SEV Biblia, Chapter 5:20
No menospreciis las profecías.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Thessalonians 5:20
Verse 20. Despise not prophesyings.] Do not suppose that ye have no need of continual instruction; without it ye cannot preserve the Christian life, nor go on to perfection. God will ever send a message of salvation by each of his ministers to every faithful, attentive hearer. Do not suppose that ye are already wise enough; you are no more wise enough than you are holy enough. They who slight or neglect the means of grace, and especially the preaching of God's holy word, are generally vain, empty, self-conceited people, and exceedingly superficial both in knowledge and piety.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 20. Despise not prophesyings .] Or prophecies; the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the first coming of Christ, concerning his person, office, and work, his obedience, sufferings, and death, his resurrection from the dead, ascension and session at God's right hand; for though all these are fulfilled, yet they have still their usefulness; for by comparing these with facts, the perfections of God, his omniscience, truth, faithfulness, wisdom, etc. are demonstrated, the authority of the Scriptures established, the truths of the Gospel illustrated and confirmed, and faith strengthened; and besides, there are many prophecies which regard things to be done, and yet to be done under the Gospel dispensation, and therefore should not be set at nought, but highly valued and esteemed: also the predictions of Christ concerning his own sufferings and death, and resurrection from the dead, and what would befall his disciples afterwards, with many things relating to the destruction of Jerusalem, his second coming, and the end of the world, these should be had in great esteem; nor should what the apostles foretold concerning the rise of antichrist, the man of sin, and the apostasy of the latter days, and the whole book of the Revelations, which is no other than a prophecy of the state of the church, from the times of the apostles to the end of the world, be treated with neglect and contempt, but should be seriously considered, and diligently searched and inquired into. Yea, the prophecies of private men, such as Agabus, and others, in the apostle's time, and in later ages, are not to be slighted; though instances of this kind are rare in our times, and things of this nature should not be precipitantly, and without care, given into: but rather prophesyings here intend the explanation of Scripture, and the preaching of the word, and particularly by persons who had not the gift of tongues, and therefore men were apt to despise them; (see Corinthians 13:2 14:1,3-5,24,31). Just as in our days, if persons have not had a liberal education, and do not understand Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, though they have ministerial gifts, and are capable of explaining the word to edification and comfort, yet are set at nought and rejected, which should not be.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 16-22 - We are to rejoice in creature-comforts, as if we rejoiced not, and mus not expect to live many years, and rejoice in them all; but if we d rejoice in God, we may do that evermore. A truly religious life is life of constant joy. And we should rejoice more, if we prayed more Prayer will help forward all lawful business, and every good work. I we pray without ceasing, we shall not want matter for thanksgiving in every thing. We shall see cause to give thanks for sparing an preventing, for common and uncommon, past and present, temporal an spiritual mercies. Not only for prosperous and pleasing, but also for afflicting providences, for chastisements and corrections; for God designs all for our good, though we at present see not how they tend to it. Quench not the Spirit. Christians are said to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He worketh as fire, by enlightening enlivening, and purifying the souls of men. As fire is put out by taking away fuel, and as it is quenched by pouring water, or putting great deal of earth upon it; so we must be careful not to quench the Holy Spirit, by indulging carnal lusts and affections, minding onl earthly things. Believers often hinder their growth in grace, by no giving themselves up to the spiritual affections raised in their heart by the Holy Spirit. By prophesyings, here understand the preaching of the word, the interpreting and applying the Scriptures. We must no despise preaching, though it is plain, and we are told no more tha what we knew before. We must search the Scriptures. And proving all things must be to hold fast that which is good. We should abstain from sin, and whatever looks like sin, leads to it, and borders upon it. He who is not shy of the appearances of sin, who shuns not the occasion of it, and who avoids not the temptations and approaches to it, wil not long keep from doing sin.
Greek Textus Receptus
προφητειας 4394 μη 3361 εξουθενειτε 1848 5720
Vincent's NT Word Studies
20. Prophesyings (profhteiav). The emphasis on prophesyings corresponds with that in 1 Cor. xiv. 1-5, 22 ff. Prophecy in the apostolic church was directly inspired instruction, exhortation, or warning. The prophet received the truth into his own spirit which was withdrawn from earthly things and concentrated upon the spiritual world. His higher, spiritual part (pneuma), and his moral intelligence (nouv), and his speech (logov) worked in harmony. His spirit received a spiritual truth in symbol: his understanding interpreted it in its application to actual events, and his speech uttered the interpretation. He was not ecstatically rapt out of the sphere of human intelligence, although his understanding was intensified and clarified by the phenomenal action of the Spirit upon it. This double action imparted a peculiarly elevated character to his speech. The prophetic influence was thus distinguished from the mystical ecstasy, the ecstasy of Paul when rapt into the third heaven, which affected the subject alone and was incommunicable (2 Cor. xii. 1-4). The gift of tongues carried the subject out of the prophetic condition in which spirit, understanding, and speech operated in concert, and into a condition in which the understanding was overpowered by the communication to the spirit, so that the spirit could not find its natural expression in rational speech, or speech begotten of the understanding, and found supernatural expression in a tongue created by the Spirit. Paul attached great value to prophecy. He places prophets next after apostles in the list of those whom God has set in the Church (1 Cor. xii. 28). He associates apostles and prophets as the foundation of the Church (Eph. ii. 20). He assigns to prophecy the precedence among spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians xiv. 1-5), and urges his readers to desire the gift (1 Corinthians xiv. 1, 39). Hence his exhortation here.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
5:20 {Despise not prophesyings} (profeteias me exouqeneite). Same construction, stop counting as nothing (exouqenew, ouqen=ouden), late form in LXX. Plutarch has exoudenizw. Plural form profeteias (accusative). Word means {forth-telling} (pro-femi) rather than {fore-telling} and is the chief of the spiritual gifts (#1Co 14) and evidently depreciated in Thessalonica as in Corinth later.
