Fragments on 1 Thessalonians
Fragmenta in epistulam i ad Thessalonicenses
Paul's comfort and thanksgiving for the Thessalonians§1
Severianus opens his commentary by describing the situation of the Thessalonian Christians and Paul's purpose in writing to them.
1The Christians in Thessalonica, the ones from the Gentiles who believed, endured many persecutions under those still being Greeks, and Paul comforts them for these things. He also mentions the resurrection of the dead, comforting them in the losses of their relatives. The thanksgiving to God placed before the opening is a testimony to the piety of the Thessalonians.
Faith rouses a person toward the work of the good, love makes them remain in their labors, and hope makes those who struggle endure with patience. Faith rouses them toward toils, and love makes them remain in their labors.
Paul says, “You know, brothers beloved by God, that the gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5). He means: we did not only preach the word to you, but we also displayed powers and wonder-workings to you.
On “your faith has gone forth” (1 Thessalonians 1:8), he means: it is spread abroad and noised abroad.
Paul says, “The evils at Philippi did not take away our boldness toward Christ, but when we came to you we preached the word without fear” (1 Thessalonians 2:2).
The gospel through which we comfort the afflicted—that is, the resurrection and the reward-giving in it—is preached not according to error but according to truth (1 Thessalonians 2:3).
On “we were able to be burdensome” (1 Thessalonians 2:6), he means: burdensome and oppressive, because of demanding the honors with which the apostles of Christ ought to be honored.
Greek · §1
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Paul's wording about those left and the resurrection order§2
Severianus is explaining Paul's wording in 1 Thessalonians 3:3 and 4:15-17 about who will be left alive and who will rise first at Christ's coming.
2On “so that no one would be disturbed” (1 Thessalonians 3:3): he did not say “so that no one would waver,” lest he seem to be accusing them, but he chose a word that cannot serve as a reproof of their weakness when he said “so that no one would be disturbed.”
On “we who are left” (1 Thessalonians 4:15): he did not mean that he himself was going to be left behind, he says, but “we” stands for “so few and easily counted will be left that they will not precede those holy ones who have fallen asleep into the meeting with Christ.” For even if all are raised, not all will meet Christ, but only the righteous. It is clear, then, that at the coming of Christ some are overtaken while still living.
Or what he says is something like this: if it happened that Christ came now, we who are left today would certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep at the coming of Christ. One must punctuate after “we who are left”: “into the day of the Lord we will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.”
On “with the voice of an archangel” (1 Thessalonians 4:16): the Lord says the same thing: “At midnight there was a cry: Look, the bridegroom is coming” (Matthew 25:6).
“And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16): again the Lord himself says this in the Gospels, which is why both the Lord and the apostle hint that the coming of the Lord will be at night.
“Then we who are alive, who are left” (1 Thessalonians 4:17): that is, the righteous around us. He wants it to be understood that some are still living and are overtaken at the coming of Christ, and this is made clear from “we who are left at the coming of the Lord.”
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The Lord's coming at night overtakes the living§3
Severianus is explaining 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and 5:4-8, showing from the Gospels that the Lord's coming will be at night and will overtake some who are still alive.
3And this is what the Savior says: “For as in the days of Noah they were marrying and being given in marriage, and suddenly the flood came and took them all, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:38-39). So, he says, some are overtaken while still living. “With a shout of command and with the voice of an archangel, and the dead in Christ will rise” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). The Lord himself says this in the Gospel: “At midnight,” he says, “there was a cry: The bridegroom is coming” (Matthew 25:6). And that some are overtaken while living—those who are taken up together with those who have fallen asleep—the Lord makes clear in the Gospel when he says: “Two will be in one bed; one will be taken and one will be left. Two will be grinding; one will be taken and one will be left” (Luke 17:34-35). Both the Lord and Paul hint that the coming will be at night.
He calls his coming the day of the Lord. He has likened it to a thief because it comes unnoticed and unexpectedly. And he says it is at night because the day, when it arrives, exposes the evil deeds done at night.
But the bride—the soul adorned with the adornment of virtues—sleeping the sleep of the day, the sleep that has no share in night, the sleep yoked to wakefulness, said with good reason: “I sleep, but my heart is awake” (Song of Songs 5:2).
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The bride hears the bridegroom; Paul on living with Christ, testing prophecy, and blamelessness§4
Severianus is closing his comments on 1 Thessalonians, first finishing the bride's words from Song of Songs, then explaining Paul's statements about salvation, death, the Spirit, prophecy, and the threefold blessing on believers.
4So the bridegroom's voice did not escape her notice while she slept in this way. She heard him knocking at the door and said: "The voice of my beloved is knocking at the door" (Song of Songs 5:2).
"Because God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9). For this reason Paul says: "Christ died for us, so that whether we are awake—that is, alive—or asleep—that is, whether we die, for here he takes sleeping in a different sense than above—we may live together with him" (1 Thessalonians 5:10). For those who have acquired the weapons that were spoken of will live together with Christ and reign together with Christ.
The spirit is quenched whenever the way of life is unworthy of the faith. "Do not despise prophecies. Test everything" (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). Do not, Paul says, lie in wait for the hidden things of the spirit, nor accept every report without testing it either.
Nowhere has Paul placed the three—spirit, soul, body—upon an unbeliever, but only upon those who believe. Their soul and body belong to nature, but the spirit belongs to God's kindness—that is, the gift of those who believe. And he did not say "may they be kept blameless," so that you would not think he is praying for the gifts, but "blamelessly"—that is, with us conducting ourselves blamelessly and preserving them through godliness.
Greek · §4
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