2 Thessalonians 3:10

When we were with you. Compare on 1 Thess. 3:4; 2 Thess. 2:5.

We commanded you. The range of instruction given by Paul to the Thessalonians is amazing. In the short time he was with them he seems to have covered every vital topic, and to have turned his teaching to their immediate needs. Consequently, when absent from them, he was able to refer to the verbal commands he had given.

Would not work. Or, “is not willing to work.” Paul is evidently referring to those who, anticipating the immediate return of Christ, were refusing to engage in normal labor, holding that it was unnecessary in view of the second coming.

Neither should he eat. The apostle succinctly opposes the reasoning of the fanatics with a terse saying that may have been current in his time or original with himself. His dictum also has present value. Work is a blessing; idleness, a curse. God supplies food for the animals, but they have to search for it. Adam was told “in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” (Gen. 3:19). The Saviour Himself, as “the carpenter,” set us a worthy example (Mark 6:3). The Christian is to do everything in his power to keep from being a charge upon others. He should work so that, in addition to supporting himself, he is able to help the needy (Eph. 4:28).