The Disciples pluck ears of corn

St Mark Chapter II : Verses 23-28

Plucking corn on the Sabbath. J-J Tissot

[23] And it came to pass again, as the Lord walked through the corn fields on the sabbath, that his disciples began to go forward, and to pluck the ears of corn. 

[24] And the Pharisees said to him: Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? 

[25] And he said to them: Have you never read what David did when he had need, and was hungry himself, and they that were with him?
[26] How he went into the house of God, under Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the loaves of proposition, which was not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave to them who were with him? 

[27] And he said to them: The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. 

[28] Therefore the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath also.

[23] Et factum est iterum Dominus sabbatis ambularet per sata, et discipuli ejus cœperunt progredi, et vellere spicas. [24] Pharisæi autem dicebant ei : Ecce, quid faciunt sabbatis quod non licet? [25] Et ait illis : Numquam legistis quid fecerit David, quando necessitatem habuit, et esuriit ipse, et qui cum eo erant? [26] quomodo introibit in domum Dei sub Abiathar principe sacerdotum, et panes propositionis manducavit, quos non licebat manducare, nisi sacerdotibus, et dedit eis qui cum eo erant? [27] Et dicebat eis : Sabbatum propter hominem factum est, et non homo propter sabbatum. [28] Itaque Dominus est Filius hominis, etiam sabbati.

Notes

The Plain of Genesareth. 

23. through the corn-fields. Jesus and His disciples were walking along a narrow unenclosed foot-path which led through large tracts of ripening grain. The plain of Genesareth was extremely fertile and large quantities of grain were raised there.

on the Sabbath. St Luke (vi. 1) gives the second first Sabbath. It is difficult to determine exactly what this means. Though ripe, the corn was not yet cut. Now the wheat-harvest was gathered at Pentecost, hence the disciples must have plucked the corn on a Sabbath between the Passover and Pentecost in the second year of our Lord’s ministry. Probably this incident occurred in Galilee.pluck the ears of corn. The disciples being hungry (St Matt.) plucked the ears of corn. By the law of Moses reaping and threshing were forbidden on the Sabbath. The Pharisees, with their rigid ideas, evidently considered plucking as “reaping,” and rubbing the ears in the hands as a kind of threshing. The Rabbis thus added their own traditions to the precepts of the law. It was allowed to pluck the standing corn to satisfy hunger. If thou go into thy friend's corn , thou mayst break the ears, and rub them in thy hand : but not reap them with a sickle (Deut. xxiii. 25).

24. The Pharisees said. They wished to prove that Jesus allowed His disciples to desecrate the Sabbath.
to him. St Luke has “ to them," i.e. to the disciples. Either some Pharisees may have questioned our Lord, and others, the disciples, or the same men rebuked both our Lord and His apostles.

not lawful. The Pharisees accuse our Lord of profaning the Sabbath. There is no question of theft implied.

25. He said. Jesus justifies His disciples’ conduct by appealing to the example of David, who also did what was against the letter of the law, but which the Pharisees’ traditions did not condemn.
What David did when he had need (see 1 Kings xxi. 6). David, when fleeing from Saul, went to Nobe, to the high-priest, and asked for food for himself and his followers. Achimelech gave David the twelve loaves of proposition, perhaps at Abiathar’s request. This seems to have happened on a Sabbath day, since we are told, The priest therefore gave him hallowed bread : for there was 'no bread there , but only the loaves of proposition , which had been taken away from before the face of the Lord, that hot loaves may be set up (1 Kings xxi. 6).

26. loaves of proposition. Twelve loaves or cakes, one from the head of each tribe, placed on the golden table of proposition in the Holy Place, and renewed each Sabbath. The priests only were allowed to eat these loaves. Our Lord argues thus with the Pharisees : If the high- priest gave David and his men the loaves of proposition, which were reserved for the priests alone, without profaning the Sabbath, how could the Apostles be guilty in plucking ordinary corn to satisfy their hunger ?
Abiathar was the son of Achimelech, who was high-priest when Saul persecuted David. Abiathar fled to David when by Saul’s orders the priests at Edom, including Achimelech, were massacred.
to them who were with him. There seems a contradiction here, for we read, And David came to Nobe to Achimelech the priest : and Achimelech was astonished at Davids coming. And he said to him: Why art thou alone , and no man with thee ? (1 Kings xxi. 1). It is, however, only an apparent discrepancy, since David had appointed his “servants to such and such a place” ; (verse 2) the bread was for them, though they did not actually go to fetch it.

27. The Sabbath was made, etc. St Mark alone gives these important words. The Sabbath was instituted for man’s bodily and spiritual good. Therefore, if its observance injured the former, it could be disregarded. 

28. Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus could interpret and dispense from His own laws as He willed.

Additional Notes

This incident related by the Synoptist shews that our Lord gave four distinct refutations to the charge of profaning the Sabbath which the Pharisees and disciples of John brought against our Lord’s disciples. He shews that —

(1) A definite precept must- yield in a case of necessity.

(2) If one law clashes with another of higher order, the latter takes precedence. Thus Jesus explains that the Jews were bound to offer sacrifice to God on the Sabbath, but these sacrifices involved manual labour on the part of the priests ; yet in sacrificing to God they did not break the law concerning the sanctification of the Sabbath day. Even the Pharisees admitted this, in spite of their rigid traditions.

(3) Charity is the first and the greatest commandment, hence the real good of our neighbour justifies us in passing over the letter of the law, when its strict observance is opposed to its spirit : therefore mercy takes precedence of sacrifice.

(4) A lawgiver has the right to repeal his own laws and to dispense from their observance : the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.

26. Abiathar the high-priest. Several commentators explain the difficulty offered by this passage, by supposing that both Abiathar and his father Achimelech had each other’s surname, so that either name might be applied indifferently to each. The phrase concerning Abiathar the priest is wanting in some of the old Latin MSS., and the words may have slipped into the text from an early marginal note, or Abiathar may be a mere fault of transcription.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.