I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.
ορκιζω υμας τον κυριον αναγνωσθηναι την επιστολην πασιν τοις αγιοις αδελφοις
8 Church Fathers comment on this verse
He does this not so much for instruction as in order to converse with them through the epistle, which is proof of ardent love. He adjures them so that, if they do not respect him, they may at least fulfill what was commanded them for the sake of the oath. So fearful were adjurations to the ancient Christians. But alas, they are not so now. They are not so for us.
"I adjure you, brethren, to read this epistle before all the brethren." Understand this to mean when the whole Church has been assembled. For in this epistle the weak are strengthened, the sorrowful are comforted, and the worthy are encouraged. Through this epistle, perhaps the idle and those devoted to vain occupations will be brought to their senses and cease from a corrupt life.
He added an adjuration out of concern that all should gain benefit from the reading. For it was likely that those who first received the epistle did not communicate it to everyone.
"I adjure you by the Lord to read this epistle before all the holy brethren." From this it becomes clear what great importance this epistle of the Apostle was to have for the churches of Macedonia and for all Christians.
In conclusion, the Apostle asks for prayers for himself, greets all the brethren with a holy kiss, adjures them to read his epistle before all, and sends to all the grace of Jesus Christ (1 Thess 5:25-28).
The Apostle's solemn charge that his epistle be read in the full church assembly had manifold significance.
It gave the epistle a sacred character, as containing divine revelation which must be read in church, just as the prophetic and other Old Testament books were read.
By this, every occasion for differing opinions about the meaning of the apostolic words was removed, since they were read before all and with possible explanations from the church pastors who read them.
At the same time, through its reading in church, the epistle gradually became known in all Christian churches as an apostolic writing.
Those who were rebuked and instructed in the epistle could not thereby avoid hearing the apostolic words. They might have seemed hard, but they had to be endured with fitting obedience.
For the command to read it was accompanied by a solemn charge. And solemn charges were fearful to the ancients, says blessed Theophylact.
Saint Paul ends his epistle with a wish for grace and with the imparting of it, according to his apostolic gift and authority.
He began the epistle with a word about the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he ends it with the same word.
For "grace is the beginning and the end in the work of our salvation. There can be no better blessing for Christians. Where grace is, there are all the good things of Christ."
"May this grace," according to the word of blessed Theophylact, "keep us also from every wrong path, that we may live to the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Amen.
In conclusion, the Apostle asks that prayer be made for himself. He commands the presiders of the Church, into whose hands the epistle had surely been delivered, to greet the brethren with the kiss of love. By this they were to confirm the communion of love about which the Apostle had written above. At the same time, he adjures these same presiders to read the epistle before all the brethren. They might have failed to do this, fearing to offend some by the rebukes contained in it.
Since the epistle was addressed to the Church of Thessalonica, there was no need to mention that it should be read by all. Yet it could have been read by each person separately.
Private interpretation and private understanding of what was written would naturally be joined to this. Such a thing must not exist in the Church of God.
The Apostle does not mention that it should simply be read by everyone. Rather, it must be read before everyone, in the common assembly. Then, where explanation is needed, the explanation will be common, and everyone will have the same understanding.
By this he also makes clear that he regards everything written as legislation for the Thessalonians. Laws were usually read in public squares, publicly before all.
As this first reading of the epistle had to take place in the common assembly of all, that is, in the Church, so it was surely read whenever there was desire or need for it.
In this one cannot fail to see an indication that the reading of the apostolic writings in church is an apostolic institution.
But why the adjuration? Clearly St. Paul foresaw that, because of certain fears or considerations, the pastors might not read this epistle before everyone.
To turn this aside, he adjures them in the name of the Lord to read it before all. By this he deprives of force every motive and reason the pastors might offer for not reading it publicly.
Read it before everyone, whatever may come of it. Such is the will of the Lord, and there is no need to reason about it. If you act otherwise, you will be alien to communion with the Lord.
No considerations could withstand such a threatening word. What exactly might have held the pastors back from public reading is not evident. There is no need to inquire into this.
It is enough to be satisfied with the thought that the Apostle either knew or certainly supposed something of the kind.
Was it not perhaps that the epistle contained rebukes which, of course, concerned certain known persons? Out of pity for them, or from fear of provoking them, the pastors might have refrained from reading the epistle before all.
True, everyone would have learned of them even without public reading. But for those rebuked, it would have been easier. Rejecting this plausible consideration, the Apostle adjures them to read the epistle before everyone.
Through this, the rebuke proved more effective for those rebuked and more useful for others. Those rebuked before all had to correct themselves before all.
All the others learned from this that such and such actions were blameworthy. By avoiding them, they were not doing something extraordinary, but fulfilling an apostolic directive.
Moreover, the adjuration protected the pastors. Those rebuked might say, “Why were they so shamed before all?” The pastors had something on which to rely: “We could not do otherwise. The Apostle adjured us by the Lord’s name.”
“So fearful were adjurations for the ancients! But alas, they are not so now, not so for us” (Theophylact).
An adjuration in the name of the Lord lays the strongest obligation to fulfill what one person asks of another. It binds the conscience by touching the living bonds of communion with the Lord.
It threatens their rupture in case of nonfulfillment. St. Chrysostom speaks at length about the importance of adjurations in the Lord’s name.
He gives an example of how precious in the eyes of the Lord Himself the fulfillment of a request under such an adjuration can be.
A slave woman, being in extreme distress, asked not her own mistress, but another noble lady, to intercede for her before her masters.
Having exhausted every persuasion, she finally added an adjuration: “Do not despise my request, lest Christ despise you on the day of judgment.”
Troubled by this adjuration, the lady hastened to the slave woman’s masters and arranged her matter. That very night she saw the heavens opened and Christ Himself.
St. Chrysostom concludes that she was counted worthy of such a vision precisely because she took the adjuration to heart.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 10 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS