1 Thessalonians 5:26
in 1 Thessalonians 5Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss.
KJV
Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.
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This verse in 1 Thessalonians 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verseBut when is peace more to be concluded with brethren than when, at the time of some religious observance, our prayer ascends with more acceptability; that they may themselves participate in our observance, and thereby be mollified for transacting with their brother touching. their own peace? What prayer is complete if divorced from the "holy kiss? " Whom does peace impede when rendering service to his Lord? What kind of sacrifice is that from which men depart without peace?
This site's exposition
pray for us
on 1 Thessalonians 5:25-26
Brethren, pray for us turns the apostle who has prayed over the church through the whole letter into one who asks the same in return, ministry run as mutual dependence rather than one direction only. Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss names the customary greeting of the early church, a physical sign of family affection carried into worship, all specifying that no member of the congregation is to be excluded from the greeting's warmth. The two short commands close the letter's practical section on the same note of mutual care that has run through the whole final chapter.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss." Oh! what fervor! Oh! what mad passion is here! Because being absent he could not greet them with the kiss, he greets them through others, as when we say, Kiss him for me. So also do ye yourselves retain the fire of love. For it does not admit of distances, but even through long intervening ways it extends itself, and is everywhere present.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Since he, being absent, could not greet them with a kiss from his own lips, he wishes to greet them through others, just as we also say: give so-and-so a kiss for me. And since there is also a treacherous kiss, like the kiss of …
Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss, not a treacherous kiss as that of Judas (Matt. 26), nor a passionate kiss like that of the lustful woman in Proverbs (7:13).
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. In opposition, to an unchaste and hypocritical one. His meaning is, that they would salute the members of the church in his name, and give his Christian love and affections to them. And his view is to recommend to them brotherly love to each other, and to stir them up to the mutual exercise of it more and more.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. In these words observe, I. The apostle tells the Thessalonians it was needless or useless to enquire about the particular time of Christ's coming: Of the times and seasons you need not that I write unto you,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Greet all the brethren - See the note on Rom 16:16. Instead of all the brethren, the Coptic has, greet one another; a reading not noticed by either Griesbach or Wetstein.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Hence it appears this Epistle was first handed to the elders, who communicated it to "the brethren." holy kiss--pure and chaste. "A kiss of charity" (1Pe 5:14). A token of Christian fellowship in those days (compare Lu 7:45;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss - see the notes on Rom 16:16.
The words behind it
7 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἀσπάσασθε | aspasasthe | do greet | G782 → | |
| τοὺς | tous | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀδελφοὺς | adelphous | brothers | G80 → | 343 times |
| πάντας | pantas | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| ἐν | en | with | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| φιλήματι | philemati | a kiss | G5370 → | |
| ἁγίῳ. | hagio | holy. | G40 → | 220 times |
Ἀσπάσασθεdo greet
aspasastheG782 →
τοὺςthe
tousG3588 →19766 times
ἀδελφοὺςbrothers
adelphousG80 →343 times
πάνταςall
pantasG3956 →1235 times
ἐνwith
enG1722 →2738 times
φιλήματιa kiss
philematiG5370 →
ἁγίῳ.holy.
hagioG40 →220 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 16:16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send you greetings.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 5:14
Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 16:20
All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
- 2 Corinthians 13:12
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
- Acts 20:37
They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him.
- 1 Peter 5:14
Through
1 Corinthians 16:20All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
it leads to
- Romans 16:16
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send you greetings.
- Hebrews 13:24
Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings.
- 2 Corinthians 13:12–13
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
- Philippians 4:22
All the saints send you greetings, especially those from the household of Caesar.
- Romans 16:16
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Thessalonians
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Thessalonians 11; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, On Prayer; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Thessalonians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Thessalonians.