"... When Paul interprets ‘Do not muzzle the ox while threshing’ as ‘do not neglect to pay Christian ministers’ commentators have quite naturally assumed that his exegesis was allegorical. However, comparisons with contemporary rabbinic exegesis suggest that this would have been regarded as a literal interpretation of the plain meaning of the text. Even commentators who have wished to rid Paul of all allegory have concluded that here Paul does use allegory ... Kaiser however does claim that Paul’s interpretation is literal. He says that Paul did not ‘resort’ to allegory, because his interpretation was already implicit in Deuteronomy 25:4, 10 though he too fails to present Paul’s methodology. Unlike Kaiser, I would not regard it as a ‘crisis in exegesis’ if Paul did employ allegory. Allegory was a useful tool in the hands of many early Christian commentators because their congregations and opponents alike understood and accepted this method of argument. ..."