Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Thessalonians 3:10

καὶ γὰρ ὅτε ἦμεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, τοῦτο παρηγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν. For indeed when we were with you, we used to give you this charge: cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:11. Καὶ γάρ is parallel to the γάρ of 2 Thessalonians 3:7; it sets the Apostolic παραγγελία side by side with the Apostolic τύπος in the matter of ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ ἐσθίειν (cf. γάρ … καὶ γάρ in 1 Thessalonians 4:9 f.): together these constitute ἡ παράδοσις of 2 Thessalonians 3:6. This sentence almost repeats 1 Thessalonians 3:4, only substituting τοῦτο παρηγγέλλομεν (after 2 Thessalonians 3:6) for προελέγομεν. On the use of πρός, see note to 1 Thessalonians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:5 above.

ὅτι εἴ τις οὐ θέλει ἐργάζεσθαι μηδὲ ἐσθιέτω. ‘If any one refuses (nonvult, Vulg.) to work, neither shall he eat!’ a Jewish proverb, based upon Genesis 3:19. For the apodosis, thrown into the lively imperative mood, cf. 1 Corinthians 11:6. For the ὅτι recitative of direct narration, cf. Galatians 1:23; Acts 14:22; and see Winer-Moulton, p. 683, note. For τοῦτο … ὄτι, cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:15. Οὐ θέλω is not the mere contradictory, but the contrary of θέλω—“if any one won’t work”—not a negative supposition (εἰ μή), but the supposition of a negative: see Winer-Moulton, pp. 597, 599; cf. Romans 7:19 f., 1 Corinthians 7:9; 1 Timothy 3:5, &c., and 2 Thessalonians 3:14 below. “Nolle, vitium est” (Bengel). Note the present of continuous action (habit or rule) in the verbs: cf. for the last verb, 1 Corinthians 10:18; 1 Corinthians 10:25, &c., 1 Corinthians 11:22-34. The neglect of this stern but necessary rule makes charity demoralizing. This law of Christ touches the idle rich as well as the poor; it makes that a disgrace which one hears spoken of as though it were a privilege and the mark of a gentleman,—“to live upon one’s means,” fruges consumere natus: see 2 Thessalonians 3:11. This rule is forcibly applied in the following direction of the Didaché, xii. 2–5: εἰ θέλει [παρόδιος ὁ ἐρχόμενος] πρὸς ὑμᾶς καθίσαι, τεχνίτης ὤν, ἐργαζέσθω καὶ φαγέτω· εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἔχει τέχνην, κατὰ τὴν σύνεσιν ὑμῶν προνοήσατε πῶς μὴ�ʼ ὑμῶν ζήσεται Χριστιανός· εἰ δὲ οὐ θέλει οὔτω ποιεῖν, χριστέμπορός ἐστιν· προσέχετε�. Cf. the quotation cited below, on 2 Thessalonians 3:12.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Thessalonians 3:10

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