Matthew 12:2
in Matthew 12When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath.
KJV
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
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This verse in Matthew 12
Commentary
17 notes on this verse(V2.) But the Pharisees, seeing this, said to him: Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful for them to do on the Sabbath. Note that the first apostles of the Savior destroy the letter of the Sabbath against the Ebionites, who, while accepting the other apostles, reject Paul as a transgressor of the law.
This site's exposition
Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath
on Matthew 12:1-2
The hungry disciples “began to pick the heads of grain and eat them”, which Deuteronomy 23:25 allowed a traveller to do by hand. The Pharisees’ charge rests on their oral tradition, which classed plucking as reaping and rubbing as threshing. Jesus answers by setting two greater precedents beside that tradition.
This site's exposition
doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Deuteronomy 23:25 expressly allowed a traveller to pluck grain by hand in a neighbour's field. The Pharisees counted the plucking as servile work forbidden on the Sabbath. Cyril of Alexandria observes that healing and mercy provoked them most.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
(cont. Faust. xvi. 28.) He did not forbid His disciples to pluck the ears of corn on the sabbath, that so He might convict both the Jews who then were, and the Manichæans who were to come, who will not pluck up a herb lest they should be committing a murder.
The Pharisees, who thought that the key of the kingdom of heaven was in their hands, accused the disciples of doing what was not lawful to do; whereon the Lord reminded them of deeds in which, under the guise of facts, a prophecy was concealed; and that He might show the power of all things, He further added, that it contained the form of that work which was to be, Had ye known what that meaneth, I will have mercy; for the work of our salvation is not in the sacrifice of the Law, but in mercy, and the Law having ceased, we are saved by the mercy of God. Which gift if they had understood they would not have condemned the innocent, that is His Apostles, whom in their jealousy they were to accuse of having transgressed the Law, where the old sacrifices having ceased, the new dispensation of mercy came through them to the aid of all.
For where nothing great or noble happens, the Pharisees remain quiet. But where they see certain people being healed, they are more offended than anyone else. In this way they are the enemies of humanity's salvation and without understanding of the sacred writings. If the new covenant announced of old by Jeremiah differs from the first covenant, it ought by all means to make use not of old laws but of new ones. But the Pharisees, not willing to comprehend this, lay snares for the holy apostles and say about them to Christ: "Look here, we see those you've schooled opposing themselves to the stipulations of the law. For where the law commands everyone to rest on the sabbath and to touch no manner of work, your disciples pluck ears of wheat with their hands." But tell me, O Pharisee, when you have set the sabbath table for yourself, don't even you break the bread? Why then do you blame others?
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 39 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
What then do the Pharisees? "When they saw it," it is said, "they said unto Him, Behold, Thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day." Now here indeed with no great vehemence yet surely that would have been consistent in them)-nevertheless they are not vehemently provoked, but simply find fault. But when He stretched out the withered hand and healed it, then they were so infuriated, as even to consult together about slaying and destroying Him. For where nothing great and noble is done, they are calm; but where they see any made whole, they are savage, and fret themselves, and none so intolerable as they are: such enemies are they of the salvation of men.
Observe, that the first Apostles of the Saviour broke the letter of the sabbath, contrary to the opinion of the Ebionites, who receive the other Apostles, but reject Paul as a transgressor of the Law.
9 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
(De Op. Monach. 23.) The Jews rather charged the Lord's disciples with the breach of the sabbath than with theft; because it was commanded the people of Israel in the Law (Deut. 23:25.), that they should not lay hold of any as a thief in their fields, unless he sought to carry ought away with him; but if any touched only what he needed to eat, him they suffered to depart with impunity free.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Then he presents the rebuke against the Pharisees. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him: "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." The disciples were doing two things: first, they plucked someone else's grain; secondly, …
Setting aside for the while observances of the law, He leads His disciples through the grainfields, so that by eating they might set aside the law of the sabbath. Again the Pharisees find fault with the physical passion, hunger, while they themselves committed worse sins, …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But when the Pharisees saw it,.... Who went along with him, or followed him, being employed to make observation on his words and actions, they said unto him; Luke says, "unto them", the disciples: it seems, they took notice of this action both to Christ and his disciples, and first spoke of it to the one, and then to the other, or to both together: behold thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day! they mention it with astonishment, and indignation.
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
Thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do - The Jews were so superstitious, concerning the observance of the Sabbath, that in their wars with Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Romans, they thought it a crime even to attempt to defend themselves on the Sabbath: when their enemies observed this, they deterred their operations to that day. It was through this, that Pompey was enabled to take Jerusalem. Dion. Cass. lib. xxxvi. Those who know not the spirit and design of the divine law are often superstitious to inhumanity, and indulgent to impiety.
