Texts in Conversation
In 2 Thessalonians, the leaders emphasize that they work night and day to avoid becoming dependent on anyone, using language that echoes Sirach’s description of artisans who are constantly working.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 38:27
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
25 How could he become wise who holds the plow, who glories in the shaft of the goad, who drives oxen and is occupied in their labors, and who mostly talks about bulls? 26 He will set his heart upon turning his furrows. His lack of sleep is to give his heifers their fodder. 27 So is every craftsman and master artisan who passes his time by night as by day, those who cut engravings of signets. His diligence is to make great variety. He sets his heart to preserve likeness in his portraiture, and is careful to finish his work. 28 So too is the smith sitting by the anvil and considering the unwrought iron. The smoke of the fire will waste his flesh. He toils in the heat of the furnace. The noise of the hammer deafens his ear. His eyes are upon the pattern of the object. He will set his heart upon perfecting his works. He will be careful to adorn them perfectly.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
2 Thessalonians 3:8
New Testament
6 But we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives an undisciplined life and not according to the tradition they received from us. 7 For you know yourselves how you must imitate us, because we did not behave without discipline among you, 8 and we did not eat anyone’s food without paying. Instead, in toil and drudgery we worked night and day in order not to burden any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give ourselves as an example for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.”
Date: 80–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Choosing to support himself through his trade, Paul was forced to work longer hours than other artisans and to face even worse deprivation. The observation of Jesus ben Sirach that all craftsmen could be found “toiling day and night” (Sirach 38:27) would have been even more true of a bivocational evangelist. Paul labored “night and day” (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:7–10) in the cities he evangelized in order to be a model for the Christian communities he established. His policy was to “gladly spend … and expend [himself]” on behalf of his spiritual children ..."
David W. J. Gill and Moyer Hubbard, 1 and 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 219.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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