Deuteronomy 25:4
in Deuteronomy 25Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the grain.
KJV
Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 25
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThou 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 1Co 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 is opposed.
This site's exposition
Do not muzzle an ox
The shortest verse in the chapter is the one the New Testament takes up most. Paul quotes it twice, at 1 Corinthians 9:9 to argue for a preacher's support and at 1 Timothy 5:18.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Apostolic ConstitutionsApostolic Constitutions (Book II), Section 4, XXV · Written before 380.
proposed
Let him use those tenths and first-fruits, which are given according to the command of God, as a man of God; as also let him dispense in a right manner the free-will offerings which are brought in on account of the poor, to the orphans, the widows, the afflicted, and strangers in distress, as having that God for the examiner of his accounts who has committed the disposition to him.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
11 ) is put for all similar instances. That which makes this law very remarkable above its fellows (and which countenances the like application of other such laws) is that it is twice quoted in the New Testament to show that it is the duty of the people to give their ministers a comfortable maintenance, 1 Cor. ix.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
4 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַחְסֹ֥ם | tachsom | you will muzzle | H2629 → | |
| שׁ֖וֹר | shor | an ox | H7794 → | 79 times |
| בְּדִישֽׁוֹ׃ ס | bedisho | when threshes it | H1758 → |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַחְסֹ֥םyou will muzzle
tachsomH2629 →
שׁ֖וֹרan ox
shorH7794 →79 times
בְּדִישֽׁוֹ׃ סwhen threshes it
bedishoH1758 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 12:10A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.
it leads to
- Numbers 22:28–32
Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”
- Genesis 33:13–14
But Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and I must care for sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard for even a day, all…
- James 2:13–16
For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Numbers 22:28–32
Through
Hosea 10:11Ephraim is a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh; but I will place a yoke on her fair neck. I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, and Jacob will break the hard ground.
it leads to
- Hosea 4:16
For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now shepherd them like lambs in an open meadow?
- Jeremiah 50:11
“Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plunder My inheritance—because you frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions,
- Hosea 4:16
Through
Isaiah 28:27Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin. But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:15
Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
- 2 Kings 13:7
Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
- Jeremiah 46:28
And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I am with you. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you, I will not…
- Isaiah 41:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions (Book II), Section 4, XXV; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.