Matthew 12:4

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 

John 17:12

17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe ⁵  and watched over them ⁶  in your name ⁷  that you have given me. Not one ⁸  of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, ⁹  so that the scripture could be fulfilled. ¹⁰ 

[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.

[17:12]  ⁵ tn Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”

[17:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “and guarded them.”

[17:12]  ⁷ tn Or “by your name.”

[17:12]  ⁸ tn Grk And not one.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas).

[17:12]  ¹⁰ sn A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 LXX. The exact passage is not specified here, but in John 13:18, Ps 41:9 is explicitly quoted by Jesus with reference to the traitor, suggesting that this is the passage to which Jesus refers here. The previous mention of Ps 41:9 in John 13:18 probably explains why the author felt no need for an explanatory parenthetical note here. It is also possible that the passage referred to here is Prov 24:22 LXX, where in the Greek text the phrase “son of destruction” appears.