ie.g.,in Corinth; cf. Acts xviii. 6 f. 2 Ti. 111. 13. 1 Cf. i. το, Acts xviii. gf.
k Cf. Rom.
m ii. 17. n 2 Ti. iv. 18. 0 2Co.
des Paulus, p. 37), or “ froward”. The general aim of the passage is to widen the horizon of the Thessalonians, by en- listing their sympathy and interest on behalf of the apostles. They are not the only sufferers, or the only people who need prayer and Πε]ρ.---οὐ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς eis Κόρινθόν ἐσθ᾽ ὁ πλοῦς, so ran the ancient proverb. Paul writes from Cor- inth that while everyone has the chance, not all have the desire, to arrive at the faith. ἡ πίστις is the faith of the gospel, or Christianity. By a characteristic play upon the word, Paul (ver. 3), hurries on to add, ‘‘ but the Lord is faithful’. ὑμᾶς (for which Bentley and Baljon plausibly conjecture ἡμᾶς) shows how lightly his mind rests on thoughts of his own peril as compared with the need of others. It is tmpossible to decide, either from the grammar or from the context, whether τοῦ πονηροῦ is neuter or masculine. Either sense would suit, though, if there is a reminiscence here of the Lord’s prayer (so Feine, Yesus Christus τι. Paulus, 252 f., and Chase, Texts and Studies, i. 3. 112 f.), the masculine would be inevitable, as is indeed more probable for general reasons (so e.g., Hofmann, Everling, Ellicott, etc.)
Ver.4. πεποίθαμεν ( = we have faith), still playing on the notion of πίστις. Paul rallies the Thessalonians by remind- ing them, not only of God’s faithfulness, but of their friends’ belief in them.
Ver. 5. κατευθύναι, κ.τ... Paul no longer (I., iti. 11) entertains the hope of revisiting them soon. ‘‘God’s love and Mrist’s patient endurance’”’ (i.e., the ὑπομονή which Christ inspires and τε-
52
q i Chron. xxix. 18 (LXX), Ps. Sol. xii. 6, etc.
το τὶ τὸ;
> ς Ν A ~ εις ὑπομονὴν του Χριστοῦ.