1 Thessalonians 2:8

“So being affectionately desirous of you, etc.] Not of theirs but them; not of glory from them, nor a maintenance by them, but of their spiritual and eternal welfare; were as fond of them as a nursing mother is of her children, who, when absent from them but ever so little a while, longs to see them; (see <520217>1 Thessalonians 2:17) and (<520301>1 Thessalonians 3:1,58), we were willing: took the utmost pleasure, delight, and complacency: to have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God only; the sincere milk of the word, which they did freely, fully, and for their spiritual good and profit, without any regard to any advantage of their own: but also our own souls, or “lives”; which is the…”

“So--to be joined to "we were willing"; "As a nurse cherisheth . . . so we were willing," &c. [ALFORD]. But BENGEL, "So," that is, seeing that we have such affection for you. being affectionately desirous--The oldest reading in the Greek implies, literally, to connect one's self with another; to be closely attached to another. willing--The Greek is stronger, "we were well content"; "we would gladly have imparted," &c. "even our own lives" (so the Greek for "souls" ought to be translated); as we showed in the sufferings we endured in giving you the Gospel (Acts 17:1-34). As a nursing mother is ready to impart not only her milk to them, but her life for them, so we not only imparted gladly the…”

“So, being affectionately desirous of you - The word here rendered “being affectionately desirous” - ὁμειρομενοι homeiromenoi - occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means to “long after, to have a strong affection for.” The sense here is, that Paul was so strongly attached to them that he would have been willing to lay down his life for them. We were willing to have imparted unto you - To have given or communicated; Romans 1:11. Not the gospel of God only - To be willing to communicate the knowledge of the gospel was in itself a strong proof of love, even if it were attended with no self-denial or hazard in doing it. We evince a decided love for a man when we tell him of the way of…”

“To impart our own souls - To lay down our lives for your sake. 1 Thessalonians 2:10”

“affectionately: Jer 13:15-17; Rom 1:11, Rom 1:12, Rom 9:1-3, Rom 10:1, Rom 15:29; Co2 6:1, Co2 6:11-13; Gal 4:19; Phi 1:8, Phi 2:25, Phi 2:26; Col 1:28, Col 4:12; Heb 13:17 but: Act 20:23, Act 20:24; Co2 12:15; Phi 2:17; Jo1 3:16 dear: Luk 7:2; Phi 2:20 \*marg. Phi 4:1; Col 1:7; Plm 1:1 1 Thessalonians 2:9”