Ambrosiaster : It was not by the law of Moses that God followed the practice of the Gentiles, but natural reason itself decrees that a person should live from his labor. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES Augustine of Hippo : The apostle says this [here and in Timothy :-] so that Timothy might understand that what he took from those for whom he was, as it were, fighting, and whom he was cultivating as a vine, or feeding as a flock, was not a sign of begging but an acknowledgment of a right. John Chrysostom : "Even so did the Lord ordain that they who proclaim the Gospel should live of the Gospel." Nor doth he even here say that they are supported by men, but as in the case of the priests, of "the temple" and "of the altar," so likewise here, "of the Gospel;" and as there he saith, "eat," so here, "live," not make merchandize nor lay up treasures. "For the laborer," saith He, "is worthy of his hire." — Homily on 1 Corinthians 22