1 Thessalonians 5:4

Verse 4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness] Probably St. Paul refers to a notion that was very prevalent among the Jews, viz.: that God would judge the Gentiles in the night time, when utterly secure and careless; but he would judge the Jews in the day time, when employed in reading and performing the words of the law. The words in Midrash Tehillim, on Psalm ix. 8, are the following: When the holy blessed God shall judge the Gentiles, it shall be in the night season, in which they shall be asleep in their transgressions; but when he shall judge the Israelites, it shall be in the day time, when they are occupied in the study of the law. This maxim the apostle appears to have in view in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th verses. (1Th 5:4-8)

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

1Th_5:4

But ye, brethren, are not in darkness

Responsibility for religious privileges

It is universally admitted that the extent of our responsibility is to be measured by the amount of our privilege.

Hence our Lord said, To whom men have committed much, of him will they ask more. It is in harmony with this that the apostle makes the appeal in our text.

I. Our privileges as a Christian Church. Not in darkness, but in light as regards--

1. A knowledge of the true God. This lies at the foundation of religion. It is only by knowing God that we come to know ourselves. Had we no perfect standard of what is pure and lovely, were we allowed to frame some model of perfection, each would select that character for imitation, which reflected least discredit on his own. But tell us what God is, and you tell us what God loves; and what He loves man should love also. But the Thessalonians not only enjoyed through the gospel light a correct doctrine of God: they, as are all true Christians, were brought into an experimental knowledge through peace with Him.

2. The Word and ordinances of God (1Th_2:13; 1Th_5:12).

(1) By the use of these we foil the craftiness, which would carry us about with every wind of doctrine; we set at nought the schoolmen who would teach for doctrine the commandments of men; whilst we bind and fetter the discursive genius of infidelity, by allowing no objection to be valid unless founded on the Word.

(2) Nor is it of use to vindicate our faith to others only; it serves much to confirm and strengthen it in ourselves. The humblest Christian who loves his Bible because he has felt its power, finds in it many things hard to be understood; but he can repose with child-like confidence in the thought--Hard as these things may seem, the Lord hath spoken them; and He would never have left a mystery where plainness would have made me happy. He has told me all that concerns my comfort here, and will reveal hereafter what I know not now.

3. We can understand now the propriety of this appeal. Once ye had no knowledge of God and Divine flyings. This darkness has passed. Yours must be the fault, therefore, if the day should overtake you as a thief.

II. The motives which should urge us to the right improvement of Christian privileges.

1. Their tendency to promote personal religion.

(1) We are so much the slaves of habit, the mind so easily slides into the ordinary occupations of life, that without some periodical admonition that it has higher objects to seek, its power would be expended in considering What shall we eat. We might know that We have no continuing city and that it is our duty to Seek one to come, but if we were not occasionally reminded, every week would find us less punctual, and at last we should neglect it altogether. But how the hour of prayer, the Sabbath, etc., rouse us to the call of duty.

(2) A disposition to slight these outward means is a concealed aversion to the religion which enjoins them. It is an index of that self-sufficiency which will only accept a blessing if obtained in a way of our own choosing.

(3) Men ask Why cannot I be religious without going to church? I can go forth into the fields and look through nature up to natures God. Possibly you can, but will you?

2. The danger that we may suddenly lose them. The day here is the day of judgment, but practically for us that is the day of death. When that will come we know not; but lest it should find as slumbering, let us be on our guard always, and not flatter ourselves with a false peace. (D. Moore, M. A.)

Two views of death

I am taking a fearful leap in the dark, said the dying infidel, Hobbes. This is heaven begun, I have done with darkness forever, nothing remains but light and joy, said the dying believer, Thomas Scott. (Sunday at Home.)

