Passage

1 Thessalonians 5.2

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

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you.

2. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape. 4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief: (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4, ASV)

WEB

But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you.

2. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.

For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape. 4. But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4, WEB)

KJV

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

2. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

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. 4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4, KJV)

YLT

And concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need of my writing to you,

2. for yourselves have known thoroughly that the day of the Lord as a thief in the night doth so come,

for when they may say, Peace and surety, then sudden destruction doth stand by them, as the travail [doth] her who is with child, and they shall not escape; 4. and ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day may catch you as a thief; (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

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).
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

"For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night."

"You yourselves know full well." Paul says the Thessalonians already have this teaching, which is worth noticing: he had been with them a matter of weeks (Acts 17:2 mentions three sabbaths) and eschatology was evidently part of the initial instruction, not an advanced topic.

"The day of the Lord." Paul takes the phrase directly from the prophets, where it is the day of God's decisive intervention, and where it is repeatedly not what the audience expected: Amos 5:18-20 calls it darkness and not light, and Joel 2:1-2 and Zephaniah 1:14-15 describe it as dread. Paul applies the phrase to the return of Jesus without argument, which is a substantial Christological claim made in passing.

The thief image is about timing, not stealth. A thief comes at an hour the householder cannot predict, which is precisely the point of the following verses: people saying "peace and safety" are overtaken suddenly. The image is Jesus's own (Matthew 24:43; Luke 12:39) and it recurs at 2 Peter 3:10 and Revelation 16:15. Its consistent use across independent strands of the New Testament is one indication that it goes back to Jesus.

What Paul draws from it. Not anxiety but wakefulness. Verses 4-8 immediately deny that the thief image applies to believers in the same way, "you are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief", and turn the point into sobriety and armor rather than date-setting.

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.

G1492 - oida, oida, Strong's G1492
G2962 - kyrios, kyrios, Strong's G2962

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Failed Second Coming Prophecy Objection Defeater

Concepts:

Lexicon:

G3952 - parousia

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.