1:18, 2Co 2:15, Php 1:28) is the opposite of σωτηρί; and that the point is not annihilation of existence but separation from the presence of Christ; hence ὄλεθρο may be αἰώνιο (II 1:9) as well as αἰφνίδιο

On the idea, see Kennedy, Last Things, 314. In 1Co 5:5, ὄλεθρος τῆς σαρκό is contrasted with the salvation (σώζεσθα) of τὸ πνεῦμ; in 1Ti 6:9, we have εἰς ὄλεθρον καὶ ἀπώλειαν. αἰφνίδιο is rare in Gk. Bib. (Luk 21:34 Sap. 17:15, 2 Mac. 14:17, 3 Mac. 3:24); WH. edit here αἰφνίδιο (Bא), but in Luk 21:34 ἐγφνίδιο (so here, ADFLP, et al.). ἐφιστάνα, frequent in Lxx appears in N. T. only here and 2Ti 4:2, 2Ti 4:6, apart from Lk. Acts. It is construed with dat. (here and Sap. 6:5. 8, Luk 2:9, Luk 24:4, etc.), or with ἐπι and accus. (Sir. 41:22, Jer 21:2, etc.; Luk 21:34, Act 10:17, Act 11:11). On ἐπίστατα (BאL, etc.) for ἐφίστατα (DEKP, et al.), see Bl 6:7. GF, read φανήσετα; B puts αὐτοῖ after ἐπίστατα

ὥσπερ ἡ ὠδίν κτλ. “As travail comes upon (sc. ἐπίστατα) her that is with child.” The point of the comparison is not ὁ πόνος τῶν ὠδίνω (cf. Isa 66:7), as the common Lxx phrase ὠδῖνες ὡς τικτούση might suggest (so Th. Mops.); not the certainty (an interpretation which Chrys. combats); but the suddenness as αἰφνίδιο indicates. The idea of inevitableness, brought out by οὐ μὴ ἐκφύγωσι, arises probably not from the comparison but from ὄλεθρο

For ὠδῖνες ὠς τιχτούση, cf. Psa 47:6, Hos 13:3, Mic 4:9, Jer 6:24, Jer 6:8:21, Jer 6:22:33, Jer 6:27:43; also Jer 13:21, Isa 13:8; and Isa 26:17 Eth. En. 62:4. The singular (אB read ἡ ὠδεί) is rare in Gk. Bib.; but even if the plural were read with GF, there would be here no reference to the dolores Messiae (Mar 13:8 = Mat 24:8; cf. Volz, Eschat 173 and Bousset, Relig 2 286). On ἐκφεύγει (Rom 2:3, 2Co 11:33), cf. Luk 21:36; on οὐ μη with aor. subj. instead of fut. indic. (which DGF here read; cf. Gal 4:30), see 4:15 and cf. Rom 4:8, 1Co 8:13, Gal 5:16. It is unnecessary to supply an object with ἐχφύγωσι; contrast 2 Mac. 6:26: τὰς τοῦ παντοχράτοπος χεῖρας οὔτε ζῶν οὔτε ἀποθανὼν ἐχφεύξομα Here only does Paul use γαστή; elsewhere in N. T. apart from Tit 1:12, Luk 1:31, it is used in the common Lxx phrase, as here, ἔχειν ἐν γαστρι = εἶναι ἔγχυο

Lft. remarks on v. 3: “The dissimilarity which this verse presents to the ordinary style of St. Paul is striking.” To be sure, ὅτα … τότε ὥσπερ, ἐκφεύγειν, ὄλεθρος or οὐ μη with aor. subj. need excite no wonder; but the use of εἰρήν = “security,” of ἀσφάλεια, αἰφνίδιος, ἐφιστάνα and ὠδίν and of the impersonal λέγωσι might suggest that Paul (a) is citing from a Jewish apocalypse, or (b) from an agraphon, or is writing under the influence either (c) of a Jewish apocalypse or (d) a word of the Lord (as in v. 2). In the light of v. 2, (a) is improbable. In favour of (d) rather than (c) is to be urged not Mar 13:8 = Mat 24:8, or Mar 13:17 and par., but Luk 21:34-36: “Take heed to yourselves that your hearts be not dulled by debauches and μέθῃ and the distractions of life; and take heed lest ἐπιστῇ ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς ἐφνίδιος ἡ ἡμέρ as a trap (ὡς παγί; cf. Jer 5:27). For it will surely come upon all those who sit on the face of all the earth. ἀγρυπνεῖτ at every season, praying that ye may be able ἐκφυγεῖ all these things which are going to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.” This passage may have affected vv. 4-8 below; cf. Rom 13:11 ff. In favour of (b) is not the concrete and definite character of the utterance (cf. 4:16), but the indefinite αὐτοῖς “If, as seems not unlikely, the sentence is a direct quotation from our Lord’s words, the reference implied in the word αὐτοῖ is to be sought for in the context of the saying from which St. Paul quotes” (Lft.).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When they shall say. The prediction is thrown into dramatic form. Cometh upon [επισταται] . See Luk 21:34, 36. Often in N. T. of a person coming suddenly upon another; as Luk 2:9; Luk 24:4; Act 4:1; Act 12:7. Travail [ωδιν] . Birth - throe. Only here in its literal sense. Elsewhere as a strong figure of sorrow or pain. See Mt 24:8; Mr 13:8; Act 2:24. For the figure in O. T. see Isa 13:6 - 8; Isa 37:3; Mic 4:9; Hos 13:3; Jer 13:21.

Shall not escape [ου μη εκφυγωσιν] . A. V. misses the force of the double negative. They shall in no wise escape.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.