"But we became infants among you": The case for nepioi (infants) in 1-Thessalonians-II,7 (External evidence for a Pauline infant metaphor and the notion of innocence in the 'Letters to the Thessalonians')

The debate over the proper reading of 1Thess. 2.7 is much less ambiguous th an it is typically portrayed to be. The external evidence is decisively in favour of (sic)(infants), a fact that even those opposed to this reading re adily admit. An evaluation of the internal evidence and the four arguments commonly used to justify the choice of (sic)('gentle') reveals that none of them provides the needed grounds for overriding the clear testimony of the external evidence. Furthermore, the superior reading 'infants' involves a striking metaphor that functions effectively in the overall argument of 1 T hess. 2.5-7b. There are compelling reasons, therefore, for allowing Paul to make the claim of innocence that he made to the Thessalonians long ago: 'B ut we became infants among you.'