1 Thessalonians 5:3

Contextual Overview

¹ Now, brothers and sisters, we don't need to write to you about times and dates. ¹ But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to have anything written to you. ¹ Of the tymes and seasons brethren ye have no nede that I write vnto you: ¹ But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. ¹ Now as to the periods and times, brothers and sisters, you have no need of anything to be written to you. ¹ Now, brothers and sisters, we do not need to write you about times and dates. ¹ But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you. ¹ But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write to you. ¹ Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. ¹ But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Peace: Deuteronomy 29:19, Judges 18:27, Judges 18:28, Psalms 10:11-13, Isaiah 21:4, Isaiah 56:12, Daniel 5:3-6, Nahum 1:10, Matthew 24:37-39, Luke 17:26-30, Luke 21:34, Luke 21:35

then: Exodus 15:9, Exodus 15:10, Joshua 8:20-22, Judges 20:41, Judges 20:42, 2 Chronicles 32:19-21, Psalms 73:18-20, Proverbs 29:1, Isaiah 30:13, Luke 17:27-29, Luke 21:34, Luke 21:35, Acts 12:22, Acts 12:23, Acts 13:41, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, 2 Peter 2:4, Revelation 18:7, Revelation 18:8

as: Psalms 48:6, Isaiah 43:6-9, Isaiah 21:3, Jeremiah 4:31, Jeremiah 6:24, Jeremiah 13:21, Jeremiah 22:23, Hosea 13:13, Micah 4:9, Micah 4:10

and they: Matthew 23:33, Hebrews 2:3, Hebrews 12:23

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:16 - in sorrow Genesis 7:11 - all Genesis 19:14 - as one Exodus 12:29 - at midnight Joshua 8:22 - let none Joshua 11:7 - suddenly Judges 8:11 - secure Judges 10:8 - that year Judges 19:6 - let thine heart Judges 20:34 - knew not 1 Samuel 15:32 - Agag said 1 Samuel 26:7 - sleeping 1 Samuel 30:16 - eating 2 Samuel 4:5 - lay on a bed 2 Samuel 17:3 - shall be 2 Samuel 18:14 - thrust them 2 Samuel 22:5 - waves 1 Kings 1:42 - a valiant 1 Kings 22:27 - until I come in peace 2 Kings 3:24 - smote the 2 Kings 9:24 - smote 2 Kings 19:35 - that night 2 Chronicles 18:26 - until I return Esther 5:12 - to morrow Job 15:21 - in prosperity Job 18:12 - destruction Job 22:10 - sudden Job 24:23 - whereon Job 31:3 - destruction Job 36:20 - cut Psalms 6:10 - and be Psalms 10:6 - not Psalms 35:8 - Let destruction Psalms 64:7 - suddenly Psalms 73:19 - How Proverbs 1:27 - your fear Proverbs 6:15 - shall his Proverbs 14:32 - driven Proverbs 24:16 - but Proverbs 28:18 - but Ecclesiastes 9:12 - the sons Isaiah 1:28 - the destruction Isaiah 13:6 - for the day Isaiah 13:8 - pangs Isaiah 20:6 - and how Isaiah 26:17 - General Isaiah 29:5 - at an Isaiah 37:36 - and when Isaiah 47:9 - in a moment Isaiah 47:11 - thou shalt not be Isaiah 59:9 - we wait Jeremiah 5:12 - neither Jeremiah 8:15 - General Jeremiah 11:11 - which Jeremiah 14:19 - we Jeremiah 30:6 - every Jeremiah 48:41 - as the heart Jeremiah 49:22 - the heart of the Ezekiel 7:10 - it Ezekiel 12:28 - There shall Ezekiel 33:24 - but we Daniel 4:4 - was Daniel 4:31 - the word Daniel 5:5 - the same Amos 6:3 - put Habakkuk 2:7 - they Zechariah 1:11 - is Matthew 24:8 - General Matthew 24:50 - come Mark 13:8 - sorrows Luke 6:25 - mourn Luke 12:20 - God Luke 12:39 - General Romans 2:3 - that thou shalt 2 Peter 2:3 - whose Revelation 16:15 - I come

Cross-References

Genesis 4:25
And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him."

Genesis 4:25
And Adam had sex with his wife; and she bore a son, and named him Seth. For, [she said], God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel; for Cain slew him.

Genesis 4:25
Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth and said, "God has given me another child. He will take the place of Abel, who was killed by Cain."

Genesis 4:25
And Adam had marital relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, "God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him."

Genesis 4:25
And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and called his name Seth: For God, [said she], hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

Genesis 4:25
Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth. For, she said, "God has appointed me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him."

Genesis 4:25
Adam knew [Eve as] his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for [she said], "God has granted another child for me in place of Abel, because Cain killed him."

Genesis 4:25
Also yit Adam knewe his wijf, and sche childide a sone, and clepide his name Seth, and seide, God hath put to me another seed for Abel, whom Cayn killide.

Genesis 4:25
And Adam again knoweth his wife, and she beareth a son, and calleth his name Seth, `for God hath appointed for me another seed instead of Abel:' for Cain had slain him.

