1 Thessalonians 2:7

In these words the apostle reminds the Thessalonians of the manner of his conversation among them. And,

I. He mentions the gentleness of their behaviour: We were gentle among you, Th1 2:7. He showed great mildness and tenderness who might have acted with the authority of an apostle of Christ. Such behaviour greatly recommends religion, and is most agreeable to God's gracious dealing with sinners, in and by the gospel. This great apostle, though he abhorred and avoided flattery, was most condescending to all men. He accommodated himself to all men's capacities, and became all things to all men. He showed the kindness and care of a nurse that cherishes her children. This is the way to win people, rather than to rule with rigour. The word of God is indeed powerful; and as it comes often with awful authority upon the minds of men, as it always has enough in it to convince every impartial judgment, so it comes with the more pleasing power, when the ministers of the gospel recommend themselves to the affections of the people. And as a nursing mother bears with frowardness in a child, and condescends to mean offices for its good, and draws out her breast, cherishing it in her bosom, so in like manner should the ministers of Christ behave towards their people. The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, and patient, Ti2 2:24. This gentleness and goodness the apostle expressed several ways. 1. By the most affectionate desire of their welfare: Being affectionately desirous of you, Th1 2:8. The apostle had a most affectionate love to their persons, and sought them, not theirs; themselves, not their goods; and to gain them, not to be a gainer by them, or to make a merchandise of them: it was their spiritual and eternal welfare and salvation that he was earnestly desirous of. 2. By great readiness to do them good, willingly imparting to them, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, Th1 2:8. See here the manner of Paul's preaching. He spared no pains therein. He was willing to run hazards, and venture his soul, or life, in preaching the gospel. He was willing to spend and be spent in the service of men's souls; and, as those who give bread to the hungry from a charitable principle are said to impart their souls in what they give (Isa 58:10), so did the apostles in giving forth the bread of life; so dear were these Thessalonians in particular to this apostle, and so great was his love to them. 3. By bodily labour to prevent their charge, or that his ministry might not be expensive and burdensome to them: You remember our labour and travail; for, labouring night and day, etc., Th1 2:9. He denied himself the liberty he had of taking wages from the churches. To the labour of the ministry he added that of his calling, as a tent-maker, that he might get his own bread. We are not to suppose that the apostle spent the whole night and day in bodily labour, or work, to supply the necessities of his body; for then he would have had no time for the work of the ministry. But he spent part of the night, as well as the day, in this work; and was willing to forego his rest in the night, that he might have an opportunity to do good to the souls of men in the day time. A good example is here set before the ministers of the gospel, to be industrious for the salvation of men's souls, though it will not follow that they are always obliged to preach freely. There is no general rule to be drawn from this instance, either that ministers may at no time work with their hands, for the supply of their outward necessities, or that they ought always to do so. 4. By the holiness of their conversation, concerning which he appeals not only to them, but to God also (Th1 2:10): You are witnesses, and God also. They were observers of their outward conversation in public before men, and God was witness not only of their behaviour in secret, but of the inward principles from which they acted. Their behaviour was holy towards God, just towards all men, and unblamable, without giving cause of scandal or offence; and they were careful to give no offence either to those who were without, or to those who believed, that they might give no ill example; that their preaching and living might be all of a piece. Herein, said this apostle, do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence towards God, and towards men, Act 24:16.

II. He mentions their faithful discharge of the work and office of the ministry, Th1 2:11, Th1 2:12. Concerning this also he could appeal to them as witnesses. Paul and his fellow-labourers were not only good Christians, but faithful ministers. And we should not only be good as to our general calling as Christians, but in our particular callings and relations. Paul exhorted the Thessalonians, not only informing them in their duty, but exciting and quickening them to the performance of it, by proper motives and arguments. And he comforted them also, endeavouring to cheer and support their spirits under the difficulties and discouragements they might meet with. And this he did not only publicly, but privately also, and from house to house (Act 20:20), and charged every one of them by personal addresses: this, some think, is intended by the similitude of a father's charging his children. This expression also denotes the affectionate and compassionate counsels and consolations which this apostle used. He was their spiritual father; and, as he cherished them like a nursing mother, so he charged them as a father, with a father's affection rather than a father's authority. As my beloved sons, I warn you, Co1 4:14. The manner of this apostle's exhortation ought to be regarded by ministers in particular for their imitation, and the matter of it is greatly to be regarded by them and all others; namely, that they would walk worthy of God, who hath called them to his kingdom and glory, Th1 2:12. Observe, 1. What is our great gospel privilege - that God has called us to his kingdom and glory. The gospel calls us into the kingdom and state of grace here and unto the kingdom and state of glory hereafter, to heaven and happiness as our end and to holiness as the way to that end. 2. What is our great gospel duty - that we walk worthy of God, that the temper of our minds and tenour of our lives be answerable to this call and suitable to this privilege. We should accommodate ourselves to the intention and design of the gospel, and live suitably to our profession and privileges, our hopes and expectations, as becomes those who are called with such a high and holy calling.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Th_2:7-8

But were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children

The nurse--mother

Were the person here meant only the stranger to whom a feeble mother, or, when the mother is no more, the sad and stricken father, entrusts their little one, still the image would express the ideas of kindness and care.

But the pronoun her own (ἐαυτῆς) clearly shows that the picture in the apostles eye is that of the mother herself nursing her tender offspring. And oh! what a love is hers!--how deep, how mild, how strong, how practical! Who, from his observation of the world, and from his own experience--in other stages, haply, than that of infancy--does not associate with the name of mother the idea of a gentleness the gentlest that ever, in this low world, takes up its home in a human voice, a human hand, a human heart? And what man of woman born may not catch the meaning, and feel the force, of the prophets words--As one whom his mother comforteth? (A. S. Patterson, D. D.)

Essential elements of success in preaching: Gentleness

There is a power in gentleness to subdue the mightiest opposition, and to triumph over the most gigantic difficulties. The gentle rays of the sun melt the ponderous iceberg more speedily than the rolling billows of an angry ocean; the silent action of the atmosphere wastes the rock which remains immovable under the strokes of the heaviest weapon. A look from Moses vanquished the calf idolatry of the Israelites which the fluent eloquence of Aaron had been powerless to resist; a calm, quiet word from Jesus paralyzed with fear the band of soldiers who came to arrest Him in Gethsemane. True gentleness is never weak. It is the tough, indestructible material out of which is formed the hero and the martyr. This quality was conspicuous in the preachers at Thessalonica.

I. It was the gentleness of patient endurance.

1. It enabled them to bear the insult and outrage of their enemies. Their preaching roused violent opposition. They retaliated by praying for their persecutors. Against physical force they fought with moral weapons; and this attitude had a powerful influence on their adversaries. The modern preacher can adopt no better method. The offence of the Cross still stirs the enmity of the carnal mind. And the servant of the Lord must not strive, etc. The power of a man is seen, not so much in what he can do as in what he can endure. It is only the Christian spirit that unites the utmost gentleness with the utmost strength.

2. It enabled them to bear with the weakness and imperfections of their converts--As a nursing mother cherisheth her own children. They watched over them with the tenderest assiduity, instructed them with the most disinterested solicitude, accommodated themselves to their infant standpoint, with parental devotion. In order to successful teaching, in spiritual as in secular subjects, we must study the child nature. Take into account the influence of surroundings, early prejudices, capacity, temperament. See this illustrated in the Divine treatment of Israel under Moses, etc., and the intercourse of Jesus with the disciples.

II. It was the gentleness of self-sacrificing love (1Th_2:8).

1. Their gentleness arose from a genuine love of souls. Because ye were dear. Love is the power of the preacher. After this he toils with increasing earnestness as the years speed on; and it is the grace that comes latest into the soul. No amount of scholarship, exposition, or eloquence can atone for the absence of love. The fables of the ancients tell us of Amphion, who, with the music of his lyre, drew after him the huge stones with which the walls of Thebes were built; and of Orpheus, who, by his skill on the harp, could stay the course of rivers and tame the wildest animals. These are but exaggerated examples of the charm of love. I have always been afraid, said a devoted young minister, of driving my people away from the Saviour. I would rather err on the side of drawing them. John Fletcher once said, Love, continual, universal, ardent love, is the soul of all the labour of a minister.

2. The intensity of their love awoke a spirit of voluntary self-sacrifice. So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing, etc. To accomplish the salvation of their hearers they were willing to surrender life itself. This was the temper of the Divine Preacher, who came not to be ministered unto, etc. A similar spirit imbued the apostle when he met the weeping elders of Ephesus. The love of science nerves the voyager to brave the dangers of the Arctic ice, amid which many have found a crystal tomb; but a nobler love inspires the breast of the humble worker who cheerfully sacrifices all this world holds dear, to rescue men from woe.

Lessons:

1. That gentleness is power, not only in patient endurance, but also in enterprising action.

2. That gentleness is indispensable to effectiveness, either in warning or reproof. It succeeds where a rigid austerity fails.

