1 Thessalonians 2:11

As a father with his own children (w pathr tekna eautou). Change from the figure of the mother-nurse in verse 2 Corinthians 7 . There is ellipse of a principal verb with the participles parakalounte, paramuqoumenoi, marturoumenoi. Lightfoot suggests enouqetoumen (we admonished) or egenhqhmen (we became). The three participles give three phases of the minister's preaching (exhorting, encouraging or consoling, witnessing or testifying). They are all old verbs, but only the first (parakalew) is common in the N.T.