What does κοπιάω (kopiáō) mean in the Bible?
Kopiaō means to labor, toil, grow weary through work, or exert sustained effort. Paul says he worked harder than the other apostles, yet immediately attributes the labor to God's grace with him.
Greek · G2872
κοπιάω
To feel fatigue; by implication, to work hard
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
κοπιάω G2872
Pronunciation kopiáō
What does κοπιάω (kopiáō) mean in the Bible?
Kopiaō means to labor, toil, grow weary through work, or exert sustained effort. Paul says he worked harder than the other apostles, yet immediately attributes the labor to God's grace with him.
Reader summary
Full entry for κοπιάω (G2872) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2872?
The BSB source-word alignment has 23 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include labor (3), has worked (2), are weary (1), growing weary (1), hardworking (1).
Where does κοπιάω (kopiáō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 6:28. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (3), John (3), Romans (3), 1 Timothy (2).
What This Word Actually Means
Kopiaō means to labor, toil, grow weary through work, or exert sustained effort. Paul says he worked harder than the other apostles, yet immediately attributes the labor to God's grace with him. He explains that believers labor and strive because hope is set on the living God. Elders who lead well, especially in word and teaching, are worthy of honor for their labor.
The hardworking farmer should be first to share in the crops. The verb values costly effort but does not sanctify exhaustion, overwork, or neglect of rest. Christian labor is grace-enabled, hope-directed, accountable, and ordered toward good rather than productivity as identity.
How the Bible Uses It
Kopiaō names demanding effort that can produce weariness. Apostolic work is empowered by grace, ministry labor rests in hope, teaching work deserves honor, and farming illustrates patient participation in fruit.
- 1Cor.15.10
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
First Corinthians 15:10 says Paul labored more abundantly than the other apostles, yet not he but God's grace with him. Effort and dependence are held together after the resurrection gospel.
- 1Tim.4.10
To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe.
First Timothy 4:10 says believers labor and strive because they have set hope on the living God, Savior of all people and especially believers. Hope supplies direction and endurance.
- 1Tim.5.17
Elders who lead effectively are worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
First Timothy 5:17 says elders who lead well, especially those laboring in word and teaching, are worthy of double honor. The verse supports material and relational recognition without creating unaccountable status.
- 2Tim.2.6
The hardworking farmer should be the first to partake of the crops.
Second Timothy 2:6 says the hardworking farmer should be first to receive a share of the crops. The image commends patient labor and legitimate participation in its fruit.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It labor 3× Matthew 6:28, Philippians 2:16, Colossians 1:29
has worked 2× Romans 16:6, Romans 16:12
are weary 1× Matthew 11:28
growing weary 1× Revelation 2:3
hardworking 1× 2 Timothy 2:6
have done the hard work 1× John 4:38
have not worked for 1× John 4:38
have worked hard 1× Romans 16:12
I worked 1× 1 Corinthians 15:10
laborer 1× 1 Corinthians 16:16
must work 1× Ephesians 4:28
my efforts 1× Galatians 4:11
of hard work 1× Acts 20:35
They do not labor 1× Luke 12:27
we have worked hard 1× Luke 5:5
we labor 1× 1 Timothy 4:10
We work hard 1× 1 Corinthians 4:12
weary 1× John 4:6
work diligently 1× 1 Thessalonians 5:12
work hard 1× 1 Timothy 5:17
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 6:28 κοπιῶσιν to labor Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Matthew 11:28 κοπιῶντες to are weary Verb - Present Participle Active - Vocative Masculine Plural Luke 5:5 κοπιάσαντες to we have worked hard Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural Luke 12:27 κοπιᾷ to They do not labor Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular John 4:6 κεκοπιακὼς to weary Verb - Perfect Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular John 4:38 κεκοπιάκατε to have not worked for Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural John 4:38 κεκοπιάκασιν to have done the hard work Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Acts 20:35 κοπιῶντας to of hard work Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural Romans 16:6 ἐκοπίασεν to has worked Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Romans 16:12 κοπιώσας to have worked hard Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Feminine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 6:28