3. That gentleness is fostered and regulated by a deep, self-sacrificing love. (G. Barlow.)

Ministerial work and character

(text in conjunction with 1Th_2:1-11):--

I. The trust reposed in the minister of Christ (1Th_2:4). Other trusts are temporary and inconsiderable; this unbounded in its consequences and spiritual in its effects. In stating the doctrines committed to him by this trust, the minister has--

1. To prepare for the gospel by teaching men their guilt and condemnation as sinners, their accountability to God, and their impotency to save themselves.

2. To tell what is properly the gospel he must explain that salvation begins in the purpose and love of God the Father, is wrought out by the incarnation and obedience unto death of God the Son, and is communicated and applied by God the Holy Ghost.

3. To show the effect of the gospel (1Th_2:11-12).

II. The manner in which the ministry of the Gospel is to be discharged. Besides the announcement of doctrines, much depends on the spirit in which they are announced.

1. Fidelity (1Th_2:2-5) in the discharge of a trust is the primary quality, without which subsidiary qualities do not deserve the name of virtues. The minister must not aim at pleasing men, but God. Heathen priests and false apostles were notoriously guilty of guile, deceit, impurity. To gain their ends they flattered men and concealed what was displeasing. So, alas! some professed ministers of Christ hide some part of the truth, soften the declarations of Gods anger against sin, weaken, if they do not deny, the doctrines of the gospel, pass slightly over repentance, regeneration, separation from the world, etc.

2. Disinterestedness (1Th_2:5-6). Filthy lucre is the term Scripture employs for appetite for gain in the minister of Christ. He has a right to demand that, preaching the gospel, he should live of the gospel; but the spirit of self-denial which willingly yields its strict rights, and is careful not to appear to drive a trade under the cloak of religion, and seeks not yours, but you, is ever the distinguishing mark of the true minister.

3. Humility (1Th_2:6). The man that courts popularity, that frames his doctrines to the fashion of the day or the taste of his hearers, that cultivates the arts of human oratory, has his reward. But the faithful minister exhibits not himself, but Jesus Christ his Lord.

4. Mildness and gentleness of heart. What is there in nature so tender as a nursing mother? Different ministers excel in different graces. Though possessing all in a measure, yet they commonly surpass in some one or more--some in boldness, some in judgment, some in zeal, but the most useful in love.

III. The conduct of a minister of Christ as a result of the doctrines he has imbibed and the spirit with which he is animated.

1. Laboriousness (1Th_2:9). The ministry is a work.

2. Purity (1Th_2:10).

3. Godliness.

4. Inoffensiveness.

5. Usefulness. (Bp. D. Wilson.)

Ministerial affection and devotedness

The Apostle Paul had, in the former part of the chapter, reminded his Thessalonian brethren in what manner the gospel had been brought and preached to them, viz., not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile. After thus stating what was not the character of his ministrations among them, he proceeds to state what it was: But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children (1Th_2:7-8). What a beautiful description is this of the feelings and conduct of St. Paul to his Thessalonian converts! It is proper that I should first inform you that the apostle was addressing real Christians, truly converted characters: For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain (1Th_2:1). So in the first chapter, 1Th_2:2-7. He, indeed, bears them all in his heart, but not equally so: some are closer there than others. Think you not that although our Lord had a most tender and affectionate spirit towards all the Jews, He had yet a peculiar and stronger affection for those who faithfully and closely followed Him? At the same time, of course, any unfair or undue partiality is to be carefully avoided.

1. We were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children. Gentleness, or kindness, and softness of manner, and of treatment, peculiarly characterizes a nursing mother. Her little infant is a tender, delicate plant, and will not bear rough usage. The outward frame of an infant is so very weak, that it is liable to sustain an injury even by improper handling, much more by any violent treatment; and its nerves are so very fine and tender, that any great shock would weaken them, perhaps ruin them entirely.

2. The very idea of a nursing mother is connected with the nourishment which she gives to her child. As a mother will not give her infant any strange food, so will not a faithful and judicious minister add anything to, nor take away from, what is written in the Bible.

3. Another characteristic of a nursing mother, by which she shows her gentleness towards her child, is being patient towards it--in not only waiting upon it in all the kind and affectionate offices of a parent, but waiting for it; giving it time, not hurrying it, but bearing with its infirmities, it may be, even with its petulance, and fretfulness, and oppositions. So the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves (2Ti_2:24). We must not be disappointed if the tender plants of our spiritual nursery do not thrive as we could wish or hope. We must make allowances for their natural infirmities, as well as for their spiritual weakness.

4. The apostle goes on to say, So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls. Here, again, the image of an affectionate mother strikingly represents the devotedness of affection which the apostle bore towards his spiritual children. Many a mother has sacrificed her life for the sake of preserving the life of her child! And is not this precisely the spirit and the conduct of St. Paul? What was his language to the Corinthians? I will very gladly spend and be spent for you (2Co_12:15). Would that we could feel and manifest the same devotedness to our Masters cause, and the same love for souls! There remains one point to be considered in connection with the declaration of the apostle in my text, and a very important point it is, viz., the motive or reason which he assigns for the affectionate interest which he took, and the devoted zeal which he manifested, on behalf of his Thessalonian brethren. It was this: Because ye were dear unto us. And here, again, the image of a nursing mother will illustrate this feature in the apostles character, and in the character of every faithful minister. What is it that impels the fond and anxious parent to cherish and nourish the child of her womb? Does she do it from any interested motives? Will she be repaid for all her care and all her labour? Not always. She does it for this simple but strong reason, because her child is dear to her. That which is a natural feeling in the bosom of the mother, by Divine grace becomes a spiritual affection in the breast of every faithful minister of the gospel. Thus the spirit of a faithful minister of Christ is an affectionate, devoted, and enlarged spirit. And why? Because it is the Spirit of Christ. Of Him, indeed, it might be truly said, in the days of His flesh, He was gentle among us, and was affectionately desirous of us. Do you not remember the affecting and affectionate image under which He represented Himself as feeling for perverse Jerusalem? (Mat_23:37). (R. Grant.)

Gentleness essential to nurses

After all, it is only the sympathetic person who is fit for the office of nurse. There are born nurses, as there are born artists or poets--gentle, soft stepping creatures, who let in the sunshine with their very presence, just with their cheerful voices and beaming eyes, and all-embracing charity, which, Christ-like, places no blame on jangling nerves for the extorted word of impatience, when flesh and heart are fainting, and the silver cord is well nigh loosed, but with softest touch and pitying eyes soothe in place of condemning, and help the poor sufferer just as a mothers warm breast lulls her babe to forget its pain. A cheerful inflection of the voice is often worth more than a whole apothecarys shop. Your dull, silent croake is a walking hearse in a sick room. After all, in this, as in every other successful profession, intelligence must rule; but, alas! intelligence is the rarest of gifts. We may buy jellies and hothouse fruits, but who has intelligence to sell combined with kindness, though the mines of Golconda bid for it? (Fanny Fern.)

Ministers the nursing fathers of the Church

In a church in Verona stands, or rather sits, a wooden image of St. Zeno, an ancient bishop, with knees so ludicrously short that there is no lap on which a babe could be dandled. He was not the first nor the last ecclesiastic who has been utterly incapable of being a nursing father to the Church. It were well if all ministers had a heavenly instinct for the nourishing and bringing up of the Lords little ones. Is there not much lack in this? At the Synod of Moscow, held by King Goutran, A.D. 585, bishops were forbidden to keep dogs in their houses or birds of prey, lest the poor should be bit by these animals instead of being fed. Should not all ministers be equally concerned to chase away all morose habits, angry tempers, and repulsive manners, which might encourage the approach of inquiring souls who desire to know of us the way of salvation? Sunday school teachers may also take the hint. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Ministers should be gentle

St. Anselm was a monk in the Abbey of Bec, in Normandy; and upon Lanfrancs removal became his successor as abbot. No teacher ever threw a greater spirit of love into his toil. Force your scholars to improve! he burst out to another teacher who relied on blows and compulsion. Did you ever see a craftsman fashion a fair image out of a golden plate by blows alone? Does he not now gently press it and strike it with his tools; now with wise art, yet more gently raise and shape it? What do your scholars turn into under this ceaseless beating? They turn only brutal, was the reply. You have bad luck, was the keen answer, in a training that only turns men into beasts. The worst natures softened before this tenderness and patience. Even the Conqueror, so harsh and terrible to others, became another man, gracious and easy of speech, with Anselm. (Dean Church.)

Tenderness prepares for usefulness

Speaking of the temper requisite to the right discharge of ministerial duty, Payson said, I never was fit to say a word to a sinner, except when I had a broken heart myself; when I was subdued and melted into penitency, and felt as though I had just received pardon to my own soul, and when my heart was full of tenderness and pity. No anger, no anger. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls--

The love of souls a necessary qualification for the ministerial office

History cannot furnish us with a more striking instance of the love of souls than we find in St. Paul. Here he may mean--

1. That such was his affection for his converts, that he, as it were, breathed out his soul in every word. He spoke as though he would have died on the spot, through earnestness to affect them with what he said.

