Why Paul Actually Wrote “If Any Should Not Work, Neither Should He Eat”

If you’ve listened to evangelicals and other conservatives inveigh against welfare, you’ve likely heard them quote II Thessalonians 3:10:

“if any would not work, neither should he eat.” (KJV)

Growing up in an evangelical home, I was taught that it was wrong to take verses out of context and use them as “proof texts.” So I thought I’d take a moment to look into the context if II Thessalonians 3:10.

First, let’s look at the immediate context (using the NASB):

6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

On first glance this might seem rather open and shut. Paul* worked while he lived among the Thessalonians, but some of the Thessalonian Christians stopped working after he left them; Paul writes to chide them and order them to follow his example take work and cease being a burden. But looking at a verse’s context means more than looking at the handful of verses immediately surrounding it.

II Thessalonians is fairly short—it consists of only three chapters. The first chapter is made up mostly of greetings. The meat of the epistle and the reason Paul is writing comes in the second chapter, here:

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

It would seem that someone falsely told the Christians to whom 2 Thessalonians is addressed that the second coming of Jesus had already occurred, or was then occurring. Paul wrote this letter to set them straight.

Paul reminds the Thessalonians that, as he states he previously taught them, the second coming of Jesus would not come until certain other things had been fulfilled. He adds additional detail about what these things will be like, describing what sounds like the antichrist.

He finishes this section with this statement:

15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

The “traditions” the Thessalonians were taught, as referenced in chapter 2, center on the second coming of Jesus—namely, on when Jesus will return, and how to know that he has returned.

Paul’s third and final chapter opens with an exhortation to prayer, followed by this statement:

6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.

Note that word—tradition. It is the same Greek word and comes nearly immediately upon its only previous use in the letter, where it referenced beliefs about the second coming of Jesus.

Paul goes on as follows:

7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

Many scholars believe that the individuals Paul chides in II Thessalonians for ceasing to work stopped working because they believed that the second coming of Jesus had arrived, or was to arrive any day. This makes sense, when you consider that admonition about false teachings regarding the timing of the second coming make up the meat of the epistle, and function as its central theme.

It is hardly surprising that some individuals might have ceased tow work because they believed Jesus would arrive any day. Consider groups today who sell all their belongings and wait to be raptured at a specific time and date. Such behavior occurred in the American past, too—consider Millerism. It would be surprising if this sort of thing didn’t happen in the early church, given the many statements in the New Testament that suggested that that the return of Christ was imminent. “Get back to work,” Paul writes. “Christ isn’t coming tomorrow.”

One of the things I enjoy about looking into the contexts of verses used as “proof texts” is that as the one-dimensional nature in which the text is used falls apart, the text itself becomes far more interesting.

*There is some possibility that the author of II Thessalonians was not Paul.

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