1 Thessalonians 4:17 BSB

1 Thessalonians 4:17

After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

KJV

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

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Commentary

4 voices

Tertullian

A Treatise on the Soul (220)

Well, then, what difference is there between heathens and Christians, if the same prison awaits them all when dead? How, indeed, shall the soul mount up to heaven, where Christ is already sitting at the Father's right hand, when as yet the archangel's trumpet has not been heard by the command of God, -when as yet those whom the coming of the Lord is to find on the earth, have not been caught up into the air to meet Him at His coming, in company with the dead in Christ, who shall be the first to arise?

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Together - In the same moment. In the air - The wicked will remain beneath, while the righteous, being absolved, shall be assessors with their Lord in the judgment.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Then we which are alive - Those who shall then be alive; see 1Th 4:15. The word here rendered “then” (ἔπειτα epeita), does not necessarily mean that this would occur immediately. It properly marks succession in time, and means “afterward, next, next in the order of events;” Luk 16:7; Gal 1:21; Jas 4:14. There may be a considerable interval between the resurrection of the pious and the time when the living shall be caught up to meet the Lord, for the change is to take place in them which will fit them to ascend with those who have been raised.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

24 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ἔπειτα	epeita	Then	G1899 →
ἡμεῖς	hēmeis	we ourselves	G3165 →
οἱ	hoi	the	G3588 →
ζῶντες	zōntes	living	G2198 →
οἱ	hoi	those	G3588 →
περιλειπόμενοι	perileipomenoi	remaining	G4035 →
ἅμα	hama	together	G260 →
σὺν	sun	with	G4862 →
αὐτοῖς	autois	them	G846 →
ἁρπαγησόμεθα	harpagēsometha	we will be caught away	G726 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
νεφέλαις	nephelais	[the] clouds	G3507 →
εἰς	eis	for	G1519 →
ἀπάντησιν	apantēsin	[the] meeting	G529 →
τοῦ	tou	of the	G3588 →
κυρίου	kuriou	Lord	G2962 →
εἰς	eis	in	G1519 →
ἀέρα·	aera	[the] air;	G109 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
οὕτως	houtōs	so	G3779 →
πάντοτε	pantote	always	G3842 →
σὺν	sun	with	G4862 →
κυρίῳ	kuriō	[the] Lord	G2962 →
ἐσόμεθα.¶	esometha	we will be.	G1510 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
John 14:3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.
leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- John 12:26
  If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
- 2 Timothy 2:12
  if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us;
Through
Revelation 1:7
Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.
leads to
- Matthew 24:30
  At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds…
- Zechariah 12:10
  Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They…
- Daniel 7:13
  In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led…
- Mark 14:62
  “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
- John 19:37