The step taken by the politarchs was the mildest that was prudent in the circumstances : they bound the accused over in security that peace should be kept. This was a penalty familiar in Roman law, from which it must have been adopted in the ordinary practice of provincial towns like Thessalonica.
Paul evidently felt very deeply his sudden and pre- mature separation from the Church of Thessalonica : it was at once so promising and so inexperienced, that he was unusually eager to return to it ; and as he says, " we endeavoured the more exceedingly to see your face with great desire ; because we would fain have come to you, I Paul once and again ; and Satan hindered us ". What is the meaning of the strange expression, "Satan hindered us"? How did Paul, who was so eager to go back to Thessalonica, find an insur- mountable obstacle in his way? Was it mere personal danger that prevented him, or was it some more subtle device of Satanic craft that kept him out of Thessalonica ?
It is not in keeping with Paul's language to interpret " Satan " in this case as the mob, which had brought him into danger and was still enraged against him. He alludes by a very different metaphor to the opposi- tion which he often experienced from the vulgar, unedu- cated, and grossly superstitious city populace. In I Cor. XV 32 he describes his relations with the Ephesian mob as " fighting with beasts ". This term is an interest- ing mixture of Greek and Roman ideas, and corresponds well to Paul's mixed education, as a Roman citizen in a Greek philosopher's lecture-room. In the lecture-
Sec. 7. The Riot at Thessa/o?iua. 231
room he became familiar with the Platonic comparison of the mob to a dangerous beast ; and amid the surround- ings of the Roman Empire he became familiar with the death-struggle of criminals against the wild beasts of the circus. But a person who designates the mob in this contemptuous way, uses the term " Satan " only of some more subtle and dangerous enemy, far harder to overcome.
Now, security against any disturbance of the peace had been exacted from Jason and his associates, the leading Christians of Thessalonica ; and clearly this implied that they were bound over to prevent the cause of disturbance, Paul, from coming to Thessalonica. This ingenious device put an in: passable chasm between Paul and the Thes- salonians (iveKoyjrev is the strong term used). So long as the magistrates maintained this attitude, he could not return : he was helpless, and Satan had power. His only hope lay in an alteration of the magistrates' policy. They would not be long in power ; and perhaps their successors might act differently. But the politarchs doubtless thought that they treated the case mildly and yet effectually; they got rid of the cause, without inflicting any punishment on any person.
This interpretation of the term " Satan," as denoting action taken by the governing power against the message from God, is in keeping with the figurative use of the word throughout the New Testament.
8. BERCEA. (XVII IO) AND THE BRETHREN IM- MEDIATELY SENT AWAY PAUL AND SILAS BY NIGHT UNTO BERCEA ; AND WHEN THEY WERE COME HITHER THEY WENT INTO THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE JEWS. (II) NOW THESE WERE MORE NOBLE THAN THOSE IN
232 The Churches of Macedonia. Chap. X.
THESSALONICA, IN THAT THEY RECEIVED THE WORD WITH ALL READINESS OF MIND, EXAMINING THE SCRIP- TURES DAILY WHETHER THESE THINGS WERE SO. (l2) MANY OF THEM THEREFORE BELIEVED ; AS DID ALSO NOT A FEW OF THE HIGH-BORN GREEK LADIES AND OF THE MALE POPULATION. (13) BUT WHEN THE JEWS OF THESSALONICA LEARNED THAT IN BERCEA ALSO THE WORD OF GOD WAS PREACHED BY PAUL, THEY CAME THERE ALSO EXCITING AND DISTURBING THE MULTITUDES. (14) THEN FORTHWITH PAUL WAS SENT FORTH BY THE BRETHREN TO GO TOWARDS THE SEA ; BUT SILAS AND TIMOTHY REMAINED THERE. (15) AND THEY THAT CONDUCTED PAUL BROUGHT HIM AS FAR AS ATHENS | AND RECEIVING DIRECTIONS FOR SILAS AND TIMOTHY THAT THEY SHOULD COME TO HIM WITH ALL SPEED, THEY DEPARTED.