Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Thessalonians 5:27

"I adjure you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the brethren." — 1 Thessalonians 5:27 (ASV)

I charge you by the Lord. Margin: adjure. Greek: "I put you under oath by the Lord" orkizw umav ton kurion. This is equivalent to binding persons by an oath (see Barnes on Matthew 26:63).

Compare Genesis 21:23-24; Genesis 24:3, 37; Genesis 1:25.

That this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. This means to all the church (compare to Barnes on Colossians 4:16).

The meaning is that the epistle was to be read to the whole church on some occasion when it was assembled. It was not merely designed for any particular individual into whose hands it might happen to fall; but because it contained matters of common interest and was designed for the whole body of believers at Thessalonica, the apostle gives a solemn charge that it should not be suppressed or kept from them.

Injunctions of this kind, occurring in the epistles, suggest that the apostles regarded themselves as under the influence of inspiration and as having authority to give infallible instructions to the churches.