^12:1At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on a Sabbath. His¹ disciples were hungry, and they began to pick heads of wheat² and eat them. ^12:2But when the Pharisees³ saw this they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath.” ^12:3He⁴ said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry—^12:4how he entered the house of God and they ate⁵ the sacred bread,⁶ which was against the law⁷ for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests?⁸^12:5Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty? ^12:6I⁹ tell you that something greater than the temple is here. ^12:7If¹⁰ you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’¹¹ you would not have condemned the innocent. ^12:8For the Son of Man is lord¹² of the Sabbath.”

^12:9Then¹³ Jesus¹⁴ left that place and entered their synagogue.¹⁵^12:10A¹⁶ man was there who had a withered¹⁷ hand. And they asked Jesus,¹⁸ “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”¹⁹ so that they could accuse him. ^12:11He said to them, “Would not any one of you, if he had one sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, take hold of it and lift it out? ^12:12How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ^12:13Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and it was restored,²⁰ as healthy as the other.

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Footnotes

1 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
2 Or “heads of grain.” While the generic term στάχυς (stachus) can refer to the cluster of seeds at the top of grain such as barley or wheat, in the NT the term is restricted to wheat (L&N 3.40; 1).
3 See the note on Pharisees in .
4 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
5 The Greek verb ἔφαγεν (ephagen, “he ate”) is found in a majority of witnesses (𝔓70 C D L W Θ f1, 13 33 𝔐 latt sy co) in place of ἔφαγον (ephagon, “they ate”), the wording found in א B . ἔφαγεν is most likely motivated by the parallels in Mark and Luke (both of which have the singular).
6 Grk “the bread of presentation.” The sacred bread refers to the “bread of presentation,” “showbread,” or “bread of the Presence,” twelve loaves prepared weekly for the tabernacle and later, the temple. See Exod 25:30; 35:13; 39:36; Lev 24:5–9. Each loaf was made from 3 quarts (3.5 liters; Heb “two tenths of an ephah”) of fine flour. The loaves were placed on a table in the holy place of the tabernacle, on the north side opposite the lampstand (Exod 26:35). It was the duty of the priest each Sabbath to place fresh bread on the table; the loaves from the previous week were then given to Aaron and his descendants, who ate them in the holy place, because they were considered sacred (Lev 24:9). See also Mark 2:23–28, Luke 6:1–5.
7 Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was against the law is one of analogy: “If David did it for his troops in a time of need, then so can I with my disciples.” Jesus is clear that on the surface there was a violation here. What is not as clear is whether he is arguing a “greater need” makes this permissible or that this was within the intention of the law all along.
9 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
10 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
11 A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 9:13).
12 The term “lord” is in emphatic position in the Greek text. A second point in Jesus’ defense of his disciples’ actions was that his authority as Son of Man also allowed it, since as Son of Man he was lord of the Sabbath.
13 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
14 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 See the note on synagogues in .
16 Grk “And behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis ( 1).
17 Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.
18 Grk “and they asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated. The referent of the pronoun (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the , m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; Yoma 8.6).
20 The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.

Cross references

8 See 1 Sam 21:1–6.