Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

1 Thessalonians 4:16

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

KJV

ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι θεοῦ, καταβήσεται ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναστήσονται πρῶτον,

Greek NT

Quoniam ipse Dominus in jussu, et in voce archangeli, et in tuba Dei descendet de cælo : et mortui, qui in Christo sunt, resurgent primi.

Vulgate

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;

ASV

Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air: and so shall we be always with the Lord.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

18 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

Χριστός
christos
noun · 530×
αὐτός
autos
pronoun · 5564×
θεός
theos
noun · 1311×
κέλευμα
keleuma
noun · 1×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
καταβαίνω
katabaino
verb · 78×
κύριος
kurios
noun · 717×
νεκρός
nekros
adjective · 128×
οὐρανός
ouranos
noun · 274×
πρῶτον
proton
adverb · 57×
σάλπιγξ
salpigx
noun · 11×
φωνή
phone
noun · 139×
ἀνίστημι
anistemi
verb · 107×
ἀπό
apo
preposition · 640×
ἀρχάγγελος
archaggelos
noun · 2×
ἐν
en
preposition · 2743×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὅτι
oti
conjunction · 1299×

Themes

Doctrines that cite this verse

Prophecy

Historic Christian voices

13 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§1001When? Definitively "at the last day," "at the end of the world."555 Indeed, the resurrection of the dead is closely associated with Christ's Parousia: For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. and the dead in Christ will rise first.556 Risen with Christ
2. But whom does He here mean by the elect? The believers that were shut up in the midst of them. For that Jews may not say that because of the gospel, and the worship of Christ, these ills took place, He shows, that so far from the believers being the cause, if it had not been for them, all had perished utterly. For if God had permitted the war to be protracted, not so much as…
Chapter 13.—Of the Revolution of the Ages, Which Some Philosophers Believe Will Bring All Things Round Again, After a Certain Fixed Cycle, to the Same Order and Form as at First. This controversy some philosophers have seen no other approved means of solving than by introducing cycles of time, in which there should be a constant renewal and repetition of the order of nature;543…
It is taught among us that our Lord Jesus Christ will return on the last day for judgment and will raise up all the dead, to give eternal life and everlasting joy to believers and the elect but to condemn ungodly men and the devil to hell and eternal punishment.
Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. But be frequently gathered together, seeking the things which are befitting your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made complete in the last time.
At the burial of the dead, the minister shall comfort the bereaved with the sure promises of the resurrection. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive shall be caught up together with them. Let the congregation be reminded that blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, and that our labour in the Lord is not in vain.
Finally we believe, according to God's Word, that when the time appointed by the Lord is come (which is unknown to all creatures) and the number of the elect is complete, our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, bodily and visibly, as he ascended, with great glory and majesty, to declare himself the judge of the living and the dead. He will burn this old world, in fire and …
We believe in the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with glory and great power, to judge the living and the dead, and that His kingdom shall have no end. And we look for and expect the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, in the glory of the Father, with the holy angels, and shall sit upon the throne o…
The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord is the imminent and blessed hope of the church.
We believe that the end of the world is approaching; that at the last day Christ will descend from heaven, and raise the dead from the grave to final retribution; that a solemn separation will then take place; that the wicked will be adjudged to endless punishment, and the righteous to endless joy; and that this judgment will fix forever the final state of men in heaven or hell…

Cross-references

  • 1Cor 11:26 — For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
  • 1Cor 15:18 — Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
  • 1Cor 15:23 — But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
  • 1Cor 15:51 — Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
  • 1Cor 15:52 — In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
  • 1Thess 1:10 — And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
  • 2Pet 3:10 — But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that
  • 2Thess 1:7 — And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
  • 2Thess 2:1 — Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
  • Acts 1:11 — Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
  • Acts 1:11 — Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
  • Exod 19:13 — There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
  • Exod 19:16 — And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that
  • Exod 20:18 — And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
  • Ezek 37:12 — Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
  • Isa 25:8 — He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
  • Isa 27:13 — And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall wo
  • Isa 27:13 — And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall wo
  • Joel 2:11 — And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
  • John 14:3 — And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
  • Jude 1:9 — Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
  • Jude 1:9 — Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
  • Jude 1:24 — Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
  • Lev 23:24 — Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
  • Luke 17:34 — I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
  • Mark 13:26 — And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
  • Matt 16:27 — For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
  • Matt 16:27 — For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
  • Matt 24:30 — And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glor
  • Matt 24:31 — And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
  • Matt 25:6 — And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
  • Matt 25:31 — When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
  • Matt 25:31 — When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
  • Matt 26:64 — Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
  • Matt 26:64 — Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
  • Num 10:10 — Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offeri
  • Num 23:21 — He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.
  • Phil 3:20 — For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
  • Ps 47:1 — O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
  • Ps 47:5 — God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.