Aligned rows 23
Books represented 14
Matthew 2 Luke 2 John 3 Acts 1 Romans 3 1 Corinthians 3 Galatians 1 Ephesians 1 Philippians 1 Colossians 1 1 Thessalonians 1 1 Timothy 2 2 Timothy 1 Revelation 1
Source forms
ἐκοπίασα 2x ekopiasa 1 Corinthians 15:10, Philippians 2:16
ἐκοπίασεν 2x ekopiasen Romans 16:6, Romans 16:12
κοπιῶμεν 2x kopiōmen 1 Corinthians 4:12, 1 Timothy 4:10
κοπιῶντας 2x kopiōntas Acts 20:35, 1 Thessalonians 5:12
κοπιῶντες 2x kopiōntes Matthew 11:28, 1 Timothy 5:17
κεκοπίακα 1x kekopiaka Galatians 4:11
κεκοπιάκασιν 1x kekopiakasin John 4:38
κεκοπιάκατε 1x kekopiakate John 4:38
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular 2x 1 Corinthians 15:10, Philippians 2:16
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 2x Romans 16:6, Romans 16:12
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural 2x 1 Corinthians 4:12, 1 Timothy 4:10
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Plural 2x Acts 20:35, 1 Thessalonians 5:12
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x Luke 5:5
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular 1x Galatians 4:11
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural 1x John 4:38
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular 1x Revelation 2:3
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not glorify burnout, chronic sleep loss, unpaid exploitation, unsafe work, or neglect of family and health as Christian labor.
- Do not use honor for leaders to remove financial transparency, performance accountability, or shared burden.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not glorify burnout, chronic sleep loss, unpaid exploitation, unsafe work, or neglect of family and health as Christian labor.
- Do not use honor for leaders to remove financial transparency, performance accountability, or shared burden.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To labor intensely with physical or spiritual exertion; exhaustion results from the work itself, not mere activity
Strong's G2872
Lexical occurrences 23 verses Greek text appearances 23 times 16 shown below Word forms 3 forms 23 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Corinthians 15:5-11 Source Gloss
to feel fatigue; by implication, to work hard
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 23 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 6:28 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
κοπιᾷ, kopia
I grow weary, toil
Read verse Matthew 11:28 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
κοπιῶντες kopiwntev
I grow weary, toil
Read verse Luke 5:5 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
κοπιάσαντες kopiasantev
I grow weary, toil
Read verse Luke 12:27 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
κοπιᾷ, kopia
I grow weary, toil
Read verse John 4:6 Verb Perfect Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
κεκοπιακὼς kekopiakwv
I grow weary, toil
Read verse John 4:38 Verb Second Person Plural Perfect Active Indicative
κεκοπιάκατε· kekopiakate
I grow weary, toil
Read verse John 4:38 Verb Third Person Plural Perfect Active Indicative
κεκοπιάκασι, kekopiakasin
I grow weary, toil
Read verse Acts 20:35 Verb Present Active Participle Accusative Plural Masculine
κοπιῶντας kopiwntav
I grow weary, toil
Read verse Romans 16:6 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐκοπίασεν ekopiasen
I grow weary, toil
Read verse Romans 16:12 Verb Present Active Participle Accusative Plural Feminine
κοπιώσας kopiwsav
I grow weary, toil
Read verse Romans 16:12 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐκοπίασεν ekopiasen
I grow weary, toil
Read verse 1 Corinthians 4:12 Verb First Person Plural Present Active Indicative
κοπιῶμεν kopiwmen
I grow weary, toil
Read verse 1 Corinthians 15:10 Verb First Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐκοπίασα· ekopiasa
I grow weary, toil
Read verse 1 Corinthians 16:16 Verb Present Active Participle Dative Singular Masculine
κοπιῶντι. kopiwnti
I grow weary, toil
Read verse Galatians 4:11 Verb First Person Singular Perfect Active Indicative
κεκοπίακα kekopiaka
I grow weary, toil
Read verse Ephesians 4:28 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Imperative
κοπιάτω, kopiatw
