ἔργον

ἔργον, ου, τό (Hom.+) work.

① that which displays itself in activity of any kind, deed, action

ⓐ in contrast to rest Hb 4:3, 4 (Gen 2:2), 10. In contrast to word: freq. used to describe people of exceptional merit, esp. benefactors (X., Hier. 7, 2, Cyr. 6, 4, 5; Cebes 2, 2 λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ Πυθαγόρειος; Lucian, Tox. 35. Oft. in Epict.; GDI 5039, 20 [Crete] οὔτε λόγῳ οὔτε ἔργῳ; Sir 3:8; 16:12; 4 Macc 5:38; En 14:22 πᾶς λόγος αὐτοῦ ἔργον; TestAbr A 9 p. 86, 26 [Stone p. 20] ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ; Philo; Jos., Ant. 17, 220, C. Ap. 2, 12; Larfeld I 497f) δυνατὸς ἐν ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ mighty in word and deed Lk 24:19; cp. Ac 7:22; ἐν λόγῳ ἢ ἐν ἔ. in word and deed Col 3:17; cp. Ro 15:18; 2 Cor 10:11; 2 Th 2:17; Tit 1:16a; 1J 3:18; 2 Cl 17:7, also 4:3. A similar contrast betw. the ποιητὴς ἔργου doer who acts and the forgetful hearer Js 1:25, and betw. ἔργα and a πίστις that amounts to nothing more than a verbal statement 2:14–26 (s. JRopes, Exp. 7th ser., 5, 1908, 547–56 and his comm. 1916 ad loc.; HPreisker, ThBl 4, 1925, 16f; ETobac, RHE 22, 1926, 797–805; AMeyer, D. Rätsel des Jk 1930, 86ff; ASchlatter, D. Brief des Jak. ’32, 184–207).

ⓑ manifestation, practical proof τὸ ἔ. τῆς πίστεως 1 Th 1:3; 2 Th 1:11. ἔ. διακονίας Eph 4:12. τὸ ἴδιον ἔργον τῆς προσευχῆς AcPl Ha 4, 27. τὸ ἔ. τοῦ νόμου acting in accordance with the law Ro 2:15 (perh. also the bringing of the law into effect, as Polyaenus 1, 19 τοῦ λογίου τὸ ἔργον=realization or fulfilment of the oracular response). ἡ ὑπομονὴ ἔ. τέλειον ἐχέτω let endurance show itself perfectly in practice Js 1:4.

ⓒ deed, accomplishment

α. of the deeds of God and Jesus, specif. miracles (Epict. 3, 5, 10 ἰδεῖν ἔργα τὰ σά [=τοῦ θεοῦ]; Ael. Aristid. 50, 17 K.=26 p. 506 D.: ἔργον τοῦ θεοῦ θαυμαστόν; Quint. Smyrn. 9, 481 ἔργον ἀθανάτων of the healing of Philoctetes; Josh 24:29; Ps 45:9; 65:5; 85:8; JosAs 9:5; Jos., Bell. 5, 378 τ. ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ, C. Ap. 2, 192) Mt 11:2; J 5:20, 36; 7:3, 21 (Diod S 5, 33, 5 ἓν ἔργον=just one practice); 9:3; 10:25, 37f; 14:10, 11, 12; 15:24; Ac 13:41 (Hab 1:5); 15:18 v.l.; Hb 3:9 (Ps 94:9); Rv 15:3. On Mt 11:19 s. δικαιόω 2bα.

