{Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn}
(ou phim(9373)eis boun alo(936e)ta). Quotation from De 25:4 .
Prohibition by ou and the volitive future indicative. Phimo(935c),
to muzzle (from phimos, a muzzle for dogs and oxen), appears
first in Aristophanes (_Clouds_, 592) and not again till LXX and
N.T., though in the papyri also. Evidently a vernacular word,
perhaps a slang word. See metaphorical use in Mt 22:12,34 .
Alo(936e)ta is present active participle of the old verb aloa(935c),
occurs in the N.T. only here (and verse 10 ) and 1Ti 5:18
where it is also quoted. It is probably derived from halos or
halon, a threshing-floor, or the disc of a shield or of the sun
and moon. The Egyptians according to the monuments, used oxen to
thresh out the grain, sometimes donkeys, by pulling a drag over
the grain. The same process may be found today in Andalusia,
Italy, Palestine. A hieroglyphic inscription at Eileithyas reads:
"Thresh ye yourselves, O oxen,
Measures of grain for yourselves,
Measures of grain for your masters."
Note m(8820)melei expects the negative answer, impersonal verb with
dative and genitive cases ( heoi, God, o(936e), oxen).
{Altogether} (pant(9373)). But here probably with the notion of
doubtless or assuredly. The editors differ in the verse divisions
here. The Canterbury Version puts both these questions in verse
10 , the American Standard the first in verse 9 , the second in
verse 10 .
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