1 Thessalonians 4:4 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Bible Comments

That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

Know - by moral self control.

How to possess his vessel, х to (G3588) heautou (G1438) skeuos (G4632) ktasthai (G2932)] - 'how to get for himself his own vessel;' i:e., his own wife, so as to avoid fornication (1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Corinthians 7:2). The emphatic position of 'his own vessel,' for wife, in 1 Peter 3:7, and in Jewish phraseology, and the correct translation 'get for himself,' all justify this rendering.

In sanctification (Romans 6:19; 1 Corinthians 6:15; 1 Corinthians 6:8). 'His own' in opposition to dishonouring his brother by lusting after his wife (1 Thessalonians 4:6).

Honour (Hebrews 13:4) - contrasted with "dishonour their own bodies" (Romans 1:24).

1 Thessalonians 4:4

4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;