Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Thessalonians 3:12

"Now them that are such we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." — 2 Thessalonians 3:12 (ASV)

Here the previously given rule (v.10) is repeated because of reports that the problem of loafing had recurred. People who came from Thessalonica to Corinth had reported this. Some of their number had stopped working, even since receiving the corrective of 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 and 5:14. They were using the extra time to interfere in other people’s affairs.

“In the Lord Jesus Christ” Paul commanded such people to settle down and earn the bread they eat. He uses the common union of believers with Christ as ground for his appeal. He might well have addressed the idle ones pejoratively as “you loafers,” but instead he tactfully refers to them as “such people,” doubtless hoping to lead them back to earning their own food. Thus, order would replace the disruption caused by their idleness and meddling.