In 1 Tim. 5:18 the author is urging his readers to pay those who minister among them, and supports his exhortation by quoting “the scripture.” What is interesting is that he then quotes two passages, one found in the Torah (“Do not muzzle an ox that is treading,” Deut. 25:4) and the other found on the lips of Jesus (“A workman is worthy of his hire”; see Luke 10:7). It appears that for this author, Jesus’s words are already on a par with scripture.
