What does the Apostle Paul mean when he says to his Thessalonian readers, “whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him”?  The initial reading, or in quoting the verse without Paul’s original context, the metaphor of “awake or asleep” sounds like a reference to life and death.  Christians still living at Christ’s return as well as those believers who have already died will all join the triumphant Lord.  Is that the only way to understand his words?

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. ¹⁵ For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words.  ^5:1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.  ² For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.  ³ While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. ⁴ But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; ⁵ for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;  ⁶ so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.  ⁷ For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.  ⁸ But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.  ⁹ For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,  ¹⁰ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.  ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.        1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 5:11 (NASB)

In this section of his letter to the church at Thessalonica, Paul uses some form of the word “sleep” seven times.  Clearly some of the uses are figurative, since he eventually abandons the euphemism and refers instead to “the dead in Christ” (v. 16b).  Other times he seems quite literal in his example of sleeping at night (v. 7).  How are we to understand Paul’s usage of the word (and from that usage, to understand his meaning)?

The Greek text provides additional clarity:  two distinct words are used.  Paul seems quite deliberate in his selection of the words for different purposes.

The three occurrences of “sleep” at the beginning of the passage (4:13-15) use one of the words; the remaining four times (5:6-19) Paul uses a different word.  It would appear that the differences in his usage are intentional in order to make his point.

Consider the following uses of the two Greek words.  These lists include all of the uses of both words in the New Testament.  The concordance used is based on the NIV translation:[1]

koimao [18 times in the NT]

Mt 27: 52        and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to

Mt 28: 13        came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’

Lk 22:45          to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.

Jn 11:11           he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep;

Jn 11:12           His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”

Ac 7: 60          hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Ac 12: 6          Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains,

Ac 13: 36        had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep;

ICo 7: 39         But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes,

ICo 11: 30       you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.’

ICo 15: 6         most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

ICo 15: 18       Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

ICo 15: 20       from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

ICo 15: 51       you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-

ITh 4: 13         we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep,

ITh 4: 14         God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

ITh 4: 15         the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

2Pe 3: 4           Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the

It seems clear from these examples, that koimao frequently has the figurative meaning “died.”  At times the translators (at least for the NIV used in the reference cited) simply express the figurative language and use the word “dies” or “died.”  The underlined words in these verses show that the figurative use comprises 14 of the 18 occurrences.  Physical death is indicated by koimao more frequently than actual slumber.  That usage is completely consistent with Paul’s use in the 1 Thessalonian passage.  Three times he gently refers to believers who have died (apparently a serious concern of the new church) without actually saying “died.”  This common use is even seen in koimao the source of the English word “cemetery.”[2]

Consider the use of the other word translated “sleep” or “asleep” – katheudo.

katheudo [22 times in the NT]

Mt 8: 24          so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.

Mt 9: 24          he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they

Mt 13: 25        But while everyone was sleeping. his enemy came and sowed

Mt 25: 5          a long time in coming. and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

Mt 26: 40        Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.

Mt 26: 43        When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their

Mt 26: 45        the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? .

Mk 4: 27          Night and day. whether he sleeps or gets up. the seed sprouts

Mk 4: 38          Jesus was in the stem, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke

Mk 5: 39          all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”

Mk 13: 36        If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.

Mk 14: 37        Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.

Mk 14: 37        found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep?

Mk 14: 40        When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their

Mk 14: 41        the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting?

Lk 8: 52           for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”

Lk 22: 46         “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that

Eph 5: 14         “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead. and Christ will shine on

ITh 5: 6           So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be

ITh 5: 7           For those who sleep, sleep at night. and those who get drunk,

ITh 5: 7           For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk,

ITh 5: 10         He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may

In contrast to koimao, the use of katheudo is predominantly a reference to sleep as slumber, with only four possible uses relating to death.  Even three of those passages (the synoptic parallels about raising the little girl) contrast katheudo with death: “she is not dead but asleep.”  Whatever the child’s condition, Jesus is making a clear distinction:  katheudo is contrasted with “dead.”

