Footnotes

1. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 tn Grk “ignorant.”
2. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:4.
3. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 tc Most witnesses have the perfect participle κεκοιμημένων here (“who have fallen asleep” [D (F G) Ψ 1241 1505 1881 2464 M al]), but the present participle κοιμωμένων (“who are asleep”) is better supported by early and significant mss (א A B 0278 33 81 1175 1739 al) and should be considered the Ausgangstext. tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaō) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for death when speaking of believers. This metaphorical usage by its very nature emphasizes the hope of resurrection: Believers will one day “wake up” out of death. Here the term refers to death, but “sleep” was used in the translation to emphasize the metaphorical, rhetorical usage of the term. This word also occurs in vv. 14 and 15.
4. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 tn “we believe that” is understood from the first clause of the verse, which is parallel. Grk “so also God will bring.”
5. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 tn Grk “those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.” It is possible that “through Jesus” describes “bring,” but this gives the unlikely double reference, “through Jesus God will bring them with Jesus.” Instead it describes their “falling sleep,” since through him their death is only sleep and not the threat it once was. Also Christians are those whose total existence—life and death—is in and through and for Christ (1 Cor 8:6).
6. 1 Thessalonians 4:15 sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rhēma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logos tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.
7. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 tn Neither noun in this phrase (ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου, en phōnē archangelou, “with the voice of the archangel”) has the article in keeping with Apollonius’ Canon. Since ἀρχάγγελος (archangelos) is most likely par excellence, both nouns are translated as definite in keeping with Apollonius’ Corollary (see ExSyn 250-51).
8. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 tc The words οἱ περιλειπόμενοι (hoi perileipomenoi, “[the ones] who are left”) are lacking in F G 0226^vid ar b as well as a few fathers, but the rest of the textual tradition has the words. Most likely, the Western mss omitted the words because of perceived redundancy with οἱ ζῶντες (hoi zōntes, “[the ones] who are alive”).
9. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 tn Or “snatched up.” The Greek verb ἁρπάζω implies that the action is quick or forceful, so the translation supplied the adverb “suddenly” to make this implicit notion clear.
10. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 tn Or “simultaneously,” but this meaning does not fit as well in the parallel in 5:10.