1 Timothy 5:18

For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his hire.

Thou shalt not muzzle the ox ... This is a quotation from Deuteronomy 25:4, one of Paul's favorite passages, which he also quoted in his advocacy of support for gospel preachers in 1 Corinthians 9:9. From both this and the second quotation he was about to give, it is certain that 1 Timothy 5:17 has reference to financial remuneration.

And, The laborer is worthy of his hire ... There is absolutely no doubt that Paul here classified this second quotation as "Scripture," to which he attributed both this remark and the one from Deuteronomy. But, where is this Scripture? It is certainly not in the Old Testament. It is in the New Testament:

Matthew 10:10 has this: "The laborer is worthy of his food?' Luke has the words verbatim, "even to the omission of the verb (in the Greek)."[21] "For the laborer is worthy of his hire" (Luke 10:7).

Thus Paul here quoted from the Christian gospels, extending to them the full authority and status of Scripture. As 1Timothy was written during that period shortly before Paul's second imprisonment, the bearing of this on the date of Luke's gospel, which he here quoted, should not be overlooked. Here is an insurmountable denial of the late dating of Luke. "The conclusion is inevitable that the writer of this epistle was acquainted with and quoted from the gospel of Luke."[22]

Of course, some of the critics are "perplexed" by Paul's equating a word of Christ (quoted from the gospels) with the Law of Moses, charging that he evidently "forgot what he was doing"! Such are the writhings of a wounded serpent. As White said, given the respect and honor and adoration in which Paul held Jesus Christ, "It would have been surprising were he not to have esteemed his words at least as authoritative as the Law which he superseded."[23]

[21] A. C. Hervey, op. cit., p. 99.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Newport J. D. White, op. cit., p. 134.