2 Thessalonians 3:10 BSB

2 Thessalonians 3:10

For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, If any will not work, neither let him eat.

KJV

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

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Commentary

3 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

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, דאי לא אכיל, or לעי לא נגיס, "that if a man would not work, he should not eat" (q).

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Such persons do what in them lies to defeat the sentence, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread. It was not the mere humour of the apostle, who was an active stirring man himself and therefore would have every body else to be so too, but it was the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness we work, and eat our own bread,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

It seems to me simpler to take it as a punishment of the idle. Paul often quotes good adages current among the people, stamping them with inspired approval. In the Hebrew, "Bereshith Rabba," the same saying is found; and in the book Zeror, "He who will not work before the sabbath, must not eat on the sabbath."

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

17 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
καὶ	kai	Even	G2532 →
γὰρ	gar	for	G1063 →
ὅτε	hote	when	G3753 →
ἦμεν	ēmen	we were	G1510 →
πρὸς	pros	with	G4314 →
ὑμᾶς,	humas	you,	G4771 →
τοῦτο	touto	this	G3778 →
παρηγγέλλομεν	parēngellomen	we were commanding	G3853 →
ὑμῖν	humin	you	G4771 →
ὅτι	hoti	that	G3754 →
εἴ	ei	if	G1487 →
τις	tis	anyone	G5100 →
οὐ	ou	not	G3756 →
θέλει	thelei	is willing	G2309 →
ἐργάζεσθαι	ergazesthai	to work	G2038 →
μηδὲ	mēde	neither	G3366 →
ἐσθιέτω.	esthietō	he should eat.	G2068 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Proverbs 13:4
The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
leads to
- Proverbs 12:24
  The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Proverbs 20:4
The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.
leads to
- Proverbs 10:4
  Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
1 Thessalonians 4:11
and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.
leads to
- Ephesians 4:28
  He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.
- Ecclesiastes 4:6
  Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.
- 1 Peter 3:4
  but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
- Titus 3:14
  And our people must also learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet the pressing needs of others, so that they will not be unfruitful.
- Proverbs 17:1
  Better a dry morsel in quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.
Through
Genesis 3:19
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
  before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

About 2 Thessalonians

The Ascension — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

2 Thessalonians: the study guide →Read chapter 3 →The featured study →

Continue: 2 Thessalonians 3 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About 2 Thessalonians

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About 2 Thessalonians