Passage

1 Thessalonians 4.13

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.

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. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-15, 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.

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. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-15, 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.

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} (1 Thessalonians 4:11-15, 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,

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, (1 Thessalonians 4:11-15, 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). Some members have died since Paul left, and the congregation is grieving without knowing what to expect.
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

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope."

Paul permits grief and qualifies it. The instruction is not "do not grieve" but "do not grieve as those who have no hope." Christian mourning is assumed; what is denied is despair. Reading the verse as a prohibition on sorrow makes it pastorally cruel and misreads the Greek, where the comparison clause carries the restriction.

"Those who are asleep." Koimaomai is a widespread ancient euphemism for death, used in Greek and Jewish sources alike, and its Christian use trades on the implied waking. The English word cemetery comes from the related noun koimētērion, a sleeping place. The metaphor does not by itself teach anything about the intermediate state, and Paul elsewhere expects to be with Christ at death (Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8).

"Who have no hope." Pagan funerary inscriptions from the period frequently express exactly this: non fui, fui, non sum, non curo, I was not, I was, I am not, I care not. Paul's phrase is not a caricature of Greco-Roman feeling but a fair description of what much of the surrounding culture said about death in public. Against that, verse 14 grounds Christian hope not in the immortality of the soul but in an event, the death and resurrection of Jesus.

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.

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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

G3952 - parousia, via 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18

Passages:

1 Thessalonians 5.18

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.