1 Thessalonians 5:26

1 Thessalonians 5:26, in plain English

Greet each other with a holy kiss—a practice that shows you belong to each other and are united in Christ.

Why it's here

In that culture, the kiss was a normal greeting among friends and family, but Paul adds 'holy' to set apart the kiss among believers as something sacred and different. It was a physical expression of the spiritual unity they shared. In our day, the principle is the same even if the gesture looks different.

Who's speaking

Paul, giving practical community instructions

Where it sits in the story

This echoes throughout Paul's letters as a practice of the early church. It's about tangible, physical expressions of spiritual reality—you're not just theoretically connected, you actually belong to each other.

The scholarly reading

Share a holy kiss with all the believers, demonstrating Christian affection and unity within your community.

Language and setting

The φίλημα ἅγιον (phílēma hágion—'holy kiss') was the customary greeting in early Christian worship, distinguishing Christian from secular embrace through its explicitly sanctified character. This practice, referenced in 1 Corinthians 16:20 and Romans 16:16, carried Semitic resonance (שלום—shalom, peace) while adopting the Greco-Roman greeting ritual and Christianizing it. In Thessalonica's context—a cosmopolitan commercial city with social stratification—this instruction democratized intimacy and built horizontal solidarity across class, ethnic, and gender boundaries.

Voice

Paul, transmitting apostolic instruction about communal practice, using the imperative to elevate a customary gesture into explicit theological practice.

Significance

The holy kiss became foundational to Christian liturgical practice through the patristic era (documented in Justin Martyr's First Apology) before evolving into the liturgical 'passing of the peace.' Modern Western churches abandoned this practice during the Medieval period for various reasons—a loss that scholars like Christine Pohl have noted represents a diminishment of embodied Christian solidarity.

24The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

25Brothers, pray for us as well.

26Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

27I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

28The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Read all of 1 Thessalonians 5 — The day will come like a thief in the night. But you are children of the light. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything.