Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Thessalonians 3:1

"Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left behind at Athens alone;" — 1 Thessalonians 3:1 (ASV)

Chapter III

Analysis of the Chapter

This chapter is a continuation of the course of thought pursued in the previous chapter. It seems designed to address the same state of feeling in Thessalonica and the same objections that some there urged against the apostle. The objection appears to have been that he really had no attachment to them and no concern for their welfare; that he had fled from them at the slightest danger, and that when the danger had passed, he had not returned but had left them to bear their afflictions alone.

It appears to have been inferred from his long absence that he had no solicitude for their welfare and had brought them into difficulties, which he was now unwilling to help them escape from or to bear. It was important, therefore, for him to remind them of what he had actually done and to state his real feelings toward them. He refers them, therefore, to the following things as proof of his interest in them and his affection for them:

1. He had sent Timothy to them at great personal inconvenience when he could not go himself (1 Thessalonians 3:1–5).
2. He had been greatly comforted by the report Timothy brought of their steadfastness in the faith (1 Thessalonians 3:6–8). Every expression of their attachment to him had gone to his heart, and their faith and charity had been to him in his trials the source of unspeakable consolation. His very life depended, as it were, on their fidelity; and he says he would live and be happy if they stood fast in the Lord (1 Thessalonians 3:8).
3. He expresses again the earnest desire he had to see them; says that it had been to him the subject of unceasing prayer night and day, and beseeches God again now that He would be pleased to direct his way to them (1 Thessalonians 3:9–11).
4. As a proof of affection, the chapter is closed with a fervent prayer that God would cause them to abound more and more in love and would establish their hearts unblameable before Him (1 Thessalonians 3:12–13). The Thessalonians knew the apostle Paul well. They had had abundant proof of his love when he was with them. If his enemies there had succeeded in any degree in causing their affection toward him to become cool, or in exciting suspicions that he was not sincere, their love must have been rekindled, and their suspicions must have been entirely allayed by the expressions of attachment in this chapter. It would not be possible to find language of warmer love, or of deeper interest in the welfare of others, anywhere.

Wherefore (1 Thessalonians 2:18). This particle (dio) is designed here to refer to another proof of his affection for them. One evidence had been referred to in his strong desire to visit them, which he had been unable to accomplish (1 Thessalonians 2:18); and he here refers to another—namely, the fact that he had sent Timothy to them.

We could no longer forbear. That is, when I could not (1 Thessalonians 3:5), for there is every evidence that Paul refers to himself only, though he uses the plural form of the word. There was no one with him at Athens after he had sent Timothy away (Acts 17:15; Acts 18:5). This shows that when, in 1 Thessalonians 2:6, he uses the term apostles in the plural number, he refers to himself only and does not mean to give that name to Timothy and Silas.

If this is so, Timothy and Silas are nowhere called apostles in the New Testament. The word rendered here could forbear (stegontes), properly means to cover or conceal; and then to hide or conceal anger, impatience, weariness, etc.; that is, to hold out against anything, to bear with, to endure.

It is rendered suffer in 1 Corinthians 9:12 and beareth in 1 Thessalonians 3:1, 5. It is not used elsewhere in the New Testament. It means that he could no longer bear up under, hide, or suppress his impatience regarding them, his painful emotions, and his wish to know of their state; and he therefore sent Timothy to them.

We thought it good. I was willing to suffer the inconvenience of parting with him in order to show my concern for you.

To be left at Athens alone. Paul had been brought to Athens from Berea, where he remained until Silas and Timothy could come to him (Acts 17:15). It appears from the statement here that Timothy had joined him there. However, such was his solicitude for the church at Thessalonica that he very soon after sent him there and chose to remain himself alone at Athens.

Why he did not himself return to Thessalonica is not stated. It is evidently implied here that it was a great personal inconvenience for him to part with Timothy in this way and to remain alone at Athens. He showed the strong love he had for the church at Thessalonica by being willing to submit to it. What that inconvenience consisted in, he has not stated, but it is not difficult to understand:

1. He was among total strangers and, when Timothy was gone, without an acquaintance or friend.
2. Timothy's aid was needed to carry out the work he planned. He had requested that Timothy join him as soon as possible when he left Berea (Acts 17:15). He evidently felt it desirable that in preaching the gospel in that city, he should have all the assistance he could obtain. Yet he was willing to forego those comforts and advantages in order to promote the edification of the church at Thessalonica.

* "forbear," "bear"