“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.