What Does 1 Thessalonians 2:18 Mean in the King James?

Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.

1 Thessalonians 2:18 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The Greek word for hindered carries the image of a path being cut across, so the obstruction and the desire to come remain real in the same sentence.

THE MEANING

A desire to reach you can remain real even when the adversary cuts across the path. The verse holds the intended meeting and its interruption together, so the blockage does not erase the desire.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A blocked path proves that the desire to reach you was never sincere.

THE ROOT

ἐνέκοψεν

enekopsen

GROWS FROM

κοπ-

cut, strike

“hindered” in this verse is enekopsen. The verb for hindering is built from a stem meaning to cut or strike. It shows an interruption as something cutting across forward movement, while the wish to come remains intact.

ALSO GROWS

kóptō: to cut, strike

κόπτω

This is the verbal base of ⁨ἐνέκοψεν⁩ and carries the cut or strike at the center of the obstruction.

enkopḗ: hindrance, interruption

ἐγκοπή

This related noun uses the same ⁨κοπ⁩ stem for an obstacle that interrupts progress.

THE PATTERN

A journey can be interrupted without its intended direction or desire disappearing.

And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.

Genesis 24:56 · KJVThe journey remains the speaker’s purpose even as others could delay his departure.

For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.

Romans 15:22 · KJVThe wish to come remains present alongside a real interruption to the route.

Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,

Acts 16:6 · KJVA route toward a desired destination is closed, but the larger movement continues.

THE THREAD

For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.

Romans 15:22 · KJV

Romans 15:22 uses the same Greek verb-family, ⁨ἐγκόπτω⁩, for being hindered from coming. The repeated root presents the obstruction as a cut across the route, not proof that the desire to reach someone was absent.

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