1 Thessalonians 4:4

King James Version (KJV)

That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

How to possess his vessel - Let every man use his wife for the purpose alone for which God created her, and instituted marriage. The word σκευος answers to the Hebrew כלי keli, which, though it signifies vessel in general, has several other meanings. That the rabbins frequently express wife by it, Schoettgen largely proves; and to me it appears very probable that the apostle uses it in that sense here. St. Peter calls the wife the weaker Vessel, 1 Peter 3:7. Others think that the body is meant, which is the vessel in which the soul dwells. In this sense St. Paul uses it, 2 Corinthians 4:7; : We have this treasure in earthen Vessels; and in this sense it is used by both Greek and Roman authors. There is a third sense which interpreters have put on the word, which I forbear to name. The general sense is plain; purity and continency are most obviously intended, whether the word be understood as referring to the wife or the husband, as the following verse sufficiently proves.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel - The word “vessel” here ( σκεῦος skeuos), probably refers to the body. When it is so used, it is either because the body is frail and feeble, like an earthen vessel, easily broken 2 Corinthians 4:7, or because it is that which contains the soul, or in which the soul is lodged. Lucret. Lib. iii. 441. The word vessel also (Greek σκεῦος skeuos) was used by the latter Hebrews to denote a wife, as the vessel of her husband. Schoettg. Hor. Heb. p. 827. Compare Wetstein in loc. Many, as Augustine, Wetstein, Schoettgen, Koppe, Robinson (Lex.), and others, have supposed that this is the reference here; compare 1 Peter 3:7. The word body, however, accords more naturally with the usual signification of the word, and as the apostle was giving directions to the whole church, embracing both sexes, it is hardly probable that he confined his direction to those who had wives. It was the duty of females, and of the unmarried among the males, as well as of married men, to observe this command. The injunction then is, that we should preserve the body pure; see the notes on 1 Corinthians 6:18-20.

In sanctification and honour - Should not debase or pollute it; that is, that we should honor it as a noble work of God, to be employed for pure purposes; notes, 1 Corinthians 6:19.

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

To abide in the faith of the gospel is not enough, we must abound in the work of faith. The rule according to which all ought to walk and act, is the commandments given by the Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctification, in the renewal of their souls under the influences of the Holy Spirit, and attention to appointed duties, constituted the will of God respecting them. In aspiring after this renewal of the soul unto holiness, strict restraint must be put upon the appetites and senses of the body, and on the thoughts and inclinations of the will, which lead to wrong uses of them. The Lord calls none into his family to live unholy lives, but that they may be taught and enabled to walk before him in holiness. Some make light of the precepts of holiness, because they hear them from men; but they are God's commands, and to break them is to despise God.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

4. Know. Or, “understand.” In 1 Thess. 5:12 Paul uses the verb, “to know,” in the sense of “to know the worth of,” “to appreciate,” “to respect.” Different forms of the same verb are used in 1 Thess. 4:5; 2 Thess 1:8; Gal. 4:8 to describe those who know not God, that is, they do not understand or appreciate Him.

Possess. Gr. ktaomai, “to acquire,” “to get for oneself,” “to procure for oneself.”

Vessel. Gr. skeuos, “a thing,” “an object,” “vessel,” “jar,” “dish.” Skeuos is translated “vessel” 19 out of the 23 times it is used in the NT. There is difference of opinion as to its meaning in this verse. Some hold that Paul is referring to the Christian’s body, with special reference to its sexual functions. This interpretation accords with the context, which treats of sexual purity (vs. 3, 5), but not so well with the meaning of ktaomai, “to acquire” (see above under “possess”). However, it is possible to give to ktaomai the meaning “to gain control over.” General scholarly opinion prefers to interpret skeuos, “vessel,” as referring to a man’s wife. Such opinion has scriptural support in 1 Peter 3:7, where the wife is described as “the weaker vessel,” and in rabbinical literature, which speaks of the wife as a “vessel” for the man. This interpretation would make Paul say this: “Each Christian should know how to take a wife for himself in a consecrated and honorable manner.”

One other view calls for consideration. A few interpreters have suggested a division of the verse which results in this translation: “That each one of you respect his own wife, and that he get gain in sanctification and honor.” They have held that the second thought applies to business relationships, the getting or acquiring of wealth, and that Paul is urging that this be done on an ethical basis. But such an interpretation disturbs the flow of Paul’s thought, which is concentrating on matters of sexual purity in vs. 3-7.

