1 Thessalonians 5:22—The Sin Sniffer’s Catch-All Verse

Interesting article. Can anyone comment on this or expand on their interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 5:22? I struggled with the interpretations I've heard growing up. Help! raying:

 

The 1557 Whittingham's New Testament translated 1 Thessalonians 5:22 as follows: "Abstain from all kind of evil."

The 1602 Spanish Valera Bible as reprinted by the International Bible Association has the rendering "especie de mal" [species or kind of evil]. The 1543 Enzinas Spanish N. T. as reprinted by the Broken Arrow Baptist Church has the rendering "genero de mal" [kind or class of evil].


In his commentary on Thessalonians, Gordon Clark noted that the Greek noun [eidos] in this verse in theology "almost always means kind or species" (p. 69). Spiros Zodhiates wrote that this Greek noun in this verse referred to "the form of evil" (Complete Word Study Dictionary, p. 507). Concerning 1 Thessalonians 5:22, A. T. Robertson pointed out that "the papyri give several examples of eidos in the sense of class or kind and that idea suits best here" (Word Pictures, IV, p. 38). In his commentary on Thessalonians, William Hendriksen indicated that this verse means: "From every form (or kind, not appearance here) of evil hold off" (p. 140). Concerning "appearance," Marvin Vincent wrote: "As commonly explained, abstain from everything that even looks like evil. But the word signifies form or kind. Compare Luke 3:22; John 5:37. . . . It never has the sense of semblance. Moreover, it is impossible to abstain from everything that looks like evil" (Word Studies, IV, p. 51).