β. of the deeds of humans, exhibiting a consistent moral character, referred to collectively as τὰ ἔργα (Ps 105:35; Job 11:11; Jon 3:10) J 3:20 f; 7:7; Js 3:13; 1J 3:12; Rv 2:2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15. σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τὰ ἔ. Qua. τὰ πρῶτα ἔ. Rv 2:5. πάντα τὰ ἔργα (Am 8:7; Mi 6:16) Mt 23:5. κατὰ τὰ ἔργα in accordance w. the deeds (Ps 27:4; 61:13; Pr 24:12; En 100:7; PsSol 2:16) Mt 23:3; Ro 2:6; 2 Ti 1:9; 4:14; Rv 2:23; 20:12f. Also κατὰ τὸ ἔργον 1 Pt 1:17. The collective τὸ ἔργον is used for the pl. (Sir 11:20) Gal 6:4; Hb 6:10; Rv 22:12. The ἔργον or ἔργα is (are) characterized by the context as good or bad Lk 11:48; 1 Cor 5:2; 2 Cor 11:15; 2 Ti 4:14; Js 2:25; 3J 10; Rv 14:13; 16:11; 18:6 (since in all these passages except Rv 14:13 ἔ. refers to something bad, it is well to point out that ἔργον when used alone also means an evil or disgraceful deed, e.g., Appian, Bell. Civ. 2, 22 §83 ἔργον οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἀπῆν=they abstained from no shameful deed; Apollon. Rhod. 4, 476; 742; Arrian, Anab. 3, 21, 4). Or they are characterized by an added word: ἔ. ἀγαθόν Ro 2:7; 13:3; 2 Cor 9:8; Phil 1:6; Col 1:10; 1 Ti 5:10; 2 Ti 2:21; 3:17; Tit 1:16b; 3:1; Hb 13:21 v.l. Pl. Eph 2:10 (misunderstood by JSanders, Ethics in the NT, ’75, 78; cp. Phil 1:6); 1 Ti 2:10. πλήρης ἔργων ἀγαθῶν rich in good deeds Ac 9:36. ἔ. καλόν Mt 26:10; Mk 14:6; J 10:33. Pl. (GrBar 15:2; Dio Chrys. 3, 52) Mt 5:16; J 10:32; 1 Ti 5:10a, 25; 6:18; Tit 2:7, 14; 3:8, 14, Hb 10:24; 1 Pt 2:12 (WvanUnnik, NTS 1, ’54/55, 92–110; cp. Diod S 16, 1, 1); 2 Pt 1:10 v.l.; 2 Cl 12:4. ἔργα ὅσια, δίκαια 6:9. ἔ. δικαιοσύνης B 1:6 (PsSol 18:8). ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ righteous deeds Tit 3:5. τὰ ἔ. τοῦ θεοῦ the deeds that God desires (Jer 31:10; 1 Esdr 7:9, 15) J 6:28; cp. vs. 29. τὰ ἔ. μου (i.e. Χριστοῦ) Rv 2:26. ἔργα πεπληρωμένα ἐνώπιον τ. θεοῦ 3:2. ἔ. ἄξια τ. μετανοίας Ac 26:20. ἔ. τῆς πίστεως the deeds that go with faith Hs 8, 9, 1. ἔ. αἰώνιον an imperishable deed IPol 8:1. τὰ. ἔ. τοῦ Ἀβραάμ deeds like Abraham’s J 8:39. τὰ ἔ. τ. πέμψαντός με 9:4.—ἔργα πονηρά evil deeds (1 Esdr 8:83; En 98:6; Tat. 23:2) Col 1:21; 2J 11; cp. J 3:19; 7:7; 1J 3:12 and ἀπὸ παντὸς ἔ. πονηροῦ 2 Ti 4:18. Also ἔ. τῆς πονηρᾶς ὁδοῦ B 4:10. νεκρά dead works, i.e. those that lead to death Hb 6:1; 9:14. ἄκαρπα unfruitful actions Eph 5:11. ἄνομα lawless deeds 2 Pt 2:8. Also ἔ. τῆς ἀνομίας B 4:1; Hs 8, 10, 3. ἔργα ἀσεβείας impious deeds Jd 15 (ἀσεβῆ ἔ. Just., A I, 23, 3). τοῦ σκότους deeds of darkness (i.e. unbelief) Ro 13:12; cp. Eph 5:11. ἔ. τῆς σαρκός deeds that originate in the flesh (i.e. sin) Gal 5:19. τὰ ἔ. τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν deeds such as your father (the devil) commits J 8:41. τῶν Νικολαϊτῶν Rv 2:6.—κρύφια, φανερὰ ἔ. secret, open deeds 2 Cl 16:3. Freq. in Paul ἔργα νόμου deeds that the law commands you to do Ro 3:20, 28; cp. 27; Gal 2:16; 3:2, 5, 10 (cp. 4Q MMT 3, 27 [=A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. REisenman/JRobinson, I ’91, xxxi, fig. 8, c line 29]; MAbegg, Paul, ‘Works of the Law’ and MMT: Bar 20/6, ’94, 52–55; JDunn, NTS 43, ’97, 147–53). Also simply ἔργα, w. the same meaning Ro 4:2, 6; 9:12, 32; 11:6; Eph 2:9; s. ELohmeyer, ZNW 28, 1929, 177–207.—S. δικαιοσύνη 3 end.

