1st Thessalonians Chapter 2 verse 8 Holy Bible
even so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were well pleased to impart unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were become very dear to us.
read chapter 2 in ASV
Even so, being full of loving desire for you, we took delight in giving you not only God's good news, but even our lives, because you were dear to us.
read chapter 2 in BBE
Thus, yearning over you, we had found our delight in having imparted to you not only the glad tidings of God, but our own lives also, because ye had become beloved of us.
read chapter 2 in DARBY
So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.
read chapter 2 in KJV
read chapter 2 in WBT
Even so, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you, not the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you had become very dear to us.
read chapter 2 in WEB
so being desirous of you, we are well-pleased to impart to you not only the good news of God, but also our own souls, because beloved ye have become to us,
read chapter 2 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 8. - So being affectionately desirous of you; a strong expression in the original: "being filled with earnest love for you." We were willing. The word denotes a predetermination of the will: "we esteemed it good." To have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls. An evident climax: not only were we willing to preach the gospel of God to you, but more than this, to sacrifice our own lives for your advantage. The word here rendered "souls" denotes lives; and the meaning is that the apostle was willing to submit to death for the sake of the Thessalonians. The plural "we" still implies Paul and Silas and Timothy. The thought is - As a nursing mother not only nourishes tier children, but is also ready to sacrifice her life for them; so the apostle not only nourished his spiritual children with the pure milk of the gospel, but was ready to sacrifice his own life for their spiritual maintenance; thus expressing in the strongest manner the womanly tenderness of the apostle toward his converts. Because ye were dear unto us.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(8) So means hero even so, confirming the simile, and is not to be taken in the sense of "therefore."Not the gospel of God only.--The gospel was, as it were, the milk given to the young converts; but the nursing mothers were ready to let them draw their very life away, so dearly did they love them.
