1 Thessalonians 5:23

The God of peace (o qeo th eirhnh). The God characterized by peace in his nature, who gladly bestows it also. Common phrase (Milligan) at close of Paul's Epistles ( 2 Corinthians 13:11 ; Romans 15:33 ; Romans 16:20 ; Philippians 4:9 ) and the Lord of peace in 2 Thessalonians 3:6 . Sanctify you (agiasai uma). First aorist active optative in a wish for the future. New verb in LXX and N.T. for the old agizw, to render or to declare holy (agio), to consecrate, to separate from things profane. Wholly (olotelei). Predicate adjective in plural (olo, whole, telo, end), not adverb olotelw. Late word in Plutarch, Hexapla, and in inscription A.D. 67 (Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary). Here alone in N.T. Here it means the whole of each of you, every part of each of you, "through and through" (Luther), qualitatively rather than quantitatively. Your spirit and soul and body (umwn to pneuma kai h psuch kai to swma). Not necessarily trichotomy as opposed to dichotomy as elsewhere in Paul's Epistles. Both believers and unbelievers have an inner man (soul psuch, mind nou, heart kardia, the inward man o esw anqrwpo) and the outer man (swma, o exw anqrwpo). But the believer has the Holy Spirit of God, the renewed spirit of man ( 1 Corinthians 2:11 ; Romans 8:9-11 ). Be preserved entire (oloklhron thrhqeih). First aorist passive optative in wish for the future. Note singular verb and singular adjective (neuter) showing that Paul conceives of the man as "an undivided whole" (Frame), prayer for the consecration of both body and soul (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:1 ff.). The adjective oloklhron is in predicate and is an old form and means complete in all its parts (olo, whole, klhro, lot or part). There is to be no deficiency in any part. Teleio (from telo, end) means final perfection. Without blame (amemptw). Old adverb (a privative, mempto, verbal of mempomai, to blame) only in I Thess. in N.T. ( 1 Corinthians 2:10 ; 1 Corinthians 3:13 ; 1 Corinthians 5:23 ). Milligan notes it in certain sepulchral inscriptions discovered in Thessalonica. At the coming (en th parousiai). The Second Coming which was a sustaining hope to Paul as it should be to us and mentioned often in this Epistle (see on 1 Corinthians 2:19 ).