John Calvin 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? Lest anyone should quibble and say that in the things of the Lord the case is different, and therefore that he had brought forward so many comparisons to no purpose, he now adds that the very same thing is commanded by the Lord. To speak as a man sometimes means speaking according to the perverse judgment of the flesh . Here, however, it means bringing forward only those things that are in common use among people, and are merely current, as they say, in a human court. Now, that God Himself designed that the labors of people should be remunerated by wages, he proves from this: that He prohibits the muzzling of the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. And with the aim of applying it to the subject at hand, he says that God was not concerned about oxen, but rather had regard for people.

In the first place, it may be asked, why has he more particularly selected this proof, when he had much clearer passages in the Law? For example, Deuteronomy 24:15.

The wages of the hireling shall not remain with thee overnight.

If anyone, however, will take a closer look, he will acknowledge that there is more force in this quotation, where the Lord requires cattle to be cared for. For from this it is inferred, from the lesser to the greater, how much equity He requires among people, when He wishes that it should be shown even to brute animals.

When he says that God does not take care for oxen, you are not to understand him as meaning to exclude oxen from the care of God’s Providence, since He does not overlook even the smallest sparrow (Matthew 6:26 and Matthew 10:29). Nor is it as if he meant to expound that precept allegorically, as some reckless spirits take occasion from this to turn everything into allegories. Thus they turn dogs into men, trees into angels, and turn all Scripture into a laughingstock.

Paul’s meaning is simple: that when the Lord commands humane treatment towards oxen, He does not do it for the sake of oxen, but rather from a concern for people, for whose sake, also, the oxen themselves were created. Therefore, that compassion towards oxen should be a stimulus for us, stirring us up to exercise humanity among ourselves, as Solomon says (Proverbs 12:10):

The righteous man hath a care over his beast,
but the bowels of the wicked are cruel.

Let it then be understood by you that God is not so concerned for oxen as to have had regard merely for oxen in making that law, for He had mankind in view and wished to accustom them to equity, so that they might not defraud the worker of his wages. For it is not the ox that has the principal part in plowing or treading out the corn, but the person by whose industry the ox itself is put to work. Hence, what he immediately adds—He that ploweth, should plow in hope, etc.—is an explanation of the precept, as if he had said that it extends generally to any kind of recompense for labor.