Vessel
Though the drift of the passage That each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honour (1Th 4:4) is clear, the exact meaning to be attached to vessel () has long been a matter of dispute. Some take it to refer to the body; others interpret it as meaning wife. The first interpretation is adopted by many early writers, and is found as far back as Tertullian (de Resurrectione Carnis, 16): Caro vas vocatur apud Apostolum, quam jubet in honore tractari. This meaning is adopted by Chrysostom, Theodoret, Calvin, Beza, and many others.
No objection can be raised to this sense of . The term vessel of the soul is applied to the body by classical writers, e.g. Lucretius, iii. 441: corpus, quod vas quasi constitit ejus (sc. animae); and the passage 2Co 4:7 gives the same idea: . But this interpretation forces an unnatural meaning on , which can mean only to acquire, not to possess or to keep. Chrysostom, who saw this difficulty, tried to get over it by explaining as equivalent to gain the mastery over: , , . But this meaning does not fit in with , etc.
The interpretation of as wife is held by Augustine: ut sciret unusquisque eorum suum possidere vas, hoc est, uxorem (circa, about Jul. IV. x. 56). With this agree Schott, de Wette, and many German commentators, and, among English, Alford, Jowett, and Ellicott. Lightfoot seems unable to decide.
Hence neither word presents any difficulty, as is used of marrying a wife: (Rth 4:10 Septuagint ); (Sir 36:29).
The sense of the passage, then, will be that men should avoid fornication, and that, if a man cannot exercise continence, he should marry. The same thought occurs in 1Co 7:2 : . The objection which has been raised, that the injunction would thus be made to apply to men only, is not serious, for, as is often the case, the corresponding obligation on the part of the woman is implied. Lightfoot considers it a more serious objection that by using such an expression as the Apostle would seem to be lowering himself to the sensual view of the marriage relation, and adopting the depreciatory estimate of the womans position which prevailed among both Jews and heathen at the time, whereas it is his constant effort to exalt both the one and the other. But is it the fact that the term was necessarily depreciatory?
On the whole, the second interpretation seems to harmonize the better with the context and to avoid the difficulty of a strained interpretation of , but it must not be overlooked that many names of weight are in favour of the first.
Morley Stevenson.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Vessel
vesel: Is used freely in English Versions of the Bible to translate , kel, the Aramaic , ma’n, and , skeuos, words all meaning an implement or utensil of any kind, when the context shows that a hollow utensil is meant. In 1Sa 21:5, however, the translation of the plural of kel by vessels is dubious. English Versions of the Bible evidently intended something in the nature of provision wallets, and the holiness of such objects finds partial parallels in Num 19:15; Lev 11:32-34, etc. But in 1Sa 21:8, in the immediate context of the verse above, kel certainly means weapons, and this translation is quite intelligible in 1Sa 21:5 also. For war among the Hebrews was a holy function, calling for extreme ceremonial purity (Deu 23:9-14). See the commentaries. and especially RS2, 455-56. In addition, vessel appears in Isa 30:14 for , nebhel, jar; in Mat 13:48 for , aggos, vessels; and in Sirach 21:14; Mat 25:4 for , aggeon, a diminutive form of aggos. A different use is that of The Wisdom of Solomon 14:1, where vessel represents , ploon, a boat, while The Wisdom of Solomon 14:5, 6 the King James Version has weak vessel for , scheda, raft (so the Revised Version (British and American)). Vessels of all sorts and kinds and for all sorts of uses were so familiar as to make them natural illustrations for different sorts of human beings (Hos 8:8; Isa 22:24; Jer 22:28, etc.; see POTTER), and through Act 9:15 the word vessel has passed into Christian theology as signifying simply a human being. But the figure of such vessels as (passively) filled with different contents is not Biblical. In 1Th 4:4 vessel may be taken as a figure for either the man’s own body or for his wife. Between these possibilities the commentaries are almost equally divided.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Vessel
is used (a) of “a vessel or implement” of various kinds, Mar 11:16; Luk 8:16; Joh 19:29; Act 10:11, Act 10:16; Act 11:5; Act 27:17 (a sail); Rom 9:21; 2Ti 2:20; Heb 9:21; Rev 2:27; Rev 18:12; (b) of “goods or household stuff,” Mat 12:29 and Mar 3:27, “goods;” Luk 17:31, RV, “goods” (AV, “stuff”); (c) of “persons,” (1) for the service of God, Act 9:15, “a (chosen) vessel;” 2Ti 2:21, “a vessel (unto honor);” (2) the “subjects” of Divine wrath, Rom 9:22; (3) the “subjects” of Divine mercy, Rom 9:23; (4) the human frame, 2Co 4:7; perhaps 1Th 4:4; (5) a husband and wife, 1Pe 3:7; of the wife, probably, 1Th 4:4; while the exhortation to each one “to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor” is regarded by some as referring to the believer’s body [cp. Rom 6:13; 1Co 9:27; see No. (4)], the view that the “vessel” signifies the wife, and that the reference is to the sanctified maintenance of the married state, is supported by the facts that in 1Pe 3:7 the same word time, “honor,” is used with regard to the wife; again in Heb 13:4, timios, “honorable” (RV, “in honor”) is used in regard to marriage; further, the preceding command in 1 Thess. 4 is against fornication, and the succeeding one (1Th 4:6) is against adultery. In Rth 4:10, Sept., ktaomai, “to possess,” is used of a wife.
