III. (1) WE COULD NO LONGER FORBEAR. — The Greek word contains the metaphor of a vessel over-full and bursting with its contents. “We_”_ must be understood here by the limitation of 1 Thessalonians 2:18, and by the direct singular of 1 Thessalonians 3:5, to mean St. Paul alone, not him and Silas. T... [ Continue Reading ]
SENT. — It may possibly mean that a message was despatched to him at Berœa, ordering him to go, but is far more naturally understood if Timothy were at Athens at the time. AND MINISTER... — The text here, according to the judgment of most of the best editors (though Tischendorf in his last edition... [ Continue Reading ]
MOVED, or more literally, _seduced._ The very peculiar word in the original means, in the first instance, the _fawning_ of an animal upon its master: then, through the intermediate sense of “wheedling,” it comes to mean the gradual detachment of a person from his resolution by _any_ insinuating repr... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR VERILY, WHEN... — To appreciate the nature of the argument, see the passages referred to in the margin.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS CAUSE. — “Because I knew that temptation was sure to overtake you, I sent to see whether our work still lived, and was likely to live, in spite of it.” TO KNOW YOUR FAITH. — “To ascertain whether you still believed:” only the form courteously implies that the faith was certainly _there,_ a... [ Continue Reading ]
“We were in great anxiety, for fear you should have fallen away, and sent Timothy to see if all was well; but now, all anxiety is over.” TIMOTHEUS CAME. — According to the usual interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 3:1, adopted above, this will mean that Timothy had already returned from his mission t... [ Continue Reading ]
IN ALL OUR AFFLICTION AND DISTRESS. — The words give no decisive indication whether the distress came from within or from without, and it is impossible to specify in what it consisted; but either way it suits very well with Acts 18:5; 1 Corinthians 2:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW WE LIVE, IF. — “Now” contrasts the new life and vigour which the “gospel of their faith and charity” had infused into the Apostle, with the deadly sinking he had felt at the thought of their possible apostacy. At the same time the “if” has the half-future sense, as though St. Paul meant that the... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHAT THANKS CAN WE RENDER. — An apology for the enthusiastic expressions used in the three foregoing verses. “I may call it a gospel, a balm for all anxieties, a new life, for what mode of thanksgiving could be deemed extravagant in such a case of joy?” BEFORE OUR GOD. — As in 1 Thessalonians 1:... [ Continue Reading ]
SEE YOUR FACE. — Seeing them by proxy might satisfy for the while, but not for long. This exceeding importunate, prayer is caused by the feeling that it was Satan’s hindrance (1 Thessalonians 2:18), not God’s will, which forbad the meeting. He would not so have prayed to go into Bithynia (Acts 16:7)... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD HIMSELF AND OUR FATHER. — Better, _our God and Father Himself._ If we are to find any special person with whom the word “Himself” is intended to enforce a contrast, the contrast is probably not so much with the baffled efforts of St. Paul, as with Satan, who had hindered the journey. But the wor... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD MAKE YOU. — The word _you_ in the Greek is emphatic and stands first. The wish in the previous verse concerned the _writers:”_ But _you_ (whether we come or not) may the Lord make,” &c. By “the Lord” here St. Paul seems to mean not only the Son: the word appears to be an equivalent for... [ Continue Reading ]
TO THE END. — A beautiful connection of thought. Perfect and settled sanctification in the eyes of God is the object in view, and the means by which it is to be attained is growing and overflowing love toward mankind. (See Colossians 3:14.) St. Paul is already thinking, probably, how he shall treat... [ Continue Reading ]