There is disagreement among the various editions of the Greek text and consequently among translations as to where verse 7 begins. Some include the words up to demands on you with verse 6 and begin verse 7 with but we were gentle.

There are two basic problems in the connectives employed in the first clause of verse 7. Even though may be rendered as “but,” and as may be rendered here as “since,” for example, “but, since we are apostles of Christ, we could have rightfully asked things of you.”

Bijbel in Gewone Taal makes explicit the contrast between 7a and 7b: “True, we could have asserted ourselves as apostles of Christ. But as a mother….”

There are differences of opinion about the punctuation of this verse. As we have seen (see notes on 1.2), the punctuation is not part of the original text. Most editions and translations end the sentence with demands on you, but it is possible to end it with when we were with you, or even, as Moffatt does, to include the whole of verses 5-8 in one long sentence. This may well reflect the way in which Paul dictated, but it does not make for clear and precise translation.

The problem of punctuation affects the translation in the following way. In the Greek text, the comparison “as a mother taking care of her children” can refer either backwards or forwards, or both. The third possibility can be discounted for the purposes of translation, since even if it were theoretically correct, it would produce an unnaturally heavy sentence in translation. If it refers backwards, Good News Translation‘s translation is correct, comparing the apostles’ way with a mother’s gentle care. The other possibility would produce the translation: “On the contrary, we were gentle among you. As a mother takes care of her children, and gives them her own milk, so … we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves…” (cf. Best).

The previous verse states the result of the clause even though, as apostles of Christ, we could have made demands on you.

This is the first time Paul describes himself and his companions as apostles, and the word is emphatic. Silas and Timothy are not described elsewhere as apostles, but it is clear that this title is not restricted to the original twelve disciples. It is given to Andronicus and Junias (Romans 16.7), Apollos (?) (1 Corinthians 4.9), and Epaphroditus (Philippians 2.25), as well as to Paul, Silas, and Timothy. What these men have in common is the fact of being sent by Christ to give a personal witness to the good news about him. The closeness with which Paul associates his companions with himself confirms that it is right, in most cases, to take his “we” as referring to the three evangelists.

Though many languages have a borrowed term for apostle (coming originally from Greek but often changed in form by intermediate languages), some languages employ a phrase meaning “those specially sent by” or “those commissioned by,” so that in this context apostles would be equivalent to “ambassadors.”

In this clause the Greek contains a metaphor of weight which is well brought out in Biblia Dios Habla Hoy: “We could have made you feel the weight of our authority” (cf. Moffatt Phillips Translator’s New Testament “heavy demands,” New English Bible Bible en français courant Bible de Jérusalem). Paul is referring in a general way to how people in authority sometimes make burdensome demands on their subordinates. He may already be thinking of his refusal to be a financial burden to the Thessalonians, but he does not say so explicit until verse 9. Could have made demands on you can also be rendered as “would have been justified in making demands on you,” or “it would have been right for us to have asked you for this.”

In some languages the closest equivalent of gentle, especially for this type of context, would be “loving and kind,” since gentle combines concepts of affection and of considerate treatment.

Many good manuscripts read “babies” instead of gentle. The Greek words nēpioi ‘babies’ and ēpioi ‘gentle’ are easily confused, especially since the previous word ends in n. One or two translations follow the reading “babies.” Knox (cf. Bible de Jérusalem text) combines translation and exegesis in his “innocent as babes.” It is true that Paul does not always handle figures of speech very skillfully, but it is difficult to believe that, immediately after comparing himself and his companions with babies, he would proceed to compare them with a mother looking after children. For this reason, and also because the manuscript evidence is fairly evenly divided, the UBS Greek text and the vast majority of translations follow the reading “gentle.”

Like a mother taking care of her children. The word translated mother means any woman who breast-feeds (in American English “nurses”) a baby. It could therefore refer also to what used to be called a “wet nurse.” In classical Greek, the words translated her children would have meant “her own children,” but this was not always so in New Testament times. Even so, since it was more normal for babies to be fed by their own mothers, it is best to translate the word here by “mother” (Jerusalem Bible; cf. Luther 1984 Zürcher Bibel Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale Bible en français courant Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch Bijbel in Gewone Taal) or “nursing mother” (Moffatt Knox New American Bible Best) rather than by “nurse” (King James Version Revised Standard Version New English Bible Phillips Barclay Translator’s New Testament, cf. La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée). Perhaps the best solution of all is that of Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, which restructures the whole expression to read “as a mother suckles and looks after her children.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .