each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,
Here we have, I. An exhortation to abound in holiness, to abound more and more in that which is good, Th1 4:1, Th1 4:2. We may observe, 1. The manner in which the exhortation is given - very affectionately. The apostle entreats them as brethren; he calls them so, and loved them as such.
Commenting on 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
That everyone of you should know how to possess his vessel,.... By which may be meant, either a man's wife, or his body, and it is not very easy to determine which, for the Jews call both by this name. Sometimes they call (p) a woman which the gloss says is a "vessel" unfinished. It is reported (q), that when R.
Verse 4. That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel. The word vessel here (σκευος) 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 , or because it is that which contains the soul, or in which the soul is lodged. Lucret. Lib. iii. 441.