The pain and involuntary nature of Paul’s parting from the Thessalonians are powerfully expressed in the phrase since we were torn away from you. The ESV's translation loses something of the force of Paul’s original word (ἀπορφανισθέντες). Even an English-speaking reader can see that this Greek word contains the word orphan, and the word was used in referring to the loss of one’s parents (that is, being orphaned)—a devastating loss. Of course, Paul was not actually bereaved of the Thessalonians (as a child of his parents), but by using this unusual word he paints a picture that communicates the strongest possible emotional response to being separated from people you love.^1,2 As John Chrysostom, a well-known preacher and church leader from the fourth century, put it, [Paul] searched for a phrase sufficient to express the distress of his soul. And though he himself was father to them all, he utters the words of orphan children prematurely bereft of their parent in order to set forth the exceeding greatness of his distress.³ This is the fourth family metaphor used in this chapter. For the others, see 1 Thessalonians 2:7 and 1 Thessalonians 2:11 (child, mother, father).