Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Thessalonians 2:6

"nor seeking glory of men, neither from you nor from others, when we might have claimed authority as apostles of Christ." — 1 Thessalonians 2:6 (ASV)

Glory—that is, recognition of our splendid position, as in the phrase “giving glory to God,” that is, “recognizing Him for what He is,”John 5:44. (Romans 2:29; 1 Corinthians 4:5.)

Been burdensome.—The marginal reading is on the whole preferable. The original is, might have been in weight—that is, “have dealt heavily with you,” in all the pomp of apostolic dignity, making people acknowledge our “glory.” Although, no doubt, one means of asserting their authority would have been to claim their maintenance from the Church (Compare to 1 Corinthians 9:1–6), more is meant than the mere obtaining of money.

Apostles of Christ.—The title seems here to be bestowed on St. Silas and St. Timothy just as in Acts 14:14 upon St. Barnabas. As official dignity is here the point, it cannot simply (according to the etymology of the word) mean “Christ’s missionaries,” as we speak of “the Apostle of England,” etc., that is, the earliest great preacher of the gospel there. The episcopal office (which St. Timothy, at any rate, held somewhat later) may perhaps be here ranked with the apostolate.

Thus, in Galatians 1:19, St. James, the Bishop of Jerusalem, wears the title, though it is scarcely probable that he was one of the Twelve.

Andronicus and Junias, in Romans 16:7, and Epaphroditus, in Philippians 2:25 (where the term is wrongly translated “messenger,” as it also is in 2 Corinthians 8:23), are called Apostles.

In 1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11, and probably also in Ephesians 2:20 and Revelation 2:2, the first rank in the threefold ministry of the Church seems to be meant, for the reference is to the orderly organization of the Society.

However, in our present passage, the term may conceivably be stretched to mean “as an Apostle and his following.” The definite article should be struck out.