Matthew 12:1-21

Lord of the Sabbath

12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on a Sabbath. His ¹  disciples were hungry, and they began to pick heads of wheat ²  and eat them. 12:2 But when the Pharisees ³  saw this they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath.” 12:3 He ⁴  said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry – 12:4 how he entered the house of God and they ate ⁵  the sacred bread, ⁶  which was against the law ⁷  for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests? ⁸  12:5 Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty? 12:6 I ⁹  tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 12:7 If ¹⁰  you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ ¹¹  you would not have condemned the innocent. 12:8 For the Son of Man is lord ¹²  of the Sabbath.”

12:9 Then ¹³  Jesus ¹⁴  left that place and entered their synagogue. ¹⁵  12:10 A ¹⁶  man was there who had a withered ¹⁷  hand. And they asked Jesus, ¹⁸  “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹⁹  so that they could accuse him. 12:11 He 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? 12:12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 12:13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and it was restored, ²⁰  as healthy as the other. 12:14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him, as to how they could assassinate ²¹  him.

God’s Special Servant

12:15 Now when Jesus learned of this, he went away from there. Great ²²  crowds ²³  followed him, and he healed them all. 12:16 But he sternly warned them not to make him known. 12:17 This fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet: ²⁴ 

12:18 “Here is ²⁵  my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love, in whom I take great delight. ²⁶ 

I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

12:19 He will not quarrel or cry out,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

12:20 He will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick,

until he brings justice to victory.

12:21 And in his name the Gentiles ²⁷  will hope.” ²⁸ 

[12:1]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:1]  ² tn Or “heads of grain.” While the generic term στάχυς (stacus) 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; BDAG 941 s.v. 1).

[12:2]  ³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[12:3]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:4]  ⁵ tc The Greek verb ἔφαγεν (efagen, “he ate”) is found in a majority of witnesses (Ì⁷⁰ C D L W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt sy co) in place of ἔφαγον (efagon, “they ate”), the wording found in א B pc. ἔφαγεν is most likely motivated by the parallels in Mark and Luke (both of which have the singular).

[12:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “the bread of presentation.”

[12:4]  ⁷ sn 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.

[12:4]  ⁸ sn See 1 Sam 21:1-6.

[12:6]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:7]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:7]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 9:13).

[12:8]  ¹² tn The term “lord” is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

[12:9]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:9]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:9]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[12:10]  ¹⁶ tn 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 (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[12:10]  ¹⁷ sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.

[12:10]  ¹⁸ tn 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.

[12:10]  ¹⁹ sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).

[12:13]  ²⁰ sn 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.

[12:14]  ²¹ tn Grk “destroy.”

[12:15]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[12:15]  ²³ tc א B pc lat read only πολλοί (polloi, “many”) here, the first hand of N reads ὄχλοι (ocloi, “crowds”), while virtually all the rest of the witnesses have ὄχλοι πολλοί (ocloi polloi, “great crowds”). In spite of the good quality of both א and B (especially in combination), and the testimony of the Latin witnesses, the longer reading is most likely correct; the shorter readings were probably due to homoioteleuton.

[12:17]  ²⁴ tn Grk “so that what was said by Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying.” This final clause, however, is part of one sentence in Greek (vv. 15b-17) and is thus not related only to v. 16. The participle λέγοντος (legontos) is redundant and has not been translated.

[12:18]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Behold my servant.”

[12:18]  ²⁶ tn Grk “in whom my soul is well pleased.”

[12:21]  ²⁷ tn Or “the nations” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[12:21]  ²⁸ sn Verses 18-21 are a quotation from Isa 42:1-4.