to abstain from wine (keep sober) · verb — present active subjunctive, 1st person plural
us
ἡμεῖςhēmeîs
G2249
we (only used when emphatic)
are
ὤνṓn
G5607
being
day
ἡμέραςhēmeras
G2250
day · noun — genitive singular feminine
sober
νήφωnḗphō
G3525
to abstain from wine (keep sober)
on
ἐνδυσάμενοιendusamenoi
G1746
to invest with clothing (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist middle participle, nominative plural masculine
breastplate
θώρακαthōraka
G2382
the chest ("thorax") · noun — accusative singular masculine
faith
πίστεωςpisteōs
G4102
persuasion · noun — genitive singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
love
ἀγάπηςagapēs
G26
love · noun — genitive singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
helmet
περικεφαλαίανperikephalaian
G4030
encirclement of the head · noun — accusative singular feminine
hope
ἐλπίδαelpida
G1680
expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence · noun — accusative singular feminine
salvation
σωτηρίας·sōtērias
G4991
rescue or safety (physically or morally) · noun — genitive 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
Romans 13:12-13 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Je…
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Isaiah 59:17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing…
Hebrews 10:35-36 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Hebrews 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Romans 5:2-5 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Thessalonians 5:6-10
On what had been said, the apostle grounds seasonable exhortations to several needful duties.
I. To watchfulness and sobriety, Th1 5:6. These duties are distinct, yet they mutually befriend one another. For, while we are compassed about with so many temptations to intemperance and excess, we shall not keep sober, unless we be upon our guard, and, unless we keep sober, we shall not long watch. 1. Then let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch; we must not be secure and careless, nor indulge spiritual sloth and idleness. We must not be off our watch, but continually upon our guard against sin, and temptation to it. The generality of men are too careless of their duty and regardless of th…
Faith, hope, and love, are the three pre-eminent graces (Th1 1:3; Co1 13:13). We must not only be awake and sober, but also armed; not only watchful, but also guarded. The armor here is only defensive; in Eph 6:13-17, also offensive. Here, therefore, the reference is to the Christian means of being guarded against being surprised by the day of the Lord as a thief in the night. The helmet and breastplate defend the two vital parts, the head and the heart respectively. "With head and heart right, the whole man is right" [EDMUNDS]. The head needs to be kept from error, the heart from sin. For "the breastplate of righteousness," Eph 6:14, we have here "the breastplate of faith and love"; for the…
Putting on the breastplate - We are not only called to Work, but we are called also to fight; and that we may not be surprised, we must watch; and that we may be in a condition to defend ourselves, we must be sober; and that we may be enabled to conquer, we must be armed: and what the breastplate and helmet are to a soldier's heart and head, such are faith, love, and hope to us. Faith enables us to endure, as seeing him who is invisible; love excites us to diligence and activity, and makes us bear our troubles and difficulties pleasantly; hope helps us to anticipate the great end, the glory that shall be revealed, and which we know we shall in due time obtain, if we faint not. For an explana…
The Church Fathers
But if we must also examine the statement, "And it was night," so that it has not been interjected to no purpose by the Evangelist, we must say that the perceptible night at that time was symbolic, an image of the night that was in Judas's soul when Satan, the darkness that lies over the abyss, entered him. "For God called the darkness night," of which night, indeed, Paul says we are not children, nor of darkness, when he says, "Therefore, brothers, we are not of the night, nor of darkness," and, "But let us who are of the day be sober."
"But let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet the hope of salvation." But it is not sufficient to watch and be sober, we must also be armed. For if a man watch and is sober, but has not arms, the robbers soon dispatch him. "Putting on the breastplate of faith and love," he says. He has shown what it is to watch and be sober, to have "the breastplate of faith and love." Not a common faith, he says, but as nothing can soon pierce through a breastplate, but it is a safe wall to the breast; so do thou also, he says, surround thy soul with faith and love, and none of the fiery darts of the devil can ever be fixed in it. For where the power of the soul is preoccupied with the armor of love, all the devices of those who plot against it are vain and ineffectual. "And for a helmet the hope of salvation." For as the helmet guards the vital part in us, surrounding the head and covering it on every side, so also this hope does not suffer the reason to falter, but sets it upright as the head, not permitting anything from without to fall upon it. And whilst nothing falls on it, neither does it slip of itself. For it is not possible that one who is fortified with such arms as these, should ever fall. For "now abideth faith, hope, love." (1 Cor. xiii. 13)
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
Drunk — The first case of intoxication on record is that of Noah (Gen. 9:21). The sin of drunkenness is frequently and strongly condemned (Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 6:9, 10; Eph. 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:7, 8). The sin of…
Helmet — (Heb. kob’a), a cap for the defence of the head (1 Sam. 17:5, 38). In the New Testament the Greek equivalent is used (Eph. 6:17; 1 Thess. 5:8). (See ARMS.)
War — The Israelites had to take possession of the Promised Land by conquest. They had to engage in a long and bloody war before the Canaanitish tribes were finally subdued. Except in the case of Jericho…
Commandments · PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES — PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES
Day · .A figure of spiritual il — .A figure of spiritual il
Drunkenness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
But let us, who are of the day, be sober,.... As in body, so in mind; let us cast off the works of darkness, and have no fellowship with them; since the day of grace has passed upon us, the darkness is gone, and the true light shines, let us walk as children of the light, living soberly, righteously, and godly:
putting on the breastplate of faith and love; this is the coat of mail, 1 Samuel 17:5 which was made of iron or brass; and the Ethiopic version here calls it, "the iron coat." The allusion seems to be to the high priest's breastplate of judgment, in which were put the Thummim and Urim, which signify perfections and lights; faith may answer to the former, and love to the latter: these…
1 Thessalonians 5:6-10
6. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
6. Ergo ne dormiamus ut reliqui, sed vigilemus, et sobrii simus.
7. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
7. Qui enim dormiunt, nocte dormiunt: et qui ebrii sunt, nocte ebrii sunt.
8. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
8. Nos autem qui sumus diei, sobrii simus, induti thorace fidei et caritatis, et galea, spe salutis:
9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
9. Quia non constituit nos Deus…
Armor . . . helmet (Isa 59:17; Eph 6:11-17): The armament is the moral life (Rom 13:12; 2 Cor 6:7; 10:3-5; 2 Tim 2:3-4). The Christian soldier is equipped with the virtues of faith, love, and confidence (see 1 Thes 1:3; 3:6; 1 Cor 13:13; 2 Thes 1:3-4).
Warfare Of Saints · Armour for: Helmet of salvation — Armour for: Helmet of salvation
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).
