2 Thessalonians 3:10

Text (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

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

Translation and Paraphrase

10.

(We set you an example of how you ought to work and support yourselves. You must all do likewise.) Because even while we were (in Thessalonica) with you, we kept commanding you that if any (man) did not desire to be working (and wouldn-'t work), don-'t let him eat.

Notes (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

1.

The saying, He who will not work shall not eat, is famous in American history. Captain John Smith of the Jamestown colony laid down that rule in Virginia.

2.

However, the principle is much older than John Smith. Paul said practically the same words to the Thessalonians. And the principle goes clear back to the time of Adam when God said, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat breat, till thou return unto the ground. (Genesis 3:19). He who is able to work and unwilling to do so shall not be fed. Compare Ephesians 4:28; Romans 12:11.

3.

Christianity is a religion for working men. Jesus was a carpenter. (Mark 6:3). Peter was a fisherman. Paul was a tentmaker. (Acts 18:3).

4.

In the first letter to the Thessalonians Paul wrote about this matter of people who would not work. There he besought and exhorted them to, Do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you. 1 Thessalonians 4:10.

5.

Evidently the loafers had not paid attention to Paul's exhortation in his first letter. So now in this letter, Paul states the matter as a command and puts some real teeth into it. No work, no eat.

6.

The statement, We commanded you, is in an imperfect tense, which indicates repeated action in past time. Therefore we have rendered it in our translation, We kept commanding you.