to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
see
ἰδεῖνidein
G1492
used only in certain past tenses · verb — second aorist active infinitive
your
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
face
πρόσωπονprosōpon
G4383
the front (as being towards view) · noun — accusative singular neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
perfect
καταρτίσαιkatartisai
G2675
to complete thoroughly · verb — aorist active infinitive
lacking
ὑστερήματαhusterēmata
G5303
a deficit · noun — accusative plural neuter
your
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
faith
πίστεωςpisteōs
G4102
persuasion · noun — genitive singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Corinthians 13:9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.
Romans 1:10-12 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
Romans 15:30-32 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your praye…
2 Corinthians 1:24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.
Philippians 1:25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
1 Thessalonians 2:17-18 But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with gre…
1 Thessalonians 3:11 Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.
Acts 26:7 Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused o…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Thessalonians 3:6-10
Here we have Paul's great satisfaction upon the return of Timothy with good tidings from the Thessalonians, in which we may observe,
I. The good report Timothy made concerning them, Th1 3:6. Without question, he was a willing messenger of these good tidings. Concerning their faith, that is, concerning their stedfastness in the faith, that they were not shaken in mind, nor turned aside form the profession of the gospel. Their love also continued; their love to the gospel, and the ministers of the gospel. For they had a good and a kind remembrance of the apostles, and that constantly, or always. The names of the apostles were very dear to them, and the thoughts of them, and what they themselve…
Night and day--(See on Th1 2:9). Night is the season for the saint's holiest meditations and prayers (Ti2 1:3).
praying--connected with, "we joy"; we joy while we pray; or else as ALFORD, What thanks can we render to God while we pray? The Greek implies a beseeching request.
exceedingly--literally, "more than exceeding abundantly" (compare Eph 3:20).
that which is lacking--Even the Thessalonians had points in which they needed improvement [BENGEL], (Luk 17:5). Their doctrinal views as to the nearness of Christ's coming, and as to the state of those who had fallen asleep, and their practice in some points, needed correction (Th1 4:1-9). Paul's method was to begin by commending what was…
Night and day praying exceedingly - Supplicating God at all times; mingling this with all my prayers; ὑπερεκπερισσου δεομενοι, abounding and superabounding in my entreaties to God to permit me to revisit you. How strong was his affection for this Church!
Might perfect that which is lacking - That I might have the opportunity of giving you the fullest instructions in the doctrine of Christ, that ye might have every thing in the most ample detail; so that the great outlines of truth which you already know may be filled up, that ye may be perfectly fitted to every good word and work.
The Church Fathers
And let not the admonition of the most blessed apostle by any means lose its place in your hearts: "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." He does not say, More than ye have received; but, "Other than ye have received." For had he said the former, he would be prejudging himself, inasmuch as he desired to come to the Thessalonians to supply what was lacking in their faith. But one who supplies, adds to what was deficient, without taking away what existed: while he that transgresses the rule of faith, is not progressing in the way, but turning aside from it.
But to those who are still babes in mind, and who as carnal, the apostle says, require to be nourished with milk, all discoursing on such a subject, wherein we deal not only with the believing, but also with the understanding and the knowing of what is spoken, must be burdensome, as being still unable to perceive such things, and be more fitted to oppress than to feed them. Whence it comes to pass that the spiritual, while not altogether silent on such subjects to the carnal, because of the Catholic faith which is to be preached to all, yet do not so handle them as, in their wish to simplify them to understandings that are still deficient in capacity, to bring their discourse on the truth into disrepute, rather than the truth that is in their discourse within the perceptions of their hearers. Accordingly in his Epistle to the Colossians he says: "And though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and that which is lacking in your faith in Christ." And in that to the Thessalonians: "Night and day," he says, "praying more abundantly, that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Macedonia — In New Testament times, was a Roman province lying north of Greece. It was governed by a propraetor with the title of proconsul. Paul was summoned by the vision of the “man of Macedonia” to preach…
Thessalonians, First Epistle To The — was written by the apostle Paul at Corinth, a few months after he had founded the church at Thessalonica, at the close of the year A.D. 62 or the beginning of 53. The Epistles to the Thessalonians,…
Grace Of God · GROWTH IN — GROWTH IN
Perfection · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Prayer · Should be offered up: With earnestness — Should be offered up: With earnestness
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 1 Thessalonians 3:10
Night and day praying exceedingly,.... This good news, not only comforted their hearts, and revived their spirits, and filled them with joy and thankfulness, but also sent them to the throne of grace to pray without ceasing, continually, night and day, and as often as they went thither, and that with great fervency and earnestness, in a multitude of petitions; or, as the Arabic version renders it, "with prayers exceeding a multitude"; with innumerable requests:
that we might see your face: once more, and converse face to face:
and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith? in the grace of faith; for though they remembered their work of faith with pleasure, and had had good tidings…
1 Thessalonians 3:6-10
6. But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
6. Nuper autem quum venisset Timotheus ad nos a vobis, et annuntiasset nobis fidem et dilectionem vestram, et quod bonam nostri memoriam habetis semper, desiderantes nos videre, quemadmodum et nos ipsi vos:
7. Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith:
7. Inde consolationem percepimus fratres de vobis, in omni tribulatione et necessitate nostra per vestram fidem:
8. For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord…
Paul was distressed by his present circumstances (3:7) and deeply concerned for the church (3:1, 5). He was relieved to learn that the Thessalonians remained strong and were standing firm in the Lord even though they were also suffering (2:14; 3:3-4).
