the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — nominative plural masculine
know
εἴδωeídō
G1492
used only in certain past tenses
perfectly
ἀκριβῶςakribōs
G199
exactly · adverb
that
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
day
ἡμέραhēmera
G2250
day · noun — nominative singular feminine
Lord
κυρίουkuriou
G2962
supreme in authority · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
so
οὕτωςhoutōs
G3779
in this way (referring to what precedes or follows) · adverb
cometh
ἔρχεται·erchetai
G2064
to come or go (in a great variety of applications · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
as
ὡςhōs
G5613
which how · particle
thief
κλέπτηςkleptēs
G2812
a stealer (literally or figuratively) · noun — nominative singular masculine
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
night
νυκτὶnukti
G3571
"night" (literally or figuratively) · noun — dative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements sha…
Matthew 24:42-44 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Revelation 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a…
Matthew 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Luke 12:39-40 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his h…
Mark 13:34-35 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and…
Jeremiah 23:20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5
In these words observe,
I. The apostle tells the Thessalonians it was needless or useless to enquire about the particular time of Christ's coming: Of the times and seasons you need not that I write unto you, Th1 5:1. The thing is certain that Christ will come, and there is a certain time appointed for his coming; but there was no need that the apostle should write about this, and therefore he had no revelation given him; nor should they or we enquire into this secret, which the Father has reserved in his own power. Of that day and hour knoweth no man. Christ himself did not reveal this while upon earth; it was not in his commission as the great prophet of the church: nor did he reveal this t…
as a thief in the night--The apostles in this image follow the parable of their Lord, expressing how the Lord's coming shall take men by surprise (Mat 24:43; Pe2 3:10). "The night is wherever there is quiet unconcern" [BENGEL]. "At midnight" (perhaps figurative: to some parts of the earth it will be literal night), Mat 25:6. The thief not only gives no notice of his approach but takes all precaution to prevent the household knowing of it. So the Lord (Rev 16:15). Signs will precede the coming, to confirm the patient hope of the watchful believer; but the coming itself shall be sudden at last (Mat 24:32-36; Luk 21:25-32, Luk 21:35).
Adam Clarke on 1 Thessalonians 5:1
But of the times and the seasons - It is natural to suppose, after what he had said in the conclusion of the preceding chapter concerning the coming of Christ, the raising of the dead, and rendering those immortal who should then be found alive, without obliging them to pass through the empire of death, that the Thessalonians would feel an innocent curiosity to know, as the disciples did concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, when those things should take place, and what should be the signs of those times, and of the coming of the Son of man. And it is remarkable that the apostle answers, here, to these anticipated questions as our Lord did, in the above case, to the direct question of his…
The apostle says: "The day of the Lord shall so come as a thief in the night. When they shall say, Peace and security, then on them shall come sudden destruction." [1 Thessalonians 5:2-3] Also in the Acts of the Apostles: "No one can know the times or the seasons which the Father has placed in His own power." [Acts 1:7]
So what is this day which the Lord has made? Live good lives, and you will be this day yourselves. The apostle, you see, was not talking about the day which begins with sunrise and ends with sunset, when he said, "Let us walk honorably, as in the day"; where he also said, "For those who get drunk are drunk at night." Nobody sees people getting drunk at the midday meal; but when this does happen, it is a matter of the night, not of the day which the Lord has made. You see, just as that day is realized in those who live godly, holy and righteous lives, marked by moderation, justice, sobriety. So too on the contrary, for those who live in an ungodly, loose-living, proud and irreligious manner—for that sort of night, the night will undoubtedly be a thief. "The day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night."
Do not place your confidence in your youth, nor think that you have a very fixed term of life, "For the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night." On this account he has made our end invisible, so that we might demonstrate clearly our diligence and forethought. Do you not see men taken away prematurely day after day? On this account a certain one admonishes, "don't delay in turning to the Lord, and don't put things off from day to day," lest at any time, while you delay, you are destroyed. Let the old man keep this admonition; let the young man heed this advice. Indeed, are you in insecurity, and are you rich, and do you abound in wealth, and does no affliction happen to you? Still hear what Paul says: "when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them." Affairs change often. We are not masters of our end. Let us be masters of virtue. Our Master Christ is loving.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Day · . — .
Escape · NONE, FROM THE — NONE, FROM THE
Night · Favourable to the purposes of the wicked — Favourable to the purposes of the wicked
Second Coming Of Christ, The · The Manner of: As a thief in the night — The Manner of: As a thief in the night
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 1 Thessalonians 5:2
For yourselves know perfectly,.... With great exactness and accuracy, with great clearness and perspicuity, as a certain truth, which was made plain and evident to them, and about which there could be no question; and which perfect knowledge they had, either from the words of Christ, Matthew 24:42, or from the ministration of the apostle and his fellow labourers, when among them:
that the day of the Lord; of the Lord Jesus, when he will show himself to be King of kings, and Lord of lords, and the Judge of the whole earth; and which is sometimes styled the day of the Son of man, and the day of God, for Christ will appear then most gloriously, both in his divine and human nature; the day of r…
1 Thessalonians 5:1-5
1. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1. Porro de temporibus et articulis temporum non opus habetis, ut vobis scribatur.
2. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
2. Ipsi enim optime scitis, quod dies Domini tanquam fur in nocte sic veniet.
3. 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.
3. Quando enim dixerint, Pax et securitas, tunc repentinus ipsis superveniet interitus, quasi dolor partus mulieri praegnanti, nec effugient.
4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkn…
For you know quite well: Paul reminds them of the teaching they had already received (3:3-4). • The day of the Lord’s return is the time when God will come to judge humanity (Isa 13:6, 9; Ezek 30:3) and save his people (Joel 2:21-32; 3:18; Zech 14). • like a thief in the night: Cp. Matt 24:43-44; Luke 12:39-40; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 3:3; 16:15.
