Matthew 12:1-4

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 

[12:1]  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.