Labor

la'-ber (yeghia`, `amal; kopos): The word (noun and verb) denoting hard work or "toil" (thus in the Revised Version (British and American) of Deut 26:7; Josh 7:3; Rev 2:2) represents several Hebrew and Greek words, chiefly those above. Occasionally, as in Hab 3:17 (ma`aseh), it stands for "fruit of labor." Sometimes, in conjunction with "travail," it refers to childbirth (Gen 35:16; Gen 35:17, yaladh; compare 1 Thess 2:9; 2 Thess 3:8). Examples of the word in the ordinary sense are: of yeghia`, Gen 31:42; Job 39:11; Job 39:16; Ps 128:2; of `amal, common in Eccl 1:3; Eccl 1:8; Eccl 2:10; Eccl 2:11; Eccl 2:18, etc.; of kopos, 1 Cor 15:58 ("your labor is not vain," etc.); 1 Thess 1:3 ("work of faith and labor of love"; compare Heb 6:10); 1 Tim 5:17 ("labor in the word and in teaching").

See WORK; SLAVERY.

James Orr