The Feeble Minded
Bp. Alexander. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Now we exhort you, brothers, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. Littleness is implied. The word occurs here only in the New Testament (see Isaiah 35:4; 70), and is almost unknown in classical Greek. The student of Aristotle will look upon it as implying the contradictory of the "great souled," with his high estimate of himself, "just contempt" for others, and freedom from excessive elation or depression. The whole passage here might well lead us to suppose that, as the Thessalonian Christians had a tender and almost feminine susceptibility about those they had loved and lost, so they would be likely also to have some of the rest of the characteristics which accompany that beautiful weakness. We may perhaps refer to "the chief women not a few" (Acts 17:4). The morbid conscientious ness, the form of self-torment known to spiritual writers as scrupulousness, would be well expressed by the word "little-minded." (Bp. Alexander.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. WEB: We exhort you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient toward all.