To the mid-first-century church of the
Thessalonians, Paul and his colleagues write, “Each of you [is] to know [how
to] possess his own vessel in holiness and honor, not
in passion of lust, just as also the heathen who do not know God” (1 Thess. 4:4-5).1 J. Weima considers v. 4 almost certainly
“the most debated text in the whole letter” (Thessalonians 268 n. 24).2 The difficulty centers on the
usage of the noun σκεῦος
(“vessel”) and the infinitive κτᾶσθαι (“to
possess”), discussed below.
Preliminary Matters
While Christianity is very much a communal
religion (1 Thess. 3:12; 4:9, 18; 5:11), inclusive of “all” [πᾶς] the redeemed (1:2, 7; 3:13; 4:10; 5:5, 26, 27),
there is also the responsibility, contribution, and involvement of “each” [ἕκαστος] member of the church (cf. 2:11).3 The
significance of “to know” [εἰδέναι, perfect active infinitive of οἶδα] is twofold: (a) the divine will and how it is to be
applied are knowable (cf. v. 3); and (b) the Thessalonian Christians have each
known (in the past) and continue to know (in the present) the Lord’s
expectations.
The present infinitive κτᾶσθαι, “to possess” (from the verb κτάομαι),
on the one hand means to “acquire” or “procure for oneself,” and on the other,
to possess in the sense of “live with,”
“control,” or “win mastery over” (see BDAG 572).4 Its meaning here
depends on how the direct object σκεῦος is understood. A σκεῦος is generically a “thing” or “object,” used for any
purpose at all, particularly a “vessel, jar, dish, etc.” (BAGD 754),
metaphorically applying to one’s “body” or “person” (Acts 9:15; Rom. 9:22, 23;
2 Cor. 4:7; 2 Tim. 2:21; 1 Pet. 3:7). English renderings of this term in this
particular text range from the more literal “vessel” (NASB, N/KJV) and
semi-literal “himself of his own vessel” (ASV, ERV), to the interpretive “body”
(CSB, ESV, ISV, NIV, NLT) and even more interpretive “wife” (RSV, ESVn.,
NRSVn., Weymouth).
Various Interpretations
One interpretation of this verse is “to
acquire his own wife,”5 thus directed to the unmarried men of the
congregation. In favor of this position is the more common usage of κτάομαι
(“acquire”) in extant Greek literature with γυνή (“woman” or “wife”), although σκεῦος
is never so used. While 1 Pet. 3:7 can be cited as an example of σκεῦος applied
to a wife (“a weaker vessel”), the passage actually describes both marriage
partners as “vessels,” one stronger and the other weaker, with the more
apparent sense of “body” or “person.” In rabbinic literature similar
terminology is applied to women, but these writings are in Hebrew rather than
Greek and date considerably later than the Thessalonian correspondence. Often
cited is what appears to be a near parallel in 1 Cor. 7:2-9, although this text
concerns both husband and wife, and the broader context favors single-hood,
thus not much of a parallel at all.
Another
interpretation is “to live with his own wife,”6 accordingly directed
to the married men of the congregation. The point here is to have an
appropriate sexual relationship with one’s spouse. This would fit the immediate
context better than the previous view but lacks a clear parallel with any
supporting evidence, as noted above.
A third interpretation
is “to control his own body,”7 thus applicable to everyone in the
congregation, whether married or unmarried (the masculine ἕκαστον
[“each”] and ἑαυτοῦ [“his own”] understood generically). Some would take this a
step further and see a more specific (euphemistic) reference to the “sex
organ.”8 Within this very letter (5:22-23), abstaining from evil and
being sanctified involve the σῶμα (“body”), a significant focus in Paul’s other
writings (Rom. 1:24; 6:12; 1 Cor. 6:12-20; 7:34; 2 Cor. 5:10; Col. 2:11, 23).
Moreover, there is a solid biblical precedent for using σκεῦος as a
metaphor for one’s body or person (Acts 9:15; Rom. 9:21-23; 2 Cor. 4:7; 2 Tim.
