4:4 What does the word "vessel" (KJV) refer to here?
4:4 What does the word "vessel" (KJV) refer to here?
The word vessel (KJV) here refers to one of two things: to man's own body which he is to keep from fornication (cp V3-7 with 2Cor 4:7 and 2Ti 2:21).
Vessel can also refer to a wife, whom a man is privileged to "possess" in a marriage relationship (cp 1Pe 3:7).
The first view is preferred because the preceding verse in 1Th 4 warns against fornication, and the succeeding verses warn against evil desire and lust, and committing adultery with a fellow-Christian's wife (cp V3-7).
4:9-10 See comments on 1Th 3:12