I grow weary, toil
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 3 Aligned forms 23 Tenses Present, Aorist, Perfect Voices Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 9×
Present Active Matt 11:28 · 1 Tim 5:17 · Acts 20:35 · 1 Thess 5:12 · Rom 16:12 · 1 Cor 16:16 · 2 Tim 2:6 7×
Aorist Active Luke 5:5 1×
Perfect Active John 4:6 1×
Indicative states a fact or reality 13×
Present Active 1 Cor 4:12 · 1 Tim 4:10 · Matt 6:28 · Luke 12:27 · Col 1:29 5×
Aorist Active Rom 16:6 · Rom 16:12 · 1 Cor 15:10 · Phil 2:16 4×
Perfect Active John 4:38 · Gal 4:11 · Rev 2:3 4×
Imperative command or strong request 1×
Present Active Eph 4:28 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 22 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 12 aorist 5 perfect 5
Voice
active 22
Mood
indicative 12 participle 9 imperative 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 6:28 κοπιῶσιν present active indicative ongoing Matthew 11:28 κοπιῶντες present active participle participle Luke 5:5 κοπιάσαντες aorist active participle participle Luke 12:27 κοπιᾷ present active indicative ongoing John 4:38 κεκοπιάκατε perfect active indicative resultant John 4:38 κεκοπιάκασιν perfect active indicative resultant John 4:6 κεκοπιακὼς perfect active participle participle Acts 20:35 κοπιῶντας present active participle participle Romans 16:12 κοπιώσας present active participle participle Romans 16:12 ἐκοπίασεν aorist active indicative completed Romans 16:6 ἐκοπίασεν aorist active indicative completed 1 Corinthians 4:12 κοπιῶμεν present active indicative ongoing 1 Corinthians 15:10 ἐκοπίασα aorist active indicative completed 1 Corinthians 16:16 κοπιῶντι present active participle participle Galatians 4:11 κεκοπίακα perfect active indicative resultant Ephesians 4:28 κοπιάτω present active imperative imperative Philippians 2:16 ἐκοπίασα aorist active indicative completed Colossians 1:29 κοπιῶ present active indicative ongoing 1 Thessalonians 5:12 κοπιῶντας present active participle participle 1 Timothy 5:17 κοπιῶντες present active participle participle 2 Timothy 2:6 κοπιῶντα present active participle participle Revelation 2:3 κεκοπίακες perfect active indicative resultant
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Apostolic toil and effort in ministerial work, specifically Paul's labor in preaching
Physical effort and anxiety in daily labor for sustenance and livelihood
Honest work and effort as spiritual practice within Christian community
Appetite driving human effort and toil for economic sustenance
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 23 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
κοπιάω is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Kopiaō honors work that costs something. Paul can say he labored intensely because he immediately denies self-made achievement and credits grace. Timothy's ministry effort is sustained by hope in the living God, not fear of disappointing an institution. Elders who work in teaching deserve real honor and support, while the farmer image recognizes that laborers may rightly share in fruit.
None of this makes constant availability holy. Bodies require sleep, Sabbath rhythms, medical care, and shared responsibility. Churches should resist exploiting devotion, especially when leaders use spiritual language to demand unpaid or unsafe labor. Faithful toil receives limits as creaturely truth, works diligently toward God-given good, and trusts grace rather than output for identity.
Anchor passage
1Cor.15.10
Doctrinal connections
- Grace and effort: divine grace empowers real labor without producing self-boasting.
- Resurrection hope: apostolic toil is not vain because Christ has been raised.
- Hope in God: sustained ministry rests in the living Savior rather than institutional pressure.
- Church leadership: labor in word and teaching deserves accountable honor and support.
- Justice for workers: hardworking servants may rightly share in the fruit of labor.
- Creation and rest: human work remains creaturely, limited, and governed by God's rhythms and care.
Kopiaō means to toil, work hard, labor to weariness, or become tired. It emphasizes effort and cost more than a particular occupation; context supplies the task and purpose.
From Old to New Testament
Creation establishes work and rest, the Law protects laborers and Sabbath, wisdom praises diligence, and prophets condemn withheld wages. Gospel labor remains grace-enabled and resurrection-shaped.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain