Lexical Summary ergon: work Original Word: ἔργονTransliteration: ergon Phonetic Spelling: (er'-gon) Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Short Definition: work Meaning: work Strong's Concordance deed, doing, labor, work. From a primary (but obsolete) ergo (to work); toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication, an act -- deed, doing, labour, work. Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 2041: ἔργονἔργον, ἔργου, τό, anciently Φεργον (German Werk, (English work; cf. Vanicek, p. 922)); the Sept. for פֹּעַל, עֲבֹדָה and countless times for מְלָאכָה and מַעֲשֶׂה; work, i. e. 1. business, employment, that with which anyone is occupied: Mark 13:34 (διδόναι τίνι τό ἔργον αὐτοῦ); Acts 14:26 (πληροῦν); 1 Timothy 3:1; thus of the work of salvation committed by God to Christ: διδόναι and τελειουν, John 17:4; of the work to be done by the apostles and other Christian teachers, as well as by the presiding officers of the religious assemblies, Acts 13:2; Acts 15:38; 1 Thessalonians 5:13; Philippians 1:22; τό ἔργον τίνος, genitive of the subjunctive, the work which one does, service which one either performs or ought to perform, 1 Thessalonians 5:13; ἔργον ποιεῖν τίνος to do the work of one (i. e. incumbent upon him), εὐαγγελιστοῦ, 2 Timothy 4:5; τό ἔργον τίνος i. e. assigned by one and to be done for his sake: τό ἔργον τοῦ Θεοῦ τελειουν, used of Christ, John 4:34; (τοῦ) Χριστοῦ (WH text Tr marginal reading κυρίου), Philippians 2:30; τοῦ κυρίου, 1 Corinthians 15:58; 1 Corinthians 16:10; with genitive of thing, εἰς ἔργον διακονίας, Ephesians 4:12, which means either to the work in which the ministry consists, the work performed in undertaking the ministry, or to the execution of the ministry. of that which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking: Acts 5:38 (Deuteronomy 15:10; Wis. 2:12). 2. any product whatever, anything accomplished by hand, art, industry, mind (equivalent to ποίημα, κτίσμα): 1 Corinthians 3:13-15; with the addition of τῶν χειρῶν, things formed by the hand of man, Acts 7:41; of the works of God visible in the created world, Hebrews 1:10, and often in the Sept.; τά ἐν τῇ γῆ ἔργα, the works of nature and of art (Bengel), 2 Peter 3:10; of the arrangements of God for men's salvation: Acts 15:18 Rec.; τό ἔργον τοῦ Θεοῦ, what God works in man, i. e. a life dedicated to God and Christ, Romans 14:20; to the same effect, substantially, ἔργον ἀγαθόν, Philippians 1:6 (see ἀγαθός, 2); τά ἔργα τοῦ διαβόλου, sins and all the misery that springs from them, 1 John 3:8. 3. an act, deed, thing done: the idea of working is emphasized in opposed to that which is less than work, James 1:25; Titus 1:16; τό ἔργον is distinguished from ὁ λόγος: Luke 24:19; Romans 15:18; 2 Corinthians 10:11; Colossians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 2:17; 1 John 3:18 (Sir. 3:8); plural ἐν λόγοις καί ἐν ἔργοις, Acts 7:22 (4 Macc. 5:38 (37); for the same or similar contrasts, common in Greek writings, see Fritzsche on Romans, iii., p. 268f; Bergler on Alciphron, p. 54; Bornemann and Kühner, on Xenophon, mem. 2, 3, 6; Passow, under the word, p. 1159; (Liddell and Scott, under the word, I. 4; Lob. Paralip., pp. 64f, 525f)). ἔργα is used of the acts of God — both as creator, Hebrews 4:10; and as governor, John 9:3; Acts 13:41; Revelation 15:3; of sundry signal acts of Christ, to rouse men to believe in him and to accomplish their salvation: Matthew 11:2 (cf. ἔργα τῆς σοφίας Matthew 11:19 T WH Tr text), and especially in the Gospel of John, as John 5:20, 36; John 7:3; John 10:38; John 14:11; John 15:24, (cf. Grimm, Instit. theol. dogmat., p. 63, edition 2); they are called τά ἔργα τοῦ πατρός, i. e. done at the bidding and by the aid of the Father, John 10:37; John 9:3f, cf. John 10:25, 32; John 14:10; καλά, as beneficent, John 10:32f; and connected with the verbs δεικνύναι, ποιεῖν, ἐργάζεσθαι, τελειουν. ἔργα is applied to the conduct of men, measured by the standard of religion and righteousness — whether bad, Matthew 23:3; Luke 11:48; John 3:20; Revelation 2:6; Revelation 16:11, etc.; or good, John 3:21; James 2:14, 17f, 20-22, 24-26; James 3:13; Revelation 2:5, 9 (Rec.), d. Br. an d. Gal., p. 194ff): Romans 3:20, 28; Romans 9:32 Rec.; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:2, 5, 10; and simply ἔργα: Romans 4:2, 6; Romans 9:12 (11); Romans 9:32 G L T Tr WH; Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2:9; 2 Timothy 1:9 (see δικαιόω, 3 b.). τά ἔργα τίνος ποιεῖν, to do works the same as or like to those of another, to follow in action another's example: Abraham's, John 8:39; that of the devil, John 8:41. |