‘And I would not have you ignorant, brothers and sisters (brethren), that many times I purposed to come to you (and was up until now hindered), that I might have some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles.'
Lest they feel that his protestations about his wanting to visit them are rather weak (if he did why hadn't he done so already?), he assures them that he had purposed to come to them many times in the past, but had each time been prevented from doing so by something unavoidable, something arising from his responsibility to care for the churches for which he was primarily responsible. He does not want them to be in any doubt about the matter (‘I would not have you ignorant'). For as the Apostle to the Gentiles he is eager to have some fruit in Rome, as he has had among the rest of the Gentiles. Rome was the hub of the empire. It was natural that he should want to have his part in planting seed there, and seeing the church firmly established. It was important for the whole worldwide church.