2. Or that so ardent was his love for them, that he was willing not only to preach to them, but to die for them. Some of the patriots of antiquity loved their country so well that they generously sacrificed their lives for it. And shall not love of souls be as heroic? (Php_2:17; 1Jn_3:16).

I. The happy effect of the love of souls on the office of the ministry.

1. It will contribute to ingratiate us with mankind, and so promote our usefulness. It is not to be expected that those should receive advantage by our labours to whom we are unacceptable. The ministry of a contemptible minister will always be contemptible, and consequently useless. But when a minister in his congregation appears in a circle of friends whose affections meet in him as their common centre, his labours are likely to be at once pleasing and profitable. When the heart is open to the speaker his words will gain admission. There will be no suspicion of imposition or sinister design. Even hard things will be received as wholesome severities. Love has a language of its own which mankind can hardly fail to understand, its own look, voice, air, and manner. When dissimulation mourns and puts on airs of sorrow and compassion it is but whining and grimaces, and when she smiles it is but fawning and affectation; so hard is it to put on the face of genuine love with out being possessed of it; and so easy is it for a real friend to appear such.

2. It will enable us to affect our hearers and make deep impressions on their hearts. Love will render us sincere, and the sincerity of the speaker will have no small influence upon the hearers.

3. It will make us diligent and laborious. How indefatigable are we in pursuing a point we have at heart, and in serving those we love. Therefore, if the love of souls be our ruling passion, with what zeal shall we labour for their immortal interests! (2Co_12:15). There will then be no blanks in the page of life; all will be filled up with the offices of friendship. Ever-operating love will keep us busy (Act_10:38; 2Ti_4:2). As souls are equal in worth, this love is impartial. Love will inspire our prayers with an almighty importunity, and render idleness an intolerable burden.

4. It will enable us to bear hardships and difficulties with patience, and even cheerfulness. The love of fame, of riches, of honour, etc.

what obstructions has it surmounted, what dangers dared! And shall not the nobler passion do vastly more? (Act_20:24). Labour is delight, difficulty inviting, and peril alluring in this benevolent enterprise.

5. It will restrain from everything unworthy the ministry. If the love of men be warm in our hearts--

(1) We cannot address men in a manner that looks more like a scold than a Christian orator, and which tends to exasperate rather than to reform.

(2) We shall be courteous without affectation, insinuating without artifice, engaging without flattery, and honest without huffishness. It will guard us against all airs of superiority, and a distant, imperious behaviour, and render us affable, sociable, and modest (Luk_14:11; Luk_18:14).

(3) It will render us patient under unkind treatment, and keep down unmanly and unministerial sallies of passion (1Pe_2:23).

(4) It will disable us from aiming at sordid ends and employing sordid measures (1Th_2:5; 1Co_12:14).

II. What ministers are to expect from their people in return.

1. To be looked upon as the friends and lovers of their souls.

2. To be treated as such. To have their instructions, warnings, etc., regarded as those of friends, and to be obeyed as such. We live, if ye stand fast in the Lord, but it kills us to see you destroy yourselves.

3. To be loved. Since your ministers love you, they deserve to be loved in return (1Th_5:13); and since they speak the truth in love, it should be received in love.

4. To be generously and cheerfully supported. (S. Davies, A. M.)

Loved into life

One of the most beautiful of the legends of classical mythology is that of Pygmalion the sculptor, who became so passionately enamoured of a statue of his own creation that he implored Heaven to bestow upon it life. As the story goes the prayer was granted, and the beautiful image that his genius had evoked from the rude block began to show signs of vitality. The cold marble grew warm as the life blood began to course; the hueless cheeks gradually glowed with a modest blush; the dull, expressionless eye gave back an answering glance to the artists ravished gaze; the rigid tresses relaxed into a silky softness, and waved with a golden sheen; the stony bosom heaved with deep-drawn breathing, and reciprocated the passion of that to which it was clasped until at last the fair creature stepped down from her pedestal to be the bride of him who had loved and prayed her into life. There is a lesson for us, as Christian workers, in this old world fable. We must love the souls we would quicken. Love must be the inspiration of our prayers. It is so loving and so praying, with the arms of our affection and our faith around the objects of our solicitude, that we shall sooner or later witness the result on which our hearts are set, and behold them alive unto God. (J. Halsey.)

Truth warmed by love

Humbolt, in his travels, observes: It seems remarkable that in the hottest as well as the coldest climates people display the same predilection for heat. On the introduction of Christianity into Iceland, the inhabitants would be baptized only in the hot springs of Hecla; and in the torrid zone, in the plains as well as on the Cordilleras, the natives flock from all parts to the thermal waters. The fact is not less noteworthy that men love spiritual warmth. Cold truth, even cold gospel truth, is never attractive. Ministers must be fervent, their spirit earnest, and their style energetic, or the many will not resort to them. Religion is a dish to be served hot; when it once becomes lukewarm it is sickening. Our baptism must be with the Holy Ghost and with fire if we would win the masses to hear the gospel. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Th 2:7-8. But we were gentle — Mild, tender; among — Εν μεσω υμων, in the midst of, you — Like a hen surrounded with her young; even as a nurse — A mother who suckles her own offspring, as the word τροφος here signifies; cherisheth her children — The offspring of her own womb, warming them in her bosom, and feeding them with her milk. So being affectionately desirous of you — Ουτως ιμειρομενοι υμων, being tenderly affectionate toward you; or loving you tenderly; a beautiful poetical expression, as Blackwall observes, signifying the most passionate desire: we were willing to have imparted not the gospel only, but our own souls — Or lives, rather. Chandler observes, that “the apostle here considers the Thessalonians as in the infancy of their conversion; himself as the tender mother who nursed them; the gospel as the milk with which he fed them; and his very soul, or life, as what he was willing to part with for their preservation. Could the fondest mother carry her affection for her helpless infant further?” He adds, “Nothing can exceed the elegance, the strength, and the moving affection of this description! A man must have no bowels, who does not find them moved by so fine, so lively, and warm a scene.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

1Th_2:7. But we were gentle.—R.V. margin says, “Most ancient authorities read babes.” Origen and Augustine interpret this to mean, “Like a nurse amongst her children, talking in baby language to the babes” (Ibid.). As a nurse cherisheth her children.—The A.V. has omitted a necessary word of the original which R.V. supplies—“her own children.” The word for “cherisheth” is used in Deu_22:5 (LXX.) of the mother-bird brooding over her nestlings (a figure made memorable by our Lord’s mournful words over Jerusalem). The word occurs again only in Eph_5:29.

1Th_2:8. Being affectionately desirous.—The one Greek word corresponding to these three “implies the fondness of a mother’s love—yearning over you” (Ibid.). We were willing.—R.V. “well-pleased.” Like Him of whom it is said, “He gives liberally,” without stint. Our own souls.—“Our very selves,” for the saving of which, says our Master, a man may well let the world slip. The apostle keeps up the maternal figure.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Th_2:7-8

Essential Elements of Success in Preaching. III. Gentleness.

There is a power in gentleness to subdue the wildest, mightiest opposition, and to triumph over the most gigantic difficulties. The gentle rays of the sun melt the ponderous iceberg more speedily than the rolling billows of an angry ocean; the silent action of the atmosphere wastes the rock which remains immovable under the strokes of the heaviest weapon; a look from Moses vanquished the calf-idolatry of the Israelites which the fluent eloquence of Aaron had been powerless to resist; a calm, quiet word from Jesus paralysed with fear the band of soldiers who came to arrest Him in Gethsemane. True gentleness is never weak. It is the tough, indestructible material out of which is formed the hero and the martyr. This quality was conspicuous in the preachers at Thessalonica.

I. It was the gentleness of patient endurance.—

1. It enabled them to bear the insult and outrage of their enemies. Their preaching roused violent opposition. They retaliated by praying for their persecutors. Against physical force they fought with moral weapons; and this attitude and policy had a powerful influence on their enraged adversaries. The modern preacher can adopt no better method. The offence of the cross has not yet ceased. It stirs up all the enmity of the carnal mind. “And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves.” The power of a man is seen, not so much in what he can do, as in what he can endure. It is only the Christian spirit that unites the utmost gentleness with the utmost strength.

2. It enabled them to bear with the weakness and imperfections of their converts.—“As a nurse cherisheth her children” (1Th_2:7)—as a nursing mother cherisheth her own children. They watched over them with the tenderest assiduity, instructed them with the most disinterested solicitude, accommodated and assimilated themselves to their infant standpoint with all the devotion of a fond, painstaking parent. In order to successful teaching, in spiritual as in secular subjects, we must study the child-nature—take into account the influence of environment, early prejudices, differing capacities and temperaments, and the direction of characteristic tendencies. See this illustrated in the divine treatment of the Israelites under Moses and the great Jewish leaders, and in the training of the twelve by the great Teacher.

II. It was the gentleness of self-sacrificing love.—“So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us” (1Th_2:8).

1. This gentleness arose from a genuine love of human souls.—“Because ye were dear unto us.” Love is the great master-power of the preacher. After this he strives and toils with ever-increasing earnestness as the years speed on; and it is the grace that comes latest and slowest into the soul. No amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition, of brilliant and stirring eloquence, can atone for the absence of a deep, impassioned, sympathetic love of human souls. The fables of the ancients tell us of Amphion, who, with the music of his lyre, drew after him the huge stones with which to build the walls of Thebes, and of Orpheus, who, by his skill on the harp, could stay the course of rivers and tame the wildest animals. These are but exaggerated examples of the wondrous charm of the soul-compelling music of love. “I have always been afraid,” said a devoted young minister, now no more, “of driving my people away from the Saviour. I would rather err on the side of drawing them.” The seraphic John Fletcher once said, “Love, continual, universal, ardent love is the soul of all the labour of a minister.”

2. The intensity of their love awoke a spirit of voluntary self-sacrifice.—“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls.” To accomplish the salvation of their hearers they were willing to surrender life itself. This was the temper of the divine Preacher who “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life.” A similar spirit imbued the apostle when he assured the weeping elders of Ephesus in that pathetic interview on the lonely shore—“Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus.” The love of science nerves the adventurous voyager to brave the appalling dangers of the arctic ice, amid which so many have found a crystal tomb; but a nobler love inspires the breast of the humble worker, who cheerfully sacrifices all this world holds dear to rescue men from woe.

Lessons.—

1. That gentleness is a power not only in patient endurance, but also in enterprising action.

2. That gentleness is indispensable to effectiveness, either in warning or reproof. It succeeds where a rigid austerity fails.

3. That gentleness is fostered and regulated by a deep, self-sacrificing love.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

1Th_2:7-8. Dealing with New Converts.

I. Divine principles have to unfold themselves in unfavourable circumstances.—

1. Moral influence from without.

2. Jewish misrepresentation.

3. Persecution.

II. Must be treated with gentleness.—

1. In the adaptation of teaching to suit their state.

2. In the manner and spirit of the instruction given.

III. Must be treated with affectionate self-sacrificingness (1Th_2:8).

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:7 we were like children: Some manuscripts read we were gentle. Paul and his associates did not wield their apostolic authority to make demands (cp. Matt 20:25-28).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Th 2:7. Ἤπιοι, gentle) A very sweet word, which is wont to be applied chiefly to parents and physicians. It is opposed to flattery [1Th 2:5]: for he is called ἤπιος, who has true gentleness.—ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν, in the midst of you) like a hen surrounded by her chickens. They did not act as if from the chair (ex cathedrâ, from the authoritative chair), which is said to belong to Peter, and which calls the style of its court apostolical.—τροφὸς) a mother, and at the same time a nurse. Weigh well the expression, her own. The spiritual are analogous to the natural affections, 1Th 2:11; 1Ti 5:1-2.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Th_2:7. Paul begins in this verse the positive description of his appearance and conduct in Thessalonica.

ἀλλʼ ἐγενήθημεν ἤπιοι] a contrast not to δυνάμενοι ἐν βάρει εἶναι (Heinsius, Turretin, and others), but to the principal idea of 1Th_2:6. The apostles conduct is not that of one δόξαν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ζητῶν, but of one who was ἤπιος; God had made him show himself (ἐγενήθημεν) not as master, but as servant. Oecumenius: ὡς εἴς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐγενήθημεν.

ἤπιος] mild, kindly, is used of an amiable disposition or conduct of a higher toward a lower, i.e. of a prince to his subjects, of a judge to the accused, of a father to his children. Comp. Hom. Od. ii. 47; Herodian, ii. 4, init.; Pausan. Eliac. ii. 18.

ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν] in your midst, i.e. in intercourse with you. Erroneously Calovius, it denotes: erga omnes pariter. Non erga hos blandi, ergo illos morosi. There is, however, no emphasis on ὑμῶν; the apostle does not indicate that he behaved otherwise in other places.

A colon is to be put after ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν, so that ὡς … οὕτως are connected as protasis and apodosis, and describe the intensity of Pauls love to the Thessalonians; whilst in ἐγενήθημεν … ὑμῶν this love only in and for itself, or according to its general nature, was stated as a feature of the apostles behaviour.

τροφός] a nurse (מֵינֶקֶת) here, as is evident from τὰ ἑαυτῆς τέκνα, the suckling mother herself. Under the image of a mother Paul represents himself also, in Gal_4:19, as elsewhere, under the image of a father; see 1Th_2:11; 1Co_4:15; Phm_1:10.

θάλπειν] originally to warm, of birds which cover and warm their young with their feathers: (see Deu_22:6); consequently an image of protecting love and anxious care generally, our cherishing; see Eph_5:29.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Th 2:7 . ἐν βάρει ἶναι = “be men of weight,” or “be a burden” on your funds. Probably both meanings are intended, so that the phrase ( cf. Field, 199) resumes the ideas of πλεον . and ἀνθ . δόξαν (self-interest in its mercenary shape and as the love of reputation) which are reiterated in 1Th 2:7-12 , a defence of the apostles against the charges, current against them evidently in some circles (probably pagan) at Thessalonica, of having given themselves airs and unduly asserted their authority, as well as of having levied or at any rate accepted contributions for their own support. ἀπόστολοι were known to any of the local Christians who had been Jews ( cf. Harnack’s Expansion of Christianity , i. 66 f., 409 f.), since agents and emissaries ( ἀπόστολοι ) from Jerusalem went to and fro throughout the synagogues: but ἀ . Χριστοῦ was a new conception. The Christian ἀπόστολοι had their commission from their heavenly messiah. ἤπιοι (2Ti 2:24 ); as Bengel observes, there was nothing ex cathedra about the apostles, nothing selfish or crafty or overbearing. All was tenderness and devotion, fostering and protecting care, in their relations to these Thessalonian Christians who had won their hearts. To eschew flattery (5) did not mean any indifference to consideration and gentleness, in their case; they were honest without being blunt or masterful. τροφός a nursing mother ( cf. Hor., Ep . i. 4, 8). “In the love of a brave and faithful man there is always a strain of maternal tenderness; he gives out again those beams of protecting fondness which were shed on him as he lay on his mother’s knee” (George Eliot). Rutherford happily renders: “On the contrary, we carried ourselves among you with a childish simplicity, as a mother becomes a child again when she fondles her children”.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We were not rough, but easy, and gentle, as a nurse that is neither ambitious nor covetous, but taketh all pains as patiently, as if she were a mother.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

we were--Greek, "we were made" by God's grace.

gentle--Greek, "mild in bearing with the faults of others" [TITTMANN]; one, too, who is gentle (though firm) in reproving the erroneous opinions of others (Ti2 2:24). Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "we became little children" (compare Mat 18:3-4). Others support the English Version reading, which forms a better antithesis to Th1 2:6-7, and harmonizes better with what follows; for he would hardly, in the same sentence, compare himself both to the "infants" or "little children," and to "a nurse," or rather, "suckling mother." Gentleness is the fitting characteristic of a nurse.

among you--Greek, "in the midst of you," that is, in our intercourse with you being as one of yourselves.

nurse--a suckling mother.

her--Greek, "her own children" (compare Th1 2:11). So Gal 4:19.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. But we were gentle among you] Far from assuming the authority which we had, we acted towards you as a tender nurse or parent does to a delicate child. We fed, counselled, cherished, and bore with you; we taught you to walk, preserved you from stumbling, and led you in a right path.

Instead of ηπιοι, gentle, many MSS., and several versions and fathers, have νηπιοι, young children. But this never can be considered the original reading, the scope of the place being totally opposed to it. It is the Thessalonians whom the apostle considers as young children, and himself and fellow labourers as the nurse; he could with no propriety say that he was among them as a little child, while himself professed to be their nurse.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

What we have rendered mild, the old translator renders Fuimus parvuli, (we have been little,) but the reading which I have followed is more generally received among the Greeks; but whichever you may take, there can be no doubt that he makes mention of his voluntary abasement.

As if a nurse. In this comparison he takes in two points that he had touched upon — that he had sought neither glory nor gain among the Thessalonians. For a mother in nursing her infant shews nothing of power or dignity. Paul says that he was such, inasmuch as he voluntarily refrained from claiming the honor that was due to him, and with calmness and modesty stooped to every kind of office. Secondly, a mother in nursing her children manifests a certain rare and wonderful affection, inasmuch as she spares no labor and trouble, shuns no anxiety, is wearied out by no assiduity, and even with cheerfulness of spirit gives her own blood to be sucked. In the same way, Paul declares that he was so disposed towards the Thessalonians, that he was prepared to lay out his life for their benefit. This, assuredly, was not the conduct of a man that was sordid or avaricious, but of one that exercised a disinterested affection, and he expresses this in the close — because ye were dear unto us In the mean time, we must bear in mind, that all that would be ranked among true pastors must exercise this disposition of Paul—to have more regard to the welfare of the Church than to their own life, and not be impelled to duty by a regard to their own advantage, but by a sincere love to those to whom they know that they are conjoined, and laid under obligation.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(7) Among you.—Rather, in the midst of you, making the gentleness still more marked. “Her,” in the Greek emphatically her own. The contrast is drawn between the charlatan, licentious, sophistical, fawning, greedy, vainglorious teachers, to whom Greeks were well accustomed, and the Apostles, sitting familiarly like mothers amidst a group of their own children, folding them for warmth to their bosoms “Keep a mother’s heart for men,” was the advice which made Henri Perreyve’s life so winning (Méditations, p. 87).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. But we were gentle among you] Lit., and more graphically, in the midst of you (R. V.); also, were fount gentle—same verb as in 1Th_2:1, and ch. 1Th_1:5 (shewed ourselves toward you, R. V.).

