For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares, or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope.
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1 Corinthians 9:9-10 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. My defense to those who examine me is this: Have we no right to eat and to drink? Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not work? What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk? Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn’t the law also say the same thing? For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares, or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope. If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your fleshly things? If others partake of this right over you, don’t we yet more? Nevertheless we didn’t use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the Good News of Christ. Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar? Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News. But I have used none of these things, and I don’t write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void. For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me if I don’t preach the Good News. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That when I preach the Good News, I may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News. For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it. Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win. Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air, but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
Parallel Translations
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For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares,
or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope.
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For it ys written in the lawe of Moses. Thou shall not mosell the mouth of the oxe that treadeth out the corne. Doth God take thought for oxen?
Ether sayth he it not all to gedder for oure sakes? For oure sakes no doute this is written: that he which eareth shuld eare in hope: and that he which thressheth in hope shuld be parttaker of his hope.
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For it is written in the Lawe of Moses, Thou shalt not mussell the mouth of the oxe that treadeth out the corne: doeth God take care for oxen?
Either saith hee it not altogether for our sakes? For our sakes no doubt it is written, that he which eareth, should eare in hope, and that he that thresheth in hope, should be partaker of his hope.
Cross-references (19)
- Deuteronomy 25:4 (v9) You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.
- 1 Timothy 5:18 (v9) For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain.” And, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
- Psalms 104:27 (v9) These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season.
- Romans 15:4 (v10) For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the…
- 2 Timothy 2:6 (v10) The farmer who labors must be the first to get a share of the crops.
Show all 19 cross-references
- Psalms 145:15-16 (v9) The eyes of all wait for you. You give them their food in due season. You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
- Jonah 4:11 (v9) Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between…
- Romans 4:23-24 (v10) Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone, but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in…
- Numbers 22:28-35 (v9) Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” Balaam…
- Deuteronomy 5:14 (v9) but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, in which you shall not do any work— neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor…
- Deuteronomy 22:1-4 (v9) You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray and hide yourself from them. You shall surely bring them again to your brother.…
- Psalms 147:8-9 (v9) who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains. He provides food for the livestock,…
- Luke 12:24-28 (v9) Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you…
- Matthew 6:26-30 (v9) See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of…
- John 4:35-38 (v10) Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest?’ Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are…
- 1 Corinthians 3:9 (v10) For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.
- 2 Corinthians 4:15 (v10) For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of…
- Matthew 24:22 (v10) Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
- Luke 17:7-8 (v10) But who is there among you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say when he comes in from the field, ‘Come immediately and…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v10 10. Because he that ploweth ought to plow in…
10. Because he that ploweth ought to plow in hope. There is a twofold reading in this passage, even in the Greek manuscripts, but the one that is more generally received is — He that thrasheth, in hope of partaking of his hope At the same time, the one that does not repeat the term hope twice in the second clause appears simpler, and more natural. Hence, if I were at liberty to choose, I would prefer to read it thus: He that ploweth should plow in hope, and he that thrasheth in hope of participating As, however, the most of the Greek manuscripts agree in the former reading, and as the meaning remains the same, I have not ventured to make change upon it. Now he expounds the preceding injunction, and hence he says, that it is an unjust thing that the husbandman should lay out his pains to no purpose in plowing and thrashing, but that the end of his labor is the hope of receiving the fruits. As it is so, we may infer, that this belongs to oxen also, but Paul’s intention was to extend it farther, and apply it principally to men. Now, the husbandman is said to be a partaker of his hope, when he enjoys the produce which he has obtained when reaping, but hoped for when plowing.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v9 Was it God’s proper drift to provide for oxen,…
Was it God’s proper drift to provide for oxen, when he made this Law? for otherwise there is not the smallest thing in the world, but God hath a care of it.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–10 9 For it is written in the law of…
9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?