Ready to die

When Gordon Pasha was taken prisoner by the Abyssinians he completely checkmated King John. The King received his prisoner sitting on his throne, or whatever piece of furniture did duty for that exalted seat, a chair being placed for the prisoner considerably lower than the seat on which the King sat. The first thing the Pasha did was to seize this chair, place it alongside of his Majesty, and sit down on it: the next to inform him that he met him as an equal and would only treat him as such. This somewhat disconcerted his sable majesty, but on recovering himself he said, Do you know, Gordon Pasha, that I could kill you on the spot if I liked? I am perfectly well aware of it, your Majesty, said the Pasha. Do so at once if it is your Royal pleasure. I am ready. This disconcerted the King still mores and he exclaimed, What I ready to be killed? Certainly, replied the Pasha, I am always ready to die, and so far from fearing your putting me to death, you would confer a favour on me by so doing, for you would be doing for me that which I am precluded by my religious scruples from doing for myself--you would relieve me from all the troubles and misfortunes which the future may have in store for me. This completely staggered King John, who gasped out in despair, Then my power has no terrors for you? None whatever, was the Pashas laconic reply. His Majesty, it is needless to add, instantly collapsed.

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

1Th 5:4-6. But ye, brethren, are not — As formerly; in darkness — In a state of gross ignorance respecting these and all other divine things; that that awful day — Or the day of death, introductory thereto; should overtake you as a thief — Should surprise you in an unprepared state. Ye are all children of the light and of the day — Ye are blest with the bright day of the gospel, which gives you full information respecting these and all other matters that concern your salvation; and he that commanded light to shine out of darkness hath shined into your hearts; enduing you with divine knowledge, and the light of living, saving faith. We are not of the night — Of heathenism or of Judaism, destitute of gospel light, and of the information which the gospel gives, particularly respecting a future and eternal state; and neither are we, though surrounded with the light of a gospel-day, in darkness — Through unbelief and blindness of mind, God having inspired us with the faith of his operation, and opened the eyes of our understanding. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others — Who are not favoured with our advantages: let us not continue in a state of insensibility and carnal security respecting these things, as if we neither looked for death, the resurrection of the dead, nor a future judgment: having all our spiritual senses closed, and carelessly resting in lukewarmness, sloth, and indolence: but let us watch and be sober — Or, let us awake and be watchful, as some render γρηγορωμεν και νηφωμεν. Let us awake to a deep sense of the absolute certainty and infinite importance of these awful discoveries, and by continual sobriety, and a temperate use of God’s creatures, of all earthly things, and especially by walking continually in the light of truth and grace, and therefore in universal holiness and righteousness, let us stand constantly prepared for the awful scenes which await us, and which we must assuredly pass through.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:4 The day of the Lord will not surprise believers—not because they know the date of his coming, but because they are spiritually prepared.

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

1Th_5:4. Ὑμεῖς δέ] but ye, in contrast to the unbelieving and worldly-minded described in 1Th_5:3.

ἐστέ] indicative, not imperative; for otherwise μὴ ἔστε would require to be written instead of οὐκ ἐστέ (see Schmalfeld, Syntax des Griech. Verb. p. 143), not to mention that, according to the Pauline view, Christians as such, i.e. in their ideas and principles, are no more σκότος, but φῶς ἐν κυρίῳ; comp. Eph_5:8; 2Co_6:14; Col_1:12. The expression σκότος, darkness, here occasioned by the comparison ὡς κλέπτης ἐν νυκτί, 1Th_5:2, is a designation of the ruined condition of the sinful and unredeemed world, which in its estrangement from God is neither enlightened concerning the divine will, nor possesses power to fulfil it.

ἵνα ὑμᾶς ἡ ἡμέρα κ.τ.λ.] By ὑμᾶς placed first the readers are fittingly and emphatically brought forward in opposition to those described in 1Th_5:3.

