The somber note on which the previous section ended now gives way to joy at the news brought to Paul at Corinth by Timothy. The Thessalonians were standing firm in the faith and still held the missionaries dear. In view of the missionaries’ intense longing for the Thessalonians (2:17), this news is like a breath of life to them—“now we really live” (vv. 6–9). On the strength of it, Paul reports, they pray night and day that they may see them again (v. 10). An actual prayer to that end follows in verses 11 to 13, with prayer also for the Thessalonians that they may grow in love and in holiness. This is “the first of the two main wish-prayers to be found in the epistle,” the second being in 5:23 (G. P Wiles, Paul’s Intercessory Prayers [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974], p. 52; s…