Verse 10
‘For even when we were with you, we used to command you this, “if any will not work, let him not eat”.’
This might confirm a lazy tendency among Macedonians, for Paul had made it a particular emphasis in this church, repeating it continually. There is no evidence for such a statement elsewhere and it may be specifically Pauline. The principle was simple, no work, no food. This would, of course, only apply to those who could work. The fact that he had taught it to them from the start of his ministry is against the popular idea that the attitude arose later as a result of a wrong attitude to the second coming, although that may have given them a further excuse. It made not working seem spiritual.
The sin of idleness is widely recognised. The Romans said, “By doing nothing, men learn to do evil.” Isaac Watts wrote: “For Satan finds some mischief still, for idle hands to do.” The Jewish Rabbis taught, “He who does not teach his son a trade, teaches him to be a thief.” All recognised that idleness leads to bad behaviour.
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