1 Thessalonians 4:11

1 Thessalonians 4:11 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
• New International Version (NIV)and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,
• English Standard Version (ESV)and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you,
• New King James Version (NKJV)that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,

Context of 1 Thessalonians 4:11

9But I do not need to write to you about how you should love other believers. God himself has taught you how to love each other. 10Certainly, you love all the believers in all the region of Macedonia. And now we ask you, as our Christian friends, ‘Please love each other more and more.’ Try very much to live at peace with other people. Work hard at your own job. We have already told you that you must do these things. 12If you live in this way, other people who are not believers will respect you. Also, you will not have to ask anyone else to give you the things that you need. 13Our Christian friends, we want you to understand properly about your friends who have died. Then you will not continue to be sad about them. People who do not hope for any life after death are sad when their friends die. But you should not be upset like those other people.

1 Thessalonians 4:11 word by word

καὶ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι ἡσυχάζειν καὶ πράσσειν τὰ ἴδια καὶ ἐργάζεσθαι ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσὶν ὑμῶν καθὼς ὑμῖν παρηγγείλαμεν·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• that ye studyφιλοτιμέομαιphilotimeomai · to aspireG5389
• to be quietἡσυχάζωhēsuchazō · be quiet/give upG2270
• to doπράσσωprassō · to do/requireG4238
• businessἴδιοςidios · one's own/privateG2398
• to workἐργάζομαιergazomai · to workG2038
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• handsχείρcheir · handG5495
• asκαθώςkathōs · as/just asG2531
• we commandedπαραγγέλλωparaggellō · to orderG3853

Cross-references for 1 Thessalonians 4:11

• Proverbs 17:1It is better to eat a piece of dry bread in a quiet place, than to eat a big feast in a house full of arguments.
• Ecclesiastes 4:6It is good to have only a little food and be happy. That is better than too much hard work that gives you a lot of food. It is as useless as somebody who tries to catch the wind.
• Lamentations 3:26It is good when people continue to hope. It is good when they quietly wait for the Lord, because he will save them.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:12We have something to say to people who are lazy like that. We warn them with the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to us. They must stop causing trouble. They must work properly, so that they get their own food to eat.
• 1 Timothy 2:2Pray in that way for kings and for all rulers and people who have authority. Pray for God to help them, so that we may live our lives without trouble or danger. Then we can live in a good way that respects God and other people.
• 1 Peter 3:4Do not just think about your body, but think about what you are really like inside yourself. Be patient and do not become angry easily. Then you will always continue to be beautiful. If you are beautiful in your spirit, God likes that very much.
• Romans 15:20I want to go to places where nobody has ever told people about Christ before. I want to tell the good news to people in those places. That is what I have always wanted to do. I do not want to work in a place where someone else has already started to teach God's message.
• 2 Corinthians 5:9But all the time we want to please the Lord. We want to do that while we are still at home in our body here on earth. We also want to please him when we go away from these bodies.
• Mark 13:34It is like when a man begins a journey. Before the master leaves his house, he gives authority to his servants. He tells each servant about the work that he should do. Then he tells the servant at the door to watch for his master's return.
• Luke 12:42Jesus replied, ‘Be a wise servant. Be someone that the master can trust. The master will choose a man like that. He will say to him, “I want you to rule my house and the other servants. Give them the food that they need at the right time.”
• Romans 12:4Each part of our body works in a different way. But all the parts belong to our one body.
• Colossians 3:22Slaves, always obey your human masters. Do not do good work only when they can see you. Some people only work to make other people like them. Instead, serve your masters well because you want to. That will show that you respect the Lord as your master.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:11We say this because someone has told us news about you. They have told us that some people among you are living in a lazy way. Those people do not work at their own jobs. Instead, they cause trouble to other people who are working.
• 1 Timothy 5:13Young widows may learn to be lazy. They may go around from house to house. Not only do they become lazy, but they talk too much about silly things. They talk wrongly about other people and what they are doing. They say things that they ought not to say.
• 1 Peter 4:10God has helped each of you in a certain way. Think carefully about how to use that gift from God well. Remember that God has given many different gifts to his people so that they can help each other.
• Acts 20:35In this way I have shown you how you should live. You should work well so that you may help sick or weak people. You should remember what Jesus himself said: “It may make you happy when you receive things. But it makes you more happy when you give things to someone.” ’

Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 4:11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11That ye study to be quiet - Though in general the Church at Thessalonica was pure and exemplary, yet there seem to have been some idle, tattling people among them, who disturbed the peace of others; persons who, under the pretense of religion, gadded about from house to house; did not work, but were burdensome to others; and were continually meddling with other people's business, making parties, and procuring their bread by religious gossiping. To these…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11And that ye study to be quiet - Orderly, peaceful; living in the practice of the calm virtues of life. The duty to which he would exhort them was that of being subordinate to the laws; of avoiding all tumult and disorder; of calmly pursuing their regular avocations, and of keeping themselves from all the assemblages of the idle, the restless, and the dissatisfied. No Christian should be engaged in a mob; none should be identified with the popular…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-12Verses 9-12 We should notice in others what is good, to their praise, that we may engage them to abound therein more and more. All who are savingly taught of God, are taught to love one another. The teaching of the Spirit exceeds the teachings of men; and men's teaching is vain and useless, unless God teach. Those remarkable for this or any other grace, need to increase therein, as well as to persevere to the end. It is very desirable to have a calm and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11to live quietly means being worthy of respect and not causing problems in the community. work with your hands: The apostle Paul had previously instructed through his teaching and personal example that they should earn their own living (see Thessalonians 3:7–9; 10).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1111. study to be quiet--Greek, "make it your ambition to be quiet, and to do your own business." In direct contrast to the world's ambition, which is, "to make a great stir," and "to be busybodies" (2Th 3:11, 12). work with your own hands--The Thessalonian converts were, it thus seems, chiefly of the working classes. Their expectation of the immediate coming of Christ led some enthusiasts among them to neglect their daily work and be dependent on the…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Thessalonians 4:11

• Commandments
• Evil
• Honesty
• Industry
• Labor

In the dictionaries

• Asleep
• Poor
• Quiet
• Rise
• Sleep
• Trump
• Ambitious
• Business
• Disorderly
• Thessalonians, the First Epistle of Paul to the

Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings