Deuteronomy 25:4

Against Muzzling the Labouring Ox. Peculiar to D; a clear

The present writer has never seen them muzzled. -In all W. Asia it is the universal custom to allow the oxen or other animals thus employed freely to eat of the crop" (Van Lennep, op. cit.81). -I have seen them muzzled, though this is rare" (Conder, Tent Work, etc., 329). -Not muzzled as a rule" (Baldensperger, PEFQ, 1907, 20). In 1 Corinthians 9:9 f. Paul in illustrating from this law the principle that the labourer is worthy of his hire asks, Is it for oxen that God careth? According to D, undoubtedly He does. Paul may be writing playfully; if not it is a remarkable illustration of the effect of the allegorising habit of the later Jewish exegesis.