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, (Mda ta ayuwhl) , "to express man"; and so another of the Jewish writers F13 interprets the law in ( Deuteronomy 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:''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 ( Ezekiel 1:10 ) . This law is elsewhere produced by the apostle, and urged in favour of the maintenance of ministers, as here, ( 1 Timothy 5:17 1 Timothy 5:18 ) 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.