ἵνα is not ἐκβατικῶς in the sense of so that (Flatt, Pelt, Olshausen, Baumgarten-Crusius, Bisping, and others), but τελικῶς: that, or in order that. But the design contained in ἵνα is to be referred to God. Paul intends to say: Ye are not among the unbelieving world alienated from God, and thus the design which God has in view in reference to that unbelieving and alienated world, namely, to surprise them by the day of the Lord, can have no application to you. Why this design of God can have no application to the readers, the apostle accordingly states

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 5:4 . From the sudden and unexpected nature of the Last Day, Paul passes, by a characteristic inversion of metaphor in κλέπτας , to a play of thought upon the day as light. A double symbolism of ἡμέρα , as of κοιμᾶσθαι , thus pervades 4 8. Lightfoot cites a very striking parallel from Eur., Iph. Taur. , 1025 1026.

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

Returning to exhortations he warneth us which are lightened with the knowledge of God, that it is our duty not to live securely in deliciousness, lest we be suddenly taken in a dead sleep in pleasures, but contrarywise to have an eye to the Lord, and not suffer ourselves to be oppressed with the cares of this world, for that is meet for the darkness of the night, and this for the light.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

not in darkness--not in darkness of understanding (that is, spiritual ignorance) or of the moral nature (that is, a state of sin), Eph 4:18.

that--Greek, "in order that"; with God results are all purposed.

that day--Greek, "THE day"; the day of the Lord (Heb 10:25, "the day"), in contrast to "darkness."

overtake--unexpectedly (compare Joh 12:35).

as a thief--The two oldest manuscripts read, "as (the daylight overtakes) thieves" (Job 24:17). Old manuscripts and Vulgate read as English Version.

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

4 But ye, brethren. He now admonishes them as to what is the duty of believers, that they look forward in hope to that day, though it be remote. And this is what is intended in the metaphor of day and light. The coming of Christ will take by surprise those that are carelessly giving way to indulgence, because, being enveloped in darkness, they see nothing, for no darkness is more dense than ignorance of God. We, on the other hand, on whom Christ has shone by the faith of his gospel, differ much from them, for that saying of Isaiah is truly accomplished in us, that

while darkness covers the earth, the Lord arises upon us, and his glory is seen in us. (Isaiah 60:2)

He admonishes us, therefore, that it were an unseemly thing that we should be caught by Christ asleep, as it were, or seeing nothing, while the full blaze of light is shining forth upon us. He calls them children of light, in accordance with the Hebrew idiom, as meaning — furnished with light; as also children of the day, meaning — those who enjoy the light of day. And this he again confirms, when he says that we are not of the night nor of darkness, because the Lord has rescued us from it. For it is as though he had said, that we have not been enlightened by the Lord with a view to our walking in darkness.

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.

(4) But ye.—“Though the world (which lieth in darkness) may be surprised at the coming of the Day, you, members of the Church, living in the light, cannot be surprised.” The words “in darkness” seem to be suggested by the mention of “night” in 1Th_5:2; and the chief thought (as the succeeding verses show) is that of supineness, inattention, torpor, not so much either ignorance or sin.

That day.—Literally, the day: so that it does not mean the Judgment Day simply as a point of time, but brings out its characteristic of being a day indeed. (Comp. 1Co_3:13.)

As a thief.—There is another reading which has two of the best MSS. and he Coptic version in its favour, and the judgment of Lachmann and Dr. Lightfoot,” As thieves.” But not only is the evidence from the MSS. strongly in favour of the Received text, but the whole context shows that St. Paul was not thinking of the day as catching them at evil practices, but as catching them in inadvertence.

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

4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief] Properly, the day—the great Day, the “day of the Lord” (1Th_5:2); comp. the other elliptical phrase, “the wrath,” of ch. 1Th_1:10, 1Th_2:16. At the same time, this word, while it looks back to 1Th_5:2-3, suggests the wider, figurative sense of day that comes out in 1Th_5:5. Since the Thessalonians are “not in darkness,” the coming of day will be no terror or surprise to them. The Day of the Lord will not “overtake them as a thief,” stealing on them suddenly and despoiling them of their treasures unawares, but it will come to them as the welcome daybreak, full of light and joy. To the wicked and careless, by a sad contradiction, the Day of the Lord will be night! it is to them “darkness and not light,—yea, very dark, and no brightness in it” (Amo_5:20). But for “the sons of light” (1Th_5:5) it is day indeed, and wears its true character.

The margin of the R. V. contains the interesting reading, found “in some ancient authorities,” preferred also by Westcott and Hort: overtake you as thieves! This gives a striking sense. It depicts the guilty as themselves “thieves,” surprised by daylight. But it involves an abrupt change of metaphor, not sustained by the following context; it transforms the “thief” from the cause of the surprise (1Th_5:2) into its object.

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.

But ye, brethren, are not in darkness,.... In a state of unregeneracy, which is a state of darkness, blindness, and ignorance, and which is the condition of all men by nature; they are born in darkness, and are brought up in it, and willingly, walk in it; they are covered with it, as the earth was covered with darkness in its first creation; and dwell in it, as the Egyptians did for some days, in thick darkness, darkness which might be felt; their understandings are darkened with respect to the true knowledge of God, the nature of sin, the way of salvation by Christ, the work of the spirit of God upon the soul, and the necessity of it, the Scriptures of truth, and the mysteries of the Gospel; and which is the case of God's elect themselves, while unregenerate: but now these persons were called out of darkness, turned from it, and delivered from the power of it; and therefore knew that the day of the Lord comes as above described, by the metaphors of a thief in the night, and a woman with child, and needed not to be informed about that matter: or

that that day should overtake you as a thief; or seize and lay hold upon you as a thief who comes in the dark, and lays hold upon a person suddenly; but these saints were not in the dark, but in the light, and so could see when the day of the Lord came; and would not be surprised with it, as a man is seized with terror and fright, when laid hold on by a thief; since they would be, or at least should be on their watch, and be looking out for, and hasting to the coming of the day of God.

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

4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Ver. 4. Should overtake you as a thief] Though it come upon you as a thief in a time uncertain. Free you are from the destruction of that day, though not altogether free from the distraction of it, till somewhat recollected you remember that now your redemption draweth nigh. Hence the saints love Christ’s appearing, 2Ti 4:8; look for it with outstretched necks, and long after it, Rev 22:20.

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.

But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief - The allusion here is to the manner in which a thief or robber accomplishes his purpose. He comes in the night, when people are asleep. So, says the apostle, the Lord will come to the wicked. They are like those who are asleep when the thief comes upon them. But it is not so with Christians. They are, in relation to the coming of the day of the Lord, as people are who are awake when the robber comes. They could see his approach, and could prepare for it, so that it would not take them by surprise.

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

Overtake you. It is a subject of astonishment, that some people are so childishly afraid of the last day, that they cannot think of it without consternation, lest it should happen in their time. Weak souls! Do they not recollect that death will certainly overtake them, and that will be to them individually the end of the world, and the last day. The whole world then does perish as far as regards them. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Lest these believing Thessalonians should be terrified in their minds by this discourse, he adds this by way of comfort to them, that they shall not be surprised as others; though they did not know the particular time of Christ’s coming, yet it would not find them unprepared for it as the world would be; and the reason he gives is, because they are not in darkness.

Darkness is to be taken metaphorically; and so in Scripture it is taken either for sin, ignorance, or misery. The two former are here meant, especially ignorance. These Thessalonians were brought into the light of the gospel; they had the knowledge of Christ, and the way of salvation by him; particularly they knew of his coming, and the manner and ends of his coming, which the infidel world did not; and though Christ’s coming would be to others as a thief in the night, yet not to them.

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

4. From the physical darkness of the advent night St. Paul passes allusively to the deeper mental darkness wrapping the souls of the careless in regard to that event. Ye are not in that deeper darkness of spirit, and so, however dark the physical night of the advent, it is all clear to your mind’s eye.

That—Greek, in order that; for infidel unbelief is by God’s purpose predestined to this sudden destruction.

