Luke 10:7

New Testament

5 Whenever you enter a house, first say, ‘May peace be on this house!’ 6 And if a peace-loving person is there, your peace will remain on him, but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you, for the worker deserves his pay. Do not move around from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and the people welcome you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in that town and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come upon you!’

Didache 13:2

Patristic

1 Every true prophet who wishes to settle among you deserves to be provided for with food. 2 Similarly, a genuine teacher is worthy of sustenance, just like any other worker. 3 Therefore, you should offer the first fruits of your wine, grain, oxen, and sheep to the prophets, for they serve as your high priests. 4 If you have no prophets, then give to those in need. 5 When you bake bread, take the first portion and give it in accordance with the commandment.

 Notes and References

"... 'The workman is worthy of his hire' is a saying attributed to Jesus in Luke (10:7) and (in a slightly different form) in Matthew (10:10); It is quoted, without attribution, in 1 Timothy 5:18 and Didache 13:2: and, as we shall see, it appears to be alluded to elsewhere in the N.T. It is one of those sayings - and there are many in the gospels - which depend for their interest upon the use to which they are put. By themselves, they have the generality - one might say 1he banality - of simple folk wisdom. They are propositions which are memorable only because they give succinct expression to the accumulated wisdom of ages. They do not tell us anything which we did not (on reflection) know already. They spring to life only when authoritatively applied to some novel situation. Jesus was fond of such aphorisms, some of which we can identify as proverbs already in circulation, some of which he may have coined himself. Once imbued with his authority and given a new range of application they quickly took on new life. We still use them to-day, and apply them indiscrimina1ely to any situation they seem to fit ..."

Harvey, A. E. "The Workman is Worthy of His Hire" Fortunes of a Proverb in the Early Chuch (pp. 209-211) Brill, 1982

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