1 Thessalonians 3:7

7 for this reason we have been comforted in you, brethren, in all our distress and tribulation, through your faith,

1 Thessalonians 3:7 Meaning and Commentary

1 Thessalonians 3:7

Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over, you
Or "in you", as the Vulgate Latin version; or "from you", as the Arabic; or "by you", as the Syriac; or "for you", as the Ethiopic; that is, on account of them, either by what they had heard was in them, or had heard from them. This gave abundant consolation

in all our affliction and distress:
which they met with at Corinth, where the apostle laboured with his own hands, and ministered to his own, and the necessities of others, and was greatly opposed, reproached, and persecuted; see ( Acts 18:3 Acts 18:6 Acts 18:9 Acts 18:10 Acts 18:12 ) , but the news of the good estate and condition the Thessalonians were in, was a great relief and comfort to him, particularly their faith:

by your faith:
by the report of it, that it grew exceedingly, and that they walked in the truth; see ( 1 John 5:4 ) . The Alexandrian copy reads, "in all your distress and affliction, and by your faith."

1 Thessalonians 3:7 In-Context

5 For this reason *I* also, no longer able to refrain myself, sent to know your faith, lest perhaps the tempter had tempted you and our labour should be come to nothing.
6 But Timotheus having just come to us from you, and brought to us the glad tidings of your faith and love, and that ye have always good remembrance of us, desiring much to see us, even as we also you;
7 for this reason we have been comforted in you, brethren, in all our distress and tribulation, through your faith,
8 because now we live if *ye* stand firm in [the] Lord.
9 For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy wherewith we rejoice on account of you before our God,

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Epi with a dative. Here, and in 2Cor. 7.7, the apostle states what gave occasion for comfort to him -- the circumstance, not the cause. It is a similar construction in ver. 9: 'for all the joy.' We can say 'for' perhaps there, but it is the occasion of his thanksgiving; his thanksgiving was conditional; that was necessary to it as a condition precedent.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.