denotes “a jar” or “pail,” Mat 13:48, in the best texts (some have No. 3). It is used, in an inscription, of a cinerary urn.
denotes “a small vessel” (a diminutive of No. 2), e.g., for carrying oil, Mat 25:4.
Note: For phaulos, Jam 3:16, RV, see EVIL, A, No. 3.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Vessel
Psa 31:12 (a) It is used by David to describe his feelings of weakness and unfitness for the great position he occupied as a leader of GOD’s people.
Pro 25:4 (b) GOD will remove evil things from our lives in order to make us fit for the Master’s use.
Isa 66:20 (a) The teaching is that Israel will again become the repository of GOD’s truth.
Jer 18:4 (a) Israel has been marred by sinful practices, and individuals have suffered in the same way. GOD would like to make each of His children a vessel meet for His purposes and use, but wicked ways and sinful practices hinder. (See also Jer 22:28). (See also Rom 9:22-23).
Jer 48:11 (a) Moab had one success after another and had not been defeated nor suffered from other calamities. For this reason he became full of pride and self-sufficiency. The vessels evidently represent troubles of different kinds. Moab had experienced none of them.
Jer 51:34 (a) This king had taken away the wealth of Israel and ruined the crops. Israel is the vessel mentioned in the passage.
Hos 8:8 (a) It describes the failure of Israel to be a receptacle for GOD’s glory and GOD’s Word.
Hos 13:15 (b) These vessels represent the excellent qualities of the leaders of Israel which GOD would take away and destroy.
Mat 13:48 (c) This probably is descriptive of Heaven and the various mansions into which GOD’s people will be gathered when they go to be with the Lord.
Mat 25:4. (b) It may mean that these wise virgins were really in touch with Heaven, and all of GOD’s supply of the Spirit. The other five had simply been worked upon by the Spirit, whereby certain good results had been obtained, but not that complete act of linking them with Heaven and GOD, called the “new birth.”
Luk 8:16 (a) No real Christian will hide his light, nor smother his testimony under his business enterprises, nor in laziness. (See also Mat 5:15; Mar 4:21).
Act 9:15 (a) This is a beautiful type of Paul, and of any other believer into whom the Lord has put His Spirit. GOD makes the believer the receptacle for the gifts and graces of the Spirit for the use and glory of His great name. (See also 2Co 4:7).
2Ti 2:20 (a) These vessels represent people. The vessels unto honor are those in the parlor, made of gold, silver and expensive china. The vessels unto dishonor are those in the kitchen that are used for cooking and other purposes. These represent two kinds of Christians; the beautiful ones with lovely attractive lives are like the vase in the parlor and have little value to the household, and are not usually useful. Those in the kitchen attract little attention, if any, but they are of the most use to the family. It would be easier to get along without those in the parlor than those in the kitchen. The Lord is telling us that if we purge ourselves from the evils described in the first part of the chapter, then we shall be clean vessels that are fit for GOD’s use and will be beautiful in His sight.
1Pe 3:7 (a) It is emblematic of the position occupied by the wife in whom reposes precious graces which she sweetly expresses in her home to make the presence of GOD felt there.
Rev 2:27 (a) The Lord compares His destruction of the enemy to that destruction which the potter executes upon a vessel that is not made right.