Proverbs 14:4 (BSB)

Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but an abundant harvest comes through the strength of the ox.

From Proverbs 14. Also in the ESV.

Commentary on Proverbs 14:4

• Matthew Henry (Presbyterian), Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Proverbs 14:4: Note, 1. The neglect of husbandry is the way to poverty: Where no oxen are, to till the ground and tread out the corn, the crib is empty, is clean; there is no straw for the cattle, and consequently no bread for the service of man. Scarcity is represented by cleanness of teeth, Amo 4:6.
• John Gill (Reformed Baptist), Exposition of the Old and New Testaments on Proverbs 14:4: Where no oxen are the crib is clean,.... Or "empty" (z), so Jarchi and Aben Ezra. Oxen were used in Judea in several parts of husbandry; in ploughing the land, bringing home the corn, and in threshing or treading it out, Deu 22:10.
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (Reformed), Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible on Proverbs 14:4: crib is clean--empty; so "cleanness of teeth" denotes want of food (compare Amo 4:6). Men get the proper fruit of their doings (Gal 6:7).
• Geneva Bible Notes (Reformed), Geneva Bible Study Notes on Proverbs 14:4: Where no oxen [are], the crib [is] clean: but much increase [is] by the strength of the ox. (d) By the ox is meant labour, and by the crib the barn, meaning, without labour there is no profit.