Section 5:23–28

Paul prayed that God would bless the Thessalonians

Paragraph 5:23–24

To conclude his letter, Paul prayed that God would make the Thessalonian believers completely pure in all that they believed and did. He assured them that God would enable them to do this.

5:23a

Now: The Berean Standard Bible has used the English word Now as an idiomatic way of beginning this verse. Be careful not to translate this literally as a time word, as it is not referring to “the present time.”

the God of peace: This phrase means that God is the source of peace, that is, that God is the one who causes people to be peaceful.

peace: The New Testament speaks about different sorts of peace, for example:

(a) Peace between individuals.

(b) Peace between God and people.

(c) An inward calm.

However, most commentators agree here that Paul was using the Greek word eirēnē as he would have used the Hebrew word šalom. He therefore meant all the blessings, physical and spiritual, that God gives to his people. See the note on 1:1d.

Paul used this phrase in other letters; see Romans 15:33, 16:20; Philippians 4:9. It is also used in Hebrews 13:20. You should translate the phrase in the same way in each of these verses.

Himself: The Greek word autos, Himself, is often used to emphasize something. However, that is not true in this verse. It is just a usual opening for a prayer in Greek that asks God to do something for someone.

5:23b

sanctify: This word means “to make holy/pure.” See the note on “holy” in 3:13b and 4:3a. Paul explained more fully what he meant in 5:23c.

completely: This means that Paul wanted God to sanctify the Thessalonians in every part of their lives.

5:23c

and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Some commentators suggest that this sentence is the desired result of 5:23b. It is more likely, however, that Paul was expanding what he had said in 5:23b. He wanted the believers at Thessalonica to behave in a righteous manner so that when Christ returned, he would not be able to criticize or accuse them because of anything they had done. However, Paul knew that only God could help them behave like that.

spirit, soul, and body: This is the only place in the New Testament where such a distinction is made. Paul probably used all three to emphasize that a person is a whole being, rather than because he intended to distinguish the three terms. If your language does not make a similar three-way distinction, it may be helpful to distinguish at least between the body and the part of a person that continues to live after the body dies. The important thing in your translation is to show that everything Christians do must be pleasing to God.

blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Paul was praying that God would enable them to be blameless from the present time until the Lord Jesus returned, so that when Jesus returned, he would judge them as having done nothing for which they deserved to be punished. See the notes on 3:13b and 3:13c.

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