Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Thessalonians 5:21

"prove all things; hold fast that which is good;" — 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (ASV)

Prove all things. The correct reading inserts a “but”: “I urge you to pay all reverence to the encouraging utterances of your prophets ; but take care! Put everything to the test.” That the warning was needed, or would be needed soon, is shown by 2 Thessalonians 2:2. It is expressed in general terms (all things), but, of course, has special reference to all things purporting to be manifestations of the Spirit.

And how were these revelations to be tested? If they were not in accordance:

1. with the original tradition (2 Thessalonians 2:2),
2. with the supernatural inspirations of the other prophets who sat as judges (1 Corinthians 14:29), or
3. with enlightened common sense (1 John 4:1),

they could not be “good.” The word “good” here is not vague and general good in the moral sense—not the same Greek word as in 1 Thessalonians 5:15—but “good” in the sense of “genuine,” “answering to the proper conception of what it purports to be.” The same word is used in the same sense in John 10:11.