Greek word · G2040

ἐργάτης

ergatēs

worker

Worker, laborer, especially farm or hired labor (Matt 20:1–8). Figuratively, someone who carries out an activity. In early Christian use, a missionary or teacher at work in God's harvest (Matt 9:37–38; Luke 10:2, 7; 2 Tim 2:15).

Appears 16 times in 15 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐργάτης, -ου, ὁ

(ἐργάζομαι, which see), [in LXX: Wisdom of Solomon 17:17, Sirach 19:1 40:18, 1Ma.3:6 * ;]

1. prop., a field labourer, husbandman: Matthew 9:37-38 20:1-2, 8, Luke 10:2, James 5:4 (cf. Wis, l.with).

2. Generally, a workman, labourer: Matthew 10:10, Luke 10:7, Acts 19:25 (opposite to τεχνίτης), 1 Timothy 5:18; of Christian teachers, 2 Corinthians 11:13, Philippians 3:2, 2 Timothy 2:15.

3. a worker, doer: τ. ἀδικίας, Luke 13:27 (cf. 1Mac, l.with).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Philippians 3:2

Range of meaning

Worker, laborer, especially farm or hired labor (Matt 20:1–8). Figuratively, someone who carries out an activity. In early Christian use, a missionary or teacher at work in God's harvest (Matt 9:37–38; Luke 10:2, 7; 2 Tim 2:15).

Against the English

BSB 'workers of evil', NIV and ESV 'evildoers', and NLT 'people who do evil' all shift the stress to doing wicked deeds in general. The Greek says 'bad workers': laborers in the mission who do harm.

How it drifted

The translations read 'evil worker' as a general moral label and lose the missionary-labor sense that the Greek readers would have heard.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Cor 11:13 calls rival missionaries 'deceitful workers' (ergatai dolioi), the closest parallel. 1 Tim 5:18 says 'the worker deserves his wages' of church workers. The Didache (11–13) reflects the same world of traveling 'workers' and prophets.

From the study of 2 Timothy 2:15

Range of meaning

A worker or laborer, especially a hired one; often an agricultural worker; more broadly anyone who carries out a task.

Against the English

'Workman' or 'worker' is accurate. English readers may miss that this is ordinary laborer's language, not a title or office.

Used elsewhere in the period

Matthew 9:37–38 and 20:1–8 (harvest and vineyard laborers); Luke 10:7 and 1 Timothy 5:18 ('the worker deserves his wages'); 2 Corinthians 11:13 and Philippians 3:2 ('deceitful/evil workers', meaning rival teachers). Early Christians used it for those who labored at teaching.

From the study of Matthew 9:37

Range of meaning

A worker, especially a hired agricultural labourer or day-labourer. Extended to anyone who does work on someone else's behalf, good or bad ("deceitful workers", 2 Cor 11:13; "a worker who has no need to be ashamed", 2 Tim 2:15).

Against the English

"Workers" (BSB, NIV, NASB, NLT) and "laborers" (KJV, ESV, WEB) are both fine. "Laborers" slightly better keeps the picture of hired farm hands. Neither English word by itself says the workers belong to someone else's operation, which the next verse makes explicit ("the Lord of the harvest… his harvest").

Used elsewhere in the period

Matt 20:1–8 (the vineyard owner hiring ἐργάται at a denarius a day); Matt 10:10 / Luke 10:7 ("the worker is worthy of his food/wages"); Jas 5:4 (labourers who mowed the fields, cheated of pay). Common in the papyri for hired farm labour. A close Jewish parallel: m. Avot 2:15, credited to Rabbi Tarfon: "The day is short, the work is great, the workers are lazy, the reward is much, and the master of the house is pressing."

Where it appears

Matthew · 6

  1. Matthew 9:37 ἐργάται workmen

    Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

    Here: Farm labourers, typically day-labourers hired by an owner (compare Matt 20:1–2). They work someone else's field for that owner, and they are owed their keep (10:10).

  2. Matthew 9:38 ἐργάτας workmen

    Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.”

    Here: Hired hands, the day labourers taken on at harvest time. It is a word for ordinary manual workers, not for titled officials.

  3. Matthew 10:10 ἐργάτης workman

    Take no bag for the road, or second tunic, or sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of his provisions.

    Here: Usually a hired farm hand. It points straight back to 9:37–38: "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." The Twelve are those harvest workers, now being sent out.

  4. Matthew 20:1 ἐργάτας workmen

    “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

    Here: Day labourers, hired and paid one day at a time. In that economy they were among the most precarious people, with no land and no guaranteed work.

  5. Matthew 20:2 ἐργατῶν workmen

    He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

  6. Matthew 20:8 ἐργάτας workmen

    When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and moving on to the first.’

Luke · 4

  1. Luke 10:2 ἐργάται ἐργάτας the workmen, workmen

    And He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.

    Here: Hired field hands, the day laborers a landowner brought in at harvest. The same word comes back in v. 7: 'the worker deserves his wages.'

  2. Luke 10:7 ἐργάτης workman

    Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

    Here: A hired laborer, especially a farm hand. It picks up v. 2, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few", so the messengers are harvest hands sent by the Lord of the harvest.

  3. Luke 13:27 ἐργάται workers

    And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’

    Here: In Luke this is the ordinary word for hired workers, the 'laborers' sent into the harvest (10:2, 7). These people are workers, but what they have worked at is injustice. The word fixes attention on what they did, not on whom they knew.

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 19:25 ἐργάτας Workmen

    Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity.

2 Corinthians · 1

  1. 2 Corinthians 11:13 ἐργάται workers

    For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

    Here: A hired laborer, and by Paul's day an accepted term for a mission worker (the "workers" sent into the harvest, who "deserve their wages"). It touches the live dispute about pay: they present themselves as workers worth supporting.

Philippians · 1

  1. Philippians 3:2 ἐργάτας, workers,

    Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!

    Here: A hired laborer, and in early Christian speech a missionary or teacher working in God's 'field'. This points to rival preachers. There may also be irony aimed at people who rely on 'works'.

1 Timothy · 1

  1. 1 Timothy 5:18 ἐργάτης workman

    For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”

    Here: Typically a hired hand, often a field laborer, paid by the day. Applied here to elders who "labor" (v. 17, kopiōntes) in preaching and teaching.

2 Timothy · 1

  1. 2 Timothy 2:15 ἐργάτην a workman

    Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.

    Here: A hired workman or laborer, often a farmhand. It is plain manual-labor language, set against the word-fighters of verse 14: Timothy is to be someone who does the work, not someone who argues.

James · 1

  1. James 5:4 ἐργατῶν workmen

    Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

    Here: Hired hands, most likely day labourers taken on for the harvest, like the workers in Jesus' vineyard parable (Matt 20:1–16). They had no land and no reserves.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.