The farmer who labors must be the first to get a share of the crops.
Parallel Translations
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The farmer who labors must be the first to get a share of the crops.
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The husbandman that laboreth must fyrst receave of the frutes.
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The husbandman must labour before he receiue the fruites.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to 2 Timothy 2:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 9:7-11 What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk? Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn’t the law also say the same thing? For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares, or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope. If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your fleshly things?
- Hebrews 10:36 For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
- 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.
- Luke 10:2 Then he said to them, “The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest.
- John 4:35-38 Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest?’ Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already. He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
- 1 Corinthians 9:23 Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it.
- Isaiah 28:24-26 Does he who plows to sow plow continually? Does he keep turning the soil and breaking the clods? When he has leveled its surface, doesn’t he plant the dill, and scatter the cumin seed, and put in the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place? For his God instructs him in right judgment and teaches him.
- Matthew 9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest.”
- Matthew 20:1 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
- Matthew 21:33-41 “Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit. The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they treated them the same way. But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 6 The husbandman must labor before he receive the…
6 The husbandman must labor before he receive the fruits I am well aware that others render this passage differently; and I acknowledge that they translate, word for word, what Paul has written in Greek; but he who shall carefully examine the context will assent to my view. Besides, the use of (κοπιῶντα) to labor instead of (κοπιᾷν) to labor, is a well-known Greek idiom; for Greek writers often make use of the participle in place of the infinitive.
The meaning therefore, is, that husbandmen do not gather the fruit, till they have first toiled hard in the cultivation of the soil, by sowing and by other labors. And if husbandmen do not spare their toils, that one day they may obtain fruit, and if they patiently wait for the season of harvest; how much more unreasonable will it be for us to refuse the labors which Christ enjoins upon us, while he holds out so great a reward?
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Another similitude tending to the same end: no man…
Another similitude tending to the same end: no man may look for the harvest, unless he first take pains to plow and sow his ground.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker…
6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
Ver. 6. The husbandman labouring first] Spes alit agricolas. Nae illi falsi sunt (saith Salhst, in Jugur.) qui diversissimas res expectant, ignaviae voluptatem, et praemia virtutis. They are utterly out, that think to have the pleasure of sloth and the guerdon {a} of goodness.
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{a} A reward, requital, or recompence. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain As the apostle had before compared the minister of…
As the apostle had before compared the minister of the gospel to a soldier, and from thence concluded his duty not to entangle himself unnecessarily in secular employments; and to those that exercised themselves in their public games, and from thence concluded the obligation upon him to keep to the Divine rule in the management of his office, and of himself under the opposition he should meet with; so here he compares him to a husbandman, (as Christ himself had done, Mat 13:1, &c.), either to mind him of his duty, first to look to save his own soul, then the souls of others, or of his advantage, it being the privilege of a husbandman, being the proprietor of the fruits, (if he will), first to eat thereof, thereby intimating the privilege of those who turn many to righteousness, Dan 12:3.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The husbandman that laboureth,.... In manuring his ground, in…
The husbandman that laboureth,.... In manuring his ground, in ploughing, in sowing, in weeding, in reaping, &c.
must be first partaker of the fruits; of his labour, before others; and the design may be to observe that the ministers of the word ought first to be partakers of the grace of God, the fruits of the Spirit, and of the Gospel, and rightly and spiritually understand it, before they preach it to others; or that such who labour in the word and doctrine, ought in the first place to be taken care of, and have a sufficient maintenance provided for them, Co1 9:7 or that as they shall have in the first place some seals and fruits of their ministry, in the conversion of souls, so they shall shine in the kingdom of heaven as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever. Though the words may be rendered, and which seems more agreeable to the context, and to the apostle's argument, "the husbandman must first labour before he partakes of the fruits"; so a minister of the Gospel must first labour, and endure hardships in this life, before he sits down in the kingdom of heaven, and takes his rest, and enjoys the crown of glory, which fades not away, which the chief Shepherd shall give unto him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Unless he labour first, he will reap no fruit.
Unless he labour first, he will reap no fruit.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. The husbandman that laboureth] That is: The…
Verse 6. The husbandman that laboureth] That is: The husbandman must first till his ground before he can expect a crop; and he must till it according to the proper rules of agriculture, else he cannot have a crop. The combatant must fight and conquer, and fight according to the laws of the agones, before he can be crowned; so the Christian minister must labour in the spiritual vineyard, and labour too under the eye and according to the direction of his Master, before he can expect that crown of righteousness that fadeth not away.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The husbandman that laboureth - The margin is, “labouring…
The husbandman that laboureth - The margin is, “labouring first, must be partaker.” The idea, according to the translation in the text, is, that there is a fitness or propriety (δει dei) that the man who cultivates the earth, should enjoy the fruits of his labor. See the same image explained in the notes at 1Co 9:10. But if this be the meaning here, it is not easy to see why the apostle introduces it. According to the marginal reading, the word “first” is introduced in connection with the word “labour” - “labouring first, must be partaker.” That is, it is a great law that the husbandman must work before be receives a harvest. This sense will accord with the purpose of the apostle. It was to remind Timothy that labor must precede reward; that if a man would reap, he must sow; that he could hope for no fruits, unless he toiled for them. The point was not that the husbandman would be the first one who would partake of the fruits; but that he must first labor before he obtained the reward. Thus understood, this would be an encouragement to Timothy to persevere in his toils, looking onward to the reward. The Greek will bear this construction, though it is not the most obvious one.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The husbandman who laboureth [3] must first partake. Both…
The husbandman who laboureth [3] must first partake. Both the Latin and Greek texts admit of two interpretations: the sense may either be, that it is fitting the husbandman partake first and before others of the fruits of his labours, or that he must first labour and then partake. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Laborantem Agricolam, oportet primum de fructibus percipere, It has the same ambiguity in the Greek.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain must be first partaker--The right of first partaking of…
must be first partaker--The right of first partaking of the fruits belongs to him who is laboring; do not thou, therefore, relax thy labors, as thou wouldest be foremost in partaking of the reward. CONYBEARE explains "first," before the idler.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. First—Many commentators think that St. Paul’s first should…
6. First—Many commentators think that St. Paul’s first should be so placed as to qualify laboureth, and so should mean that there must first be labour before there can be enjoyment of fruits. But the emphasis must be on laboureth, and the meaning is, that it is he who laboureth that has the first, and best, and, in truth, only, right to the fruits. He who laboureth but slightly, or not at all, comes after, or is nowhere.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. The husbandman that laboureth] This third illustration is…
6. The husbandman that laboureth] This third illustration is well known from St Paul’s use, 1Co_3:6-9, where the substantive corresponding to ‘farmer’ or ‘husbandman’ occurs. ‘Ye are God’s husbandry’; lit., ‘God’s farmed, tilled, land.’ The stress of meaning lies on the participle ‘that laboureth’ and we must give the old full sense to the English word; as the Vulgate putting the participle in the emphatic first place in the sentence ‘laborantem agricolam oportet primum de fructibus percipere.’ See the bearing of the same word, 1Ti_4:10, and especially 1Ti_5:17 where see note. It is true, as the Wise man says, ‘the profit of the earth is for all,’ Ecc_5:9, and the laziest vagabond can claim from the Poor-law his ‘right to live.’ But the husbandman who has ‘toiled with honest sweat,’ putting sinews, brains, and conscience into his work, must be the first to partake of the fruits, as the R.V. rightly renders, more clearly shewing the point. If the Christian knight wishes for any prize worth having, the farmer’s, as well as the athlete’s and the soldier’s life, will say ‘no pains no gains’:
‘For more of wisdom, health, or wealth,
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We’ll trust and labour on;
They come to neither life by stealth,
No cross no crown.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker…
(6) The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.—Again the picture is painted from every-day life. “The husbandman that laboureth”—with an emphasis upon “that laboureth”—is the successful tiller of the ground; “the labouring husbandman” it is, for whom the earth brings forth her increase. It is the enduring, patient, self-sacrificing toil that is rewarded in the affairs of common life—the man that “endures hardness,” whether as a soldier, or athlete, or tiller of the ground, wins the reward; and as in the world, so in religion. Further on in the Epistle the Apostle speaks of his having won the crown of righteousness. He had endured hardness of every conceivable kind; every affliction for the Lord’s sake he had endured save death, and that he was expecting, and knew it could not long tarry. The teaching of St. Paul in this triple picture is—not every soldier wins its commander’s applause, but only the veteran who devotes himself heart and soul to his profession; not every athlete wins the crown or prize, but only he who trains with anxious, painful care; not every tiller of the ground gathers the earth’s fruits, but only the patient toiler. So must it be in religious life. It is not enough to say we are Christians, or even to wish to be of the brotherhood of Christ. Men must really live the life they say they love.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The first to partake for first partaker, A.V That…
The first to partake for first partaker, A.V That laboureth (ton kopiwnta). Let not Timothy think to shirk labour and yet enjoy its fruits. (For kopiaw, see note on (1Ti_5:17)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of…
2Ti_2:6
The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
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The laboring husbandman
The order of the Greek shows that the emphatic word is labours. It is the labouring husbandman who must be the first to partake of the fruits. It is the man who works hard and with a will, and not the one who works listlessly or looks despondently on, who, according to all moral fitness and the nature of things, ought to have the first share in the fruits. This interpretation does justice to the Greek as it stands, without resorting to any manipulation of the apostles language. Moreover, it brings the saying into perfect harmony with the context. It is quite evident that the three metaphors are parallel to one another, and are intended to teach the same lesson. In each of them we have two things placed side by side--a prize, and the method to be observed in obtaining it. Do you, ass Christian soldier on service, wish for the approbation of Him who has enrolled you. Then you must avoid the entanglements which would interfere with your service. Do you, as a Christian athlete, wish for the crown of victory? Then you must not evade the rules of the contest. Do you, as a Christian husbandman, wish to be among the first to enjoy the harvest? Then you must be foremost in toil. (A. Plummer, D. D.)
The minister a husbandman
1. He must prepare good seed--i.e., sound doctrine. For in this sense we may truly say: what a man soweth, he shall reap; such as thy seed is, such will be thy harvest.
2. Understand the nature of the soil, the spiritual estate of thy people, and let the seed be in degree and measure suitable. Seed that is hot and dry must be sown in a cold and moist ground; if cold and moist, in a land that is hot and dry, else no multiplication. He that preaches mercy to the wicked is like him who soweth wheat on dry sandy mountains; judgment to the righteous, rye in wet and watery valleys--neither of both will, can prosper.
3. Get skill in the manner of sowing.
4. When the seed is sown, weeds will grow up with it. These must be plucked up, kept under, else the corn will not prosper.
5. In any case, go not thou beyond thy bounds, but sow in that soil where God commands thee. That great seedsman, Paul, had ill success among the Jews, being chiefly sent to teach the Gentiles.
6. Cast not off thy calling; wax not weary in this husbandry; and to encourage thee, consider the excellency of thy function. The husbandman waiteth long; be thou also patient, for a time of gathering will come--shall come. (J. Barlow, D. D.)
What the Christian teacher can learn from the husbandman
1 No fruit without labour.
2. No labour without reward. (Van Oosterzee.)
The minister a husbandman
1. He must cultivate the people, and sow the good seed.
2. He must not be discouraged if he does not reap fruit at once.
3. As the fruits of the ground sustain the husbandman, so should the people sustain the minister. (W. Burkitt, M. A.)
Reward of work
A few years since, Motley shot up to the first position as an historian. Many wondered; but it was no wonder. He had wrought patiently for years in the libraries of the Old and New Worlds, unseen of men. The success of the great artist Dore was years of study in the hospitals, and practice in the studio behind it. This path to success is open to all. (New Cyclopaedia of Illustrations.)
No work, no reward
Gilbert Wakefield tells us that he wrote his own memoirs, a large octavo, in six or eight days. It cost him nothing, and, what is very natural, is worth nothing, You might yawn scores of such books into existence; but who would be the wiser or better? We all like gold, but dread the digging. The cat loves the fish, but will not wade to catch them. (J. Todd, D. D.)
The pleasure of sloth inconsistent with the reward of toil
They are utterly out that think to have the pleasure of sloth and the guerdon of goodness. (J. Trapp.)
Work and joy
Work is heavens condition of prosperity and enjoyment in everything. A workless world would be a joyless world. (Homilist.)
Partaking of the fruit
A young man came to a man of ninety years of age, and said to him, How have you made out to live so long and be so well? The old man took the youngster to an orchard, and; pointing to some large trees full of apples, said, I planted these trees when I was a boy, and do you wonder that now I am permitted to gather the fruit of them? We gather in old age what we plant in our youth. Sow to the wind, end we reap the whirlwind. Plant in early life the right kind of a Christian character, and you will eat luscious fruit in old age, and gather these harvest apples in eternity.
The present rewards of service
Of the husbandman it is said that he first shall eat of the fruit of his labour. Here we have an intimation of the rewards of Christian life that come before the final distribution. The soldier must wait until the war is over; the contestant shall not be crowned until the games are over; but the husbandman has continuous incomings of the fruits of his labours all the time. He first partakes of the fruit of his labour. The loaf on his table, the milk in his dairy, the fruit of his storehouse--these are kept plenished and plentiful all the time. Then comes harvest and autumn, with their laden garners and their orchard spoil. So it is with the rewards of the Christian. Let him be as a soldier brave, as contestant striving, as a husbandman diligent and thrifty, and he shall have the reward of his labours even now--in grace and favour, in strength and peace, in hope and heavenly mindedness, and in the joy of doing good. Plenty to go on with, and a harvest to follow--the fruits immortal, that await the plucking from the bending branches of the trees of life! (J. J. Wray.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 6. The husbandman that laboreth. The farmer has the…
6. The husbandman that laboreth. The farmer has the first right to the fruits. Three illustrations, that of the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer are here given. They all bear on the life of Timothy. “All three must deny themselves and suffer, in order to receive the reward. The soldier denies himself the world; the athlete obeys rigid laws; the husbandman labors and waits for a reward. So you must be content to deny yourself, to suffer, and to wait for your reward.”
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 It is necessary that the hardworking farmer receive his…
It is necessary that the hardworking farmer receive his share of the crops first
This is the third metaphor Paul gives Timothy about working. The reader should understand that Christ's servants need to work hard. (See: Metaphor)
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Think about what I am saying
Paul gave Timothy word pictures, but he did not completely explain their meanings. He expected Timothy to figure out what he was saying about Christ's servants.
in everything
"about everything"
translationWords
lord
understand
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.