1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Context

1 Thessalonians is a letter that Paul, together with Silas and Timothy, sent to the church at Thessalonica. Many scholars believe it was written from Corinth around AD 50. The Thessalonian believers expected the Lord's Second Coming to be near. In that setting, they appear to have worried that believers who died before His return would miss out on its glory. First Thessalonians 4:13-18 responds to this concern. Verses 13-14 open the response by stating the ground of comfort. The section that follows, 5:1-11, deals with the timing of the Second Coming.

The phrase "them which are asleep" is a euphemism that likens the dead to people who are sleeping. It was widely used in Scripture and in Jewish literature of the period.

Interpretation

• As a ground of comfort: Most commentators hold that the passage does not forbid grief itself. What Paul rules out is grief "as others which have no hope," and the ground of that hope is the death and resurrection of Jesus. On this reading, the argument runs as follows: because Jesus rose again, those who belong to Him will also rise.
• The meaning of "will God bring with him": A number of Protestant interpreters take this to mean that at the Second Coming God will bring with Jesus the believers who are already with the Lord. Others understand the verse primarily to mean that God will raise the dead so that they may be with Jesus.
• Readings concerning the state after death: The Westminster Confession of Faith (chapter 32), the doctrinal standard of Presbyterian churches, confesses that the souls of the righteous are received into heaven immediately upon death. Most Protestant denominations hold a similar understanding. By contrast, the Seventh-day Adventist Church cites the language of "sleep" as one of its grounds for teaching that the dead remain in an unconscious state until the resurrection.

Debates and Issues

• Translation question: Interpreters differ over what the phrase "through Jesus" (διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) in the original modifies. It may be read as "those who have fallen asleep in (or through) Jesus," or as "God will bring [them] through Jesus." The New Korean Revised Version follows the former reading.
• Relation to the rapture: Churches that hold to dispensational premillennialism (an interpretation that places the millennial kingdom after the Second Coming and distinguishes the eras of Israel and the church) cite verse 17, which follows shortly after, as a basis for a pretribulation rapture. The rapture refers to the event in which believers are caught up into the air at the Lord's return. Those who hold to amillennialism or historic premillennialism regard the passage as describing a single event of the Second Coming. This debate centers mainly on verses 15-17; there is generally little disagreement about the message of comfort in verses 13-14 themselves.

In the Korean Church

The passage is known to be frequently read at funeral services and memorial services. Alongside the custom of speaking of a church member's death as having "fallen asleep," it is commonly used as a sermon text to comfort the bereaved.

Related Passages

• 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18: the continuing explanation of the Second Coming and the resurrection
• 1 Corinthians 15:20-22: Christ as "the firstfruits of them that slept"
• 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: the last trumpet and the transformation of the body
• Philippians 1:21-23: death described as being "with Christ"
• John 5:25-29: the resurrection of those in the graves