2 Timothy 2:6
in 2 Timothy 2The hardworking farmer should be the first to partake of the crops.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The husbandman that laboreth must be the first to partake of the fruits.
KJV
The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
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This verse in 2 Timothy 2
Commentary
13 notes on this verseWe must speak first of the sustainment of the intellect. But, as the Apostle says, the farmer who toils must be the first to partake of the fruit. For the preacher himself must first be filled and sweetened before offering anything to others. Yet, there …
This site's exposition
competes according to the rules
on 2 Timothy 2:5-6
The athlete does not receive the crown unless he competes according to the rules, a warning against shortcuts. It returns at 4:8, where the crown of righteousness follows a race finished.
This site's exposition
hardworking farmer
The farmer is the third picture and the one closest to a teacher, as Theophylact observes. Labour comes first and fruit after, as Matthew Henry reads it. Bonaventure applies it to the preacher, who must first be fed by the word he gives to others.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits." He had first spoken from his own example as a teacher. He now speaks from those that are more common, as wrestlers and soldiers, and in their case he sets before him the rewards. First, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier; secondly, that he may be crowned; now he proposes a third example that more particularly suits himself. For the instance of the soldier and the wrestler corresponds to those who are under rule, but that of the husbandman to the Teacher. (Strive) not as a soldier or a wrestler only, but as a husbandman too. The husbandman takes care not of himself alone, but of the fruits of the earth. That is, no little reward of his labors is enjoyed by the husbandman. Here he both shows, that to God nothing is wanting, and that there is a reward for Teaching, which he shows by a common instance. As the husbandman, he says, does not labor without profit, but enjoys before others the fruits of his own toils, so is it fit that the teacher should do: either he means this, or he is speaking of the honor to be paid to teachers, but this is less consistent. For why does he not say the husbandman simply, but him "that laboreth"? not only that worketh, but that is worn with toil? And here with reference to the delay of reward, that no one may be impatient, he says, thou reapest the fruit already, or there is a reward in the labor itself. When therefore he has set before him the examples of soldiers, of wrestlers, and husbandmen, and all figuratively, "No one," he says, "is crowned except he strive lawfully." And having observed that "the husbandman who laboreth must first be partaker of the fruits," ...
The hardworking farmer. Not careless: but one who works. For indeed, the teacher who also works with the students will receive rewards from God for the benefit and advantage of the students. — [GREGORY OF NYSSA]1 As teachers must first be perfected in themselves in …
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
BonaventureDisputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
It belongs to those having principal authority to receive support authoritatively, as the Gloss says on Second Timothy 2: The laboring farmer ought to be the first to partake of the fruits: there the Gloss says: "To take for himself what is necessary from those …
For the office of preachers and teachers is a military office, inasmuch as they do battle against enemies and vices; it is also a farmer's office, inasmuch as they bear fruit by exhorting men to do good. The field is the Church, and the chief …
He brings yet a third example, which is especially close to a teacher. For the examples of the soldier and the athlete apply also to subordinates; the farmer does not care for himself, but for the land, and receives no small reward from its fruitfulness. …
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The husbandman that laboureth,....
If we would be partakers of the fruits, we must labour; if we would gain the prize, we must run the race. And, further, we must first labour as the husbandman does, with diligence and patience, before we are partakers of the fruit; we must do the will of God, before we receive the promises, for which reason we have need of patience, Heb. x.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The husbandman that laboureth - That is: The husbandman must first till his ground before he can expect a crop; and he must till it according to the proper rules of agriculture, else he cannot have a crop. The combatant must fight and conquer, and fight according to the laws of the agones, before he can be crowned; so the Christian minister must labor in the spiritual vineyard, and labor too under the eye and according to the direction of his Master, before he can expect that crown of righteousness that fadeth not away.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
must be first partaker--The right of first partaking of the fruits belongs to him who is laboring; do not thou, therefore, relax thy labors, as thou wouldest be foremost in partaking of the reward. CONYBEARE explains "first," before the idler.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The husbandman that laboureth - The margin is, “labouring first, must be partaker.” The idea, according to the translation in the text, is, that there is a fitness or propriety (δει dei) that the man who cultivates the earth, should enjoy the fruits of his labor. See the same image explained in the notes at 1Co 9:10. But if this be the meaning here, it is not easy to see why the apostle introduces it. According to the marginal reading, the word “first” is introduced in connection with the word “labour” - “labouring first, must be partaker.” That is, it is a great law that the husbandman must work before be receives a harvest. This sense will accord with the purpose of the apostle. It was to remind Timothy that labor must precede reward; that if a man would reap, he must sow; that he could hope for no fruits, unless he toiled for them. The point was not that the husbandman would be the first one who would partake of the fruits; but that he must first labor before he obtained the reward. Thus understood, this would be an encouragement to Timothy to persevere in his toils, looking onward to the reward. The Greek will bear this construction, though it is not the most obvious one.
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| τὸν | ton | For the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κοπιῶντα | kopionta | hardworking | G2872 → | |
| γεωργὸν | georgon | farmer | G1092 → | |
| δεῖ | dei | it is necessary | G1163 → | |
| πρῶτον | proton | first | G4413 → | 152 times |
| τῶν | ton | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| καρπῶν | karpon | fruits | G2590 → | |
| μεταλαμβάνειν· | metalambanein | to partake; | G3335 → |
τὸνFor the
tonG3588 →19766 times
κοπιῶνταhardworking
kopiontaG2872 →
γεωργὸνfarmer
georgonG1092 →
δεῖit is necessary
deiG1163 →
πρῶτονfirst
protonG4413 →152 times
τῶνof the
tonG3588 →19766 times
καρπῶνfruits
karponG2590 →
μεταλαμβάνειν·to partake;
metalambaneinG3335 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 10:36You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.
it leads to
- Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set…
- Psalms 37:7
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.
- James 5:7–11
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
- 1 Corinthians 13:7
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
- Luke 21:19
By your patient endurance you will gain your souls.
- Hebrews 12:1
Through
1 Corinthians 9:23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 2:10
For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
- 1 Corinthians 9:25–27
Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.
- Mark 8:35
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.
- 2 Timothy 2:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
About 2 Timothy
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17; Bonaventure, Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Timothy 4; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Timothy and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 2 Timothy.