1 Thessalonians 3:12

And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
Lord	κύριος kurios	G2962	supreme in authority · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
make	πλεονάσαι pleonasai	G4121	to do · verb — aorist active optative, 3rd person singular
you	ὑμᾶς hymâs	G5209	you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
increase	πλεονάζω pleonázō	G4121	to do
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
abound	περισσεύσαι perisseusai	G4052	to superabound (in quantity or quality) · verb — aorist active optative, 3rd person singular
love	ἀγάπῃ agapē	G26	love · noun — dative singular feminine
one	ἀλλήλους allēlous	G240	one another · reciprocal pronoun — accusative plural masculine
toward	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
another	ἀλλήλων allḗlōn	G240	one another
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
toward	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
all	πάντας pantas	G3956	all · adjective — accusative plural masculine
even	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
as	καθάπερ kathaper	G2509	exactly as · conjunction
we	ἡμεῖς hēmeîs	G2249	we (only used when emphatic)
toward	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
you	ὑμᾶς hymâs	G5209	you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)

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

Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
Romans 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Matthew 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
1 John 4:7-16 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one…
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1 John 3:11-19 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Thessalonians 3:11–end

In these words we have the earnest prayer of the apostle. He desired to be instrumental in the further benefit of the Thessalonians; and the only way to be so while at a distance was by prayer for them, together with his writing or sending to them. He desired that their faith might be perfected, which he could not be the proper cause or author of; for he pretended not to dominion over their faith, nor to have the donation of it, and he therefore concludes with prayer for them. Observe, I. Whom he prays to, namely, God and Christ. Prayer is a part of religious worship, and all religious worship is due unto God only. Prayer is here made to God, even the Father and our Father; and also to Chris…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Thessalonians 3:12

The "you" in the Greek is emphatically put first; "But" (so the Greek for "and") what concerns "YOU," whether we come or not, "may the Lord make you to increase and abound in love," &c. The Greek for "increase" has a more positive force; that for "abound" a more comparative force, "make you full (supplying 'that which is lacking,' Th1 3:10) and even abound." "The Lord" may here be the Holy Spirit; so the Three Persons of the Trinity will be appealed to (compare Th1 3:13), as in Th2 3:5. So the Holy Ghost is called "the Lord" (Co2 3:17). "Love" is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22), and His office is "to stablish in holiness" (Th1 3:13; Pe1 1:2).

Adam Clarke on 1 Thessalonians 3:12

Make you to increase and abound in love - They had already love to each other, so as to unite them in one Christian body; and he prays that they may have an increase and an abundance of it; that they might feel the same love to each other which he felt for them all.

John Gill on 1 Thessalonians 3:12

And the Lord make you to increase,.... That is, the Lord the Spirit; so that the object of prayer, addressed by the apostle, is Father, Son, and Spirit, as in Revelation 1:4. The Alexandrian copy reads "God". The Spirit is God, equally with the Father and the Son, and so a fit object of prayer with them, which otherwise he would not be. The request is, that he would cause these saints to increase in number, as the first churches greatly did: and in the gifts of the Spirit, which he divides to men severally as he will; and in his graces, as in faith, in hope, in holiness, in humility, in knowledge, in spiritual joy and strength, an increase in all which is from him: and abound in love one to…

The Church Fathers

Suppose we first loved him so as to merit his love in return. Then wouldn't we first choose him so as to merit our being chosen by him? But he who is Truth itself says otherwise and openly contradicts such human vanity by declaring, "You have not chosen me." Consequently, if it is not you who have chosen, then it is certainly not you who have loved; for how could they choose him whom they did not love? "But it is I," he says, "who have chosen you." And how could they possibly fail to choose him afterward or fail to prefer him to all the goods of this world? It was because they were chosen that they chose him. They were not chosen because they had chosen him. There would be no merit in men's choosing him unless the action of God's grace in choosing them had gone before. That is why in imparting his blessing to the Thessalonians the apostle Paul declares, "And may the Lord make you to increase and abound in charity toward one another and toward all men." He who gave this blessing to love one another is the same who gave us the love to love one another.
— Augustine of Hippo, GRACE AND FREE WILL 38

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

Commandments · PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES — PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES
Grace Of God · GROWTH IN — GROWTH IN
Love To Man · Saints should: Abound in — Saints should: Abound in

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).

1 Thessalonians 3:12

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Thessalonians 3:11–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Thessalonians 3:12

Adam Clarke on 1 Thessalonians 3:12

John Gill on 1 Thessalonians 3:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Thessalonians 3:12

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Thessalonians 3:11–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Thessalonians 3:12

Adam Clarke on 1 Thessalonians 3:12

John Gill on 1 Thessalonians 3:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on 1 Thessalonians 3:11–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Thessalonians 3:12