to toil (as a task · verb — present middle or passive deponent infinitive
neither
μηδὲmēde
G3366
but not · adverb — negative
eat
ἐσθιέτω.esthietō
G2068
used only in certain tenses · verb — present active imperative, 3rd person singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto…
Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
1 Thessalonians 4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
Proverbs 20:4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
Proverbs 21:25 The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.
Proverbs 24:30-34 I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
1 Thessalonians 3:4 For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.
John 16:4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto y…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
The apostle having commended their obedience for the time past, and mentioned his confidence in their obedience for the time to come, proceeds to give them commands and directions to some who were faulty, correcting some things that were amiss among them. Observe, The best society of Christians may have some faulty persons among them, and some things that ought to be reformed. Perfection is not to be found on this side heaven: but evil manners beget good laws; the disorders that Paul heard of as existing among the Thessalonians occasioned the good laws we find in these verses, which are of constant use to us, and all others whom they may concern. Observe,
I. That which was amiss among the Th…
For even--Translate, "For also." We not only set you the example, but gave a positive "command."
commanded--Greek imperfect, "We were commanding"; we kept charge of you.
would not work--Greek, "is unwilling to work." BENGEL makes this to be the argument: not that such a one is to have his food withdrawn from him by others; but he proves from the necessity of eating the necessity of working; using this pleasantry, Let him who will not work show himself an angel, that is, do without food as the angels do (but since he cannot do without food, then he ought to be not unwilling to work). It seems to me simpler to take it as a punishment of the idle. Paul often quotes good adages current among…
If any would not work, neither should he eat - This is a just maxim, and universal nature inculcates it to man. If man will work, he may eat; if he do not work, he neither can eat, nor should he eat. The maxim is founded on these words of the Lord: In the sweat of thy brow thou shall eat bread. Industry is crowned with God's blessing; idleness is loaded with his curse. This maxim was a proverb among the Jews. Men who can work, and will rather support themselves by begging, should not get one morsel of bread. It is a sin to minister to necessities that are merely artificial.
The Church Fathers
Let no one addicted to idleness eat, lest he become a wanderer about, and a whoremonger.
But let every one that cometh in the name of the Lord be received, and afterward ye shall prove and know him; for ye shall have understanding right and left. If he who cometh is a wayfarer, assist him as far as ye are able; but he shall not remain with you, except for two or three days, if need be. But if he willeth to abide with you, being an artisan, let him work and eat; but if he hath no trade, according to your understanding see to it that, as a Christian, he shall not live with you idle. But if he willeth not to do, he is a Christ-monger. Watch that ye keep aloof from such.
"For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, If any will not work, neither let him eat." See how in the former Epistle indeed he discourses somewhat more mildly concerning these things; as when he says, "We beseech you, brethren,-that ye would abound more and more-and that ye study"-and nowhere does he say, "we command," nor "in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ," which was fearful and implied danger, but that "ye abound," he says, and "study," which are the words of one exhorting to virtue; "that ye may walk honestly" (becomingly), he says. But here is nothing of this kind, but "if any one will not work," says he, "neither let him eat." For if Paul, not being under a necessity, and having a right to be idle, and having undertaken so great a work, did nevertheless work, and not merely work, but "night and day," so that he was able even to assist others,-much more ought others to do this.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Poor — The Mosaic legislation regarding the poor is specially important. (1.) They had the right of gleaning the fields (Lev. 19:9, 10; Deut. 24:19, 21). (2.) In the sabbatical year they were to have their…
Commandments · PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES — PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES
Example · PAUL, OUR — PAUL, OUR
Idleness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Industry · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Labor · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Slothfulness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 2 Thessalonians 3:10
For even when we were with you,.... At Thessalonica in person, and first preached the Gospel to them,
we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat; the Ethiopic version reads in the singular number, "when I was with you, I commanded you"; using the above words, which were a sort of a proverb with the Jews, and is frequently used by them, , or , "that if a man would not work, he should not eat" (q). And again (r),
"he that labours on the evening of the sabbath (or on weekdays), he shall eat on the sabbath day; and he who does not labour on the evening of the sabbath, from whence shall he eat (or what right and authority has he to eat) on the sabbath day?''
Not he t…
2 Thessalonians 3:6-10
6. Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
6. Praecipimus autem vobis, fratres in nomine Domini nostri Iesu Christi, ut vos subducatis ab omni fratre, qui inordinate ambulet, et non iuxta institutionem, quam accepit a nobis.
7. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;
7. Ipsi enim scitis, quomodo oporteat nos imitari, quia non inordinate egimus inter vos:
8. Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, tha…
Work is the appropriate way to gain a living (see Gen 3:17-19; Ps 128:2; Prov 10:4). Paul absolves the church of the responsibility of feeding other believers who refuse to work.
