1 Corinthians 9:7

Vv. 7. “Who goeth a warfare at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?”

The gospel is profoundly human; it welcomes all that is in conformity with nature in its normal state. Thus Paul appropriates without hesitation the principle contained in the three examples quoted, which he takes from common life. The principle is this: The man who consecrates his labour to a work, ought to be able to live by that work. The soldier leaves his trade for war; his support is due to him from the man in whose service he fights; ὀψώνια, pay, strictly the cooked meats taken along with bread; hence: pay in kind, then also in money.

The vine-dresser bestows all his life on the care of the vine of his employer (Matthew 20:1-7); he ought to partake of its fruit. The reading of T. R. of its fruit (ἐκ τοῦ καρποῦ), is more exact in point of sense; but it is probably a correction of the other better supported reading, τὸν καρπόν, its fruit, an expression which does not necessarily signify that the whole of the fruit comes to him, as if he were proprietor. The three examples, of the soldier, the vine-dresser, and the shepherd, present themselves all the more naturally to the apostle's mind, because the people of God are often described in the prophets as an army, a vine, a flock.

Next, Paul corroborates this argument taken from human right by a third, which he borrows from Divine right.