Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Thessalonians 4:16

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;" — 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (ASV)

For.—This is a justification of the statement that we shall certainly not precede the dead. Therefore, the words up to “trump of God” are logically parenthetical; and the proof only begins at “They shall rise first: then we shall be caught up.”

With a shout.—The Greek word means a shout of command or encouragement, such as a captain gives to his soldiers, or a boatswain to his crew. It is not necessary to inquire what the command may be, or to whom it is issued, since the word does not always imply any particular orders; nor who is represented as uttering it. The intention is only to convey the notion of the stirring noise, in the midst of which (for the original has “in,” not “with”) the Lord will descend.

It is, however, somewhat particularized by what follows: two notes amid those sounds of mystery strike the ear—the archangel’s voice, and the trump of God. Probably, therefore, the “shout of command” is uttered by the “leader of the angels,” and the trump (called “the trump of God” because used for God’s purposes) is blown to summon the mustering hosts.

In favor of supposing the Lord Himself utters the cry, John 5:25 may be adduced; but, on the other hand, it better suits the dignity of the scene to imagine the loud sound coming from one of the heralds of the great army. The preposition “in” is more effective than “with”: it calls attention to the long blast .

Shall rise first.—This does not mean “shall be the first to rise,” as contrasted with non-members of the Church who are to rise later (though that is a scriptural thought, Revelation 20:5–6); the Greek here cannot be explained that way. Rather, “the first thing will be the rising of the dead in Christ,” contrasted with what follows: “then, and not until then, shall we be caught up.” The same order is carefully observed in 1 Corinthians 15:52.