What Does The Word "Vessel" Refer To In 1 Thessalonians 4:4?

An individual once asked me, “In 1 Thessalonians 4:4 KJV, what is Paul referring to as the vessel in this passage – a wife or a body?” In the context, the word “vessel” in 1 Thessalonians 4:4 refers to the body of the individual. In fact, this term was a common Greek metaphor for “body” since Greeks thought of souls living temporarily in bodies.

Note that in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 KJV, Paul uses the phrase, “we beseech you, brethren.” The “brethren” is in reference to the Thessalonian church (1 Thessalonians 1:1). Paul is exhorting them to “walk” acceptably before God in their daily living (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:12; Colossians 1:10).

In the latter part of 1 Thessalonians 4:3 KJV, Paul admonishes them to “abstain from fornication.” The idea Paul is stressing here is the same idea he presents in Colossians 3:5 KJV, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence (abnormal desire), and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Note that in 1 Thessalonians 4:4 KJV, Paul uses the phrase, “every one of you,” which includes every member of the church, and then exhorts them to “know how to possess his vessel [body] in sanctification and honour.” They are to maintain purity and self-control (Romans 6:19; cf. Romans 6:13; Romans 6:22). When sensual passion is the master of a person, he or she is the one “possessed” (Romans 6:16; cf. 2 Peter 2:19).

Even the inspired apostle Paul had to constantly “discipline his body and keep it under control….”(1 Corinthians 9:27 ESV). As Paul followed Christ, we should be followers of Paul in this regard (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets