absorbing all the

Ver. 21. thought. +For all of them+ (_oi pantes_), all from whom I
could in this case select, +are bent on+ (_xetousi_: cp. Col. iii. 1)
+their own interests, not the interests of Jesus Christ+; they plead
excuses which indicate a preference of their own ease, or reputation,
or affections, to a matter manifestly and wholly HIS.

Ver. 22. +But the test through which he+, Timotheus, +passed+ (_ten
dokimen autou_) you remember (_ginoskete_, "you recognize," as you look
back); you know +that as child with father+ so +he with me+, in closest
companionship and sympathy, +did bondservice[3] for the Gospel+, _eis
to euaggelion_, "_unto_ it," for the furtherance

Ver. 23. of its enterprise and message. +So him then+ (_touton men
oun_[4]) +I hope to send, immediately upon+ (_hos an_ . . . _exautes_)
+my getting a view of+ (_apido_) +my circumstances+, my position with
regard to my trial

Ver. 24. and its result. +But+ (though I thus allude to external
uncertainties) +I feel sure, in the Lord+, in the light of union and
communion with Him, +that I too in person shall speedily arrive+, in
the track of this my messenger and forerunner.

Ver. 25. +But I count[5] it obligatory+ (_anagkaion_), and not merely
a matter for hopes and personal satisfaction, +to send to you+, as I
now do, in charge of this Letter, another person, +Epaphroditus, my
brother, fellow-worker, and fellow-soldier+, a man who has toiled and
contended at my very side for the Lord and against the Enemy, +while he
is+ also +your missionary and ministrant[6] for my need+. Yes, I feel
that I _ought_

Ver. 26. to send him, and to send him _now_; +since he has been
suffering from home-sickness for[7] all of you+, (all, without
exception; his affection knows no party or partiality,) +and from the
distraction+ (_ademonon_) of over-wrought feeling, because you have
heard that he

Ver. 27. fell ill[8] (_esthenese_). +And+ so it was; +for he did fall
ill, almost fatally+ (_paraplesion thanato_). +But our+ (_ho_) +God
pitied him+, sparing him the grief of broken hopes and purposes in the
Lord's work on earth, and the grief of being a cause of tears to you;
+and not only him but also me, that I might not have[9] sorrow upon
sorrow+. For had he died, I should have had a sore bereavement, and
the sad consciousness that you, in a loving effort for my benefit, had
lost a beloved friend; and all this added to, heaped upon (_epi_ _c.
acc._), t