Theophylact of Ohrid, on 1Thess 3:2

“And we sent Timothy, our brother, and the minister of God in the gospel of Christ, to confirm you and exhort you concerning your faith:”

“Such was the care of the holy apostle Paul for his disciples, that when he himself was detained by some difficult circumstances, he would send others to visit his disciples. This is what he did then as well, sending Timothy. And he speaks of him with such praise, not so much exalting him as honoring them by the fact that one so indispensable at such a time he drew away for their sake from the work of ministry as a "fellow worker in the Gospel."”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.