InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEUT JOB YEHO (JOS) HERO (JDG) RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG YOEL (JOEL) MIC ISA ZEP HAB YIR (JER) LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBAD DAN EZEK EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL 2 PS WIS TOB MAN BAR G DAN G ESD L ESD ESG JDT 3 MAC SIR 1 MAC 2 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL LAOD PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
2 Th 3 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18
People tagged in the matching LV passage: Paul
Used in these topics: Work, diligence and everyday witness
OET-LV For/Because even when we_were with you_all, this we_were_commanding to_you_all, that if anyone not is_willing to_be_working, not him _let_be_eating.
OET (OET-RV) Even when we were there with you, brothers and sisters, we instructed you that anyone who’s not willing to work doesn’t deserve to eat.
It seems that there were some believers in Thessalonica who had stopped working. This was probably because they thought the Lord Jesus was going to come back soon or that the Lord Jesus had already come back (see 2 Thessalonians 2:2). Therefore they had decided that there was no point in continuing to work. Paul warned people not to behave in this way. He reminded them how he and his companions had worked for their food when they stayed at Thessalonica so that they would not burden the other believers there. They did this in order to be a good example for the Thessalonians to follow, even though as apostles they had the right to be supported. Paul had already mentioned those who would not work in 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 and 5:14. But it seems that that warning had not had any effect.
For even while we were with you, we gave you this command:
For even when we(excl) were with you, we(excl) gave you this command,
When we(excl) were with you, we(excl) often told you,
For: The Greek word gar, which the BSB translates as For, indicates that 3:10a gives further grounds for Paul’s command in 3:6: “keep away from every brother who is idle…”
we gave you this command: This expression in the BSB translates two words in Greek, the pronoun touto (this) and the verb paraggellō, which means “to give orders.” In other words, literally “we were commanding this.” Paul and his companions gave the Thessalonians commands or teachings to tell them how they should behave as Christians. One of these commands was the rule/command in 3:10b. The form of the verb in Greek suggests that Paul had repeated this command several times.
“If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”
“If someone refuses to work, do not give him food.”
“If someone refuses work, he should not expect other people to feed him.”
If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat: This was probably a well-known saying/proverb. The BSB indicates this by putting quotation marks around the expression.
anyone: In Greek the word here is tis, which means “anyone, male or female.” While some English versions say “any man,” this not restricted to males.
is unwilling to work: This phrase means “refuses to work.” Paul was not referring to people who were unable to work because they were sick or disabled in some way.
he shall not eat: This phrase means “people should not give him anything to eat” or “he should not expect people to feed him.”
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives
εἴ τις οὐ θέλει ἐργάζεσθαι, μηδὲ ἐσθιέτω
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί Γάρ ὅτε ἦμεν πρός ὑμᾶς τοῦτο παρηγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν ὅτι εἰ τὶς οὒ θέλει ἐργάζεσθαι μηδέ ἐσθιέτω)
You can state this in positive form, if this form is difficult to understand in your language. Alternate translation: [If a person wants to eat, he must work]
OET-LV For/Because even when we_were with you_all, this we_were_commanding to_you_all, that if anyone not is_willing to_be_working, not him _let_be_eating.
OET (OET-RV) Even when we were there with you, brothers and sisters, we instructed you that anyone who’s not willing to work doesn’t deserve to eat.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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