Matthew 14:19

14:19 Then ¹  he instructed the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He gave them to the disciples, ²  who in turn gave them to the crowds. ³ 

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 

[14:19]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[14:19]  ² tn Grk “And after instructing the crowds to recline for a meal on the grass, after taking the five loaves and the two fish, after looking up to heaven, he gave thanks, and after breaking the loaves he gave them to the disciples.” Although most of the participles are undoubtedly attendant circumstance, there are but two indicative verbs – “he gave thanks” and “he gave.” The structure of the sentence thus seems to focus on these two actions and has been translated accordingly.

[14:19]  ³ tn Grk “to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.”

[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.