Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 1 Thessalonians · About this commentary
Rejoice, Pray, Give Thanks
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Always rejoice. · WEB
Three of the shortest commands in Scripture, and each is made unreasonable by a single word.
Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. Two words each in the Greek for the first two, and the difficulty in all three lies in the qualifier rather than the verb.
Rejoicing is manageable; always is not. Prayer is expected; without ceasing describes something more like a persistent condition than an activity — the same word is used of a cough that will not stop. Giving thanks is ordinary; in everything removes the exemptions.
It matters who is being told this — a church under persecution, grieving its dead, recently uncertain it would survive. These are not commands for good conditions.
And the wording is precise: in everything, not for everything. Paul does not ask them to be grateful that people have died. He asks for thanksgiving inside the circumstances rather than about them.
Verse 18 attaches the same formula used of purity in 1 Thessalonians 4:3: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you. Twice in two chapters the letter states God's will outright, and both times it names a way of living rather than a decision to be discerned.
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