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

But ye, brethren; ye believers, in opposition to the unbelieving world. Are not in darkness; referring back to the night (ver. 2), when the thief comes. By darkness is here meant, not merely ignorance, but moral depravity the darkness of sin. Ye are not in the ignorant and sinful condition of the unredeemed world, so as to be surprised by the day of the Lord. With you it is not night, but day; the light of the gospel is shining around you; and therefore the day of the Lord"s coming will not surprise you in an unprepared state. That; a statement, not of result, but of purpose order that." That day; the day; namely, the day of the Lord. Should overtake you surprise you as a thief.

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

Ye are not in darkness - Sleeping secure in sin.

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

The alertness and vigilance of the Christians:

v. 4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.

v. 5. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness.

v. 6. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober.

v. 7. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

v. 8. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation.

v. 9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

v. 10. who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

v. 11. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

The Day of Judgment will come suddenly to Christians and unbelievers alike; but the contrast which the apostle brings out is this, that only the latter will be surprised by it. Christians are watchful, open-eyed, alert; they do not know when the last day is to come, but they are wide awake to any signs of its coming. This fact is brought out by the apostle in describing the state of the Christians: But you, brethren, are not in darkness that the day should surprise you like a thief; for you all are children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness. The unbelievers, the scoffers, are in darkness; moral corruption and want of intellectual insight renders them unable to read the signs of the times. With this condition the believers have nothing in common; their spiritual and intellectual condition is not such as to give them a false security and to make them blind to the signs of the times. They cannot be surprised by the coming of the last day, as a person would be when sleeping soundly in the darkness. The apostle rather makes a broad and sweeping statement concerning all Christians, namely, that they are children of light and of the day. As converted saints the believers are partakers of the salvation in Christ; they are now a light in the Lord; they know Jesus, their Savior. And they have put on the armor of light; their reason, enlightened by the understanding of God’s will, chooses those things which will bear the inspection of all men in the sight of God; they walk honestly, as in the day, Rom 13:12-13. With pointed emphasis the apostle makes the personal application: Not are we (Christians) of the night nor of the darkness. We have nothing in common with the unfruitful works of darkness; we refuse to have our minds influenced by the judgment of unbelievers in spiritual matters.

With this thought the apostle now connects his admonition: Now, then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us be vigilant and alertly sober. For the sleepers sleep by night, and the drunkards are drunken in the night; we, however, being of the day, let us be in our alert senses, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and as our helmet the hope of salvation. It will not do for Christians to yield to drowsiness, to fall into spiritual sleep, in these last days of the world, which is the condition of the rest, of the great majority of the people in the world, of all the unbelievers. The Christians’ constant attitude is that of vigilance, of watchfulness, of alert soberness, 1Pe 5:8. For the sake of comparison the apostle refers to the example of the spiritual sleepers, of those that are of the night and the darkness. Their habitual condition is the very opposite of sober alertness: they are asleep in the night of sins, they are like people under the influence of strong drink, drowsy, stupefied, unable to understand the dangers of these latter days. The unbelievers, in their carelessness and profligacy, indulge in the lusts of the flesh, avoid all means of instruction, are unable to discern the signs of the times, preferring their ignorance to the light of God’s Word in faith and life. We Christians, on the other hand, belong to the day, where the light of the Word of God rules. Therefore it behooves us at all times to make use of sober vigilance; for if the saying is true anywhere, it is true in spiritual matters, that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. To that end we should put on the armor of God, which enables us to guard both body and soul against attacks from all sides. There is the breastplate of faith and love, of a faith which rests upon the merits of Christ and therefore manifests itself in a life of love; there is the helmet, namely, the hope of salvation, the certain trust and confidence that God, who has made us sure of the redemption in Christ Jesus, will confirm us in this faith to the end, finally taking us from this vale of tears to Himself in heaven, where we shall enjoy complete salvation and deliverance from sin and death, world without end. Eph 6:13-17.

