1 Thessalonians 3:2

2. The verse presents a complicated and difficult problem:

(a) τον αδελφον ημων και διακονον του θεου is the reading of אAP 67** 71 and several other minn., vg cop basm syrhel txt, Bas Euthal Pelag; the sah and the Harleian* copy of the vg omit dei.

(b) τον αδελφον ημων κ. συνεργον του θεου: so D*d e, Ambrst—clearly the Western reading. B gives, barely, τον αδελφον ημων κ. συνεργον (minus του θεου). C is wanting here.

(c) G contains a conflate text: τον αδελφον ημων κ. διακονον κ. συνεργον του θεου; while the T.R. (Syrian) furnishes another combination, τον αδελφον ημων κ. διακονον του θεου κ. συνεργον ημων—so in DcKL, most minn., syrr, Chr Thdrt, &c.

Manifestly (a) and (b) are the parents of the two forms of (c). Which of the former is the original, it is hard to say. The substitution of συνεργον for the smooth and unexceptionable διακονον in conjunction with του θεου is not transcriptionally likely; and אAP (אBP in Tischendorf8 is a misprint), with the cop, have the look of an Alexandrian group. 1 Corinthians 3:9 may have suggested the added genitive, του θεου after συνεργον (as in D), which is less relevant here (see Expository Note); and the Syrian reading points to an earlier συνεργον unqualified by του θεου; observe also the absence of dei in sah and harl*, under (a) above. It is noticeable that in the other ten Pauline instances of συνεργος, the συν- refers to the writer himself (see the Concordance); cf. also 1 Corinthians 16:16, συνεργουντι. The history of the text may thus be construed: B preserves the original reading, that intrinsically probable here, viz. Τιμοθεον τον αδελφον ημων κ. συνεργον. The Western scribe, or editor, added του θεου, recalling 1 Corinthians 3:9. The Alexandrian editor, reasonably stumbling at this, smoothed down συνεργον του θεου into διακονον του θεου. The copyist of G combined the 3rd and 2nd, the Syrian editors the 3rd and 1st of the above readings. See on this passage B. Weiss, Textkritik der Paulinischen Briefe, p. 13.

2. καὶ ἐπέμψαμεν Τιμόθεον, τὸν�. διάκονον τοῦ θεοῦ. For the name Τιμόθεος, see note on 1 Thessalonians 1:1. This description of Timothy—our brother, and God’s minister (or fellow-worker, συνεργόν)—raises the question whether he had been at Thessalonica; for it looks as though he were being introduced to the readers, and only Paul and Silas are actually named in St Luke’s account of the mission at Thessalonica in Acts 17:1-10, Timothy appearing on the scene at Berœa just when Paul is departing for Athens (v. 14 f.). On the other hand, Timothy shares in the greeting, from which point the Epistle proceeds in the 1st pers. plural; and there is no hint of his exclusion from the reminiscences of chaps. 1 and 2. The sending of this young and somewhat timid helper probably dictates the commendation, designed to obviate any disparagement of Timothy on the part of the Church: cf. 1 Corinthians 16:10; 1 Timothy 4:12. It seems that in Thessalonica, as previously in Philippi, Timothy had not been marked out for attack in the same way as his leaders; he could return when they could not. Cf. the eulogy upon Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25), who is going back to Philippi; also 2 Corinthians 8:23, referring to Titus, who was already well known to the Corinthian Church.

The surpassingly high epithet συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:1) was calculated (if this reading be genuine: see the Textual Note) to exalt Timothy in the eyes of the readers and to silence complaint about his being sent. But the adjunct ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ τοῦ χριστοῦ hardly suits συνεργὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, since God’s part has been emphatically contrasted with that of His servants “in the good news of the Christ” (see 1 Thessalonians 2:4; 1 Corinthians 12:6): the reading διάκονον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν τῷ εὐαγγ. is preferable, assuming τοῦ θεοῦ authentic; cf. Romans 1:9; Philippians 2:22; Philemon 1:13. For the bare συνεργόν (without τοῦ θεοῦ), see 2 Corinthians 8:23; in 1 Corinthians 3:9 συν-probably conjoins Paul and Apollos, and θεοῦ is genitive of possession. For διάκ. τοῦ θεοῦ, cf. 1 Corinthians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 6:4. As distinguished from δοῦλος, expressing the personal relation binding the “slave” to his master, διάκονος connotes the help or service rendered.

Τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ χριστοῦ, “the good news about the Christ,” who is the object of the Divine proclamation (see Romans 1:3; 1 Corinthians 1:23; &c.); previously τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ in this Epistle (1 Thessalonians 2:2, &c.; see note), with the subjective genitive. The phrase “servant of God,” or “our fellow-worker,” requires the definition ἐν τῷ εὐαγγ. (see Romans 1:1 f., Romans 1:9; Romans 15:16; Romans 15:19; and Philippians 2:22; Philippians 4:3), which reminds the Thessalonians of their indebtedness to Timothy.

The elder missionaries had sent Timothy εἰς τὸ στηρίξαι ὑμᾶς καὶ παρακαλέσαι ὑπὲρ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν, in order to establish you and encourage (you) in furtherance of your faith. The two infinitives (στηρίξαι κ. παρακαλέσαι), with a single article, form one idea, the latter being the means to the former: they are coupled in the reverse order in 2 Thessalonians 2:17; cf. also 1 Thessalonians 3:13 below. On παρακαλέω, see notes to 1 Thessalonians 2:12, and παράκλησις, 1 Thessalonians 2:3. Timothy’s presence and exhortations, it was expected, would steady and strengthen the buffeted faith of the Thessalonians. In its primary meaning (cf. Luke 16:26), στηρίζω goes back to Homer; its ethical use belongs to later Greek, occurring e.g. in Epictetus, Gnomologium Stobœi, 39 (ed. Schenkl), τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας εὐνοίᾳ κ. πίστει κ. φιλίᾳ στήριζε. For εἰς τό with infin., see note on 1 Thessalonians 2:12. Ὑπέρ signifies more than about (περί, as in 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 3:9, &c.), rather on behalf of, in the interest of (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:1); somewhat differently used in 2 Thessalonians 1:4.