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1Th_3:2. Τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἡμῶν καὶ συνεργὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τ . εὐαγγ . τοῦ Χριστοῦ ] our brother (Christian brother) and fellow-labourer of God in the gospel of Christ. The συν in συνεργὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ refers not to man, but to God, the chief ruler of the church; comp. Meyer on 1Co_3:9. In this apposition attached to Τιμόθεον , Theophylact, Musculus, and most critics (comp. already Chrysostom) discover the design, that Paul wished thereby to indicate what a great sacrifice he put himself to for the sake of the Thessalonians, as he surrendered to them at once his faithful assistant, whom he himself so much required, in order that he might minister to their wants.[44] Such a view is remote from the apostle. The epithets which he gives to Timotheus are nothing more than a commendation of his apostolic associate, which the apostle felt himself constrained spontaneously to express, on account of the faithfulness and zeal which he displayed for the sake of the gospel; and we are the less to look for any ulterior design, as it was the constant practice of the apostle, when he had occasion specially to mention his faithful associates, to designate them by some honourable appellation.
ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ] Statement of the sphere in which he was a συνεργός . Comp. Rom_1:9; Php_4:3.
εἰς τὸ στηρίξαι ὑμᾶς ] not that we (the senders) might (by the instrumentality of Timotheus) strengthen you (Cornelius a Lapide, Grotius), but that he (Timotheus) might strengthen you. But erroneously (comp. already Chrysostom) Oecumenius, whom Theophylact, Estius, Luc. Osiander, Fromond., Nat. Alexander, Macknight, and others follow: ὡς σαλευομένους , ἐφʼ οἷς ἦν ὁ διδάσκαλος ἐν πειρασμοῖς · μέγας γὰρ ὄντως θόρυβος τοῖς μαθηταῖς τὸ εἶναι τὸν διδάσκαλον ἐν πειρασμοῖς .
Grotius and others understand παρακαλέσαι in the sense of to comfort. More correctly (on account of 1Th_3:3), it is to be taken in the meaning of to exhort or encourage. Schott erroneously unites both ideas. Also, arbitrarily separating the words, Olshausen refers στηρίξαι to patience in persecution, and παρακαλέσαι to growth in faith.
ὑπὲρ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν ] not equivalent to περὶ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν (de Wette and others), as if it were a mere statement of the object, but: for the good of your faith, i.e. in order that you might preserve it.[45]
[44] Thus also Hofmann, only he finds the reason of the honourable appellation in this: “that the Christians of Thessalonica who longed for the apostle himself might be tempted to undervalue this mission of a subordinate associate!”
[45] That Calvin here speaks of a fides Pauli ubique adversus Satanam et mundum victrix, is because, in the oldest Greek editions of the N. T., τίστεως ἡμῶν was put in place of πίστεως ὑμῶν .