Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do.
Now - rather, But. Timothy was not the bearer of the letter: for, it would not then be said, 'IF Timothy come.' He must have been sent by Paul from Ephesus before this letter was written, to accord with 1 Corinthians 4:17-19; yet the passage here implies that Paul did not expect him to arrive at Corinth until after the letter was received. He tells them how to treat him "if" he should arrive. Acts 19:21-22 clears up the difficulty: Timothy, when sent from Ephesus, where this letter was written, did not proceed direct to Corinth, but went first to Macedonia; thus though sent before the letter, he might not reach Corinth until after it was received in that city. The undesigned coincidence, and the clearing up of the letter (which does not mention the journey to Macedonia at all) by the history, is a sure mark of genuineness. It is not certain that Timothy actually reached Corinth; for in Acts 19:22 only Macedonia is mentioned; but it does not follow that though Macedonia was the immediate object of his mission, Corinth was not the ultimate object. The 'IF Timothy come,' implies uncertainty. 2 Corinthians 1:1 represents him with Paul in Macedonia; and 2 Corinthians 12:18, speaking of Titus and others sent to Corinth, does not mention Timothy. But as Timothy is associated with Paul in writing the second letter, a notice of his own mission in the third person would have been inapposite. The mission of Titus direct to Corinth then took place, when it became uncertain whether Timothy could go forward from Macedonia to Corinth, Paul being anxious for immediate tidings of the state of the Corinthian church. Titus' presence would thus make amends for the disappointment as to the intended visit of Timothy, and would disarm adversaries of a charge of fickleness in this respect (2 Corinthians 1:17; 2 Corinthians 7:6-7).
Without fear - referring to the Corinthians' party violence, and perhaps to a nervous timidity in Timothy (1 Timothy 3:15; 1 Timothy 5:22-23). His youth would add to this, as well as his country, Lystra, despised in refined Corinth.