Answer
Proverbs 14:4 is one of several verses in which Solomon teaches the wisdom of working smarter and not harder: “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox” (ESV).
Oxen and other farm animals ate their feed from a stone trough-like container called a manger. Manger was also a term for the stall or stable where large animals were kept. “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,” means that, without oxen, the food trough in the barn would remain empty and the stall would stay clean.
Oxen consumed large quantities of feed. Keeping these animals came at a high cost to the farmer. Mucking out their stalls was labor-intensive. Life on a farm without oxen would undoubtedly be cleaner and, in many ways, easier. But oxen were the production engines powering the ancient farming industry. These animals did the work that tractors do today. Oxen could plow fields, transport heavy loads, thresh grain, and haul water faster and more efficiently than any other animal.
Where there are no oxen, yes, the manger is clean. The farmer avoids the expense and work of feeding the oxen and cleaning the stall. But he won’t be able to produce a profitable crop that way. The farmer needs the strength of the ox for an abundant harvest.
One commentary explains, “While keeping a clean manger . . . seems a desirable goal, if it comes as a result of having no working animals, then it is as futile as a hospital with no patients or a school without pupils. There is no productivity or output—it is neat but fruitless. However, having oxen, and using them to plough the fields, will result in the life-giving consequence of abundant crops” (Wilson, L., Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. Firth, D., vol. 17, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Inter-Varsity Press, 2017, pp. 174–175).
Sometimes, we have to look at the bigger picture or the long-term goal when it comes to our choices and decisions about work. A clean barn is a meager advantage compared to the enhanced productivity that an ox will provide. A certain amount of unpleasant expenditure and inconvenience is necessary for increased benefit or profit. A dirty manger is the price one must pay for an abundant crop. If we want to be productive in our work and in our lives, we must be willing to deal with dirt and messes. A successful harvest in work and life takes effort and sacrifice; it will cost us.
Work is a necessary part of the Christian life. We don’t labor just for the sake of laboring, but for the glory of God (Matthew 5:16; Colossians 3:23–25). We must be willing to invest time, money, and effort in our work if we want our lives to produce a crop of abundance. The apostle Paul urged believers to work hard and not live idly (2 Thessalonians 3:6–15). He said, “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat” (verse 10, NLT).
With no oxen, there is less work to do, but there is also nothing to eat. The trough is clean, but the barns are empty. A short-sighted, lazy fool will reason, “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean.” But a wise-minded, far-seeing, industrious individual will realize that “abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” Solomon asks readers: which one of these individuals are you?
