περὶ τῶν Ver. 3. ὅταν, κιτιλ., when the very
χρόνων καὶ τῶν καιρῶν.
Ver. 1. The times and periods are not “simply the broad course of time, of which the ἡμέρα Κυρίου constitutes the closing scene” (Baur) ; καιρός denotes a section of time more definitely than χρόνος, in Greek usage. “No nation has distinguished so subtly the different forms under which time can be logically conceived. Χρόνος is time viewed in its extension, as a succession of moments, the external framework of action. ... Καιρός, a word, which has, I believe, no single or precise eqivalent in any other language . . . is that immediate present which is what we ‘make it; time charged with opportunity”? (Butcher, Harvard Lect. on Gk. Subjects, pp. 117- 119). In the plural, especially in this eschatological outlook, the phrase is little more, however, than a periphrasis for “when exactly things are to happen”. Paul thought he needed to do no more than reiterate the suddenness of the Last Day. But, not long afterwards, he found that the Thessalonians did require to have the χρόνοι καὶ καιροί explained to them in outline (II., ii. 2 f.).
Ver. 2. οἴδατε, referring to the teach- ing of Jesus on this crucial point, which Paul had transmitted to them (see Intro- duction).
words, ‘‘ Ali’s well,” “ It is all right,” are on their Ἡρς.---ἐπίσταται, of an enemy suddenly appearmg (Isocrat., Evag., § 58 ἐπὶ τὸ βασίλειον ἐπιστάς, Herod. ἵν. 203).--Οπἢὐτοῖς, i.e., whiie the Day comes suddenly to Christians and un- believers alike, only the latter are sur- prised by it. Christians are on the alert, open-eyed; they do not know when it is to come, but they are alive to any signs of itscoming. Thus there is no incompatibility between this emphasis on the instantaneous character of the advent and the emphasis, in II., ii. 3 ἢ, on the preliminary conditions.
Ver. 4. From the sudden and unex- pected nature of the Last Day, Paul passes, by a characteristic inversion of metaphor in κλέπτας, to a play of thought upon the day as light. A double sym- bolism of ἡμέρα, as of κοιμᾶσθαι, thus pervades 4-8. Lightfoot cites a very striking parallel from Eur., [ph. Taur., 1025-1026.
Ver. 5. The present age is utter night
(nid 4900), as contemporary rabbis taught; the age to come is all day. Meantime faith is to be held fast through this night (cf. passages quoted in Schlat- ter’s die Sprache τ. Heimat des viverten Evangelisten, 17, 18). viol φ. καὶ v.