1 Corinthians 9:9

Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn (ou pimwsei boun alownta). Quotation from Deuteronomy 25:4 . Prohibition by ou and the volitive future indicative. Pimow, to muzzle (from pimo, 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 Matthew 22:12 Matthew 22:34 . Alownta is present active participle of the old verb aloaw, occurs in the N.T. only here (and verse Matthew 10 ) and 1 Timothy 5:18 where it is also quoted. It is probably derived from alo or alon, 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 mh melei expects the negative answer, impersonal verb with dative and genitive cases (qeoi, God, bown, oxen). Altogether (pantw). 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 1 Timothy 10 , the American Standard the first in verse 1 Timothy 9 , the second in verse 1 Timothy 10 .