Ver. 9. Doth God take care for oxen?] He doth, doubtless, Joh 4:11; he preserveth man and beast; he heareth the young ravens that cry to him only by implication. Doth he not then much more take care for men, for ministers? The Hebrews have a proverb, Bos debet edere ex tritura sua, The ox should eat of the grain he treadeth out. But today, by slight or might, they so muzzle the poor labouring ox that they make an ass of him, saith one. In many places they allow him nothing but straw, for treading out the grain; and so much straw as themselves please, saith another. Do they not now go about to deal by Christ’s faithfulest servants, as those Grecians did, that put an engine about their servants’ neck (called πανσικοπη) which reached down to their hands, that they might not so much as lick of the meal, when they were sifting it (Dr Stoughton.) It was long since complained about, that many dealt by their ministers as carriers do by their horses, they laid heavy burdens upon them, and then hung bells about their necks: hard work and good words they shall have; but easy commons and slight wages; as if they were of the chameleon kind, and could live by air, &c. The statute of mortmain {a} provided that men should give no more to the Church, but now tempera mutantur. Let it control be changed.
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{a} The figurative use is often based on the notion that the ‘dead hand’ means the posthumous control exercised by the testator over the uses to which the property is to be applied. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9–10 Art being not so improved formerly as now, nor…
Art being not so improved formerly as now, nor in all places as in some places; they were wont anciently, both in the land of Judea, and since in Greece, and (as is said) at this day in some places of France, to tread out their corn by the feet of oxen: and by the law of Moses, Deu 25:4, it should seem that some too covetous persons would muzzle the mouths of their oxen, that while they trod out the corn, they might eat none of it; which God, looking upon as an act of cruelty or unmercifulness, forbade his ancient people the Jews. Now, saith the apostle:
Doth God take care for oxen? That is, more for oxen than for ministers or men? For God doth take care for oxen, he preserveth both man and beast; he takes care, as our Saviour elsewhere teacheth us, for the sparrows, for the fowls of the air, for the grass of the field, and therefore for oxen, which are a degree of creatures more noble: but by the same reason we must conclude, that he taketh a greater care for men, especially such as he employeth in his more immediate service.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–10 Or saith he it altogether for our sakes,.... That…
Or saith he it altogether for our sakes,.... That is, God says this, or delivers out this law, forbidding the muzzling the ox, while it treads out the corn; not merely for the sake of the ox, but chiefly for the sake of men; and so Jarchi upon the place says, that the ox is mentioned, , "to express man"; and so another of the Jewish writers (m) interprets the law in Deu 22:6. "Thou shalt not take the dam with the young";
"the intention of the command is, not to have mercy on birds, "but for the sake of men", he (God) says this, whom he would accustom to meekness and compassion:''
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and particularly this is here said, for the sake of ministers of the Gospel, who for their spiritual strength, and labours in their work, may be compared to oxen; see Eze 1:10. This law is elsewhere produced by the apostle, and urged in favour of the maintenance of ministers, as here, Ti1 5:17 and therefore
for our sakes no doubt it is written; to teach men, that as any workmen are not to be deprived of proper sustenance, so neither they that labour in the word and doctrine:
that he that ploweth should plow in hope; of enjoying the fruit of his labours:
and that he that thresheth in hope, should be partaker of his hope; of having a supply out of that he is threshing.
(m) R. Menuachcm apud Ainsworth on Deut. xxii. 7. & Drusium in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9–10 Doth God - In this direction. Take care for…
Doth God - In this direction. Take care for oxen - Only? Hath he not a farther meaning? And so undoubtedly he hath in all the other Mosaic laws of this kind.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9–10 Verse 9. Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of…
Verse 9. Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox] See this largely explained in Clarke's note on "De 25:4".
Doth God take care for oxen?] This question is to be understood thus: Is it likely that God should be solicitous for the comfort of oxen, and be regardless of the welfare of man? In this Divine precept the kindness and providential care of God are very forcibly pointed out. He takes care of oxen; he wills them all that happiness of which their nature is susceptible; and can we suppose that he is unwilling that the human soul shall have that happiness which is suited to its spiritual and eternal nature? He could not reprobate an ox, because the Lord careth for oxen; and surely he cannot reprobate a man. It may be said the man has sinned but the ox cannot. I answer: The decree of reprobation is supposed to be from all eternity; and certainly a man can no more sin before he exists, than an ox can when he exists.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9–10 For it is written - Deu 25:4.
For it is written - Deu 25:4.
In the law of Moses - See the note at Luk 24:44.
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Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth ... - To muzzle means, “to bind the mouth; to fasten the mouth to prevent eating or biting” - Webster. This was done either by passing straps around the mouth, or by placing, as is now sometimes done, a small “basket” over the mouth, fastened by straps to the horns of the animal, so as to prevent its eating, but not to impede its breathing freely. This was an instance of the humanity of the laws of Moses. The idea is, that the ox should not be prevented from eating when it was in the midst of food; and that as it labored for its owner, it was entitled to support; and there was a propriety that it should be permitted to partake of the grain which it was threshing.
