Therefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
All Commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 2:18 Go To 1 Thessalonians 2
John Chrysostom
AD 407
What do you say? 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 Romans 15:22; and elsewhere Luke says, that the Spirit hindered them from going into Asia. Acts 16:7 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 Romans 15:23, and, To spare you I forbare to come unto Corinth. 2 Corinthians 1:23 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.
