Matthew 12:4-8

12:4 how he entered the house of God and they ate ¹  the sacred bread, ²  which was against the law ³  for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests? ⁴  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 ⁵  tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 12:7 If ⁶  you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ ⁷  you would not have condemned the innocent. 12:8 For the Son of Man is lord ⁸  of the Sabbath.”

[12:4]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “the bread of presentation.”

[12:4]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn See 1 Sam 21:1-6.

[12:6]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:7]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:7]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 9:13).

[12:8]  ¹³ tn The term “lord” is in emphatic position in the Greek text.