to determine (as an active option from subjective impul… · verb — aorist active indicative, 1st person plural
come
ἐλθεῖνelthein
G2064
to come or go (in a great variety of applications · verb — second aorist active infinitive
unto
πρὸςpros
G4314
a preposition of direction · preposition
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
even
μὲνmen
G3303
properly · particle
I
ἐγὼegō
G1473
I · personal pronoun — 1st person nominative singular
Paul
ΠαῦλοςPaulos
G3972
(little · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
once
ἅπαξhapax
G530
one (or a single) time (numerically or conclusively) · adverb
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
again
δίς,dis
G1364
twice · adverb
but
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
Satan
σατανᾶς.satanas
G4567
the accuser · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
hindered
ἐνέκοψενenekopsen
G1465
to cut into · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
us
ἡμᾶςhēmâs
G2248
us
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 15:22 For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.
Romans 1:13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fru…
Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall…
Zechariah 3:1-2 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2 Corinthians 11:12-14 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even…
Job 33:14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Revelation 12:9-12 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Thessalonians 2:17–end
In these words the apostle apologizes for his absence. Here observe, 1. He tells them they were involuntarily forced from them: We, brethren, were taken from you, Th1 2:17. Such was the rage of his persecutors. He was unwillingly sent away by night to Berea, Act 17:10. 2. Though he was absent in body, yet he was present in heart. He had still a remembrance of them, and great care for them. 3. Even his bodily absence was but for a short time, the time of an hour. Time is short, all our time on earth is short and uncertain, whether we are present with our friends or absent from them. This world is not a place where we are always, or long, to be together. It is in heaven that holy souls shall m…
Wherefore--The oldest manuscripts read, "Because," or "Inasmuch as."
we would--Greek, "we wished to come"; we intended to come.
even I Paul--My fellow missionaries as well as myself wished to come; I can answer for myself that I intended it more than once. His slightly distinguishing himself here from his fellow missionaries, whom throughout this Epistle he associates with himself in the plural, accords with the fact that Silvanus and Timothy stayed at Berea when Paul went on to Athens; where subsequently Timothy joined him, and was thence sent by Paul alone to Thessalonica (Th1 3:1).
Satan hindered us--On a different occasion "the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Jesus" (so the oldest manusc…
Even I Paul - He had already sent Timothy and Silas to them; but he himself was anxious to see them, and had purposed this once and again, but Satan hindered; i.e., some adversary, as the word means, whether the devil himself, or some of his children. There was, however, such a storm of persecution raised up against him, that his friends did not think it prudent to permit him to go till the storm had been somewhat allayed.
John Gill
The Church Fathers
Paul, the chosen vessel, chastised his body and brought it into subjection, lest after preaching to others he himself should be found a reprobate. He relates that there was given to him "a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him." And to the Corinthians he writes: "But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ." And elsewhere he says, "Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, to keep Satan from gaining the advantage over us, for we are not ignorant of his designs." And again, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man, but God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength; but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." And "Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." And to the Galatians, "You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?" And elsewhere: "We greatly desired to have come unto you, I Paul once and again; and Satan hindered us."
"Wherefore we would fain have come unto you, I Paul once and again, and Satan hindered us." Which is the part of love; yet here he mentions no other necessity but "that we might see you." What sayest thou? does Satan hinder? Yes, truly, for this was not the work of God. For in the Epistle to the Romans, he says this, that God hindered him (from Rom. xv. 22); and elsewhere Luke says, that "the Spirit" hindered them from going into Asia. (Acts xvi. 7) And in the Epistle to the Corinthians he says, that it is the work of the Spirit, but here only of Satan. But what hindrance of Satan is he speaking of? Some unexpected and violent temptations: for a plot, it says, being formed against him by the Jews, he was detained three months in Greece. But it is another thing to remain for the sake of the dispensation, and willingly. For there he says, "Wherefore having no more place in these parts" (Rom. xv. 23), and, "To spare you I forbare to come unto Corinth." (2 Cor. i. 23) But here nothing of this sort. But what? That "Satan hindered" him. "Even I Paul," he says, "both once and again." Observe, how ambitious he is, and what a display he makes, in his willingness to show that he loved them most of all. "I Paul," he says, instead of Although no others. For they indeed were only willing, but I even attempted it.
Dictionary and topics
Macedonia — In New Testament times, was a Roman province lying north of Greece. It was governed by a propraetor with the title of proconsul. Paul was summoned by the vision of the “man of Macedonia” to preach…
Devil, The · Opposes God’s work — Opposes God’s work
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on 1 Thessalonians 2:18
Wherefore we would have come unto you,.... They not only had a will, and purposed in themselves, and entered into some resolutions to come unto them, but endeavoured to put them into execution:
even I:Paul: as well as Silas and Timothy; the latter of which had been with them, and the others had as good a will, and especially Paul: and that
once and again: or "once and twice" so the Jews used (h) to speak , "one time and a second"; that is, several times:
but Satan hindered us. The Syriac and Ethiopic versions read, "hindered me"; by moving the mob which rose at Thessalonica, to go to Berea, and disturb the apostle there; which obliged him, contrary to his will, to go to Athens instead of…
1 Thessalonians 2:17-20
17. But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
17. Nos vero, fratres, orbati vobis ad tempus horae [549] aspectu, non corde, abundantius studuimus faciem vestram videre in multo desiderio.
18. Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
18. Itaque voluimus venire ad vos, ego quidem Paulus, et semel et bis, et obstitit nobis Satan.
19. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
19. Quae enim nostra spes, vel gaudium, vel corona gl…
again and again: Paul made repeated attempts to return to the Thessalonian church. Despite the opposition of Satan (see Rom 16:20; 2 Cor 2:11; Eph 6:10-12), both Timothy (1 Thes 3:2, 5) and Paul (Acts 20:1-3) were eventually able to visit the church again.
Do thou also, when about to perform any duty to God, look forward to manifold dangers, manifold punishments, manifold deaths; and be not surprised, nor be disturbed, if such things happen. For it is said, "My Son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation." For surely no one choosing to fight, expects to carry off the crown without wounds! And thou, therefore, who hast undertaken to wage a complete combat with the devil, think not to pursue a life without danger, and full of luxury! God hath not pledged to thee His recompense and His promise here; but everything that is splendid for thee in the future life! Be glad and rejoice then, if when thou hast thyself done any good action, thou receive the contrary, or if thou see another suffering this; inasmuch as this becomes to thee the source of a higher recompense! Do not be downcast: nor give up thy zeal, nor become the more torpid; but rather press onward with more eagerness; since even the Apostles, when they preached, although scourged, stoned, and constant inmates of the prisons, did not only after deliverance from dangers, but also in those very dangers, announce with greater forwardness the message of Truth. Paul is to be seen in prison, yea, even in chains, instructing and initiating: and moreover doing the very same in a court of justice, in shipwreck, in tempest, and in a thousand dangers. Do thou too imitate these saints, and cease not from good works, so long as thou art able; and although thou seest the devil thwarting thee ten thousand times, never fall back! Thou perchance, bearing with thee thy wealth, hast met with shipwreck; but Paul carrying the word, far more precious than all wealth, was going to Rome, and was wrecked; and sustained innumerable hardships. And this he himself signified, when he said, "Many times we desired to come unto you, but Satan hindered us." And God permitted it; thus revealing the more abundantly His power, and showing that the multitude of things which the devil did, or prevented from being done, neither lessened nor interrupted the preaching of the Gospel.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