Instead of gentle, babes is the reading of “most of the ancient authorities” (R. V., margin), including the Vulgate (parvuli): the difference in the Greek lies only in the repetition or omission of a single letter. The modern editors (with the weighty exception of Westcott and Hort: see the Note in their New Testament in Greek, vol. II., p. 128), decide in favour of the received reading,—(1) because “gentle” better suits the context; and (2) because this Greek word occurs only once besides in the N.T. (1 Tim. 2:24), for copyists are prone to change an unfamiliar into any familiar word resembling it that gives a tolerable sense, and “babes” is a favourite expression of St Paul. If babes be the genuine reading—and it is difficult to resist the evidence in its favour—then it must be explained as it is by Origen and Augustine, endorsed by Westcott: like a nurse amongst her children, talking in baby language to the babes.

The gentleness of these apostles of Christ stands in tacit contrast with the airs of authority and the exactions of selfish and vain-glorious men in like circumstances (1Th_2:5-6). The behaviour of the “false apostles” who appeared at Corinth affords us an example of that which St Paul and his comrades avoided. See 2Co_11:20-21; 2Co_12:13-18.

We note the union of gentleness and courage (1Th_2:2) in the missionaries: a mark of the true hero, like Wordsworth’s ‘Happy Warrior,’—

“who though endued as with a sense

And faculty for storm and turbulence,

Is yet a soul whose master-bias leans

To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes.”

(We were gentle in the midst of you) as though a nurse were cherishing her own children. The “nurse” is mother at the same time—a mother with the babe at her breast, the perfect image of fostering love. Comp. Christ’s picture in Mat_23:37.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But we were gentle among you,.... Meek and humble, mild and moderate; not using severity, or carrying it in a haughty imperious manner; assuming power and dominion, lording it over God's heritage, and commanding persons to do homage and honour to them, and forcing themselves upon them, and obliging them to maintain them. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions, instead of "gentle", read, "little children"; as the word signifies, by adding a letter to it, and expresses much the same as the other, that they were harmless and modest, and disinterested; and sought not themselves neither honour nor wealth, but the real good of others, and were kind and tender, and affectionate to them:

even as a nurse cherisheth her children: or "the children of her own self"; her own children, and so designs a nursing mother, one whose the children are, has bore them as well as nurses them, and therefore has the most tender concern for them; she lays them in her bosom, and hugs them in her arms, and so warms and cherishes them; gives them the breast, bears with their frowardness, condescends to do the meanest things for them; and that without any self-interest, from a pure parental affection for them: and such were the apostles to these Thessalonians; they were their spiritual parents, of whom they travailed in birth, till Christ was formed in them; they used them with the greatest kindness and tenderness; they fed them with the sincere milk of the word; they bore patiently all the slighting and ill treatment they met with; and condescended to men of low estates, and did them all the good offices they could, without any selfish views or sinister ends: a like simile is used by the Jews (e), who say,

"he that rises in the night to study in the law, the law makes known to him his offences; and not in a way of judgment, but as a mother makes known to her son, "with gentle words":''

but the ministration of the Gospel is much more gentle.

(e) Zohar in Lev. fol. 10. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

Ver. 7. But we were gentle] This is the way to win; for man is a cursed, crabbed creature, and may be led, but not easily dragged to duty. Soft words and hard arguments soonest prevail with him.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But we were gentle among you - Instead of using authority, we used only the most kind and gentle methods to win you and to promote your peace and order. The word here rendered “nurse,” may mean any one who nurses a child, whether a mother or another person. It seems here to refer to a mother (compare 1Th 2:11), and the idea is, that the apostle felt for them the affectionate solicitude which a mother does for the child at her breast.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

But we became little,[2] by our carriage, and by our humility and kindness. In the Greek, made ourselves gentle, good natured, &c. (Witham)

===============================

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Parvuli: and so Greek: nepioi, in divers Greek copies; but in the common copies, Greek: epioi, placidi.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

But we were gentle among you: he next gives account of their carriage more positively: and first he speaks of their gentleness among them; ηπιοι, the Latin takes it for νηπιοι, infants, we were as infants to you, as nurses are as infants with their infants, and children with children. This is one of the fruits of the Spirit, Gal 5:22; it stands opposite to moroseness, austerity, and roughness of temper, and is commendable in all, especially in ministers, 2Ti 2:24; and was eminent in Christ, as was prophesied of him, Isa 40:11; 42:3; and the contrary he reproveth in James and John, Luk 9:54,55. It springs from humility, meekness, and patience; as the contraries are pride, passion, and frowardness. In some cases sharpness and severity may be needful; prudence is to direct, therefore, our carriage. The apostle had now to do with young converts, and under the trial of persecution; and not apostates and obstinate sinners, against whom we find he was sometimes severe and sharp, as Jude required, Jud 1:22,23.

Even as a nurse cherisheth her children; and he represents this gentleness by that of a nurse to her children; not of a hired nurse, but a mother nurse, Num 11:12, who useth all tenderness towards them, beareth with their frowardness, condescends to the meanest offices and employments, and draws out her breasts to them, and lays them in her bosom, and all this to cherish them. And she doth this not out of hope of gain, but out of motherly affection. Thus, saith the apostle, were we gentle among you. As he converted them to Christ, he was their spiritual father, but his gentleness was like that of a mother, nursing her own children. He considered their weakness in their first believing, and bore with it; their many infirmities, temptations, afflictions that were upon them, had compassion over them, and supported them under them, and cherished them with the sincere milk of gospel truths; and he did all this not for gain, but out of sincere affection and a willing mind. Some extend the word we render nurse to the brute creatures themselves, especially birds, that hatch, and then cherish their young with the warmth of their own body, and care in feeding them: τροφος, the word signifies a feeder, and so may have a more general signification: see Job 39:14.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. A nurse—An image of tenderness, superior knowledge, and care. “Paul,” says Renan, “was an admirable missionary.… Never was the problem of human education grasped in a livelier and more intimate manner. Do not imagine that his ascendency was won by flattery, by gentleness.(?) No; Paul was churlish, ugly, at times passionate.… He commands; he blames severely: he speaks of himself with assurance, and proposes himself as a model without hesitation.” (But see our notes on Act_20:17-38.) “But what loftiness! What purity! What disinterestedness!” The word nurse means nourisher, one who suckles, and includes the mother here, as indicated by the word her own children. It means a being who imparts physiological life from her own interior life. And this thought is intensely carried out in the following verse.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But. The apostle now describes iris conduct positively. We were gentle; a word used of the amiable conduct of a superior toward an inferior, as of a master toward a servant, a prince toward his subjects, or a father toward his children. "The servant of God must not strive, but be gentle toward all men". (2Ti_2:24) Some manuscripts read, "We were babes among you the difference being only the addition of another letter. Among you; in our intercourse with you. Even as a nurse; or rather, a nursing mother, for the children arc her own. Cherisheth; the word employed for birds warming and cherishing their young. Her children. A stronger expression of tenderness and love could hardly be made. Even as a nursing mother dedicates her life for her infant; so, says Paul, we are willing to dedicate ourselves for you. Some important manuscripts read the verse thus: "But we were babes among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children;" but this arises from an obvious error of the transcriber. Vers. 7, 11, 19.

The true pastorate.

1. Its qualities. Paul compares himself to a nursing mother and a father. A minister should resemble the one in his tenderness and loving sympathy, and the other in his wisdom and firmness.

2. Its mode: exhorting, comforting, and. charging.

1. Its reward:

1. conversion of the hearers;

2. a joyful meeting with them at the coming of the Lord.

Vers. 7, 8.

The use of affectionateness in commending the gospel.

It is very interesting to observe what a wealth of affection St. Paul poured out upon the Churches which came under his care. He was not satisfied with declaring the facts of the gospel and demonstrating the truth of them to the conviction of his hearers. He was very different from a cold philosopher who simply aims at establishing a certain thesis. Deep feeling entered into his work. A touching gentleness and affectionateness may be felt as the pervading tone of his treatment of his converts. He does not behave as a master who is ambitious to lord it over the heritage of Christ. He is like a nurse with her children. The example of the great apostle is worthy of the study of all Christian teachers.

I THE GOSPEL IS BEST COMMENDED BY AFFECTIONATENESS IN THE CHRISTIAN PREACHER. The gospel bases its first claims on its own truth and reasonableness, and it is necessary that men should be convinced on these points if due respect for the rights of the human intellect is to be observed. Nevertheless the most persuasive power is not to be found in hard reason; nor does it reside in the splendors of eloquence. It is much more effective when it comes from simple, natural affectionate-ness. Men are more vulnerable in the heart than in the head. The Christian teacher must attack both strongholds; he will be foolish indeed if he neglect the more accessible one. It is often seen in experience that affectionateness conquers where convincing logic falls dead, and where glowing rhetoric only dazzles the hearers.

1. The influence of the preacher depends chiefly on his affectionateness. His relations with his hearers are personal. He is more than the herald. He is the shepherd of the flock, the father or brother of the family, the nurse of the babes in Christ. Thus ties of love between pastor and people not only make the association in Church life happy; they also afford the greatest aids to the work of the ministry.

2. The truth of the gospel is best revealed through affectionateness. The gospel is no dreamy dogma, no hard law, no pompous manifesto. It is a message from a father to his children, and a story of love in death. The Bible is a most human book, homely, brotherly, pathetic in its affectionate character. But this character of the Bible and of the gospel is marred and almost lost to view when harsh language and cold feelings accompany the preaching of it. The gospel of love should be offered in a kindred spirit of love.

II A RIGHT FEELING OF THE SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL WILL LEAD TO AFFECTIONATENESS IN THE CHRISTIAN PREACHER. It is most important that the desired affectionateness should be genuine. The pretence of it is mere hypocrisy. Affectionate language which does not spring from a heart of love is a mockery. It is better to have an honest hardness than this assumed unctuousness. It is important, also, that the affectionateness should be healthy and manly, and should not degenerate into effeminate sentimentality. The gospel itself should inspire the right affectionateness.

1. The spirit of the gospel being love, if we truly receive the gospel it will inspire love. The greatest change which it produces in men is to cast out selfishness, and to give a heart of love to God and man.

2. We best show our love to Christ by loving our brethren. We love Christ in them. He who loves Christ warmly will have the spirit which St. Paul manifested to the Churches under his care. W.F.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But we were gentle - Mild, tender. In the midst of you - Like a hen surrounded with her young. Even as a nurse cherisheth her own children - The offspring of her own womb.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Paul’s unselfish devotion:

v. 7. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children;

v. 8. so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

v. 9. For ye remember, brethren, our labor and travail; for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the Gospel of God.

v. 10. Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblamably we behaved ourselves among you that believe;

v. 11. as ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,

v. 12. that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory.

The apostle is still carrying out the thought of 1Th 2:1. that his coming to Thessalonica had not been in vain, that his ministry in that city had been in accordance with the will of God, with an entire absence of selfishness: But we were lenient in the midst of you, as when a nursing mother fondles her own children. Lenience, gentleness, kindness, that had been the key-note of Paul’s behavior in his apostolic work at all times. All was tenderness and devotion, fostering and protecting care, in his relation to the Thessalonian Christians. He knows of no better and more striking comparison than that of a mother in her tender care for the children of her bosom. Also, Paul was not the strict disciplinarian and stern taskmaster, but he was mild, kind, loving in the midst of them; he was among them, surrounded by them, as a mother by her children, as a teacher by his pupils.

In agreement with this disposition, Paul could truthfully write of himself: So, with our yearning desire for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the Gospel of God, but also our own souls, because you have become beloved to us. So great was Paul’s affection for the Thessalonians that he yearned over them with loving desire, that he was perfectly willing, gladly desirous, not only to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to them, but also to lay down, with Silas, his very life for their sakes, such a firm place had they gained in his affections. Such utter selflessness, such willing self-sacrifice, was bound to convince the Thessalonians of the purity of Paul’s affectionate attachment for them and repel any, even distant, insinuation and imputation of covetousness and false ambition.

The apostle furthermore reminds the Thessalonians of his actual ministerial labors in their midst: For you remember, brethren, our toil and travail; night and day laboring not to be burdensome to any of you, we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God. Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica had been performed in the sight of all men, and it was not so long ago that they could not readily recollect his strenuous labor, connected with various disagreeable features, while he was living in their city. It is probable from this passage that Paul, also in Thessalonica, worked at his trade and supported himself, receiving help only twice, from the congregation at Philippi, Php 4:16. It was a rather strenuous life which he led, rising before dawn to work at his handicraft, taking the best hours of the day and evening to proclaim the precious Gospel of God, the news of the salvation of all men which had been entrusted to him by the Lord Himself. All this Paul cheerfully took upon himself in order not to burden the Thessalonians with his support; not even the necessaries of life he sought from them, in order that his intercourse with them might be one of continual giving on his part.

At the same time the apostle was conscious of his own integrity: You are witnesses, and God, that our behavior was holy and just and irreproachable before you that believe. Two classes of witnesses Paul calls upon, men, to testify to his actions and behavior, God, to bear witness of the purity of his disposition and motives. He could calmly state that his behavior, his conduct, had been holy, in the sight of God, with regard to his reverence toward God, just and fair in his relation to his fellowmen, without reproach in his whole deportment before men, in his capacity of God’s ambassador to proclaim sin and grace. Thus had Paul comported himself before the Thessalonians, with reference to them, thus offering a fine example and pattern to all pastors and teachers to live a life of true sanctification before men.

While leading such a life, however, Paul had not for a moment omitted the work of his calling: Even as you know how we treated each and every one of you as a father does his own children, beseeching you and consoling and testifying that you should walk worthy of God, who called you to His own kingdom and glory. Paul’s pastoral work was both general and special; he addressed his teaching to the entire congregation as well as to every individual member; and it was done with all the loving care of a father interested in the highest welfare of his children. Note the excellent pedagogical hint which lies in this sentence. He had earnestly exhorted or admonished them when faintness threatened to take hold of their hearts; he had encouraged and strengthened them when their hearts were in need of consolation; he had testified to them, he had adjured them to lead their lives in such a way as to be worthy of God, since it was to Him that they owed their call into His kingdom and to participation in His glory. Thus Paul combined the sweetness of evangelical preaching with the earnestness of evangelical admonition, thus he prepared the Christians in his charge for the continuous coming of Christ into their hearts and for the final coming of Christ in glory.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

St. Paul having cleared himself and his ministry, in the foregoing verses, from the charge and imputation of those foul vices of flattery, fraud, and covetouseness, which the false teachers were guilty of; he next gives and account of his holy and humble, meek and gentle, courteous and affable behaviour amongst them, performing all duties towards them from a principle of tender love, even such as is found in a nurse to her babe, which makes her stoop to the meanest offices for it; We are gentle among you as a nurse, not a hired nurse, but a mother-nurse, who takes nothing for nursing, who bestows all her time and pains in nursing, who draws forth her breasts, and gives down her milk with pleasure to her nursling, lodging it in her bosom, carrying it in her arms, with all possible demonstrations of a tender affection towards it, especially bearing with it in its frowardness and manifold infirmities; intimating to us, with what tenderness of affection a minister should be devoted to his people, bearing with them, and forbearing of them, and exercising all that indulgence towards them, which may mutually endear them to each other.

Observe, farther, our apostle having resembled himself in general, to a nurse cherishing her children, next instances, in particular, wherein he stood ready to express, like a nurse, his indulgent care over them.

Thus, 1. As the nursing mother, if she be but a short time absent from her children, doth most vehemently long to see them, and draws forth her breast towards them with the utmost desire and delight; in like manner, was our now absent apostle most affectionately desirous of seeing and enjoying his beloved Thessalonians.

2. As the nursing mother, when she gets to the child, with unspeakable delight, feeds it with her own blood, concocted and turned into milk; so was the apostle desirous to impart, not the gospel only, but his own soul, that is, his life; implying, how ready he was to seal the gospel with his blood, and to confirm the Thessalonians in the faith of Christ.

3. As the moving, impelling, and impulsive cause of the nurse’s indulgent care and indefatigable pains, is pure love, motherly affection, and no hope of gain; so was likewise the case of St. Paul here towards these Thessalonians: We were willing to impart unto you our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

Learn hence, that there is no stronger love, nor more endeared affection between any relations upon earth, than between those ministers of Christ, and their beloved people, whom they have been instrumental to convert to God.

St. Paul having cleared himself and his ministry, in the foregoing verses, from the charge and imputation of those foul vices of flattery, fraud, and covetouseness, which the false teachers were guilty of; he next gives and account of his holy and humble, meek and gentle, courteous and affable behaviour amongst them, performing all duties towards them from a principle of tender love, even such as is found in a nurse to her babe, which makes her stoop to the meanest offices for it; We are gentle among you as a nurse, not a hired nurse, but a mother-nurse, who takes nothing for nursing, who bestows all her time and pains in nursing, who draws forth her breasts, and gives down her milk with pleasure to her nursling, lodging it in her bosom, carrying it in her arms, with all possible demonstrations of a tender affection towards it, especially bearing with it in its frowardness and manifold infirmities; intimating to us, with what tenderness of affection a minister should be devoted to his people, bearing with them, and forbearing of them, and exercising all that indulgence towards them, which may mutually endear them to each other. Observe, farther, our apostle having resembled himself in general, to a nurse cherishing her children, next instances, in particular, wherein he stood ready to express, like a nurse, his indulgent care over them. Thus, 1. As the nursing mother, if she be but a short time absent from her children, doth most vehemently long to see them, and draws forth her breast towards them with the utmost desire and delight; in like manner, was our now absent apostle most affectionately desirous of seeing and enjoying his beloved Thessalonians. 2. As the nursing mother, when she gets to the child, with unspeakable delight, feeds it with her own blood, concocted and turned into milk; so was the apostle desirous to impart, not the gospel only, but his own soul, that is, his life; implying, how ready he was to seal the gospel with his blood, and to confirm the Thessalonians in the faith of Christ. 3. As the moving, impelling, and impulsive cause of the nurse’s indulgent care and indefatigable pains, is pure love, motherly affection, and no hope of gain; so was likewise the case of St. Paul here towards these Thessalonians: We were willing to impart unto you our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. Learn hence, that there is no stronger love, nor more endeared affection between any relations upon earth, than between those ministers of Christ, and their beloved people, whom they have been instrumental to convert to God.

St. Paul having cleared himself and his ministry, in the foregoing verses, from the charge and imputation of those foul vices of flattery, fraud, and covetouseness, which the false teachers were guilty of; he next gives and account of his holy and humble, meek and gentle, courteous and affable behaviour amongst them, performing all duties towards them from a principle of tender love, even such as is found in a nurse to her babe, which makes her stoop to the meanest offices for it; We are gentle among you as a nurse, not a hired nurse, but a mother-nurse, who takes nothing for nursing, who bestows all her time and pains in nursing, who draws forth her breasts, and gives down her milk with pleasure to her nursling, lodging it in her bosom, carrying it in her arms, with all possible demonstrations of a tender affection towards it, especially bearing with it in its frowardness and manifold infirmities; intimating to us, with what tenderness of affection a minister should be devoted to his people, bearing with them, and forbearing of them, and exercising all that indulgence towards them, which may mutually endear them to each other. Observe, farther, our apostle having resembled himself in general, to a nurse cherishing her children, next instances, in particular, wherein he stood ready to express, like a nurse, his indulgent care over them. Thus, 1. As the nursing mother, if she be but a short time absent from her children, doth most vehemently long to see them, and draws forth her breast towards them with the utmost desire and delight; in like manner, was our now absent apostle most affectionately desirous of seeing and enjoying his beloved Thessalonians. 2. As the nursing mother, when she gets to the child, with unspeakable delight, feeds it with her own blood, concocted and turned into milk; so was the apostle desirous to impart, not the gospel only, but his own soul, that is, his life; implying, how ready he was to seal the gospel with his blood, and to confirm the Thessalonians in the faith of Christ. 3. As the moving, impelling, and impulsive cause of the nurse’s indulgent care and indefatigable pains, is pure love, motherly affection, and no hope of gain; so was likewise the case of St. Paul here towards these Thessalonians: We were willing to impart unto you our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. Learn hence, that there is no stronger love, nor more endeared affection between any relations upon earth, than between those ministers of Christ, and their beloved people, whom they have been instrumental to convert to God.

St. Paul having cleared himself and his ministry, in the foregoing verses, from the charge and imputation of those foul vices of flattery, fraud, and covetouseness, which the false teachers were guilty of; he next gives and account of his holy and humble, meek and gentle, courteous and affable behaviour amongst them, performing all duties towards them from a principle of tender love, even such as is found in a nurse to her babe, which makes her stoop to the meanest offices for it; We are gentle among you as a nurse, not a hired nurse, but a mother-nurse, who takes nothing for nursing, who bestows all her time and pains in nursing, who draws forth her breasts, and gives down her milk with pleasure to her nursling, lodging it in her bosom, carrying it in her arms, with all possible demonstrations of a tender affection towards it, especially bearing with it in its frowardness and manifold infirmities; intimating to us, with what tenderness of affection a minister should be devoted to his people, bearing with them, and forbearing of them, and exercising all that indulgence towards them, which may mutually endear them to each other. Observe, farther, our apostle having resembled himself in general, to a nurse cherishing her children, next instances, in particular, wherein he stood ready to express, like a nurse, his indulgent care over them. Thus, 1. As the nursing mother, if she be but a short time absent from her children, doth most vehemently long to see them, and draws forth her breast towards them with the utmost desire and delight; in like manner, was our now absent apostle most affectionately desirous of seeing and enjoying his beloved Thessalonians. 2. As the nursing mother, when she gets to the child, with unspeakable delight, feeds it with her own blood, concocted and turned into milk; so was the apostle desirous to impart, not the gospel only, but his own soul, that is, his life; implying, how ready he was to seal the gospel with his blood, and to confirm the Thessalonians in the faith of Christ. 3. As the moving, impelling, and impulsive cause of the nurse’s indulgent care and indefatigable pains, is pure love, motherly affection, and no hope of gain; so was likewise the case of St. Paul here towards these Thessalonians: We were willing to impart unto you our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. Learn hence, that there is no stronger love, nor more endeared affection between any relations upon earth, than between those ministers of Christ, and their beloved people, whom they have been instrumental to convert to God.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But we were gentle in the midst of you, as when a nurse [nourisher; i. e., nursing mother] cherisheth her own children :

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. Were gentle. Instead of throwing ourselves on our dignity as apostles.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

as a mother comforting her own children

Just as a mother gently comforts her children, so Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy spoke gently to the Thessalonian believers. (See: Simile)

In this way we had affection for you

"This is how we demonstrated our affection for you"

we had affection for you

"we loved you"

We were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives

Paul speaks of the gospel message and his life and the lives of those with him as if they were a physical object that one could share with others. AT: "We were pleased not only to tell you the gospel of God but also to spend time with you and to help you" (See: Metaphor)

you had become very dear to us

"we cared for you deeply"

brothers

Here this means fellow Christians, including both men and women.

our labor and toil

The words "labor" and "toil" mean basically the same thing. Paul uses them to emphasize how hard they worked. AT: "how hard we worked" (See: Doublet)

Night and day we were working so that we might not weigh down any of you

"We worked hard to make our own living so you would not need to support us"

translationWords

good news

God

brother

labor

preach

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

7. Evidence for νηπιοι: א*BC*D*G, some dozen minuscc., latt vg (parvuli) cop aeth, Clem Or Cyr. Origen, on Mat 19:14, writes: Παυλος ως επισταμενος το Των γαρ τοιουτων εστιν η βασιλεια των ουρανων, δυναμενος εν βαρει, κ.τ.λ., εγενετο νηπιος κ. παραπλησιος τροφῳ θαλπουσῃ το εαυτης παιδιον. To the like effect Augustine (De catech. rudibus, 15): “Factus est parvulus in medio nostrum tamquam nutrix fovens filios suos. Num enim delectat, nisi amor invitet, decurtata et mutilata verba inmurmurare?” For ηπιοι: AאcCbDcKLP, most minn., cat. txt, syrr sah basm, Clem Bas Chr. νηπιοι has by far the better attestation; yet it is rejected by most editors and commentators in favour of ηπιοι as alone fitting the context, since gentleness is the opposite of the arrogance disclaimed in 1Th 2:6, while in the next clause the writer describes himself as a nurse, not a babe: the mixture of metaphors involved in the reading of אB is violent, despite Origen’s explanation. WH (with whom Lightfoot agrees), on the other hand, denounce ηπιοι as a “tame and facile adjective” characteristic of “the Syrian revisers” (Appendix, p. 128). In the continuous uncial writing Ν (after εγενηθημεν) might be insinuated or dropped with equal ease. The rarity of ηπιος (only 2Ti 2:24 besides in N.T.), and the frequency of νηπιος (esp. in Paul), tell for the former in point of transcriptional probability. νηπιοι is clearly the older extant reading: we must either regard ηπιοι as a corruption, or a happy correction, of νηπιοι on the part of the Syrian revisers. On the latter view, νηπιοι must be attributed to a primitive and widely spread dittography of the final ν of εγενηθημεν, which however, as A and the Sahidic Version testify, was not universal. The confusion of these two words is rather common in the mss.: see 2Ti 2:24; Eph 4:14; Heb 5:13.

7. ἀλλὰ ἐγενήθημεν νήπιοι ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν. See Textual Note above. (a) According to the reading νήπιοι, the Apostles were simple, guileless, and unassuming (1Th 2:3-7) as “babes”: cf. ἀκέραιοι, τέκνα θεοῦ, in Php 2:15; ἀκεραίους εἰς τὸ κακόν and τῇ κακίᾳ νηπιάζετε, Rom 16:19 and 1Co 14:20; also Mat 18:4, and 2Co 11:7, 1Pe 2:1 f., for the various Christian qualities represented by νηπιότης. This wider interpretation of νήπιοι is demanded by the contrast with 1Th 2:5-6; cf. that derived by Origen and Augustine from the clause which follows, given in the note below. (b) The reading ἤπιοι presents the apter contrast to 1Th 2:6; and it traverses the πλεονεξία, if not the κολακία, of 1Th 2:5. Ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν puts the ἐν ὑμῖν of 1Th 1:5 more vividly (cf. Mat 18:2-4),—ὡς ἄν εἴποι τις Ὡς εἶς ἐξ ὑμῶν, οὐχὶ τὴν ἄνω λαβόντες τάξιν (Chrysostom); non agebant quasi ex cathedra (Bengel): cf. 1Pe 5:1; Rev 1:9; Luk 22:27; Heb 2:12,—the two latter passages relating to the Great Example.

