1 Thessalonians 2:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He says the same in the epistle to the Corinthians: "Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the altar?"

"So also the Lord commanded that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel" (1 Cor 9:13-14). But I, he says, did not wish this, and labored myself.

And he did not simply labor, but did so with great effort. See what he says: "You remember." He did not say, "my benefactions," but "our labor and toil."

"Working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached among you the Gospel of God." But to the Corinthians he says something else: "I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to serve you" (2 Cor 11:8).

There he also labored, but did not mention it. Instead he used another expression, more biting, as if saying: while serving you, I was fed by others.

But here he does not say that. What does he say? "Working night and day." Although there also he says, "When I was with you and in need, I was a burden to no one."

And, "I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to serve you" (2 Cor 11:9). But here he shows that the people to whom he writes are in poverty, whereas there they are not.

"See how Paul acted!" Saint Chrysostom exclaims. "Being preacher and Apostle of the world, and counted worthy of such great honor, he worked with his own hands so as not to burden those he taught."

"You are witnesses of what you saw, and God is witness of what you could not see" (Oecumenius).

Defining the manner of his conduct among the Thessalonians, the Apostle says that they, the Thessalonian preachers, lived piously, righteously, and blamelessly.

"By the word blamelessly the Apostle indicates a lawful, God-pleasing manner of action in relation to themselves" (Bishop Theophan).

"Carrying out his evangelizing service with the consciousness that he was fulfilling the ministry 'which he received from the Lord Jesus' (Acts 20:24), the Apostle treated all believers with equal attentiveness, justice, and irreproachability."

That the labor mentioned here is manual labor is partly evident from the word "working," and also from indications in other places of Holy Scripture (cf. 1 Cor 4:12; Eph 4:28; Acts 18:3).

It is supposed that the Apostle was occupied with twisting woolen yarn and preparing from it fabrics for clothing, tents, carpets, and the like.

He did not appear in Thessalonica with special importance, as the authorized ambassador of Christ the King might have appeared. Instead, he was among them as a tender mother feeding her children, who does this entirely without self-interest, from love alone.

The Apostle was ready to sacrifice even his own life for the Thessalonians. The plural ψυχάς shows that he is also speaking on behalf of his helpers.

As proof of this he points to his work in Thessalonica, especially at night. He devoted himself to it so as not to burden the beloved Thessalonians with the cost of his support. For him, sickly and nervous, this was very hard (vv. 5-9).

These words occur together elsewhere (2 Thess 3:8; 2 Cor 11:27). The latter intensifies the former, and together they express one thought: the Apostles did not touch labor lightly, but applied themselves to it strenuously and had memorable labor (Chrysostom).

Yet one should not distinguish them so that κοπον refers to preaching and μοχθον to handiwork. Both words embrace both things.

"Night and day." This is the usual phrase expressing the uninterrupted continuation of something throughout the whole day. We say "day and night," and the Latins likewise say diu noctuque.

The same is found in Scripture (Lk 18:7; Acts 9:24; Rev 20:10). Night stands first because among the Jews and Athenians the day began at sunset and ended at sunset.

There is no basis for separating them, assigning night to handiwork and day to preaching. Saint Paul preached at night as well (Acts 20:7).

By this the holy Apostle wishes only to say that they were not idle for a minute, but were continually in labor. At one time they made tents; at another they preached.

Theodoret says: "The Apostle showed the excess of their efforts, not only by pointing to labor and toil, but by adding the night-time to the days."

"Working," εργαζεσθαι, is the usual expression for bodily labor, and especially for manual work, work with the hands (1 Cor 4:12; Eph 4:28).

Saint Paul means his craft of tentmaking, making tents for travelers, the army, and gardens (Acts 18:3).

The grammatical form shows that handiwork is not the chief point in the Apostle's speech, but a subsidiary one. The chief point is preaching.

"That we might not burden any of you," that is, with our support. Yet Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to serve you" (2 Cor 11:8).

For this reason one cannot conclude on this basis that the Thessalonian Christians were poor. The Apostle acted in this way everywhere, fearing to place an obstacle before the spread of the Gospel if he required support from those being converted.

"Behold what zeal and what care there was not to scandalize anyone" (Theophylact). "See how Paul acted! Being preacher and Apostle of the world, and counted worthy of such high honor, he worked with his own hands so as not to burden those he taught" (Chrysostom).

"We preached to you," εις υμας, is close in general sense to υμιν, but has its own shade of meaning. It means not only that they preached among them, but that the preaching entered into them, or sowed within them the seeds of divine truths.