Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Corinthians 9:8

"Do I speak these things after the manner of men? or saith not the law also the same?" — 1 Corinthians 9:8 (ASV)

Say I these things as a man? Do I speak this on my own authority, or without the sanction of God? Is not this, which appears to be so reasonable and equitable, also supported by the authority of God?

Or saith not the law the same also? This refers to the law of Moses, to which the Jewish members of the church at Corinth—who probably had mainly urged these objections—professed to defer. Paul was accustomed, especially when arguing with the Jews, to draw his proofs from the Old Testament. In the previous verse, he had shown that it was equitable that ministers of the gospel should be supported.

In this and the following verses, he shows that the same principle was recognized and acted upon under the Jewish dispensation. He does not mean to say, by this example of the ox treading out the corn, that the law as given by Moses referred to the Christian ministry; rather, the principle settled there was that the laborer should have support, and that suitable provision should not be withheld even from an ox. And if God so regarded the welfare of an animal when laboring, it was much more reasonable to suppose that He would require suitable provision to be made for the ministers of religion.