Passage

2 Thessalonians 3.10

Book: 2 Thessalonians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

8. neither did we eat bread for nought at any man's hand, but in labor and travail, working night and day, that we might not burden any of you: 9. not because we have not the right, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you, that ye should imitate us.

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

For we hear of some that walk among you disorderly, that work not at all, but are busybodies. 12. Now them that are such we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. (2 Thessalonians 3:8-12, ASV)

WEB

8. neither did we eat bread from anyone’s hand without paying for it, but in labor and travail worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you; 9. not because we don’t have the right, but to make ourselves an example to you, that you should imitate us.

10. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: “If anyone will not work, don’t let him eat.”

For we hear of some who walk among you in rebellion, who don’t work at all, but are busybodies. 12. Now those who are that way, we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. (2 Thessalonians 3:8-12, WEB)

KJV

8. Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: 9. Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.

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

For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. 12. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. (2 Thessalonians 3:8-12, KJV)

YLT

8. nor for nought did we eat bread of any one, but in labour and in travail, night and day working, not to be chargeable to any of you; 9. not because we have not authority, but that ourselves a pattern we might give to you, to imitate us;

10. for even when we were with you, this we did command you, that if any one is not willing to work, neither let him eat,

for we hear of certain walking among you disorderly, nothing working, but over working, 12. and such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness working, their own bread they may eat; (2 Thessalonians 3:8-12, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle, quoting a rule he had given the church in person.
Audience: The church at Thessalonica, capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and a free city on the Via Egnatia. Paul had planted the congregation only months earlier (Acts 17:1-9) and left the city under duress; the believers were still under local pressure, and had been unsettled by a report that the day of the Lord had already arrived (2:2).
Location: Most probably Corinth, where Silvanus and Timothy were with Paul (Acts 18:5), written shortly after 1 Thessalonians.
Time period: c. AD 50-52. The date is anchored by the Gallio inscription at Delphi, which places the proconsulship of Achaia held by Gallio (Acts 18:12) at roughly AD 51-52.

Theological reading

"If anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat." Paul says he gave this rule while he was with them, so it is a quotation of his own earlier teaching rather than a new ruling.

The verb is decisive. Ou thelei ergazesthai, "is not willing to work." The condition is unwillingness, not incapacity. Any use of the verse against the sick, the elderly, the unemployed, or those who cannot find work is a use the grammar does not permit.

The context is the congregation. The rule governs the sharing of the church's own resources with its own members, and it stands in a paragraph about people who were being supported while refusing to work. Paul is not writing social policy for a state, and reading it that way requires importing an application the letter does not make.

The counterweight in the same paragraph. Verse 13 immediately says "do not grow weary in doing good," and the same apostle organised a relief collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-27; 2 Corinthians 8-9). The rule limits exploitation of generosity; it does not limit generosity.

Paul's own practice as the argument. Verses 7 to 9 ground the rule in his refusal to accept support at Thessalonica. He asks nothing of them he did not do himself while planting the church, which is why the instruction can be given without harshness.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G4314 - pros, pros, Strong's G4314

Quoted in

Concepts:

Church at Thessalonica

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.