Deuteronomy 25:4 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:1-4

Here is, I. A direction to the judges in scourging malefactors, Deut. 25:1-3. 1. It is here supposed that, if a man be charged with a crime, the accuser and the accused (Actor and Reus) should be brought face to face before the judges, that the controversy may be determined. 2. If a man were accused of a crime, and the proof fell short, so that the charge could not be made out against him by the evidence, then he was to be acquitted: ?Thou shalt justify the righteous,? that is, ?him that... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

Thou shall not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn . As oxen are used in ploughing, so likewise in treading or beating out the corn; of the manner of which; see Gill on 1 Corinthians 9:9 ; now while it was thus employed, it might not be restrained by any means from eating the corn as it had an opportunity, either by a muzzle put over its mouth, or other ways. The Gentiles had several ways of restraining their cattle from eating, while they thus made use of them, to which this law... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 25:4

Thou shalt not muzzle the ox, etc. - In Judea, as well as in Egypt, Greece, and Italy, they make use of beeves to tread out the corn; and Dr. Shaw tells us that the people of Barbary continue to tread out their corn after the custom of the East. Instead of beeves they frequently made use of mules and horses, by tying by the neck three or four in like manner together, and whipping them afterwards round about the nedders, as they call the treading floors, (the Libycae areae Hor ), where the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 25:4

Verse 4 4.Thou shalt not muzzle the ox. This passage, indeed, properly belongs to the Supplements of the Commandment, but, since it is a confirmation of the foregoing decree, it seemed fit to connect them; especially because its faithful expositor, Paul, declares, that God had no other design in delivering it than that the laborer should not be defrauded of his just hire, (1 Corinthians 9:10;) for, when he is speaking of the maintenance to be afforded to the ministers of the Gospel, he adduces... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

The leaving the ox unmuzzled when treading out the corn was in order that the animal might be free to eat of the grains which its labor severed from the husks. This prohibition, therefore, was dictated by a regard to the rights and claims of animals employed in labor; but there is involved in it the general principle that all labor is to be duly requited, and hence it seems to have passed into a proverb, and was applied to men as well as the lower animals (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:9 ; 1 Timothy... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

Laborers to live by their labor. The use of this verse by the apostle has brought it out of an obscurity to which it might have been relegated. It is quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:10 , and is there applied by him as an illustration in the ancient Law of Moses of the same principle which our Lord affirmed when he appointed that "they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel" (see Matthew 10:9 , Matthew 10:10 ). We can scarcely go so far as John Calvin in reference to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

The oxen. The apostle draws from this passage the general principle that the laborer is entitled to eat of the fruits of his labor ( 1 Corinthians 9:9 , 1 Corinthians 9:10 ). His application teaches us to look for similar general principles wrapped up in other precepts of the Law. We learn— I. ANIMALS ARE ENTITLED TO GENEROUS TREATMENT . The ox that trod out the corn was not to be muzzled. He was to be permitted to eat of the fruits of his work. Kindness to animals is a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

Doing good inseparable from getting good. Active exercise of our powers is a primary condition of getting good. Real service for others is destined to gain reward. I. SERVICE CAN BE RENDERED TO MAN BY VERY INFERIOR NATURES . The whole animate creation waits upon man. Every living thing upon the earth is a servant and a lackey for men. He is a king here; and, if he have sufficient wisdom, he can rule all for his own advantage. Yet, in a higher sphere, man is only a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

The rights of labor. The threshing in the East is done by oxen in many cases still, though horses, where procurable, are found more serviceable. While the animals were engaged in their weary round, they were never muzzled, but allowed to eat of the corn they were treading out. £ It would appear, indeed, that it was the straw simply that they were to receive, and the corn was to be reserved for the men, their masters. £ But the idea manifestly was the right of the patient animal to... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 25:4

Compare the marginal references. In other kinds of labor the oxen were usually muzzled. When driven to and fro over the threshing-floor in order to stamp out the grain from the chaff, they were to be allowed to partake of the fruits of their labors. read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:1-4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 25:4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 25:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 25:4

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 25:4

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