Genesis 4:25
And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For when they shall say,.... Or men shall say, that is, wicked and ungodly men, persons in a state of unregeneracy:

peace and safety; when they shall sing a requiem, to themselves, promise themselves much ease and peace for years to come, and imagine their persons and property to be very secure from enemies and oppressors, and shall flatter themselves with much and long temporal happiness:

then sudden destruction cometh upon them; as on the men of the old world in the times of Noah, and on the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot; for as these, will be the days of the Son of man, as at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, so at the last day; see Luke 17:26 and as was the destruction of literal Babylon, so of Babylon in a mystical sense, or antichrist and his followers: and which will be

as travail upon a woman with child; whose anguish and pains are very sharp, the cause of which is within herself, and which come suddenly upon her, and are unavoidable; and so the metaphor expresses the sharpness and severity of the destruction of the wicked, thus the calamities on the Jewish nation are expressed by a word which signifies the sorrows, pangs, and birth throes of a woman in travail, Matthew 24:8, and likewise that the cause of it is from themselves, their own sins and transgressions; and also the suddenness of it, which will come upon them in the midst of all their mirth, jollity, and security; and moreover, the inevitableness of it, it will certainly come at the full and appointed time, though that is not known:

and they shall not escape; the righteous judgment of God, the wrath of the Lamb, or falling into his hands; to escape is impossible, rocks, hills, and mountains will not cover and hide them; before the judgment seat of Christ they must stand, and into everlasting punishment must they go.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For when they shall say, Peace and safety - That is, when the wicked shall say this, for the apostle here refers only to those on whom “sudden destruction” will come; compare Matthew 24:36-42 notes; 2 Peter 3:3-4 notes. It is clear from this:

(1) That when the Lord Jesus shall come the world will not all be converted. There will be some to be “destroyed.” How large this proportion will be, it is impossible now to ascertain. This supposition, however, is not inconsistent with the belief that there will be a general prevalence of the gospel before that period.

(2) The impenitent and wicked world will be sunk in carnal security when he comes. They will regard themselves as safe. They will see no danger. They will give no heed to warning. They will be unprepared for his advent. So it has always been. it seems to be a universal truth in regard to all the visitations of God to wicked people for punishment, that he comes upon them at a time when they are not expecting him, and that they have no faith in the predictions of his advent. So it was in the time of the flood; in the destruction of Sodom Gomorrah, and Jerusalem; in the overthrow of Babylon: so it is when the sinner dies, and so it will be when the Lord Jesus shall return to judge the world. One of the most remarkable facts about the history of man is, that he takes no warning from his Maker; he never changes his plans, or feels any emotion, because his Creator “thunders damnation along his path,” and threatens to destroy him in hell.

Sudden destruction - Destruction that was unforeseen (αἰφνίδιος aiphnidios) or unexpected. The word here rendered “sudden,” occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, except in Luke 21:34, “Lest that day come upon you unawares.” The word rendered “destruction” - ὄλεθρος olethros - occurs in the New Testament only here and in 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2Th 1:9; 1 Timothy 6:9, in all of which places it is correctly translated destruction. The word destruction is familiar to us. It means, properly, demolition; pulling down; the annihilation of the form of anything, or that form of parts which constitutes it what it is; as the destruction of grass by eating; of a forest by cutting down the trees; of life by murder; of the soul by consigning it to misery. It does not necessarily mean annihilation - for a house or city is not annihilated which is pulled down or burnt; a forest is not annihilated which is cut down; and a man is not annihilated whose character and happiness are destroyed. In regard to the destruction here referred to, we may remark:

(1)It will be after the return of the Lord Jesus to judgment; and hence it is not true that the wicked experience all the punishment which they ever will in the present life;

(2)That it seems fairly implied that the destruction which they will then suffer will not be annihilation, but will be connected with conscious existence; and,

(3)That they will then be cut off from life and hope and salvation.

How can the solemn affirmation that they will be “destroyed suddenly,” be consistent with the belief that all people will be saved? Is it the same thing to be destroyed and to be saved? Does the Lord Jesus, when he speaks of the salvation of his people, say that he comes to destroy them?

As travail upon a woman with child - This expression is sometimes used to denote great consternation, as in Psalms 48:6; Jeremiah 6:24; Micah 4:9-10; great pain, as Isaiah 53:11; Jeremiah 4:31; John 16:21; or the suddenness with which anything occurs; Jeremiah 13:21. It seems here to be used to denote two things; first, that the coming of the Lord to a wicked world will be sudden; and, secondly, that it will be an event of the most distressing and overwhelming nature.

And they shall not escape - That is, the destruction, or punishment. They calculated on impunity, but now the time will have come when none of these refuges will avail them, and no rocks will cover them from the “wrath to come.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Thessalonians 5:3. For when they shall say, Peace and safety — This points out, very particularly, the state of the Jewish people when the Romans came against them; and so fully persuaded were they that God would not deliver the city and temple to their enemies, that they refused every overture that was made to them.

Sudden destruction — In the storming of their city and the burning of their temple, and the massacre of several hundreds of thousands of themselves; the rest being sold for slaves, and the whole of them dispersed over the face of the earth.

As travail upon a woman — This figure is perfectly consistent with what the apostle had said before, viz.: that the times and seasons were not known: though the thing itself was expected, our Lord having predicted it in the most positive manner. So, a woman with child knows that, if she be spared, she will have a bearing time; but the week, the day, the hour, she cannot tell. In a great majority of cases the time is accelerated or retarded much before or beyond the time that the woman expected; so, with respect to the Jews, neither the day, week, month, nor year was known. All that was specifically known was this: their destruction was coming, and it should be sudden, and they should not escape.