The Meaning of Deuteronomy 25:4 Explained

Deuteronomy 25:4

KJV: Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

YLT: 'Thou dost not muzzle an ox in its threshing.

Darby: Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

ASV: Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the grain .

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Thou shalt not muzzle  the ox  when he treadeth out  [the corn]. 

What does Deuteronomy 25:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

God"s care for animals as His creatures lay behind this law. The Apostle Paul expounded the significance of this command ( 1 Corinthians 9:9; 1 Timothy 5:18).
"The purpose clearly was not only to provide for the ox itself but to make the point by a fortiori argument that if a mere animal was worthy of humane treatment, how much more so was a human being created as the image of God." [1]

Chapter Summary: Deuteronomy 25

1  Punishment must not exceed forty lashes
4  The ox is not to be muzzled
5  Of raising seed unto a brother
11  Of the immodest woman
13  Of unjust weights and measures
17  The memory of Amalek is to be blotted out

What do the individual words in Deuteronomy 25:4 mean?

Not You shall muzzle an ox while it treads out [the grain] -
לֹא־ תַחְסֹ֥ם שׁ֖וֹר בְּדִישֽׁוֹ ס

תַחְסֹ֥ם  You  shall  muzzle 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: חָסַם  
Sense: (Qal) to stop up, muzzle.
שׁ֖וֹר  an  ox 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֹׁור  
Sense: ox, bull, a head of cattle.
בְּדִישֽׁוֹ  while  it  treads  out  [the  grain] 
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person masculine singular
Root: דּוּשׁ  
Sense: to tread out, thresh.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation