12, 13. ‘ And now to pass before closing to one or two points in this life of mutual service, we call upon you, Brothers, to pay proper respect to those who exercise rule over you in the Lord. Hold them in the highest esteem and love on account of their Divine calling, and thus preserve a spirit of peace in the whole community.’ 12. εἰδέναι] evidently used here in the sense of ‘ know in their true character,’ ‘ appreciate’ — a usage of the word for which no adequate parallel has yet been produced from class. or Bibl. Gk.: cf. however 1 Corinthians 16:18 ἐπιγινώσκετεοὖντοὺςτοιούτους, and see Ign. Smyrn. 9. καλῶςἔχειφεὸνκαὶἐπίσκοπονεἰδέναι. Bornemann well remarks on the ‘ Feinheit’ displayed in the choice of the word in the present passage: it is knowledge founded on ‘ Einsicht’ that the writers have in view. τοὺςκοπιῶνταςκτλ.] ‘ them that toil among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.’ In view of the common art. the three participles must be referred to the same persons, in all probability the ‘ presbyters,’ their work being regarded from three different points of view, cf. 1 Timothy 5:17 and see Intr. p. 47 f. κοπιῶντας] Κοπιάω in class. Gk. = ‘ grow weary,’ a sense which it also retains in the LXX. (e.g. 2 Regn. 17:2, Isaiah 40:30), is generally used in the N.T. (contrast Matthew 11:28, John 4:6, Revelation 2:3) with the derived meaning of ‘ toil,’ ‘ work with effort,’ with reference to both bodily and mental labour (cf. κόπος, 1:3 note). It is a favourite word with St Paul (Epp.14), who frequently employs it with reference to the laborious character of his own ministerial life (1 Corinthians 15:10, Galatians 4:11, Philippians 2:16, Colossians 1:29, 1 Timothy 4:10). Lft. (ad Ign. Polyc. 6.) derives the metaphor from the toilsome training for an athletic contest. By the use of the word here, as Calvin characteristically remarks, the Apostle excludes from the class of pastors ‘ omnes otiosos ventres.’ προϊσταμένους] not a technical term of office as shown by its position between κοπιῶντας and νουθετοῦντας, but, in accordance with the general usage of the verb in the N.T. (Romans 12:8, 1 Timothy 3:4-5; 1 Timothy 3:12, cf. Titus 3:8; Titus 3:14), pointing rather to the informal guidance in spiritual matters which the Thessalonian elders exercised ‘ in the Lord’ towards individual members of the Church: cf. Hort Ecclesia p. 126, and for the later ecclesiastical use of the verb see Just. M. Apol. 1:67, Hermas Vis. 11. 4:3. For an ‘ official’ sense attaching to προΐστασθαι in the papyri see P.Tebt. 5, 58 (2./b.c.) where it is applied to ‘ the superintendents of the sacred revenues’ (τοῖςπροστηκόσιτῶνἱερῶνπροσόδω[ν]), cf. 53, 8 (2./b.c.); and for a similar use in the inscriptions see Dittenberger Sylloge2 318, 8 f. (2./b.c.), where, in an inscription found close to Thessalonica, a certain Μάαρκος is described as προϊστάμενοςτῶντεκατὰκοινὸνπᾶσινΜακεδόσινσυνθερόντων: cf. also O.G.I.S. 728, 4 (3./b.c.— from the Thebaid) προέστητῶνκα[θʼ αὑτὸν] ἀξίωςτῆςπόλεως. The word = ‘ to practise in business’ is discussed by Field Notes p. 223 f.: in P.Petr. 3:73, 3:4 f. (undated) it is used of ‘ the landlord’ of a lodging-house (τοῦπ[ρο]εστηκότοςτῆς ... συνοικίας). νουθετοῦντας] Νουθετεῖν has apparently always a sense of blame attached to it, hence = ‘ admonish,’ ‘ warn,’ cf. 5:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:15. In Colossians 1:28 it joined with διδάσκειν, as presenting complementary aspects of the preacher’ s duty ‘warning to repent, instructing in the faith’ (Lft.). Outside the Pauline Epp. the word is found in the N.T. only in Acts 20:31; Acts cf.1 Regn. 3:13, Sap. 11:10 (11), 12:2, Pss. Sol. 13; 8, also Plato Gorg. 479 a μήτενουθετεῖσθαιμήτεκολάζεσθαιμήτεδίκηνδίδοναι.