1 Thessalonians 2:7

7 Instead, we were like young children[a] among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children,

1 Thessalonians 2:7 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:
English Standard Version (ESV)
7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.
New Living Translation (NLT)
7 As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children.
The Message Bible (MSG)
7 We weren't aloof with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children.
American Standard Version (ASV)
7 But we were gentle in the midst of you, as when a nurse cherisheth her own children:
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
7 although as apostles of Christ we had the right to do this. Instead, we were gentle when we were with you, like a mother taking care of her children.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ's apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother nurtures her own children.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
7 But we were gentle among you. We were like a mother caring for her little children.

1 Thessalonians 2:7 Meaning and Commentary

1 Thessalonians 2:7

But we were gentle among you
Meek and humble, mild and moderate; not using severity, or carrying it in a haughty imperious manner; assuming power and dominion, lording it over God's heritage, and commanding persons to do homage and honour to them, and forcing themselves upon them, and obliging them to maintain them. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions, instead of "gentle", read, "little children"; as the word signifies, by adding a letter to it, and expresses much the same as the other, that they were harmless and modest, and disinterested; and sought not themselves neither honour nor wealth, but the real good of others, and were kind and tender, and affectionate to them:

even as a nurse cherisheth her children:
or "the children of her own self"; her own children, and so designs a nursing mother, one whose the children are, has bore them as well as nurses them, and therefore has the most tender concern for them; she lays them in her bosom, and hugs them in her arms, and so warms and cherishes them; gives them the breast, bears with their frowardness, condescends to do the meanest things for them; and that without any self-interest, from a pure parental affection for them: and such were the apostles to these Thessalonians; they were their spiritual parents, of whom they travailed in birth, till Christ was formed in them; they used them with the greatest kindness and tenderness; they fed them with the sincere milk of the word; they bore patiently all the slighting and ill treatment they met with; and condescended to men of low estates, and did them all the good offices they could, without any selfish views or sinister ends: a like simile is used by the Jews {e}, who say,

``he that rises in the night to study in the law, the law makes known to him his offences; and not in a way of judgment, but (amak) , as a mother makes known to her son, "with gentle words":''

but the ministration of the Gospel is much more gentle.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 Zohar in Lev. fol. 10. 2.

1 Thessalonians 2:7 In-Context

5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.
6 We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority.
7 Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children,
8 so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.
9 Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.

Cross References 1

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Some manuscripts "were gentle"
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