To say that Christ died for us is an apparently simple statement, but it raises great problems of theological interpretation, and some (fortunately smaller) problems for the translator, centering on the meaning of the word for. Greek uses two main prepositions in similar contexts, and it is dangerous to press too hard the distinction between them. The one used here (huper) tends to have a fairly general meaning: “on behalf of” or “for the sake of,” rather than “instead of” or “in place of.” The implication here is that Christ died in order that those who believe in him might benefit in some way. Paul goes on immediately to say in what way: the purpose of Christ’s dying is that all believers might live together with him forever (cf. 4.17). Might is required in English after in order that.

The phrase for us (in the clause who died for us) expresses a benefactive relation; that is, we are the beneficiaries of the fact of Christ’s dying. Some languages even have a benefactive case, and that would be the appropriate form to use in this context.

Whether we are alive or dead is literally “whether we are awake or asleep.” “Sleep,” both here and in 4.13 and 15, is a metaphor for death, and this determines the meaning of “to be awake.” This verb does not have the specific meaning here that it has in verse 6, that of being alert for the coming of Christ, but it has the wider meaning of remaining alive (that is, until the time of his coming). Here Paul cleverly uses two terms which he had been using to speak of alertness but which at this point he transposes to mean “alive/dead.” In this way he brings us back to 4.13. When he comes (cf. Bible en français courant) is implicit in the text.

Whether we are alive or dead is rendered in some languages as “it makes no difference whether we are alive or dead,” or “whether we are alive or dead, it is all the same.” When he comes must be closely related to “being alive or dead.” Therefore one may translate the entire expression as “whether we are alive or dead when he comes, that will not make any difference.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .