Matthew 12:41

12:41 The people ¹  of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ²  – and now, ³  something greater than Jonah is here!

Matthew 12:4

12:4 how he entered the house of God and they ate ⁴  the sacred bread, ⁵  which was against the law ⁶  for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests? ⁷ 

[12:41]  ¹ tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1.a, 2).

[12:41]  ² tn Grk “at the preaching of Jonah.”

[12:41]  ³ tn Grk “behold.”

[12:4]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “the bread of presentation.”

[12:4]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ sn See 1 Sam 21:1-6.