That treadeth ... - This was one of the common modes of threshing in the east, as it is with us; see the note and illustration on Mat 3:12.
The corn - The “grain,” of any kind; wheat, rye, barley, etc. Maize, to which we apply the word “corn,” was then unknown; see the note at Mat 12:1.
Doth God take care for oxen? - Doth God take care for oxen only? Or is not this rather “a principle” which shows God’s care for all that labor, and the humanity and equity of his laws? And if he is so solicitous about the welfare of brutes as to frame an express law in their behalf, is it not to be presumed that the same “principle” of humanity and equity will run through all his dealings and requirements? The apostle does not mean to deny that God does take care for oxen, for the very law was proof that he did; but he means to ask whether it is to be supposed that God would regard the comfort of oxen and not of people also? Whether we are not to suppose that the same principle would apply also to those who labor in the service of God? He uses this passage, therefore, not as originally having reference to people, or to ministers of the gospel, which cannot be; but as establishing a general “principle” in regard to the equity and humanity of the divine laws; and as thus showing that the spirit of the law of God would lead to the conclusion that God intended that the laborer everywhere should have a competent support.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9–10 ox . . . treadeth . . . corn--…
ox . . . treadeth . . . corn-- (Deu 25:4). In the East to the present day they do not after reaping carry the sheaves home to barns as we do, but take them to an area under the open air to be threshed by the oxen treading them with their feet, or else drawing a threshing instrument over them (compare Mic 4:13).
Doth God . . . care for oxen?--rather, "Is it for the oxen that God careth?" Is the animal the ultimate object for whose sake this law was given? No. God does care for the lower animal (Psa 36:6; Mat 10:29), but it is with the ultimate aim of the welfare of man, the head of animal creation. In the humane consideration shown for the lower animal, we are to learn that still more ought it to be exercised in the case of man, the ultimate object of the law; and that the human (spiritual as well as temporal) laborer is worthy of his hire.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9–10 9. Doth God take care for oxen—This passage we…
9. Doth God take care for oxen—This passage we have lately seen quoted in a beautiful sermon on tenderness to brutes (by a “liberal” Christian preacher) as inhuman language. He understands the apostle as affirming, contrary to many beautiful texts of sympathy for the lower creatures, that God has no care for brutes! Darwinism, while it confessedly degrades man, claims to elevate the lower animals and to prompt to mercy toward them—a happy result of error, if real. Sad, if Paul’s Christianity were in this below its level!
Alford thus interprets it: “We must not, as ordinarily, supply μονον, only, for oxen, and thus rationalize the sentence. The question imports: ‘In giving this command, are the oxen, or those for whom the law was given, its objects?’ And to such a question there can be but one answer. Every duty of humanity has its ultimate ground, not the mere welfare of the animal concerned, but its welfare in that system of which man is the head, and, therefore man’s welfare. The good done to man’s immortal spirit by acts of humanity and justice infinitely outweighs the mere physical comfort of a brute which perishes.” Our own view is, however, that the question is an argument a fortiori: Cares God for oxen in this law? Much more cares he for men, and for ministers who work like oxen. If the law of compensation includes even the honest labouring cattle, it surely includes us apostles.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–10 9. Doth God take care for oxen?] Luther and…
9. Doth God take care for oxen?] Luther and Estius are here fully of one mind against those who suppose the Apostle to mean that God does not care for oxen. “God cares for all,” says the former, and the latter gives proofs of this care from Holy Writ, for example, Psa_36:6; Psa_147:9. But the precepts of the law were illustrations of general principles which extended far beyond the special precepts contained in it. Such a precept was that in Exo_23:19, ‘Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk,’ cf. Exo_34:26; Deu_14:21, which had in view the general principle of the cultivation of a spirit of humanity. As an instance of the superior humanity of the Jewish law, Dean Stanley mentions the fact that “the Egyptians had an inscription, still extant, to this effect,” and that in Greece there was a proverb, “the ox on the heap of corn,” to describe a man in the midst of plenty which he could not enjoy. In this and many other instances we have to bear in mind that ‘the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.’ St Paul applies this passage from the Old Testament in an exactly similar manner in 1Ti_5:18. It occurs in Deu_25:4.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–10 (9) The ox that treadeth out the corn.—Better, the…
(9) The ox that treadeth out the corn.—Better, the ox while treading out the corn. In this verse the question of the previous one is answered. The Law does say the same: “For it is written in the Law of Moses,” etc. The pointed and emphatic mention of the Law of Moses would give the words great weight with Jewish opponents. On a space of hard ground called a threshing-floor the oxen were driven to and fro over the corn collected there, and thus the separation of the grain from the husk was accomplished.
Doth God take care for oxen?—We must not take these and the following words as a denial of the divine regard for the brute creation, which runs through the Mosaic law and is exemplified in Jon_4:11, but as an expression of the Apostle’s belief as to the ultimate and highest object of God’s love. The good which such a provision as the Law achieved for the oxen was nothing compared to the good which it accomplished for man. God did not do this simply as a provision for the ox, but to teach us men humanity—to teach us that it is a divine principle that the labourer should have his reward.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–10 In the Law of Moses. (Deu_25:4) He uses the…
In the Law of Moses. (Deu_25:4) He uses the same argument again in 1Ti_5:19. The mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn; rather, an ox while treading out the corn. The flail was not unknown, but a common mode of threshing was to let oxen tread the corn on the threshing floor. Doth God take care for oxen? Certainly he does; and St. Paul can hardly mean to imply that he does not, seeing that tenderness for the brute creation is a distinguishing characteristic of the Mosaic legislation. (Exo_23:12, Exo_23:19; Deu_22:6, Deu_22:7, Deu_22:10, etc.) If St. Paul had failed to perceive this truth, he must have learnt it at least from Psa_145:15, Psa_145:16; Jon_4:11. Even the Greeks showed by their proverb that they could pity the hunger of the poor beasts of burden starving in the midst of plenty. It is, however, a tendency of all Semitic idiom verbally to exclude or negative the inferior alternative. St. Paul did not intend to say, "God has no care for oxen;" for he knew that "his tender mercies are over all his works:" he only meant in Semitic fashion to say that the precept was much more important in its human application; and herein he consciously or unconsciously adopts the tone of Philo"s comment on the same passage ("De Victim Offerentibus," 1), that, for present purposes, oxen might be left out of account. The rabbinic Midrash, which gave this turn to the passage, was happier and wiser than most specimens of their exegesis. St. Paul sets the typico allegorical interpretation above the literal in this instance, (comp. 1Ti_5:18) because he regards it as the more important. It is a specimen of the common Jewish exegetic method of a fortiori or minori ad magus. Luther"s curious comment is: "God cares for all things; but he does not care that anything should be written for oxen, because they cannot read"!
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On v9 9. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox, etc. See…
9. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox, etc. See Deut. 25:4. In the East still the grain is trodden out on the threshing floor by the cattle, nor do the people muzzle the cattle to this day. Doth God take care of the oxen? Was this enactment made solely for the benefit of the oxen? Or was not it rather to teach those who did a work had a right to live off of that work? The latter, doubtless.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv9–10 For it is written in the law of Moses…
For it is written in the law of Moses [ Deu_25:4 ], Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn . [Grain in the East has never been threshed by machinery. Though flails are used, it is usually threshed out by oxen. These are driven over it to tramp out the grain, and they sometimes draw a small sled or threshing instrument after them. The law forbade the muzzling of an ox thus employed, and in the East this law is still obeyed.] Is it for the oxen that God careth ,
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v9 Do not put
Do not put
Moses was speaking to the Israelites as if they were one person, so this command is singular. (See: Forms of You)
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Is it really the oxen that God cares about?
Paul asks a question so that the Corinthians will think of what he is saying without him having to say it. AT: "You should know without me telling you that it is not the oxen that God cares most about." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Is he not speaking about us?
Paul asks a question to emphasize the statement he is making. AT: "Instead, God was certainly speaking about us." (See: Rhetorical Question)
about us
Here "us" refers to Paul and Barnabas. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")
is it too much for us to reap material things from you?
Paul asks a question so that the Corinthians will think of what he is saying without him having to say it. AT: "you should know without me telling you that it is not too much for us to receive material support from you." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
written
law
cow
grain
thresh
harvest
plant
spirit
reap
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.