work
Ergasia denotes work as a source of gain, an activity pursued, or effort directed toward an outcome.
The attested use most often concerns work that produces income or supports prosperity; it also denotes activity directed toward impurity and effort to secure release in a legal setting.
Senses in use
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Income-producing occupation or trade · dominant
In Acts 16:16 and Acts 16:19, the accusative and genitive forms occur in the account of a maidservant whose divination furnished benefit to her lords and whose removal ended their expectation of gain; the APB renders the surrounding clauses with “much work” and “the hope of their work.” In Acts 19:24 and Acts 19:25, the forms occur with craftsmen making silver temples, and the APB renders the clauses as “no little work” and prosperity coming “from this work.”
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Activity directed toward impurity · rare
In Ephesians 4:19, the accusative form stands in the clause about people giving themselves to debauchery “for the work of all impurity in greediness,” as the APB renders the verse. The occurrence presents work as an activity pursued in connection with impurity.
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Effort toward release · rare
In Luke 12:58, the accusative form occurs in the instruction to seek release while going with an opponent to a ruler; the APB renders the clause, “make an effort to be released from him.” The term therefore marks exertion directed toward avoiding the judicial outcome described in the verse.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB varies its presentation among “work,” “much work,” “the hope of their work,” and “make an effort.” These phrases confirm the settings of the verses rather than establish separate English equivalents by themselves.