The Pulpit Commentary — Galatians — Section 27

(1 These. ii. 7-11). Timothy, no doubt, took his part in the work as is shown by sucn passages as Acts xvii. 14 and 1 Thess. iii. 2 ; but nowhere is Timothy spoken of in this section of the history as standing on e.. level with them in ministerial position, or involved in like sufferings, or as threatened by the like dangers, These considemtion,s are sufficient to explain the manner in which St. Paul com- mences thq .two, Epistles which bs despatched to the Theesalonians from Corinth not long q.f~er he com.menced his eighteen months' sojourn in that city. Both these letters begin with the samo words.: "Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, to the Church of the Thessaloninns in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace,'' etc. The. facts ,apo:ve, adduced show that it was impossible for him, when writing to these particular converts, to speak of himself as an apostle in a different sense from that ir.. which Silas might also have been so designated; impossible for him to write, for example, thus: "Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Silvan us and Timotheus our brethren,'.' after the style of the letters to the Corinthians or of the letter to the Romans. F.or it would have wom the appearance pf breaking asunder before the eyes of those affectionate converts that complete co-partnership in which we feel sure they ~ere wont to regard Silas as associated with Paul. There was, indeed, no need for him, when addressing dis~iples so attached and docile as these.new converts of Thessalonica, tp; introduce any such emphatic asseveration of his own distinctive peculiar apostolical authority. This was proved to be necessary later, when he was addressing Churches where his authority was either actually impugned; as at Corinth, or dimly perceived, as ~t Rom.e. But at present this was not required, neither would it have been suitable. FQrther, it may be that 118 yet thll time .had not. arrived when the Divine guidance,. under.which he habitu3;lly and conscio,usly acted, should prompt. him to openly assert that high commi.ssionership of his setting .hi.,n on a level with the sacred t.welve, which. some five years later we find him so unflinchingly asserting in the next group of letters. 'l'hings were, it is true, gradua.lly,preparing for its open declaration ta the world. His position was becoming more and more ascendant in the Church; his relative importance, as being of all the chiefest herald of the gospel to the Gentiles, was growing more and more marked; t,he conditions of environing circumstances hitherto veiling bis ma,,crni- ficent vocation· wer\l rapidly falFng away from. around him. But the hour, we may believe, though fast approaching, was not yet-the hour in which he was to be divinely impelled to announce himself an "apostle" in that supreme sense in _which Christ himself used the term, \Vhen giving it to his. chosen twelve, St. ~<ful speaks of Silas and Timothy as apostles wieh himself. We are now, as I apprehend, in a ,position for understanding ~he manner in which St. Paul applies the term " apostles " in 1 Tbess. ii. 6, 6. The whole passage is .as follpws :-:-" For neither at any time did we resort to any word of fawning, as ye know, ·nor to any P,retext veiling designs of avarice: God is witness I nor sought distinction on the part of men whether with you or with others [literally, 'from you or from others'], though as Christ's apostles we might, if ~~ had s~ .~!led, have taken a burdenscll:p.e po~ition with you." .st. };'aul is apparently rebutting certain. calumnious aspersions with which, as he with. ~o .doubt good reason surmised, certain persons at Thessalonica, whet.her unbe- lieving Jew1u;,r mocl~ing Gentiles, were disposed to assail himself or his fellow-workers . .~t. Paul W!fs wont, by means of the probably ill-paid and dirty work of making tent-curtains of coarse Cicilian fabric, to earn money for the purpose of paying his own persoµal expenses, and sometimes those of his subordinate companio~. This is evidenced, in r~ference to ~his second journey of his, besides what we read in these two Epistles (1 Thoss. ii, 9 i 2 T)loss. iii. 8, 9), by Acts xviii. 3; 2 Cor. xi. 9; in referenc11  :r.1 THE EPISTLE TO 'l'HE GALATIANS.