JUST AS YOU KNOW HOW WE WERE
EXHORTING AND ENCOURAGING AND IMPLORING EACH ONE OF YOU: kathaper oidate
(2PRAI) os hena hekaston humon os pater tekna heautou parakalountes
(PAPMPN) umas kai paramuthoumenoi (PMPMPN) kai marturomenoi (PMPMPN):
(1Thes
4:1;
5:11;
Acts 20:2;
2 Thessalonians 3:12;
1 Timothy 6:2;
2 Timothy 4:2;
Titus 2:6,9,15;
Hebrews 13:22)
(Numbers
27:19;
Deuteronomy 3:28;
31:14;
Ephesians 4:17;
1 Timothy 5:7,21;
6:13,17;
2 Timothy 4:1)
Paul now employs a second parental
metaphor, this time of a father (cf. 1 Cor. 4:14-16, 21; 2Cor
6:11-13;
Philippians 2:22; Philemon 1:10).
Just as you know - Paul
again appeals to the personal knowledge the Thessalonians had of the
facts he is stating. This evidence in confirmation of the virtuous life
of the missionaries is in full harmony with the personal knowledge of
the readers.
Hiebert comments that...
It is an appeal to the readers' own
experience concerning the efforts of the missionaries to induce them to
live virtuous lives. This concern of the missionaries for the lives of
their converts is evidence of their own high aspirations. "For if any
one can be truly desirous that others walk virtuously, this presupposes
the endeavor after virtue in himself.' (Hiebert,
D. Edmond: 1 & 2 Thessalonians: BMH Book. 1996)
Note that each of the following
three verbs (exhorting, encouraging, imploring) are in the
present tense
indicating that these activities as the missionaries' continual
practice. All three of these participles are in the plural, indicating
that his colleagues joined Paul in this work. Their appeals carried
three elements according to the need...
beseeching or urging, the
hesitant, encouraging the faint-hearted, and charging or
adjuring, the wavering.
Warren Wiersbe writes...
I once received a letter from a radio
listener who thanked me for the encouragement of the messages she had
heard. “When we go to church,” she wrote, “all our pastor does is scold
us and whip us. We really get tired of this. It’s refreshing to hear
some words of encouragement!” (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
Exhorting (3870)
(parakaleo from para = side of + kaléo = call =call
urgently) conveys the basic idea of calling one alongside to help or
give aid, to entreat, to appeal
to, to comfort, to exhort, or to encourage.
Our English word "encourage" means
literally “with heart.” To encourage in a sense is
to give them new heart. Shallow sympathy makes people feel worse --- true
spiritual encouragement makes them feel better. It brings out the best
in people.
Note that Paul repeatedly uses
parakaleo in his communication to the Thessalonians (here and also
in 1Thes 3:2, 7; 4:1, 10, 18; 5:11, 14; 2Thess. 2:17; 3:12)
Vincent says that persuading is a better translation as
Persuasion is the form which the
exhortation assumed.
In classic Greek parakaleo was used
of exhorting troops about to go into battle. Sometimes the word means
convey the idea of comfort, sometimes of exhortation but always at the
root there is the idea of enabling a person to meet some difficult
situation with confidence and with gallantry.
One of the Greek historians has an
instructive used of parakaleo in his description of a
Greek regiment which had lost heart and was utterly dejected. The
general sent a leader to talk to it to such purpose that courage was
reborn and a body of dispirited men became fit again for heroic action.
That is what parakaleo means (see note for example
Col 2:1).
Encouraging (3888)
(paramutheomai from para = towards, beside,
pictures one coming to
another's side of one to stimulate or comfort + muthéomai = to speak
from múthos = a tale, myth, speech) literally means to speak to
someone coming close to his or her side and speak to them in a friendly
way. The meaning can develop along two main lines -- with reference to
rousing up someone's will about what ought to be done (admonish to something) or with reference to what
has happened rousing up hope for a good outcome (to console about something,
cheer up - as in a secular use - "consolation for Alexander when he was
depressed") It was used in secular Greek especially in connection with
death or other tragic events.
In the NT it means to relate near, encourage,
console (to serve as a source of comfort in disappointment, loss,
sadness, trouble). The idea is to speak kindly or soothingly so as to
comfort or pacify.
As someone has said
paramutheomai denotes the soothing and encouraging side of
exhortation, inspiring the converts to continue the desired course of
action. It means to encourage in the sense of comfort and consolation
which is critical in assisting spiritual growth because of the many
obstacles and failures Christians can experience.
As noted below paramutheomai
is used in John 11 referring to the consolation given to Lazarus'
grieving family. Thus it was a word reserved for the tender,
restorative, compassionate uplifting needed by a struggling, burdened,
heartbroken spiritual child.
Wiersbe explains
paramutheomai noting that...
This word carries the same idea of
“encouragement,” with the emphasis on activity. Paul not only made them
feel better, but he made them want to do better. A father must not
pamper a child; rather, he must encourage the child to go right back and
try over again. Christian encouragement must not become an anesthesia
that puts us to sleep. It must be a stimulant that awakens us to do
better. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
The TDNT makes the point
that...
It is natural to seek a distinction
between parakaleo and paramutheomai, but difficult to
find a convincing criterion by which to draw any sharp line of
demarcation. Both are characterized by the twofoldness of admonition and
comfort, nor can one show that in the NT the element of comfort is the
more pronounced in the case of paramutheomai. For in all
the relevant passages other meanings might be seen with at least the
same right, eg., “to encourage” at 1 Th. 2:12, “to strengthen” at 1Thes
5:14...In the NT, however, the close relation between admonition and
consolation in the two groups has a very different basis from that in
secular usage. In the secular world consolation only too often takes the
form of moral exhortation...In the NT, however, admonition becomes
genuine comfort and vice versa, so that it is hard to separate or
distinguish between the two...The unity of admonition and consolation is
rooted in the Gospel itself, which is both gift and task. (Kittel,
G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament. Eerdmans)
Paramutheomai occurs only 4
times in Scripture...
John 11:19 and many of the
Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning
their brother.
John 11:31 The Jews then who
were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that
Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was
going to the tomb to weep there.
1Thessalonians 2:11
just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and
imploring each one of you as a father would his own children,
1Thessalonians 5:14
And we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the
fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men.
Imploring (3143)
(marturomai from mártus = witness) (See related word
studies - epimartureo;
diamarturomai)
in its original sense meant summon to witness and thus conveys the idea
of testifying in affirmation or exhortation.
The English word implore is
from Latin (in- + plorare = to cry out) and means to beg earnestly
or desperately or to call upon with a suggestion of greater urgency or
anguished appeal.
To affirm (state
positively, assert as valid or confirmed, implying conviction based on
evidence, experience or faith) something with solemnity
(see NT uses below). The verb means to appeal to by something sacred. To
urge as a matter of great importance and thus to affirm, insist or
implore (see notes
Ephesians 4:17,
1Thessalonians 2:11)
To be emphatic in stating an opinion or desire.
It refers here in
Thessalonians to making an emphatic demand (implore, insist, urge,
charge). This
verb conveys an authoritative tone (like a father would do) and points
to the solemnity and earnestness with which the appeal is made.
The idea of marturomai is
to bear witness with a solemn protestation, making an emphatic
affirmation or a serious declaration (see below - Acts 20:26, 26:22, Gal 5:3).
It means to
make a serious declaration on the basis of presumed personal knowledge
McGee states that
marturomai...
has a note of severity in it—it
involves discipline. It is a virile word, a robust, firm, masculine
word. I’m afraid that we find a lot of sissy preaching in our pulpits
today. The popular thing is to have a little sermonette given by a
preacherette to Christianettes. There is so little urgency. Someone has
defined the average church service in a liberal church as when a
mild-mannered man gets up before a group of mild-mannered people and
urges them to be more mild-mannered. Oh, that is sickening, my friend! (McGee,
J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson
or
Logos)
Marturomai is used
only 5 times in the NT...
Acts 20:26 Therefore I
testify to you this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
Acts 26:22 And so, having
obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to
small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said
was going to take place
Galatians 5:3 And I testify
again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under
obligation to keep the whole Law.
Ephesians 4:17
(Note) This I say
therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no
longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
1Thessalonians 2:11
just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring
each one of you as a father would his own children
Each one of you - This phrase
is placed emphatically forward which stresses Paul's work in every
convert, not just his "favorites". The Way translation picks up this
sense rendering it "each of you, one by one."
AS A FATHER WOULD HIS OWN
CHILDREN: os pater tekna heautou:
(Genesis
50:16,17;
1 Chronicles 22:11-13;
28:9,20;
Psalms 34:11;
Proverbs 1:10,15;
2:1;
3:1;
Proverbs 4:1-12;
5:1,2;
6:1;
7:1,24;
31:1-9;
1 Corinthians 4:14,15)
While Paul compares himself to a nurse or mother when he speaks of
cherishing his converts, he compares himself to a father when he speaks
of instructing them.
Father (3962)(pater)
is a father, spoken generally of men and in a special sense of God.
Hiebert writes regarding
the nursing mother and exhorting father that...
The former simile stresses the
tenderness of the missionaries' dealings with their converts; the simile
of the father shows the sterner aspect of their love for their
children. The apostles dealt with them not with the severity of the
taskmaster but with the earnest concern of the father intent upon
training his children according to their individual needs. The figure of
a father was commonly used by Jewish teachers to denote their
relationship to their pupils. Converted under their ministry, the
Thessalonian believers were indeed the writers' spiritual children who
needed their instruction and guidance. (Hiebert,
D. Edmond: 1 & 2 Thessalonians: BMH Book. 1996)
His own (1438)
(heautou) children (5043)
-
Paul claims the privilege of
giving his Corinthian converts fatherly admonition explaining that...
1 Cor 4:14 I do not write these
things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For
if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have
many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the
gospel.
