Passage

1 Thessalonians 5.5

Book: 1 Thessalonians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

3. When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape. 4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief:

5. for ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness;

so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober. 7. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that are drunken are drunken in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:3-7, ASV)

WEB

3. For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape. 4. But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.

5. You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness,

so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober. 7. For those who sleep, sleep in the night; and those who are drunk are drunk in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:3-7, WEB)

KJV

3. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

5. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:3-7, KJV)

YLT

3. for when they may say, Peace and surety, then sudden destruction doth stand by them, as the travail [doth] her who is with child, and they shall not escape; 4. and ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day may catch you as a thief;

5. all ye are sons of light, and sons of day; we are not of night, nor of darkness,

so, then, we may not sleep as also the others, but watch and be sober, 7. for those sleeping, by night do sleep, and those making themselves drunk, by night are drunken, (1 Thessalonians 5:3-7, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul, writing with Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy, who are named as co-senders in the opening (1 Thess 1:1).
Audience: The church in Thessalonica, capital of the Roman province of Macedonia; a largely Gentile congregation of recent converts (1 Thess 1:9) founded on the second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-9).
Location: Written from Corinth, shortly after Timothy returned with news of the young church (1 Thess 3:6).
Time period: c. AD 50-51. The Gallio inscription from Delphi fixes Paul in Corinth around AD 51-52 (Acts 18:12), which makes this letter either the earliest or one of the two earliest surviving Pauline writings, roughly twenty years after the crucifixion.

Theological reading

"For ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."

"Sons of." In Hebrew idiom, a "son of" something shares its character. Jesus uses the same phrase, "the sons of this world ... the sons of the light" (Luke 16:8), and calls his hearers to "believe on the light, that ye may become sons of light" (John 12:36). Paul is describing identity, not achievement: the readers belong to the day that is coming.

"All." The word includes every member of the congregation, including the disorderly, the fainthearted and the weak Paul will mention shortly (5:14). No group in the church is assigned to the night.

From "ye" to "we." Paul begins in the second person and finishes in the first, "we are not of the night," placing himself with his readers. The next verse draws the consequence: "so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober" (5:6). Identity comes first and conduct follows from it, the same order as "ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8).

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G5207 - huios, huios, Strong's G5207
G3956 - pas, pas, Strong's G3956

Quoted in

Concepts:

Church at Thessalonica, via 1 Thessalonians 5.1-11

Lexicon:

H1121 - ben

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.