Verse 6
(6) “We were in great anxiety, for fear you should have fallen away, and sent Timothy to see if all was well; but now, all anxiety is over.”
Timotheus came.—According to the usual interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2, adopted above, this will mean that Timothy had already returned from his mission to Thessalonica, as related in Acts 18:5, and the occasion of this present letter will be St. Paul’s relief at the news brought by him.
Brought us good tidings.—An enthusiastic word, generally rendered, “preached us the gospel.”
Faith and charity.—The first signifies the confidence in God which enabled them to endure (“that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in Thy mercy”); the second, the tenderness with which they helped one another through.
Good remembrance.—Not merely “clear, vivid remembrance” (as we say, “to remember well”), but “a good, kind remembrance,” as the explanation in “desiring,” &c, shows. The word “good” bears the same significance in Matthew 20:15; Romans 5:7; 1 Peter 2:18. If the Thessalonians had been beginning to fall away, they would not have cared to see their teachers.
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