Paul’s approach to the subject of impurity and marriage in this epistle is in harmony with his discussion of similar topics in 1 Cor. 7. He sees marriage as a divinely appointed union that will aid Christian partners in avoiding sexual temptations (see on 1 Cor. 7:1-5).

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Ellen G. White
In Heavenly Places, 199.5

It is a subject of interest to every soul of us, how we shall keep our vessels unto honor in the sight of a holy God.... There is no safety for us when we lie down, when we rise up, when we go out, and when we come in. Satan and evil angels have conspired with evil men and evil women, and the whole energies of the powers of darkness will gather themselves together to lead astray and destroy every soul that is not garrisoned with firm principles of eternal truths.... HP 199.5

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Ellen G. White
Selected Messages Book 3, 200.4

Surrounded With Heaven's Atmosphere—1898—“We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). True conversion, true sanctification, will be the cause of the change in our views and our feelings toward one another and toward God. “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (Verse 16). We must increase in faith. We must know the sanctification of the Spirit. In earnest prayer we must seek God, that the divine Spirit may work in us. God then will be glorified by the example of the human agent. We shall be workers together with God. 3SM 200.4

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Ellen G. White
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, 450

Seventh-day Adventists, who profess to be looking for and loving the appearing of Christ, should not follow the course of worldlings. These are no criterion for commandment keepers. Neither should they pattern after first-day Adventists, who refuse to acknowledge the claims of the law of God and trample it under their feet. This class should be no criterion for them. Commandment-keeping Adventists occupy a peculiar, exalted position. John viewed them in holy vision and thus described them: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” 2T 450.1

The Lord made a special covenant with ancient Israel: “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” He addresses His commandment-keeping people in these last days: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” 2T 450.2

Not all who profess to keep the commandments of God possess their bodies in sanctification and honor. The most solemn message ever committed to mortals has been entrusted to this people, and they can have a powerful influence if they will be sanctified by it. They profess to be standing upon the elevated platform of eternal truth, keeping all of God's commandments; therefore, if they indulge in sin, if they commit fornication and adultery, their crime is of tenfold greater magnitude than is that of the classes I have named, who do not acknowledge the law of God as binding upon them. In a peculiar sense do those who profess to keep God's law dishonor Him and reproach the truth by transgressing its precepts. 2T 450.3

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Ellen G. White
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, 472-6

We are in a world where light and knowledge abound, yet many claiming to be of like precious faith are willingly ignorant. Light is all around them, yet they do not appropriate it to themselves. Parents do not see the necessity of informing themselves, obtaining knowledge, and putting it to a practical use in their married life. If they followed out the exhortation of the apostle, and lived upon the plan of addition, they would not be unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But many do not understand the work of sanctification. They seem to think they have attained to it, when they have learned only the first lessons in addition. Sanctification is a progressive work; it is not attained to in an hour or a day, and then maintained without any special effort on our part. 2T 472.1

Many parents do not obtain the knowledge that they should in the married life. They are not guarded lest Satan take advantage of them and control their minds and their lives. They do not see that God requires them to control their married lives from any excesses. But very few feel it to be a religious duty to govern their passions. They have united themselves in marriage to the object of their choice, and therefore reason that marriage sanctifies the indulgence of the baser passions. Even men and women professing godliness give loose rein to their lustful passions, and have no thought that God holds them accountable for the expenditure of vital energy, which weakens their hold on life and enervates the entire system. 2T 472.2

The marriage covenant covers sins of the darkest hue. Men and women professing godliness debase their own bodies through the indulgence of the corrupt passions, and thus lower themselves beneath the brute creation. They abuse the powers which God has given them to be preserved in sanctification and honor. Health and life are sacrificed upon the altar of base passion. The higher, nobler powers are brought into subjection to the animal propensities. Those who thus sin are not acquainted with the result of their course. Could all see the amount of suffering which they bring upon themselves by their own sinful indulgence, they would be alarmed, and some, at least, would shun the course of sin which brings such dreaded wages. So miserable an existence is entailed upon a large class that death would to them be preferable to life; and many do die prematurely, their lives sacrificed in the inglorious work of excessive indulgence of the animal passions. Yet because they are married they think they commit no sin. 2T 472.3

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