Quenching the Spirit is a figurative expression used to illustrate the possibility of hindering the Spirit"s work in and through the believer. The image is that of water thrown on a fire. The proper response is to follow the Spirit"s direction and control without resistance ( 1 Thessalonians 5:18; cf. Galatians 5:16; Galatians 5:25). The next verse gives one way in which believers can quench the Spirit. [source][source][source]
Context Summary
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 - "without Blame" At His Coming
The remainder of the chapter is filled with brief sentences of exhortation, like cablegrams from our Heavenly Captain to his soldiers, who, in the previous section, are described as wearing the breastplate of faith and love. As we endeavor to put them into practice, we become conscious of a new and divine energy entering and quickening our nature. It is the God of peace who is at work, co-operating with our poor endeavors and sanctifying us wholly.
Each soul has a ministry to others, 1 Thessalonians 5:14. A sketch is here given of the ideal believer, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22; full of joy, constant in prayer, giving thanks in everything, loving with the unquenched fire of the Holy Spirit, willing to listen to any voice that may bear a divine message, testing all events and utterances with a celestial solvent, steadfast in good, and persistent against evil. This is a high standard, and impossible of realization apart from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But when the inner shrine is truly surrendered to Him, He will possess the whole temple, even to our physical well-being. God is faithful and will never fail the soul that dares to be all that He wills [source]
Chapter Summary: 1 Thessalonians 5
1He proceeds in the description of Christ's coming to judgment; 16and gives various instructions; 23and so concludes the epistle
Greek Commentary for 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Quench not the spirit [το πνευμα μη σβεννυτε] Μη Mē with the present imperative means to stop doing it or not to have the habit of doing it. It is a bold figure. Some of them were trying to put out the fire of the Holy Spirit, probably the special gifts of the Holy Spirit as 1 Thessalonians 5:20 means. But even so the exercise of these special gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14; 2 Corinthians 12:2-4; Romans 12:6-9) was to be decently Today, as then, there are two extremes about spiritual gifts (cold indifference or wild excess). It is not hard to put out the fire of spiritual fervor and power. [source]
Quench not the Spirit [] Since he is the inspirer of prayer, and the bestower of all gifts of grace on the Church. Comp. Ephesians 4:30. The operation of the Spirit is set forth under the image of fire in Matthew 3:11; Luke 12:49; Acts 2:3,Acts 2:4. The reference here is to the work of the Spirit generally, and not specially to his inspiration of prayer or prophecy. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Thessalonians 5:19
2 Timothy 1:6I put thee in remembrance [αναμιμνησκω] Old compound to remind (1 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Corinthians 7:15). That thou stir up (σε αναζωπυρειν se anazōpurein). Present active infinitive of αναζωπυρεω anazōpureō old double compound (ανα ana and ζωπυρον zōpuron live coal, ζωος zōos and πυρ pur then the bellows for kindling), to rekindle, to stir into flame, to keep blazing (continuous action, present time), only here in N.T. See note on 1 Thessalonians 5:19 for the figure of fire concerning the Holy Spirit. See αναπτω anaptō in Luke 12:49. The gift of God See note on 1 Timothy 4:14. Here Paul says μου mou (my), there he mentions the presbytery. Paul felt a deep personal interest in Timothy. See note on 1 Corinthians 7:7; Romans 6:23; Romans 11:29 for the gift of God. [source]
2 Timothy 1:6That thou stir up [σε αναζωπυρειν] Present active infinitive of αναζωπυρεω anazōpureō old double compound (ανα ana and ζωπυρον zōpuron live coal, ζωος zōos and πυρ pur then the bellows for kindling), to rekindle, to stir into flame, to keep blazing (continuous action, present time), only here in N.T. See note on 1 Thessalonians 5:19 for the figure of fire concerning the Holy Spirit. See αναπτω anaptō in Luke 12:49. [source]
What do the individual words in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 mean?
