5:21a
but test all things: Commentators do not agree about what Paul was telling the Thessalonians to test. There are three possibilities:
(1) He was telling them to test the prophetic messages he mentioned in 5:20. He was therefore saying that rather than treating prophecies with contempt, they should test them and check to see whether or not the message was from God. A number of English versions have made this connection clear by starting this verse with “but” (Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), New Century Version) or a similar word such as “instead” (God’s Word). The punctuation of some other English versions suggests that they too support this interpretation (New International Version (2011 Revision), Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible).
(2) Paul was telling them to test all gifts of the Holy Spirit.
(3) Paul was telling them to test everything that affected what believers think and do.
In the context, it seems to make more sense to consider that in 5:21–22 Paul was still discussing prophecies. Therefore it is recommended that you follow the first interpretation.
all things: The emphasis in this command is on this word all things. See the note on 5:15b above. You should emphasize this in your translation in the way that is natural in your language.
5:21b
Hold fast to what is good: Paul continued to tell the Thessalonians how they should treat prophetic messages. Once they had tested the prophecies, they should accept and obey those that were good, that is, those which came from God.
what is good: The emphasis in this command is on the phrase what is good. See the note on 5:15b above. You should emphasize this in your translation in the way that is natural in your language.
© 2002 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.