Passage

1 Thessalonians 4.13-18

Book: 1 Thessalonians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

11. and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you; 12. that ye may walk becomingly toward them that are without, and may have need of nothing.

13. But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; 17. then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-18, ASV)

WEB

11. and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you; 12. that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.

13. But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15. For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. 16. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, 17. then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. 18. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-18, WEB)

KJV

11. And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12. That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. ^{of: or, of no man}

13. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. ^{prevent: or, come before, or, anticipate, or, precede} 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. ^{comfort: or, exhort} (1 Thessalonians 4:11-18, KJV)

YLT

11. and to study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we did command you, 12. that ye may walk becomingly unto those without, and may have lack of nothing.

13. And I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, that ye may not sorrow, as also the rest who have not hope, 14. for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God those asleep through Jesus he will bring with him, 15. for this to you we say in the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who do remain over to the presence of the Lord, may not precede those asleep, 16. because the Lord himself, in a shout, in the voice of a chief-messenger, and in the trump of God, shall come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, 17. then we who are living, who are remaining over, together with them shall be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in air, and so always with the Lord we shall be; 18. so, then, comfort ye one another in these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-18, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul, writing with Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy, who are named as co-senders in the opening (1 Thess 1:1).
Audience: The church in Thessalonica, capital of the Roman province of Macedonia; a largely Gentile congregation of recent converts (1 Thess 1:9) founded on the second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-9). The immediate occasion is grief: some believers have died since Paul left, and the congregation is unsure what that means for them.
Location: Written from Corinth, shortly after Timothy returned with news of the young church (1 Thess 3:6).
Time period: c. AD 50-51. The Gallio inscription from Delphi fixes Paul in Corinth around AD 51-52 (Acts 18:12), which makes this letter either the earliest or one of the two earliest surviving Pauline writings, roughly twenty years after the crucifixion.

Theological reading

The fullest description of Christ's return in the Pauline corpus, and the passage from which the word rapture comes.

The pastoral problem. These are new Gentile converts, and Paul had evidently taught them to expect the Lord's return. Some of them have since died, and the church does not know whether those believers will miss it. Paul's answer is not primarily doctrinal instruction but consolation, which is what verse 18 says the passage is for: "comfort one another with these words."

The sequence Paul gives. The Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; the dead in Christ rise first; then the living are caught up together with them in the clouds; and so we shall always be with the Lord. The order answers the anxiety exactly: the dead are not disadvantaged, they go first.

The vocabulary.

Koimaomai, to fall asleep, used of the Christian dead throughout the passage. The metaphor is not soul-sleep doctrine but a standard idiom for death with an expectation of waking; Paul uses it the same way at 1 Corinthians 15:20.
Harpazo, to seize or snatch away, translated by the Latin rapiemur, from which English gets rapture. The same verb describes Philip at Acts 8:39 and Paul's own ascent at 2 Corinthians 12:2.
Apantesis, meeting. In Hellenistic civic usage the word names the formal delegation that goes out from a city to meet an arriving dignitary and escorts him back in, which is how it is used at Acts 28:15 of the brothers who came out to meet Paul on the Appian Way. That background is one of the main arguments against reading the passage as a departure to heaven rather than a welcome of the returning Lord.

On rapture timing. The passage does not date itself relative to a tribulation, and honest treatments say so. Pretribulational, midtribulational, prewrath, and posttribulational readings all use it, and each supplies the timing from elsewhere (Matthew 24:29-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Revelation 3:10). What the text itself asserts is a bodily resurrection of dead believers, a transformation of the living, a visible and audible return, and a permanent state of being with the Lord.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G3952 - parousia, parousia, Strong's G3952
G3498 - nekros, nekros, Strong's G3498
G2198 - zao, zao, Strong's G2198
G4100 - pisteuo, pisteuo, Strong's G4100
G3056 - logos, logos, Strong's G3056
G5547 - christos, christos, Strong's G5547

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

G1453 - egeiro, via 1 Thessalonians 4.14
G3498 - nekros, via 1 Thessalonians 4.16
G3875 - parakletos, via 1 Thessalonians 4.18
G3952 - parousia

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.