St Matthew Chapter XII : Verses 1-8
Contents
- Matt. xii. 1-8 Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
- Notes on the text
Matt. xii. 1-8
1 At that time Jesus went through the corn on the sabbath: and his disciples being hungry, began to pluck the ears, and to eat.
In illo tempore abiit Jesus per sata sabbato : discipuli autem ejus esurientes cœperunt vellere spicas, et manducare.
2 And the Pharisees seeing them, said to him: Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days.
Pharisæi autem videntes, dixerunt ei : Ecce discipuli tui faciunt quod non licet facere sabbatis.
3 But he said to them: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and they that were with him:
At ille dixit eis : Non legistis quid fecerit David, quando esuriit, et qui cum eo erant :
4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the loaves of proposition, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for them that were with him, but for the priests only?
quomodo intravit in domum Dei, et panes propositionis comedit, quos non licebat ei edere, neque his qui cum eo erant, nisi solis sacerdotibus?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple break the sabbath, and are without blame?
aut non legistis in lege quia sabbatis sacerdotes in templo sabbatum violant, et sine crimine sunt?
6 But I tell you that there is here a greater than the temple.
Dico autem vobis, quia templo major est hic.
7 And if you knew what this meaneth: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: you would never have condemned the innocent.
Si autem sciretis, quid est : Misericordiam volo, et non sacrificium : numquam condemnassetis innocentes :
8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath.
dominus enim est Filius hominis etiam sabbati.
Notes
1. through the corn. Better, “through the corn fields” (διὰ τῶν σπορίμων). Jesus and His disciples were walking along a narrow, unenclosed footpath, which led through large tracts of ripening grain. The Plain of Genesareth was extremely fertile, and large quantities of grain were raised there. As this incident happened on the Sabbath-day, our Lord’s journey would not have exceeded three quarters of a mile, i.e. 2000 cubits.
on the Sabbath. St Luke explains that it was 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, on the first Sabbath after the second day of the Paschal solemnities
being hungry. A proof of their penury.
began to pluck, etc. From St Mark’s account we see that His disciples began to go forward, along the narrow path ; and St Luke adds, they did eat, rubbing them in their hands. 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 (Dent, x.xiii. 25).
2. the Pharisees .... said. They wished to prove that Jesus allowed His disciples to desecrate the Sabbath.
to him. St Luke has to them. Either some Pharisees may have questioned our Lord, and others, the disciples, or the same men rebuked both our Lord and His apostles.
is not lawful. The Pharisees accuse the disciples of profaning the Sabbath. There is no question of theft, which is always unlawful.
3. But he said. Jesus justifies His disciples’ conduct by appealing to the example of David, who also did what was contrary to the letter of the Law, but whom the Pharisees’ traditions did not condemn.
what David did when he was hungry. 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 breads : 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 might be set up (1 Kings xxi. 6).
4. did eat. Some MSS. have the verb in the plural, they did eat (ἔφαγον), others give the singular (ἔφαγεν). Both David and his followers ate of the loaves of proposition, though David went alone to fetch the food. Cf. And David came to Nobe, to Achimelech the priest; and Achimelech was astonished at David’s coming. And he said to him : Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? (1 Kings xxi. 1). 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.
the house of God. The Tabernacle.
St Mark adds here, under Abiathar the high-priest (ii. 26), but 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.
Several commentators explain the difficulty offered by this passage by supposing both Abiathar and his father Achimelech were known by both names, so that either 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.
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 ?
was not lawful. Jesus, in refuting the Pharisees, quotes their own words.
for the priests only. These loaves were set apart for Aaron and his sons, who were to eat them in the holy place (Lev. xxiv. 9).
5. Or. Christ gives them a second example to convince them of what He asserts. Verses 5 and 6 are peculiar to St Matthew.
on the sabbath-days the priests, etc. The priests were commanded to offer sacrifice and to trim the lamps daily ; in addition, on the Sabbath day, they had to remove the loaves of proposition, and place fresh ones in the Holy Place.
break the sabbath. As regards the letter of the Law.
6. a greater than the temple. Lit. “a greater thing” (τοῦ ἱεροῦ μεῖζόν ἐστιν ὧδε). Some MSS. have the masculine form μεῖζων, “a greater one,” but the neuter is the more approved reading, “ something greater.” The reference is to our Lord Himself, and in this less defined and mysterious form He partially reveals His divinity, for the Temple was the holiest of all created things, and therefore the “something greater” must be more than a mere creature.
7. have condemned. The original Greek verb (κατεδικάσατε) points to a formal, official condemnation.
the innocent. Our Lord’s disciples.
8. For the Son of man, etc. St Mark amplifies ; And he said to them : The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath (ii. 27). God, who instituted the Sabbath for man’s bodily and spiritual good, can, when its observance would be injurious, dispense man from observing it. Even the rabbis admitted this principle ; “ In the Temple there is no Sabbath : sacrificing drives away the Sabbath.”
The title Son of man is only used in the gospels of our Lord Himself, and generally by Himself.
Lord, even of the sabbath. This is another assertion of our Lord’s divinity, for He alone, who lays down a law, can dispense from it, and the observance of the Sabbath was a divine precept.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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