Greek Commentary for 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Μη Mē with the present imperative means to stop doing it or not to have the habit of doing it. It is a bold figure. Some of them were trying to put out the fire of the Holy Spirit, probably the special gifts of the Holy Spirit as 1 Thessalonians 5:20 means. But even so the exercise of these special gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14; 2 Corinthians 12:2-4; Romans 12:6-9) was to be decently Today, as then, there are two extremes about spiritual gifts (cold indifference or wild excess). It is not hard to put out the fire of spiritual fervor and power. [source]
Since he is the inspirer of prayer, and the bestower of all gifts of grace on the Church. Comp. Ephesians 4:30. The operation of the Spirit is set forth under the image of fire in Matthew 3:11; Luke 12:49; Acts 2:3, Acts 2:4. The reference here is to the work of the Spirit generally, and not specially to his inspiration of prayer or prophecy. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Thessalonians 5:19
I. Passages Relating to the Gift of Tongues. Mark 16:17; Acts href="/desk/?q=ac+10:46&sr=1">Acts 10:46; Acts 19:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 Corinthians 12:28; 1 Corinthians 13:1; 14. Possibly Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 4:11. II. Terms Employed. New tongues (Mark 16:17): other or different tongues ( ἕτεραι , Acts 2:4): kinds ( γένη ) of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:10): simply tongues or tongue ( γλῶσσαι γλῶσσα , Acts href="/desk/?q=ac+2:4&sr=1">Acts 2:4; Acts 10:46; Acts 19:6; 1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:13, 1 Corinthians 14:14, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:27): to pray in a tongue ( προσεύχεσθαι γλώσσῃ , 1 Corinthians 14:14, 1 Corinthians 14:15), equivalent to praying in the spirit as distinguished from praying with the understanding: tongues of men and angels (1 Corinthians 13:1). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- III. Recorded Facts in the New Testament. (1.) The first recorded bestowment of the gift was at Pentecost (Acts href="/desk/?q=ac+10:44-46&sr=1">Acts 10:44-46. (3.) Certain disciples at Ephesus, who received the Holy Spirit in the laying on of Paul's hands, spake with tongues and prophesied, Acts 19:6. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- IV. Meaning of the Term “Tongue.” The various explanations are: the tongue alone, inarticulately: rare, provincial, poetic, or archaic words: language or dialect. The last is the correct definition. It does not necessarily mean any of the known languages of men, but may mean the speaker's own tongue, shaped in a peculiar manner by the Spirit's influence; or an entirely new spiritual language. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- V. Nature of the Gift in the Corinthian Church. (1.) The gift itself was identical with that at Pentecost, at Caesarea, and at Ephesus, but differed in its manifestations, in that it required an interpreter. 1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 Corinthians 12:30; 1 Corinthians 14:5, 1 Corinthians 14:13, 1 Corinthians 14:26, 1 Corinthians 14:27. (2.) It was closely connected with prophesying: 1 Corinthians 14:1-6, 1 Corinthians 14:22, 1 Corinthians 14:25; Acts 2:16-18; Acts 19:6. Compare 1 Thessalonians 5:19, 1 Thessalonians 5:20. It was distinguished from prophesying as an inferior gift, 1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:5; and as consisting in expressions of praise or devotion rather than of exhortation, warning, or prediction, 1 Corinthians 14:14-16. (3.) It was an ecstatic utterance, unintelligible to the hearers, and requiring interpretation, or a corresponding ecstatic condition on the part of the hearer in order to understand it. It was not for the edification of the hearer but of the speaker, and even the speaker did not always understand it, 1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:19. It therefore impressed unchristian bystanders as a barbarous utterance, the effect of madness or drunkenness, Acts 2:13, Acts 2:15; 1 Corinthians 14:11, 1 Corinthians 14:23. Hence it is distinguished from the utterance of the understanding, 1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:14-16, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:27. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- VI. Paul's Estimate of the Gift. He himself was a master of the gift (1 Corinthians 14:18), but he assigned it an inferior position (1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:5), and distinctly gave prophesying and speaking with the understanding the preference (1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:3, 1 Corinthians 14:5, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:22). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- VII. Results and Permanence. Being recognized distinctly as a gift of the Spirit, it must be inferred that it contributed in some way to the edification of the Church; but it led to occasional disorderly outbreaks (1 Corinthians 14:9, 1 Corinthians 14:11, 1 Corinthians 14:17, 1 Corinthians 14:20-23, 1 Corinthians 14:26-28, 1 Corinthians 14:33, 1 Corinthians 14:40). As a fact it soon passed away from the Church. It is not mentioned in the Catholic or Pastoral Epistles. A few allusions to it occur in the writings of the fathers of the second century. Ecstatic conditions and manifestations marked the Montanists at the close of the second century, and an account of such a case, in which a woman was the subject, is given by Tertullian. Similar phenomena have emerged at intervals in various sects, at times of great religious excitement, as among the Camisards in France, the early Quakers and Methodists, and especially the Irvingites. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
Old compound to remind (1 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Corinthians 7:15). That thou stir up (σε αναζωπυρειν se anazōpurein). Present active infinitive of αναζωπυρεω anazōpureō old double compound (ανα ana and ζωπυρον zōpuron live coal, ζωος zōos and πυρ pur then the bellows for kindling), to rekindle, to stir into flame, to keep blazing (continuous action, present time), only here in N.T. See note on 1 Thessalonians 5:19 for the figure of fire concerning the Holy Spirit. See αναπτω anaptō in Luke 12:49. The gift of God See note on 1 Timothy 4:14. Here Paul says μου mou (my), there he mentions the presbytery. Paul felt a deep personal interest in Timothy. See note on 1 Corinthians 7:7; Romans 6:23; Romans 11:29 for the gift of God. [source]
Present active infinitive of αναζωπυρεω anazōpureō old double compound (ανα ana and ζωπυρον zōpuron live coal, ζωος zōos and πυρ pur then the bellows for kindling), to rekindle, to stir into flame, to keep blazing (continuous action, present time), only here in N.T. See note on 1 Thessalonians 5:19 for the figure of fire concerning the Holy Spirit. See αναπτω anaptō in Luke 12:49. [source]