2 Thessalonians 3:8 (DBY)

Passage

nor have we eaten bread from any one without cost; but in toil and hardship working night and day not to be chargeable to any one of you:

Nearby Context

2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we enjoin you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the instruction which he received from us.

2 Thessalonians 3:7 For ye know yourselves how ye ought to imitate us, because we have not walked disorderly among you;

2 Thessalonians 3:8 nor have we eaten bread from any one without cost; but in toil and hardship working night and day not to be chargeable to any one of you:

2 Thessalonians 3:9 not that we have not the right, but that we might give ourselves as an example to you, in order to your imitating us.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 For also when we were with you we enjoined you this, that if any man does not like to work, neither let him eat.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "eaten", "bread", "without", "cost", "toil", "hardship", "working", and "night". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "eaten" and "bread", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "For ye know yourselves how ye ought..." into verse 9's "not that we have not the right...", so "eaten" and "bread" belong inside that flow. In 2 Thessalonians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "eaten" and "bread" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.