Labor la'-ber (yeghia`, `amal; kopos): The word (noun and verb) denoting hard work or "toil" (thus in the Revised Version (British and American) of Deuteronomy 26:7, Joshua 7:3, Revelation 2:2) represents several Hebrew and Greek words, chiefly those above. Occasionally, as in Habakkuk 3:17 (ma`aseh), it stands for "fruit of labor." Sometimes, in conjunction with "travail," it refers to childbirth (Genesis 35:16, Genesis 35:17, yaladh; compare 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:8). Examples of the word in the ordinary sense are: of yeghia`, Genesis 31:42, Job 39:11, Job 39:16, Psalms 128:2; of `amal, common in Ecclesiastes 1:3, Ecclesiastes 1:8, Ecclesiastes 2:10, Ecclesiastes 2:11, Ecclesiastes 2:18, etc.; of kopos, 1 Corinthians 15:58 ("your labor is not vain," etc.); 1 Thessalonians 1:3 ("work of faith and labor of love"; compare Hebrews 6:10); 1 Timothy 5:17 ("labor in the word and in teaching").
James Orr