Now, with those distinctions in mind, how do we understand Paul’s language in 1 Thessalonians?  The first three instances of variations on the English “sleep” (4:13-15, koimao) express a euphemism to soften the harsh reality of the friends and loved ones who have died.  The next three (5:6-7, katheudo) are about the characteristics of literal sleep:  stupor, oblivion, dullness, absence of productivity, lack of conscious control.  The literal sleepers of verse 7 are the negative model for the figurative command in verse 6:  Let us not be in a stupor, oblivious, dull, unproductive, uncontrolled.  Paul is continuing his earlier exhortations to “walk and please God” and to “excel still more” (4:1), to sanctification and sexual purity (4:3-7), and to a “quiet life, attend to your own business, work with your hands” (4:11).  The “sleep” he warns against is “like the others” (5:6), those who will face inescapable destruction.  The “peace and safety” (5:3) that they promote is their own oblivion and insensible stupor, the willful rejection of God’s coming judgment (5:2).  Believers are to consciously avoid that kind of insensible existence:  “Don’t sleep as the others do.”

What about the final instance of “sleep” in the passage?  Because Jesus died for “us” (Paul, the Thessalonians, you, me), “whether we are awake or asleep (katheudo), we will live together with Him” (v. 10).  Is this “sleep” death or is it dullness?  Is Paul reassuring the Thessalonians about the salvation of dead believers, or is his attention here on the ultimate salvation of lazy believers?

Paul has already considered the believers who have died (using koimao).  Unless we assume that he is suddenly changing the common use of the words, the “sleep” in verse 10 (katheudo) would have to be a reference to believers whose lives look a lot like the world around them, “sleeping like the others” (verse 6).  The Apostle has emphasized the importance of sanctification and a holy life throughout the letter.  Now he makes clear:  for those who are genuine believers the degree of watchfulness or sanctification is not the deciding factor.  Even those who are dull and unproductive in their Christian life are still destined to be with Christ forever.

Paul assures the Thessalonians of the efficacy of Christ’s death.  For those believers who have died, their salvation rests only on their belief “that Jesus died and rose again” (4:14).  For those believers who struggle or even disregard calls to sanctification, their salvation is yet assured “through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us” (5:9-10).  I wonder if Paul, the exhorter to holiness, struggled as the Holy Spirit prompted him to write those words.  Or did he write them joyfully, as the surprising, even shocking logical implication of absolute salvation by grace alone?  The Thessalonians were concerned about loved ones who had died.  Perhaps there were also questions (as there have been and continue today) about those who don’t seem particularly concerned with living out their faith.  Paul makes it clear that Christ’s death is adequate for all of those circumstances.  (Much more can and has been written about the authenticity of faith that doesn’t result in a changed life – James 2:20 for example.  That discussion is beyond the scope of Paul’s exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 4-5, and not a part of this essay.)

 

In the spirit of full disclosure, after my own study outlined above I discovered that my conclusion is a decidedly minority opinion (not the first time and probably not for the last time).  While some scholars would concur that Paul’s use of katheudo in 1 Thessalonians 5:10 is referring to spiritual dullness or lethargy, many more (at least in my limited research) disagree.  The majority assert plainly that the Apostle is returning to the subject of believers who have experienced physical death.

Barclay[3] is rather vague, but with the suggested interpretation of an individual’s death is meant by “sleep” in 5:10.  Others simply assert that the verse is “the sleep of death,”[4] or equate “wake or sleep, live or die”[5] with no further explanation.

John Stott and Leon Morris both connect Paul’s conclusion in 5:10 (where Paul uses katheudo) with his previous teaching in 4:13-15 (where he used koimao).

First, from John Stott:

The metaphor here must refer to our physical condition (whether we are alive when Jesus comes or have died beforehand, as in 4:13-15), and not to our spiritual and moral state (whether we are self-controlled or self-indulgent, as in verses 6-8).[6]

Unfortunately John Stott does not explain why the metaphor “must” be about physical death and does not address the different Greek words as they are used elsewhere in the New Testament (as discussed above in this essay).

And from Leon Morris:

Whether we wake or sleep means ‘whether we live or die’, both terms referring to physical death and not, as in verse 6 (where the same word is translated watch as is here rendered wake) being used ethically.  The words are a further reassurance of the Thessalonians in their difficulty treated in iv. 13-18.[7]

Morris mentions the different English translations of “the same word” used as watch or wake, but he does not address the opposite side of a similar coin, why two completely different Greek words (katheudo and koimao) require the same meaning after Paul has used them differently already in the same context.

Both Stott and Morris appeal to the previous issue, as if Paul is suddenly reiterating the assurance about deceased believers (4:13-15).  Both appeals ignore Paul’s seemingly intentional change in the wording he used, changing from the initial use of koimao for the “sleep” of death to katheudo for the “sleep” of slothfulness.  Why he would abruptly change the figurative use of his language is unclear, and the question is not addressed by either John Stott or Leon Morris.

Wanamaker is the most explicit in stating that koimao and katheudo are “synonyms.”[8]  From the previous comparisons of the exhaustive lists of the New Testament uses of the two words this statement is difficult to accept without additional explanation.  Examples from non-Biblical uses don’t provide any obvious suggestion of the status as synonyms.[9]

Vine describes the preponderance of uses of katheudo:

katheudo “to go to sleep,” is chiefly used of natural “sleep,” and is found most frequently in the Gospels, especially Matthew and Luke. With reference to death it is found in the Lord’s remark concerning Jairus’ daughter, Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52. In the epistles of Paul it is used as follows: (a) of natural “sleep,” e.g., 1 Thess. 5:7; (b) of carnal indifference to spiritual things on the part of believers, Eph. 5:14; 1 Thess. 5:6, 10 (as in Mark 13:36), a condition of insensibility to divine things involving conformity to the world.[10]

With the immense respect I have especially for John Stott and Leon Morris (both important influences on my early Christian life), and for the significant help with the Greek text I have had from Wanamaker, I still find their positions on this question unconvincing.

One commentary did give me some encouragement in my conclusions:

Yet this use [as a metaphor for death] of katheudo is rare.  Only with difficulty can one explain its substitution for the metaphorical koimao (“sleep”) of the previous section (4:13, 14, 15).  Furthermore, gregoreo (“to be awake”) is never used metaphorically for physical life in the Greek Bible (Milligan, p. 70) or in any literature (Oepke, TDNT, 2:338-339).  Paul’s word for “to live” is zao (4:15, 17).  To assign this metaphorical sense to “awake” or “asleep” is not probable because it makes v.10 a needless repetition of what is already proved in 4:12-15.

An explanation that is exegetically preferable and of less difficulty takes gregoromen (“we are awake”) and katheudomen (“we are asleep”) in an ethical sense as in v.6.  Since future salvation has been so fully provided by Christ’s finished work, it cannot be cancelled by lack of readiness.  Moral preparedness or unpreparedness does not affect the issue one way or the other.[11]

This explanation provides clear support for my conclusion.  Stott, Morris, and others cited above appear simply to force katheudo into meaning physical death in Paul’s context with  no further explanation.  In addition, the observation that Paul (or any other writer) never uses gregoro for physical life casts even further doubt on the “awake/asleep means alive/dead” interpretation.

Paul’s assertion in 1 Thessalonians 5:10 is a powerful confirmation of the all-sufficiency of Christ’s death for believers, even for those who genuinely believe but with little evidence of their faith shown in their lives.

Sola gratia.  Soli Deo Gloria.

Copyright 2015 by Michael Wiebe

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[1] John R. Kohlenberger III, Edward W. Goodrick, James A Swanson, The Greek-English Concordance to the New Testament With The New International Version (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 432, 397.

[2] Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Fifth Edition (Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 2002 ), I:367.

[3] William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, The Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia:  The Westminster Press, 1977), 205.

[4] William D. Mounce, General Editor, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Zondervan2006), 664; admittedly this is a dictionary and not an exhaustive commentary.  I cite here to represent Mounce’s position and not to assess his reasons, which are not included in the brief article in his dictionary.

[5] Godfrey Robinson and Stephen Winward, Our Returning King (London:  The Carey Kingsgate Press, Ltd., 1962), 55.

[6] John Stott, The Message of 1 & 2 Thessalonians, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, Illinois:  InterVarsity Press, 1991), 114.

[7] Leon Morris, The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976), 97.

[8] Charles A. Wanamaker, The Epistles to the Thessalonians, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990), 189.

[9] James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-Literary Sources (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976), 312, 349-350.

[10] W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary (Nashville, Tennessee:  Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996), 41;  emphasis added.

[11] Robert L. Thomas, Ralph Earle, & D. Edmond Hiebert, 1, 2 Thessalonians; 1, 2 Timothy; Titus, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 59-60.