2 Thessalonians 3:8 (DRB)

Passage

Neither did we eat any man's bread for nothing: but in labour and in toil we worked night and day, lest we should be chargeable to any of you.

Nearby Context

2 Thessalonians 3:6 And we charge you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the tradition which they have received of us.

2 Thessalonians 3:7 For yourselves know how you ought to imitate us. For we were not disorderly among you.

2 Thessalonians 3:8 Neither did we eat any man's bread for nothing: but in labour and in toil we worked night and day, lest we should be chargeable to any of you.

2 Thessalonians 3:9 Not as if we had not power: but that we might give ourselves a pattern unto you, to imitate us.

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "neither", "man's", "bread", "nothing", "labour", "toil", "worked", and "night". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "neither" and "man's", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "For yourselves know how you ought to..." into verse 9's "Not as if we had not power...", so "neither" and "man's" 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 "neither" and "man's" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.