Philippians 2:22

δοκιμήν. “Approvedness.” That character which emerges as the result of testing. Cf. James 1:12. ὡς πατ. τέκ. κ. τ. λ. A mixed construction, the result of refined feeling. Paul first thinks of Timothy as his son in the Gospel, serving him with a son's devotion. But before the sentence is finished, his lowliness reminds him that they are both alike servants of a common Lord, equal in His sight. εἰς seems here practically equiv. to ἐν, as so frequently in later Greek. The fact is one of real importance for exegesis. (See Hatz., Einl, p. 210; Schmid, Atticismus, i., p. 91; Krumbacher, Kuhn's Zeitschr., 27, pp. 543 544). One can hardly discover here the idea of purpose.