Yet. — The original is simply And, which is much more beautiful, implying that this very withdrawal from brotherly intercourse was an act of brotherly kindness.
An enemy. — In the private, not the public, sense. “Do not think of him as one with whom you must be at feud, to be thwarted and humbled on every occasion.” St. Chrysostom exclaims, “How soon the father’s-heart breaks down!”
Admonish him as a brother. — How was this to be done without “having company” with him? Perhaps the presbyters, to whom the work of “admonishing,” or “warning,” specially belonged (see 1 Thessalonians 5:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:14), were to visit them in private with that object. Or possibly, the admonition was to consist in the act of separation, and not in verbal reproof at all.