This point the apostle now drives home with the comforting assurance: Because God did not appoint us to wrath, but for the acquisition of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. God did not ordain us, set us forth, for the purpose of enduring His wrath; for it is not His will that any man should perish; He brought no man into being only to elect him to everlasting perdition. Of this fact the believers are so sure that no consideration of human logic can shake their position in the matter. We Christians know that we have been appointed by God for the obtaining or acquisition of eternal salvation, not by our own works or merits, but through our Lord Jesus Christ. How this salvation was gained and its possession by us made possible, St. Paul writes: Who died for us, in our behalf. By giving Himself into death in our stead, for our benefit, Christ gained a complete redemption for us. But this fact puts us under the obligation: So that, whether we are awake or asleep, we should live together with Him. Under all circumstances and conditions we Christians belong to the Lord, being in the most intimate fellowship with Him, partaking of His life, whether we are carrying out the obligation of alert watchfulness in this life, or whether our body is peacefully sleeping in the grave. On the great day of His coming, therefore, we shall appear as living with him, no matter whether this coming finds us watching in life or sleeping in death. In any event, to be with Him will be the true life out of death. Well may the apostle therefore add: Wherefore encourage one another, and let each one edify the other, even as you also do. While Paul’s fine courtesy and tact acknowledge the progress which has been made by the Thessalonian Christians in this respect, he does not hesitate for a moment to urge them forward toward further comfort and edification. Exuberant energy, joyful hopefulness, willing steadfastness must characterize the Christians at all times.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Note here, the wisdom and holy caution of our apostle in his application to the Thessalonians; he had in the foregoing verses asserted the certainty and suddenness of Christ’s coming, namely, to destroy Jerusalem, and to judge the world. Now, lest these Christians should be terrified in their minds, and shaken with apprehensions of fear from that sudden destruction he had mentioned, he casts in a seasonable word of comfort here in the words before us, assuring them that were sincere Christians amongst them, that how sudden soever the coming and appearance of Christ might be, yet it should not find them unready and unprepared for it, because they were not in darkness, but in the light, and were not children of the night, but of the day; that is, they were not now in a state of heathenism, but Christianity; they were not any longer in their gross and natural ignorance of God, as they were before conversion, but they were the children of the light and of the day; living and walking in the light of the gospel, and in all holiness of conversation.

Learn hence, that as sincere Christians are freed from the gross darkness of their natural state, from the darkness and ignorance of sin, and do walk in the light of a holy conversation, so their knowledge and practical holiness will be a good security against the terror of surprising afflictions, and particularly against the dread and terror of the day of judgment: Ye are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake [surprise] you as a thief :

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.

4–7. Ye, brethren, are not in darkness. The Christian has been fully instructed, is a child of the light, and knows that he must always be ready. He follows the Light of the World.

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.

you, brothers

Here "brothers" means fellow Christians.

are not in darkness

Paul speaks of evil and ignorance about God as if they were darkness. AT: "you are not unknowing, like people who live in the dark" (See: Metaphor)

so that the day would overtake you like a thief

The day when the Lord comes should not be a surprise to believers. (See: Simile)

For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day

Paul speaks of the truth as if it were light and day. AT: "For you know the truth, like people who live in the light, like people during the day" (See: Metaphor)

We are not sons of the night or the darkness

Paul speaks of evil and ignorance about God as if they were darkness. AT: We are not unknowing, like people who live in the darkness, like people at night" (See: Metaphor)

let us not sleep as the rest do

Paul speaks of spiritual unawareness as if it were sleep. AT: "let us not be like others who are not aware that Jesus is coming back" (See: Metaphor)

let us

The word "us" refers to all believers. (See: Inclusive "We")

keep watch and be sober

Paul describes spiritual awareness as the opposite of sleep and drunkenness. (See: Metaphor)

For those who sleep do so at night

Just as when people sleep and do not know what is happening, so the people of this world do not know that Christ will return. (See: Metaphor)

those who get drunk do so at night

Paul is stating that it is at night when people become drunk, so when people are unaware of Christ's return they do not live a self-controlled life. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

brother

darkness

son

asleep

light

watch

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

4. υμας η ημερα (in this order), ADG latt vg Ambrst; a Western deviation.

