LABOR

ISBE

la'-ber (yeghia`, `amal; kopos): The word (noun and verb) denoting hard work or "toil" (thus in the Revised Version (British and American) of De 26:7 ; Jos 7:3 ; Re 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 ( Ge 35:16 , 17 , yaladh; compare 1Th 2:9 ; 2Th 3:8 ). Examples of the word in the ordinary sense are: of yeghia`, Ge 31:42 ; Job 39:11 , 16 ; Ps 128:2 ; of `amal, common in Ec 1:3 , 8 ; 2:10 , 11 , 18 , etc.; of kopos, 1Co 15:58 ("your labor is not vain," etc.); 1Th 1:3 ("work of faith and labor of love"; compare Heb 6:10 ); 1Ti 5:17 ("labor in the word and in teaching"). See WORK ; SLAVERY . James Orr