Bible Strands
2 Corinthians 11:27
in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Corinthian believers to defend his apostolic authority by cataloging the physical hardships he has endured. He speaks mid-listing, immediately after describing dangers from travel and false brothers, and before noting his daily pastoral burden.
The words — The Greek kopō (labor) and mochthō (toil) denote heavy, exhausting work, while agrupniais (watchings) literally means sleepless nights. These terms anchor the verse in measurable bodily deprivation rather than spiritual metaphor.
The thread — Paul repeats this hardship inventory in 2 Corinthians 6:5 and 1 Thessalonians 2:9, while Philippians 4:12 records his learned contentment amid identical conditions. The passages collectively map a pattern of endurance paired with adaptive resilience.
Why it lands — The text records sustained physical deprivation to establish that apostolic legitimacy derives from concrete sacrifice, not eloquence. It requires readers to judge ministry by its tangible costs and to accept hardship as a standard credential.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 6:5 in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger;
- Philippians 4:12 I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. In any and every situation I have learned the secret of being filled and being hungry, of having plenty and having need.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:9 Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
- 1 Corinthians 4:11 To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
- Jeremiah 38:9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have dropped him into the cistern, where he will starve to death, for there is no more bread in the city.”
- Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
- Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.
- Acts 20:34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions.
- Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?