Commentary on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians

Comm on Phil, Col, Thes
1. Wherefore when we could no longer 1. Quare non amplius sufferentes censuimus,
forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens ut Athenis relinqueremur soli:
alone;
2. And sent Timotheus, our brother, and 2. Et misimus Timotheum fratrem nostrum,
minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the et ministrum Dei, et cooperarium nostrum in
gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort evangelio Christi, ut confirmaret vos, et vobis
you concerning your faith:
animum adderet ex fide nostra,
3. That no man should be moved by these 3. Ut nemo turbaretur in his afflictionibus:
afflictions: for yourselves know that we are ipsi enim nostis quod in hoc sumus constituti.
appointed thereunto.
4. For verily, when we were with you, we 4. Etenim quum essemus apud vos,
told you before that we should suffer tribulation; praediximus vobis quod essemus afflictiones
even as it came to pass, and ye know. passuri; quemadmodum etiam accidit, et nostis.
5. For this cause, when I could no longer 5. Quamobrem et ego non amplius sustinens,
forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some misi ut cognoscerem fidem vestram: ne forte
means the tempter have tempted you, and our tentasset vos, is qui tentat, et exinanitus esset
labour be in vain.
labor noster.
1 Wherefore, when we could no longer endure. By the detail which follows, he assures them
of the desire of which he had spoken. For if, on being detained elsewhere, he had sent no other to
Thessalonica in his place, it might have seemed as though he were not so much concerned in regard
to them; but when he substitutes Timothy in his place, he removes that suspicion, more especially
when he prefers them before himself. Now that he esteemed them above himself, he shews from
this, that he chose rather to be left alone than that they should be deserted: for these words, we
judged it good to be left alone, are emphatic. Timothy was a most faithful companion to him: he
had at that time no others with him; hence it was inconvenient and distressing for him to be without
him. It is therefore a token of rare affection and anxious desire that he does not refuse to deprive
himself of all comfort, with the view of relieving the Thessalonians. To the same effect is the word
εὐδοκήσαμεν, which expresses a prompt inclination of the mind. 554
2 Our brother. He assigns to him these marks of commendation, that he may shew the more
clearly how much inclined he was to consult their welfare: for if he had sent them some common
person, it could not have afforded them much assistance; and inasmuch as Paul would have done
this without inconvenience to himself, he would have given no remarkable proof of his fatherly
concern in regard to them. It is, on the other hand, a great thing that he deprives himself of a brother
and fellow-laborer, and one to whom, as he declares in Philippians 2:20, he found no equal, inasmuch
as all aimed at the promotion of their own interests. In the mean time, 555 he procures authority for
the doctrine which they had received from Timothy, that it may remain the more deeply impressed
upon their memory.
554 “Vne affection prompte et procedante d’vn franc coeur;” — “A prompt disposition, proceeding from a ready mind.”
555 “En parlant ainsi;” — “By speaking, thus.”
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John Calvin