Worksheet for Exegeting a Text
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:22
Body 2b, The Day of the Lord
Week 7
Last revised: 3/31/01
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    4.13 Ouj qevlomen de; uJma'" ajgnoei'n, ajdelfoiv, peri; tw'n koimwmevnwn, i[na mh; luph'sqe kaqw;" kai; oiJ loipoi; oiJ mh; e[conte" ejlpivda.  4.14 eij ga;r pisteuvomen o[ti  jIhsou'" ajpevqanen kai; ajnevsth, ou[tw" kai; oJ qeo;" tou;" koimhqevnta" dia; tou'  jIhsou' a[xei su;n aujtw'/.
     4.15 Tou'to ga;r uJmi'n levgomen ejn lovgw/ kurivou, o[ti hJmei'" oiJ zw'nte" oiJ perileipovmenoi eij" th;n parousivan tou' kurivou ouj mh; fqavswmen tou;" koimhqevnta": 4.16 o[ti aujto;" oJ kuvrio" ejn keleuvsmati, ejn fwnh'/  ajrcaggevlou kai; ejn savlpiggi qeou', katabhvsetai ajp j oujranou' kai; oiJ nekroi; ejn Cristw'/ ajnasthvsontai prw'ton,  4.17 e[peita hJmei'" oiJ zw'nte" oiJ perileipovmenoi a[ma su;n aujtoi'" aJrpaghsovmeqa ejn nefevlai" eij" ajpavnthsin tou' kurivou eij" ajevra:  kai; ou[tw" pavntote su;n kurivw/ ejsovmeqa. 4.18  [Wste parakalei'te ajllhvlou" ejn toi'" lovgoi" touvtoi".
     5.1 Peri; de; tw'n crovnwn kai; tw'n kairw'n, ajdelfoiv, ouj creivan e[cete uJmi'n gravfesqai, 5.2 aujtoi; ga;r ajkribw'" oi[date o[ti hJmevra kurivou wJ" klevpth" ejn nukti; ou[tw" e[rcetai. 5.3 o[tan levgwsin, Eijrhvnh kai; ajsfavleia, tovte aijfnivdio" aujtoi'" ejfivstatai o[leqro" w[sper hJ wjdi;n th'/ ejn gastri; ejcouvsh/, kai; ouj mh; ejkfuvgwsin.  5.4 uJmei'" dev, ajdelfoiv, oujk ejste; ejn skovtei, i&na hJ hJmevra uJma'" wJ" klevpth" katalavbh/: 5.5 pavnte" ga;r uJmei'" uiJoi; fwtov" ejste kai; uiJoi; hJmevra".  oujk ejsme;n nukto;" oujde; skovtou": 5.6 a[ra ou\n mh; kaqeuvdwmen wJ" oiJ loipoiv ajlla; grhgorw'men kai; nhvfwmen. 5.7 oiJ ga;r kaqeuvdonte" nukto;" kaqeuvdousin, kai; oiJ mequskovmenoi nukto;" mequvousin: 5.8 hJmei'" de; hJmevra" o[nte" nhvfwmen ejndusavmenoi qwvraka pivstew" kai; ajgavph" kai; perikefalaivan ejlpivda swthriva": 5.9 o[ti oujk e[qeto hJma'" oJ qeo;" eij" ojrgh;n ajlla; eij" peripoivhsin swthriva" dia; tou' kurivou hJmw'n  jIhsou' Cristou' 5.10 tou' ajpoqanovnto" uJpe;r hJmw'n, i&na ei[te grhgorw'men ei[te kaqeuvdwmen a[ma su;n aujtw'/ zhvswmen. 5.11 Dio; parakalei'te ajllhvlou" kai; oijkodomei'te ei|" to;n e[na, kaqw;" kai; poiei'te.
     5.12  jErwtw'men de; uJma'", ajdelfoiv, eijdevnai tou;" kopiw'nta" ejn uJmi'n kai; proi>stamevnou" uJmw'n ejn kurivw/ kai; nouqetou'nta" uJma'" 5.13 kai; hJgei'sqai aujtou;" uJperekperissou' ejn ajgavph/ dia; to; e[rgon aujtw'n.  eijrhneuvete ejn eJautoi'". 5.14 parakalou'men de; uJma'", ajdelfoiv, nouqetei'te tou;" ajtavktou", paramuqei'sqe tou;" ojligoyuvcou" ajntevcesqe tw'n ajsqenw'n, makroqumei'te pro;" pavnta". 5.15 oJra'te mhv ti" kako;n ajnti; kakou' tini ajpodw'/, ajlla; pavntote to; ajgaqo;n diwvkete kai; eij" ajllhvlou" kai; eij" pavnta".
    5.16 Pavntote caivrete, 5.17 ajdialeivptw" proseuvcesqe, 5.18 ejn panti; eujcaristei'te:  tou'to ga;r qevlhma qeou' ejn Cristw'/  jIhsou' eij" uJma'". 5.19 to; pneu'ma mh; sbevnnute, 5.20 profhteiva" mh; ejxouqenei'te, 5.21 pavnta de; dokimavzete, to; kalo;n katevcete, 5.22 ajpo; panto;" ei[dou" ponhrou' ajpevcesqe.		 NRSV:
      4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters[Gk brothers], about those who have died [Gk fallen asleep], so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died [Gk fallen asleep]. 4:15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died [Gk fallen asleep]. 4:16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
     5:1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters [Gk brothers], you do not need to have anything written to you. 5:2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 5:3 When they say,  ”There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 5:4 But you, beloved [Gk brothers], are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5:5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 5:6 So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; 5:7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 5:8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 5:9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 5:10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
     5:12 But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters[Gk brothers], to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; 5:13 esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 5:14 And we urge you, beloved [Gk brothers], to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. 5:15 See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 5:16 Rejoice always, 5:17 pray without ceasing, 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit. 5:20 Do not despise the words of prophets [Gk despise prophecies],  5:21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 5:22 abstain from every form of evil.

1. Determine the genre of the passage.

  1. How does the apocalyptic nature of 4:13-5:11 compare to the "Little Apocalypse" sections of Matthew, Mark and Luke?
  2. Relate the paranetical section of 5:12-13 especially (and also 5:14-22 to a limited extent) to other paraenesis in 1 Thessalonians.
2. Determine the literary context of the passage.
  1. Identify the location and thus the role of 4:13-5:22 rhetorically in the letter.
3. Determine the time/place references in the passage.
  1. Explore the possible background of eschatological teaching that may have impacted the thinking of the Thessalonican believers, and thus play a role in Paul's words here. For example, was there a Gnostic influence behind some of this thinking, as Schmittals contends?
4. Analyze the internal literary structure of the passage.
  1. Explore the possible subdivisions within this passage based on the variety of genre forms.
  2. Analsyze the paraenesis of 5:12-13 and 5:13-20 in terms of possible connections as well as distinctives. Give special attention to the introductory verbs to each section.
5. Determine the interpretative issues -- both theologically and exegetically -- present in the passage.
  1. Identify the eschatological schema in 4:13-18 and 5:1-10, and relate it to other similar texts in the New Testament.
  2. Address the issue of the consistency between 4:13-18 and 5:1-10 as it impacts the issue of the authenticity of 5:1-10.
6. Determine a central theme of the passage
 
7. Develop an exegetical outline of the passage.
 
8.  Develop a short, one page sermon brief from the passage.