2:21; cf. 1 Sam. 21:4-6 LXX). The present
infinitive κτᾶσθαι (“to possess”)
is then understood as “control” or “win
mastery over” one’s own σκεῦος
(“vessel”), i.e., “body” (genitalia?). The present [ongoing, continual,
habitual] tense would be applied ingressively; “to be in the process of gaining
possession, i.e. control” (D. J. Williams, Thessalonians
73); cp. Acts 24:25; Gal. 5:23; 2 Pet. 1:6.
Concluding Matters
Abstaining from illicit sexual intercourse
(v. 3) is the result of knowing how to possess one’s own vessel “in holiness [ἁγιασμός] …” (cf. 3:13 and 4:3). From an orthodox Jewish
perspective, this was axiomatic. The ancient Israelites were to make clear
distinctions between “the holy” and “the common” (Lev. 10:10) and be a “holy”
people (Ex. 19:6; Lev. 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7, 26). The Pharisees, the Jewish
sect in which Paul himself had been involved (Acts 23:6; 26:5), derived their name from the Aramaic peras
(“divide,” “separate”) and thus were “separated ones” or “separatists.” It is
interesting that this same standard is applied here to a predominantly Gentile
community of believers. The holiness that was expected of ancient Israel is now
God’s purpose for his church.
Each Christian is also to know how to
possess his own vessel in “honor” [τιμή]. The noun τιμή can be used in the
sense of “value,”9 or to signify “honor,” “reverence,” or “respect”
(BAGD 817). J. B. Lightfoot comments, “The honour due to the body as such is
one of the great contrasts which Christianity offers to the loftiest systems of
heathen philosophy …” (Notes 55).
These directives were particularly
relevant to the hedonistic environment of mid-first-century Thessalonica,
although nearly twenty centuries later the applicability has not diminished.
Sexual permissiveness, perversion, and promiscuity were the norm in most
Greco-Roman societies at the time, not unlike the world in which we currently
live. The message for all modern-day Christians remains the same: each of you know
how to possess your own vessel in holiness and honor.
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 Unless otherwise noted,
scripture quotations are the author’s own translation.
2 Weima notes, “it has
occasioned more than twenty academic journal articles or chapters in
monographs, as well as one doctoral dissertation” (Thessalonians 268 n. 24; cf. J. Weima and S. Porter, Annotated Bibliography 182-96).
3 See also Rom. 12:3-16; 1 Cor.
12:12-27; Eph. 4:16.
4 This verb appears in the NT
seven times, but here is its only occurrence in the Pauline writings: Matt.
10:9; Luke 18:12; 21:19; Acts 1:18; 8:20; 22:28; 1 Thess. 4:4.
5 H. Alford, NT for English Readers 1326-27; C. J.
Ellicott, Thessalonians 53; G. G.
Findlay, Thessalonians 81; W.
Hendrickson, Exposition Thessalonians
102; A. J. Malherbe, Thessalonians
227-28.
6 E. Best, Thessalonians 162; R. F. Collins, Thessalonians 314; R. L. Thomas, “1-2 Thessalonians” (EBC) 271; B.
Witherington III, Women 141-42.
7 G. K. Beale, Thessalonians (IVP) 116-19; G. L. Green,
Thessalonians 191-94; G. Milligan, Thessalonians 49; L. Morris, Thessalonians 121; E. J. Richard, Thessalonians 198; J. Weima, Thessalonians 270-73.
8 BDAG 928; F. F. Bruce, Thessalonians 83; K. P. Donfried, “Cults
of Thessalonica” 337, 342; G. Fee, Thessalonians
149-50; I. H. Marshall, Thessalonians
108-109.
9 Τιμόθεος
(“Timothy”), one of the co-authors of
this letter (1:1), derives his name from a combination of τιμή
[“value”] + θεός [“God”], thus “of
value to God.” Note also φιλοτιμέομαι [φίλος + τιμή]
in 4:11.
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