The one great subject which stands out prominently in this passage of Scripture is the Sabbath day. It is a subject on which strange opinions prevailed among the Jews in our Lord’s time. The Pharisees had added to the teaching of Scripture about it, and overlaid the true character of the day with the traditions of men. It is a subject on which diverse opinions have often been held in the churches of Christ, and wide differences exist among men at the present time. Let us see what we may learn about it from our Lord’s teaching in these verses.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day--The act itself was expressly permitted (De 23:25). But as being "servile work," which was prohibited on the sabbath day, it was regarded as sinful.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:25w-of-49
The one great subject which stands out prominently in this passage of Scripture is the Sabbath day. It is a subject on which strange opinions prevailed among the Jews in our Lord’s time. The Pharisees had added to the teaching of Scripture about it, and overlaid the true character of the day with the traditions of men. It is a subject on which diverse opinions have often been held in the churches of Christ, and wide differences exist among men at the present time. Let us see what we may learn about it from our Lord’s teaching in these verses. Let us learn in the first place, from this passage that our Lord Jesus Christ does not do away with the observance of a weekly Sabbath day, he neither does so here nor elsewhere in the four Gospels. We often find his opinion expressed about Jewish errors on the subject of the Sabbath; but we do not find a word to teach us that his disciples were not to keep a Sabbath at all. It is of much importance to observe this. The mistakes that have arisen from a superficial consideration of our Lord’s sayings on the Sabbath question are neither few nor small; thousands have rushed to the hasty conclusion that Christians have nothing to do with the fourth commandment, and that it is no more binding on us than the Mosaic law about sacrifices. There is nothing in the New Testament to justify any such conclusion. The plain truth is that our Lord did not abolish the law of the weekly Sabbath: he only freed it from incorrect interpretations, and purified it from man made additions. He did not tear out of the decalogue the fourth commandment: he only stripped off the miserable traditions with which the Pharisees had incrusted the day, and by which they had made it not a blessing but a burden. He left the fourth commandment where he found it, a part of the eternal law of God, of which no jot or tittle , was ever to pass away.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Upon the Sabbath day - The Pharisees, doubtless desirous of finding fault with Christ, said that in plucking the grain on the “Sabbath day” they had violated the commandment. Moses had commanded the Hebrews to abstain from all servile work on the Sabbath, Exo 20:10; Exo 35:2-3; Num 15:32-36. On any other day this would have been clearly lawful, for it was permitted, Deu 23:25.
How the passage was read
On Matthew 12:1-14On Matthew 12:1-14
What the Pharisees were objecting to
The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, on which the Torah forbids work (Exodus 20:8–11). By Jesus' day the oral tradition had worked that command out into detailed categories of forbidden labor, later written down in the Mishnah (the first great code of Jewish oral law, compiled about AD 200) as thirty-nine categories, reaping and threshing among them (Mishnah Shabbat 7:2). Observant Jews keep these categories to this day.
So the disciples' act reads differently on each side. Plucking a neighbor's standing grain by hand was expressly permitted by the Law itself (Deuteronomy 23:25); this was never about stealing. But in the tradition's categories, plucking counted as reaping, and rubbing the heads as threshing: work, on the day work is forbidden. That is the collision in the scene, and it is why Jesus answers from Scripture's own precedents (David and the showbread, the priests in the Temple) and from who He is: “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Shabbat 7:2 (the thirty-nine categories) · Deuteronomy 23:25 (plucking permitted) · Exodus 20:8–11 (the command itself)
The words behind it
17 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οἱ | hoi | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | And | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| Φαρισαῖοι | pharisaioi | the Pharisees | G5330 → | 97 times |
| ἰδόντες | idontes | having seen | G1492 → | 374 times |
| εἶπαν | eipan | they said | G2036 → | 925 times |
| αὐτῷ· | auto | to Him; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἰδοὺ | idou | Behold | G2400 → | 200 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μαθηταί | mathetai | disciples | G3101 → | 260 times |
| σου | sou | of You | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ποιοῦσιν | poiousin | are doing | G4160 → | 569 times |
| ὃ | ho | what | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἔξεστιν | exestin | it is lawful | G1832 → | 31 times |
| ποιεῖν | poiein | to do | G4160 → | 569 times |
| ἐν | en | on | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| σαββάτῳ.¶ | sabbato | Sabbath. | G4521 → | 68 times |
οἱ<the>
hoiG3588 →19766 times
δὲAnd
deG1161 →2765 times
Φαρισαῖοιthe Pharisees
pharisaioiG5330 →97 times
ἰδόντεςhaving seen
idontesG1492 →374 times
εἶπανthey said
eipanG2036 →925 times
αὐτῷ·to Him;
autoG846 →5565 times
ἰδοὺBehold
idouG2400 →200 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
μαθηταίdisciples
mathetaiG3101 →260 times
σουof You
souG4771 →2973 times
ποιοῦσινare doing
poiousinG4160 →569 times
ὃwhat
hoG3739 →1405 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἔξεστινit is lawful
exestinG1832 →31 times
ποιεῖνto do
poieinG4160 →569 times
ἐνon
enG1722 →2738 times
σαββάτῳ.¶Sabbath.
sabbatoG4521 →68 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 12:10and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
it leads to
- Luke 13:14
But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on…
- John 9:16
Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there…
- John 8:6
They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.
- Luke 11:54
waiting to catch Him in something He might say.
- John 5:10
so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.”
- Luke 13:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies19
On this chapter
About Matthew
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Cyril of Alexandria, FRAGMENT 152; Hilary of Poitiers, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 39; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae on Matthew; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.