② that which one does as regular activity, work, occupation, task (cp. Aristoph., Av. 862; X., Mem. 2, 10, 6; Arrian, Anab. 5, 23, 1; Epict. 1, 16, 21; Sir 11:20; TestSol 1:2 al.; Just., A II, 3, 5 βασιλικόν) w. gen. of the one who assigns the task τοῦ κυρίου 1 Cor 15:58; 16:10; Phil 2:30. διδόναι τινὶ τὸ ἔ. αὐτοῦ assign his task to someone Mk 13:34; πληροῦν ἔ. accomplish a task Ac 14:26. τ. ἔ. τελειοῦν finish the work (Dionys. Hal. 3, 69, 2 τ. οἰκοδομῆς τ. πολλὰ εἰργάσατο, οὐ μὴν ἐτελείωσε τὸ ἔργον; 2 Esdr 16:3, 16) J 17:4; cp. 4:34. ἡ κυρίου τοῦ ἔργου shop superintendent GJs 2:2 (s. deStrycker ad loc.) Of the task and work of the apostles Ac 13:2; 15:38. οἱ πιστευθέντες παρὰ θεοῦ ἔργον τοιοῦτο those who were entrusted by God with so important a duty 1 Cl 43:1. καρπὸς ἔργου fruit of work Phil 1:22. To love someone διὰ τὸ ἔ. αὐτοῦ because of what the person has done 1 Th 5:13. Of an office 1 Ti 3:1 (4 is also poss.). ἔ. ποιεῖν εὐαγγελιστοῦ do the work of an evangelist 2 Ti 4:5.—ἔ. συγγενικὸν ἀπαρτίζειν accomplish a proper, natural task IEph 1:1.

③ that which is brought into being by work, product, undertaking, work (Hom. et al.; Gen 2:2; 3 Km 7:15, 19; Jer 10:3; 1 Esdr 5:44; TestAbr A 13 p. 93, 11 [Stone p. 34] εἴ τινος κατακαύσει τὸ πὺρ; Just., D. 88, 8; Mel., P. 36, 244) work in the passive sense. W. special ref. to buildings (Aristoph., Av. 1125; Polyb. 5, 3, 6; Diod S 1, 31, 9; Appian, Mithrid. 30 §119; Arrian, Anab. 6, 18, 2; Dionys. Byz. §27; IG IV²/1, 106, 56; 114, 31 al.; PPetr III, 43 [2] I, 2 [III B.C.] εἰς τὰ ἔργα=for the buildings al.; 1 Macc 10:11; SibOr 4, 59; EPeterson, Biblica 22, ’41, 439–41) 1 Cor 3:13, 14, 15. Perh. a building is also meant in 1 Cor 9:1 and Ro 14:20 (s. καταλύω 2b). γῆ κ. τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔ. 2 Pt 3:10 (FDanker, ZNW 53, ’62, 82–86, would read καὶ γῇ κατὰ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔργα). Images of deities as ἔργα ἀνθρώπων 2 Cl 1:6 (Herodas 4, 26 ἔργα καλά of works of sculpture; Ath. 17:3f); sim. in the formulation ἔργον χειρός (cp. En 98:5; ApcEsdr 1:10; Herodas 7, 2f τῶν σῶν … χειρέων νοῆρες ἔργον; Epict. 3, 7, 24 τὰ χειρὸς ἔργα; Jos., Bell. 3, 268 of courageous deeds χειρῶν ἔργα; cp. Just., D. 23, 5 of circumcision not as ἔργον δικαιοσύνης) τὸ ἔ. τῶν χειρῶν τινος the work of someone’s hands=what someone has made Ac 7:41; Rv 9:20 (cp. Is 17:8; Just., A I, 20, 5 al.). Of the world as created by God (Celsus 4, 99) Hb 1:10 (Ps 101:26; Ar 4:24 al.); 2:7 v.l.; B 5:10; 15:3. τὰ ἔ. τοῦ διαβόλου the devil’s undertakings or enterprises (Arrian, Anab. 1, 11, 7 Τρωικὸν ἔ.=the Trojan undertaking, of the Trojan War) 1J 3:8. τὰ ἔργα τῆς θηλείας the works of the female (w. ref. to sensual desire like Horapollo 1, 11 p. 18 θηλείας ἔργον and Longus 4, 19, 5 ἔργα γυναικῶν) GEg 252, 56. Of adultery Rv 2:22.

④ someth. having to do with someth. under discussion, thing, matter (Hom. et al.) Ac 5:38. κρεῖττον IRo 2:1 (cp. GrBar 5:3 μείζονα τούτων ἔργα). ἔ. εὐφροσύνης a joyful thing B 10:11; οὐ πεισμονῆς τὸ ἔ. not a matter of persuasion IRo 3:3. οὐ νῦν ἐπαγγελίας τὸ ἔ. it is not a matter of what we now profess IEph 14:2. Perh. also 1 Ti 3:1 (s. 2 above).—JKleist, ‘Ergon’ in the Gospels: CBQ 6, ’44, 61–68. DELG. M-M. EDNT. TW. Sv.