2 Thessalonians 2:5

Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you thesethings?] More precisely, I used to tell you; comp. 1 Thessalonians 3:4, for the tense.

This reminder serves two purposes: (1) It is a gentle reproof to the readers, who ought not to have been so easily unsettled by the alarmists, after what the Apostle had told them, (2) It obviates the necessity of explanation by letter. Any more explicit statement would probably have raised political suspicion, exposing the Apostle to a renewal of the charges which led to his expulsion from Thessalonica (see Acts 17:6-7; Introd.pp. 15, 20, 21). St Paul had watchful enemies, who would be quick to seize on anything that might compromise him with the Roman Government.