The case of (a) κλεπτας in AB cop, versus (b) κλεπτης in אDGKLP and every other witness, is one of crucial difficulty. Is -ης a conformation to 1Th 5:2, or -ας to the foregoing υμας (cf. τυπους, for -ον, 1Th 1:7)? The change of metaphor involved in (a) is so oddly abrupt as to amount to almost a levity of style; nor is there anything in the context to bear out the idea of Christians being, conceivably, in the position of thieves; intrinsic probability speaks strongly for (b). Yet the external attestation of (a) is weighty; the group AB cop bears a high character. κλεπτας, if not the original, is a very ancient reading.

4. ὑμεῖς δὲ, ἀδελφοί, οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σκότει, ἵνα ἡ ἡμέρα κ.τ.λ. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as thieves (or as a thief). With the opening ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ cf. Eph 4:20; and for ἐν σκότει, see 2Co 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12 f. In the last of the above passages also “darkness” and “light” are conceived as two opposite regions or realms, dividing men between them; cf. Joh 3:19 ff.; 1Jn 1:5 ff. “In darkness” one may be “surprised”—one is sure to be so if asleep, or ἐν μέθῃ (1Th 5:7)—by the breaking in of “the day.” Ἡ ἡμέρα is “the day” whose coming was described in 1Th 5:2; for this emphatic breviloquence, cf. Rom 13:12, 1Co 3:13, Heb 10:25; similarly “the wrath” in 1Th 1:10 above.

We have preferred in the Textual Note the Received reading κλέπτης to κλέπτας, which is adopted by WH and Lightfoot. The inversion involved in κλέπτας, transforming the “thief” from the cause of the surprise (1Th 5:2) into its object, abrupt as it is, one might admit as possible in St Paul; but it seems incongruous here, and such incongruity is un-Pauline: the subsequent context describes the “sons of night” as sleeping or drunken, quite otherwise than as thieves, who are alert and careful. Moreover, καταλάβῃ bears a stress which should have fallen upon ὡς κλέπτας in the ordo verborum, if the metaphor had been turned about and a new bearing unexpectedly given to it. It is a thief-like surprise that “the day” brings with it; not such a surprise as falls upon thieves at their night’s work. For καταλαμβάνω in this hostile sense, cf. Joh 12:35, Mar 9:18; in its good sense, Php 3:12. With the reading ὡς κλέπτας, the verb would have a shade of detection in it; cf. [Jo.] Joh 8:3.

The strict telic force of ἵνα might be maintained by conceiving the clause as a statement of God’s purpose “in His merciful dispensation implied in οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σκότει” (Ellicott); or better, according to Bornemann, as the purpose of God for the opposite class of men who are ἐν σκότει, as though the Apostle meant, “You are not in darkness,—not so placed that the day may surprise you.” “But the word is better taken here as simply expressing the result or consequence [of being in darkness], a meaning which, in the decline of the Greek language, gradually displaced the original signification of ἵνα” (Lightfoot); cf. Gal 5:17. This conjunction in the κοινή was slipping down from the final (telic), through the eventual (ecbatic), sense into the use assigned to it in Byzantine and Modern Greek, where, in the form νά, it serves as a bare infinitive particle. See Winer-Moulton, pp. 572 ff.; A. Buttmann, pp. 235 ff. The ἵνα after παρακαλοῦμεν (1Th 4:1) is somewhat different (see note).

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.

4.] ἐν σκότει refers back to ἐν νυκτὶ above—in the ignorance and moral slumber of the world which knows not God. τῷ παραβολικῷ ἐπέμεινε σχήματι, κ. σκότος μὲν καλεῖ τὴν ἄγνοιαν, ἡμέραν δὲ τὴν γνῶσιν, Thdrt. τὸν σκοτεινὸν κ. ἀκάθαρτον βίον φησί, Chrys. Both combined give the right meaning.

ἵνα] not ‘so that,’ here or any where else: but that,—in order that: it gives the purpose in the divine arrangement: for with God all results are purposed.

ἡ ἡμέρα] not, ‘that day,’ but the day—the meaning of ἡμέρα as distinguished from σκότος being brought out, and ἡ ἡμέρα being put in the place of emphasis accordingly. This not having been seen, its situation was altered, to throw the first stress on ὑμᾶς, which properly has the second. That this is so, is plain from what follows, ver. 5.

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

4. ὑμεῖς δέ κτλ. The δε is adversative by context and contrasts the brethren with the αὐτοῖ (v. 3) who are now seen to be unbelievers. The latter are in the realm of night, as ἐν νυκτι (v. 2) suggests, that is, of wickedness; and the day of the Lord with its inevitable destruction comes on them suddenly and finds them unprepared. The brethren on the other hand (δε) are not in darkness (ἐν σκότε), that is, in the realm of wickedness, and the day of the Lord, now designated as the daylight in contrast with the dark, while it comes suddenly for them also, does not (and this is the point of the new comparison) surprise them as thieves are surprised by the coming of the dawn.

“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 the emphasis on the instantaneous character of the advent and the emphasis in II 2:3 f. on the preliminary conditions” (Moff.). On σκότο, cf. Rom 13:12, 1Co 4:5, 2Co 6:14, etc.; cf. ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ σκότου Col 1:13, Luk 22:53. The clause with ἵν is not of purpose but of conceived result (cf. 2Co 1:17 and BMT 218 f.). The daylight is a metaphor for “the day,” that is, ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείν (GF; cf. II 1:10); on ἡ ἡμέρ, cf. 1Co 3:13, Rom 13:12; also Rom 2:16, Eze 36:33. καταλαμβάνει is here not “attain” (Rom 9:30, 1Co 9:24, Php 3:12 f.), or “ understand” (Eph 3:18), but “overtake” (Gen 19:19, Sir. 7:1:Joh 12:35), with a touch of surprise and detection. GF read καταλάβο ADGF place ὑμᾶ before ἡ ἡμέρ Rom 13:11-14, where the time before the Parousia is designated as ὕπνος, σκότος and νύξ affords a striking parallel to vv. 4-7. The advent is ἡ ἡμέρ and Christians are to put on τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτό and to conduct themselves ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, that is, are to avoid κώμοις, μἐθαις κτλ. for ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν

ὡς κλέπτας “That the day should surprise you as thieves are surprised.” As Grotius has observed, the comparison here is not the same as in v. 2, though it follows naturally from it. In v. 2, “the day of the Lord comes as a thief at night,” suddenly and unexpectedly; here the day of the Lord (compared to the daylight) does not surprise the believers as it does the unbelievers (ὡς κλέπτα), that is, does not catch the Christians unawares and unprepared.

κλέπτα, read by BA Boh, is accepted by Lachmann, WH., De W., Ewald, Koch, Lft., Moff. and Field (Otium Norv. III, 123). Most commentators, however, prefer the numerically better attested κλέπτη (see Souter, ad loc.). In this case, the same comparison is used as in v. 2, but here the point is not “suddenness” but “surprise.” The usual objection to κλέπτα, that it spoils the metaphor (see on νήπιο 2:7), is too incisive, in view of the inversion of metaphors in Paul, especially in this section (cf. καθεύδει and γρηγορεῖ in vv. 6, 10); see Lft. on 2:7 and ad loc. Weiss (17) thinks that κλέπτα is a mechanical conformation to ὑμᾶ (cf. τὑπου 1:7). Zim (cf. Mill. and Dibelius) suggests that κλέπτα involves a change of sense that overlooks the reference to Luk 12:39 = Mat 24:43.

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

Overtake [καταλαβη] . See on comprehended, Joh 1:5.

A thief [κλεπτης] . Tischendorf, Weiss, and Rev. T. retain this reading. Westcott and Hort read kleptav thieves, but with klepthv in margin. The weight of textual evidence is in favor of the singular.

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