This work on the history of mentalities deals with the perceptions and evaluations of physical labor in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. The foundation is a source genre that has hardly been considered in this context: Latin Genesis exegesis, which held great significance for the people of the time in question. Using a philological-hermeneutical method, the interpretation of the creation story is examined, in which physical labor is portrayed both as a joyful continuation of the creation work and as a punishment for the Fall. The exegetes elevate physical labor religiously and understand it as a path to salvation, as an opportunity to attain a better afterlife.