B. Paul's Joy in the Thessalonians (2:19-20) 89
17 But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. is For we wanted to come to youcertainly I, Paul, did, again and again-but Satan stopped us.
Paul has been engaging in reminiscences about what had happened when he was in Thessalonica on the mission that had resulted in the foundation of the church there. Now he turns to his continuing warm relationship to that church, and begins with his deep longing to go back to them and see them again.
17 As Paul enters this new section of the letter, it is not without a backward glance at the last. His "But" is an adversative conjunctions l contrasting him with the Jews, and there is another contrast in the emphatic "we." It seems probable that one of the accusations leveled against him had been that he had never intended to revisit Thessalonica and that his failure to return was evidence that he was a charlatan. His continued absence was urged as further proof that he had no real regard for his converts. So Paul addresses them affectionately as "brothers," and goes on to use a very strong term to express his sense of loss at their absence from him. "When we were torn away from you" is really "being orphaned"; while the word had developed the general sense of "being bereaved," it seems likely that Paul is not unmindful of its original significance. In this chapter he has already likened his attitude to them to that of a mother-nurse (v. 7) and to that of a father (v. 11). The present verb, while it may radically alter the imagery by making Paul the "orphan," continues the thought of the tender affection that bound the apostle to his converts.82 This deep sense of bereavement had arisen even though their separation had been only for a very short time, "a season of an hour." He stresses that the separation is only physical: they are still joined in heart. "Out of sight, out of mind" runs our proverb, and Moffatt brings out some of the significance of Paul's words here with his "out of sight, not out of mind." For "heart" (NIV, "thought") see on verse 4.
Because of this deep feeling Paul had made a determined attempt to see them. We have no precise equivalent of the Greek word rendered "made every effort," a word that manages to combine the two ideas of haste and eagerness.83 It means that Paul did not delay, nor did he put forth a token effort only. Rather, he had used all his might and used it speedily in his endeavor to come to them. He reinforces this strong verb with a comparative adverb, "the more eagerly"84 (RSV), which should leave them in no doubt as to the strength of his endeavors.
But he is not finished yet. He tells his readers that he had endeavored to see them "with great desire" (NI-V, "out of our intense longing"). The last word is rather surprising, for it nearly always means something like "lust" in its New Testament occurrences. It is generally mentioned only to be condemned. Here Paul uses it in its original sense of very strong desire, almost of fierce passion (cf. Rutherford, "absence has made us anxious out of measure to see you face to face with passionate desire"). He wants his friends to be in no doubt as to the strength of his feelings for them.
18 Paul repeats that he had wished to come to them.85 The verb "wanted" expresses something of the emotions as well as the will.86 It strengthens the emotional element that is so marked a feature of this section of the letter. Whatever had kept Paul away from the Thessalonians, it had not been his personal desires. This again underlies his emphatic "I Paul."87 Throughout these two letters, as we have noted, the plural is used much more than in most of Paul's letters, which makes the singular more significant when it does occur (again in 5:27; 2 Thess. 2:5; 3:17).88 Here the intense personal feeling breaks through, and we have the emphatic singular reinforced by the personal name. Paul had not simply made one attempt. He had wished to come, according to NIV, "again and again." This represents an unusual Greek expression that seems to denote a plurality of occasions with no attempt at giving the exact number. "More than once" is probably our nearest equivalent.89 Paul had been able to send Timothy (3:2), so whatever the hindrance was it was evidently personal to Paul.
However, Paul's endeavors had been frustrated by Satan (for Satan, see on 3:5). The verb here translated "stopped" means literally "to cut into";90 Milligan agrees with Lightfoot that the idea is that of cutting up a road to make it impassable, and thence of hindering in general. A number of suggestions have been made as to the particular form Satan's activities took. But we are completely in the dark in this matter, and all attempts to understand it are no more than guesswork. There is no way of knowing exactly what Paul had in mind. Clearly the Thessalonians were expected to catch the allusion, but we lack their detailed knowledge of the circumstances. One thing of importance is clear to us, though, and that is that Satan makes his presence felt to Christian workers. He even prevents them from doing things they would dearly love to do. Scripture makes it clear that his power is derivative, and always subject to God's overruling. But within the limits allotted to him he does hinder God's servants.