1 Thessalonians 3:2

Text (1 Thessalonians 3:2)

2 and sent Timothy, our brother, and God's minister in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and comfort you concerning your faith;

Translation and Paraphrase

2.

And (so) we sent Timothy, our brother (in the Lord, and minister of God), and fellow-worker with God in the (work of spreading the) good news of Christ, so that he might establish you (in the right beliefs and practices) and exhort you concerning your faith.

Notes (1 Thessalonians 3:2)

1.

While the anger of the Jews was directed at the whole church and the gospel itself, their anger was focused on Paul. So Paul sent Timothy to Thessalonica. Timothy apparently encountered no trouble in making the trip. Paul would certainly have had trouble.

2.

Paul calls Timothy:

(1)

Our brother.

(2)

Minister of God.

(3)

Fellow-labourer in the gospel. Compare 1 Corinthians 3:9.

(The title minister is omitted in the American Standard Version, Nestle's Greek text, etc. It has only limited support in the oldest manuscripts of the New Testament.)

3.

Preachers of the gospel should revel in the way Paul speaks of his fellow-workers. Compare Philippians 4:2. Paul calls them brothers, fellow-workers, etc. Paul had no jealousy. Whenever anyone did anything for Christ, Paul was glad.

4.

Timothy had two things to do for the Thessalonians:

(1)

Establish them. This means to make them stable, and set them fast in the faith.

(2)

Comfort them. This is the term also translated exhort, For the meaning of exhort and exhortation, see notes on 1 Thessalonians 2:3, par. 2.

Establishing and comforting are two things necessary for every young Christian, and many older ones also.