la'-ber (yeghia`, `amal; kopos): The word (noun and verb) denoting hard work or "toil" (thus in the Revised Version (British and American) ofDe 26:7;Jos 7:3;Re 2:2) represents several Hebrew and Greek words, chiefly those above. Occasionally, as inHab 3:17(ma`aseh), it stands for "fruit of labor." Sometimes, in conjunction with "travail," it refers to childbirth (Ge 35:16,17, yaladh; compare1Th 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 inEc 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"; compareHeb 6:10);1Ti 5:17("labor in the word and in teaching").
James Orr