νήπιοι (if this reading be genuine) ἐν μέσῳ κ.τ.λ. leads on to the comparison, ὡς ἐὰν τροφὸς θάλπῃ τὰ ἑαυτῆς τέκνα, as haply a nurse might be cherishing her own children; for the skill of a nurse lies in her coming down to the level of her babes,—as Origen puts it, λαλοῦσα λόγους ὡς παιδίον διὰ τὸ παιδίον; Augustine, delectat … decurtata et mutilata verba inmurmurare. But this is only a single trait of the picture: the nurse-mother (θάλπει τὰ ἑαυτῆς τέκνα) is child-like with her children,—as far from selfish craft as they, and filled besides with a care for them (see 1Th 2:8) which they cannot feel nor reciprocate toward her. Here St Paul paints himself as the mother τρέφουσα καὶ θάλπουσα, while in Gal 4:19 he is the mother ὠδίνουσα. Ὡς ἄν (later Gr. ἐάν), like other relative pronouns and adverbs with ἄν and subjunct., implies a standing contingency,—“as it may be (may be seen) at any time”: cf. Gal 5:17, Luk 9:57, &c., for the construction; the temporal ὡς ἄν of 1Co 11:34, &c., is different. Θάλπω, only here and in Eph 5:29 (ἐκτρέφει καὶ θάλπει) in N.T.; in LXX, Deu 22:6. Ἠπιότης however (if we prefer to read ἤπιοι) is a conspicuous trait of the τροφός with her τέκνα.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7.] ἀλλά contrasts, not with the mere subordinate clause of the last verse (δυνάμ. κ.τ.λ.), but with its whole sense, and introduces the positive side of their behaviour—q. d. ‘so far from being any of the aforesaid, we were …’

ἐγενήθ., as before, with a reference to God enabling us.

ἤπιοι, mild: so Od. β. 47, πατὴρ δʼ ὡς ἤπιος ἦεν: Herodian iv. 1, ἤπιον ἄρχοντα κ. πατέρα: Pausan. Eliac. ii. 18, βασιλέα γὰρ οὐ τὰ πάντα ἤπιον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα θυμῷ χρώμενον Ἀλέξανδρον τοῦ Φιλίππου (Wetst.): see also Herod. iii. 89: and Ellic.’s note here. Surely the reading νήπιοι, being (1) by far the commoner word, (2) so easily introduced by the final ν of the preceding word, can hardly, in the teeth of the sense, come under consideration: seeing too that the primary authorities are not unanimous.

ἐν μέσῳ ὑμ.] i.e. ‘in our converse with you;’ but with an allusion to our not lifting ourselves above you;—ὡς εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν, Œc. It is best to retain the comma after ὑμῶν, not as Lün., to place a colon: for though there is a break in the construction, it is one occasioned by the peculiar style of the Apostle, which should not be amended by punctuation. The emphasis on ἑαυτῆς should not be lost sight of—as when a nurse (a suckling mother) cherishes (reff.) her own children. See Gal 4:19, for the same figure.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. ἀλλὰ ἐγενήθημεν νήπιο. “On the contrary, we became babes in the midst of you.” ἀλλα is parallel to ἀλλα in v. 4 and controls vv. 7-12, the γά (v. 9) resuming the ἀλλα here. A colon is to be put after ὑμῶ Although they were entitled to demand honour as Christ’s apostles, yet they waived that right, choosing to be not apostles but babes in the midst of them. To contrast with ἀπόστολο and to fit ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶ, we rather expect not an adjective but a noun. νήπιο (Gal 4:1, Gal 4:3, 1Co 13:11, Rom 2:20, etc.), with its implication of the unripe and undeveloped, far from being meaningless (Schmidt) is a capital antithesis of ἀπόστολο. Not only does νήπιο fit the immediate context admirably, it is also in keeping with the spirit of brotherly equality that characterises Paul’s attitude to his readers not only in I but also in II. He is just one of them, ὡς εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶ (Chrys.).

Not only is νήπιο admirably adapted to the context, it is also the better attested reading (אBDCGF, Vulg, Boh, Ephr., Ambst, Orig. ad Mat 19:14) as Tisch admits; and is accepted by WH., Zim, Baljon, Lft., Find., Wohl. Indeed WH. will not allow an alternative reading (cf. App.2 128). On the other hand, Weiss is equally insistent on ἤπιο as alone worthy of attention (AEKLP, Pesh Arm; Tisch, Ell. Schmiedel, Born, Dob., Moff.). While on purely transcriptional grounds ἤπιο may be accounted for by haplography or νήπιο by dittography, internal evidence favours νήπιο—Six of the ten cases of νήπιο in N. T. (including Eph 4:14, Heb 5:13) are found in Paul; ἤπιο is found in the Gk. Bib. only 2Ti 2:24. The objection (urged by Ell., Schmiedel, Born, and others) that νήπιο “mars the metaphor” in the succeeding comparison (whose point, however, is not gentleness but unselfish love) is met by Lft. who observes that “rhetorical rules were as nothing compared with the object which he had in view.” ἐν μέσῳ with gen. occurs only here in Paul; it is frequent elsewhere in Gk. Bib.

7-8. ὡς ἐὰν τροφό … οὕτως κτλ “As a nurse cherishes her own children so we yearning after you were glad to share not only the gospel of God but our very selves as well, because you had become dear to us.” The change from νήπιο to τροφό is due to a natural association of ideas. The point of the new metaphor is love, the love of a mother-nurse for her own children. Not only did the missionaries waive their right to demand honour, they waived it in motherly affection for their dear children (cf. 1:5 διʼ ὑμᾶ). No punctuation is necessary before οὕτω (cf. v. 4 and Mar 4:26).

The construction is similar to Mar 4:26 (AC) οὕτως … ὡς ἐὰν βάλῃ On the difference between ὡς ἐά = ὡς ἅ (אA) with subjunctive indicating the contingency of the act and ὠ with the indicative, note with Viteau (I, 242) 2Co 8:12 καθὸ ἐὰν ἔχῃ … χαθὸ οὐκ ἔχει. τροφό here as elsewhere in Gk. Bib. (Gen 35:8, Isa 49:23, Isa 49:4 Reg. 11:2 = 2Ch 22:11) is feminine. θάλπει = “to warm” is used of the mother-bird (Deu 22:6, Job 39:14) and of Abishag (3 Reg. 1:2, 4; cf. θερμαίνει 1:2 ff); here and Eph 5:29, the secondary sense “to cherish” is appropriate (see Ell. on Eph 5:29). Neither τροφό nor θάλπει suggests that the τέκν are θηλάζοντ; hence it is unnecessary to press the metaphor in the clause with οὕτω as some do (e. g. Lün.). Grot. compares Num 11:22 λάβε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν κόλπον σο (Moses) ὡσεὶ ἄραι τιθηνὸ (nurshing-father as Isa 49:23) τὸν θηλάζοντ, a passage, which, according to Zimmer, may have been in Paul’s mind.—If ἑαυτῆ is emphatic, as in classic usage, the nurse is also the mother; if it is = αὐτῆ (Bloomfield apud Lillie; cf. Moult I, 87 ff.), the nurse may or may not be the mother. Zimmer, accepting ἑαυτῆ as emphatic (cf. v. 11), but finding difficulty with the idea of a mother-nurse in service, takes ἐαυτῆ metaphorically, understanding that the professional nurse treats the children of her mistress as if they were “her own”; cf. Chrys.: “Are they (the nurses) not more kindly disposed to them (προσηνεῖ) than mothers?”—ἑαυτου in Paul, when used with the article and substantive, has regularly, as in classic Gk., the attributive position (2:8, 12, 4:4, II 3:12); the exceptions are Gal 6:4, Gal 6:8, 1Co 11:5 (B) 2Co 3:13 (אD), where the position is predicate.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gentle [ηπιοι] . This reading is adopted b; y Tischendorf, Weiss, and the Rev. T. Westcott and Hort read nh. pioi babes. This gives a stronger and bolder image, and one which falls in better with the course of thought, in which Paul is asserting his innocence of guile and flattery, and not of harshness.

Among you [εν μεσω υμων] . Better, and more literally, in the midst of you, which implies more intimate intercourse than among you. Comp. Luk 22:27.

Nurse [τροφος] . N. T. o. In Class. sometimes of a mother, and so probably here. See Gal 4:19.

Cherisheth [θαλπη] . P o. Here and Eph 5:29. The verb originally means to warm. See LXX, Deu 22:6.

Her own children. Note the inversion of metaphor. Paul is first the babe, then the nurse or mother. For similar instances see ch. 1Th 5:2, 4; 2Co 3:13 - 16; Rom 7:1 ff. See Introduction to 2 Corinthians, Vol. 3, p. 19

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.