Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Thessalonians 4:13

"But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope." — 1 Thessalonians 4:13 (ASV)

But.—We pass to the third clearly marked point: the share of the Christian dead in the Coming of Christ. Possibly an association of ideas may have caused St. Paul to join these two subjects, of quietude and the Advent, so closely (see Note on 1 Thessalonians 4:11). “You do not need to be distressed about your dead: when Christ comes, they will be there too; they will come with Him, and we shall be caught up to meet them.”

I would not have you to be ignorant.—The correct reading is we. St. Paul is still speaking in the name of his companions as well as his own. The phrase is very weighty and marks how lamentable such ignorance would be. (See references in the margin.)

Which are asleep.—The better reading is, rather, which fall asleep; the grief renewed itself over each successive deathbed. The image of sleep is a mere metaphor, drawn from the outward phenomena of death, and is used as an euphemism for death; therefore, no doctrine can be deduced with precision from it. It cannot be said (for instance, on the strength of such passages alone) that only the body sleeps, and not the soul; or, again, that the soul sleeps while the body remains in the grave.

That the soul, or at any rate the spirit, still retains consciousness after dissolution is clear from other places. However, when the metaphor of sleep is used, it is applied to the whole man (e.g.,John 11:11, “Lazarus”—not “Lazarus’ body”—sleepeth). The explanation for this is either, as stated above, that the word is simply picturesque, describing the peaceful appearance of the dead, or that the reference is to rest from labor (Revelation 14:13).

At the same time, the metaphor suggests (otherwise it would be misleading, and St. Paul would not have used it) a continued (even if partly unconscious) existence and the possibility of a reawakening. Again, for the same reason—i.e., because the word is metaphorical, not doctrinal—it cannot be limited to the Christian dead. When the writers need to specifically identify departed Christians, they add qualifying words, as in 1 Thessalonians 4:14.

Of course, when “the dead” are mentioned, the Thessalonians will at once think of their own departed brethren, so there is no ambiguity.

That ye sorrow not.—These words express St. Paul’s object in wishing them to know the truth. He wants them not to sorrow at all over the dead; sorrow is only fit for Gentiles who have no hope. He does not mean that they are not to sorrow to the same degree as those outside the Church, but that to Christians, who have a hope, and such a hope, death ought to have no sorrows. The Office of Burial in the Prayer Book is as joyous as the Eucharistic Office itself.

Others.—The Greek word means “the others, those who have no hope,” and includes all who were not members of the Church: That ye mourn not like the rest, which have no hope. Having no hope does not mean that there is no hope for them, but that they are not cheered by hope.