a prolonged form) · noun — nominative singular masculine
cometh
ἐφίσταταιephistatai
G2186
to stand upon · verb — present middle indicative, 3rd person singular
them
αὐτοῖςautois
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
as
ὥσπερhōsper
G5618
just as · conjunction
travail
ὠδὶνōdin
G5604
a pang or throe · noun — nominative singular feminine
upon
ἡhē
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular feminine
woman
ἐχούσῃ,echousē
G2192
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active participle, dative singular feminine
with
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
child
γαστρὶgastri
G1064
the stomach · noun — dative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
shall
ἐκφύγωσιν.¶ekphugōsin
G1628
to flee out · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
escape
ἐκφεύγωekpheúgō
G1628
to flee out
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
Luke 21:34-35 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so th…
Matthew 24:37-39 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Luke 17:26-30 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Revelation 18:7-8 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen,…
Psalms 73:18-20 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them…
Psalms 10:11-13 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
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…
they--the men of the world. Th1 5:5-6; Th1 4:13, "others," all the rest of the world save Christians.
Peace-- (Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:9, Jdg 18:27-28; Jer 6:14; Eze 13:10).
then--at the very moment when they least expect it. Compare the case of Belshazzar, Dan 5:1-6, Dan 5:9, Dan 5:26-28; Herod, Act 12:21-23.
sudden--"unawares" (Luk 21:34).
as travail--"As the labor pang" comes in an instant on the woman when otherwise engaged (Psa 48:6; Isa 13:8).
shall not escape--Greek, "shall not at all escape." Another awful feature of their ruin: there shall be then no possibility of shunning it however they desire it (Amo 9:2-3; Rev 6:15-16).
Adam Clarke on 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 th…
The woman who is pregnant knows that she has a fetus in the womb but does not know when birth will occur. So it is with us as we know that the Lord will come, but we do not teach the time itself with certainty.
And that thou mayest learn by another thing also, that the silence is not a mark of ignorance on His part, see, together with what we have mentioned, how He sets forth another sign also. "But as in the days of Noe they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that the flood came, and took all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." And these things He spake, showing that He should come on a sudden, and unexpectedly, and when the more part were living luxuriously. For Paul too saith this, writing on this wise, "When they shall speak of peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them;" and to show how unexpected, He said, "as travail upon a woman with child."
These men, therefore, ought to learn [what really is the state of the case], and go back to the true number of the name, that they be not reckoned among false prophets. But, knowing the sure number declared by Scripture, that is, six hundred sixty and six, let them await, in the first place, the division of the kingdom into ten; then, in the next place, when these kings are reigning, and beginning to set their affairs in order, and advance their kingdom, [let them learn] to acknowledge that he who shall come claiming the kingdom for himself, and shall terrify those men of whom we have been speaking, having a name containing the aforesaid number, is truly the abomination of desolation. This, too, the apostle affirms: "When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them." And Jeremiah does not merely point out his sudden coming, but he even indicates the tribe from which he shall come, where he says, "We shall hear the voice of his swift horses from Dan; the whole earth shall be moved by the voice of the neighing of his galloping horses: he shall also come and devour the earth, and the fulness thereof, the city also, and they that dwell therein." This, too, is the reason that this tribe is not reckoned in the Apocalypse along with those which are saved.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Punishment Of The Wicked, The · Future described as: Often sudden and unexpected — Future described as: Often sudden and unexpected
Second Coming Of Christ, The · The wicked: Shall be surprised by — The wicked: Shall be surprised by
Self-Delusion · Fatal consequences of — Fatal consequences of
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 5:3
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 t…
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…
“Everything is peaceful and secure”: The expression “peace and safety” was common during the era of the pax Romana (Roman peace). Amid such presumed security, God’s ultimate judgment comes without warning and is inescapable.
