Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Thessalonians 3:2

"and sent Timothy, our brother and God`s minister in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort [you] concerning your faith;" — 1 Thessalonians 3:2 (ASV)

Sent.—It may possibly mean that a message was sent to him at Berea, ordering him to go, but it is far more naturally understood if Timothy were at Athens at the time.

And minister . . .—The text here, according to the judgment of most of the best editors (though Tischendorf in his last edition has modified his opinion), is interpolated, and the verse should run: “our brother, and God’s fellow-worker in the gospel of Christ.” Timothy, being a person so well known at Thessalonica, it is difficult to see why he should be thus particularized, unless he was the bearer of the letter, and St. Paul wished to insist upon their paying him due deference in spite of his youth.

To establish, perhaps in the sense of perfecting their organization.

To comfort is here equivalent to “to encourage.”