Mark 2:24
in Mark 2So the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
KJV
And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
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This verse in Mark 2
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd the Pharisees said unto him,.... To Christ, the same they said to his disciples, Luk 6:2. Behold, why do they on the sabbath day, that which is not lawful? see how they pluck the ears of corn and rub them, and eat things, which by the law, especially by the traditions of the elders, were not lawful to be done on the sabbath day; See Gill on Mat 12:2.
This site's exposition
One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields
on Mark 2:23-24
Deuteronomy 23:25 allows a traveler to pick grain by hand, so the disciples who began to pick the heads of grain break no command. The rabbinic rulings fenced around the Sabbath counted such picking as reaping.
This site's exposition
why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?
Augustine notes that the charge was sabbath breaking, since the law already let a hungry passer-by eat from a field. John Chrysostom adds that the disciples ate plain food out of need. Their hunger sets up the answer about David.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(de Op. Monach. 23) For it was a precept in Israel, delivered by a written law, that no one should detain a thief found in his fields, unless he tried to take something away with him. For the man, who had touched nothing else but what he had eaten, they were commanded to allow to go away free and unpunished. Wherefore the Jews accused our Lord's disciples, who were plucking the ears of corn, of breaking the sabbath, rather than of theft.
(non occ. sed v. Chrys. Hom. 39, in Matt) But being hungry, they ate simple food, not for pleasure, but on account of the necessity of nature. The Pharisees however, serving the figure and the shadow, accused the disciples of doing wrong. Wherefore there follows, But the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful.
The Medieval Church2 voices
For David, when flying from the face of Saul, went to the Chief Priest, and ate the show-bread, and took away the sword of Goliath, which things had been offered to the Lord. (1 Sam. 21.) But a question has been raised how the Evangelist called Abiathar at this time High Priest, when the Book of Kings calls him Abimelech. Or else, because when they hare rest from their passions, then are they made doctors to lead others to virtue, plucking away from them earthly things.
The disciples of the Lord plucked the ears of grain, as men accustomed to living no longer under the law. When the Pharisees became indignant at this, Christ silences them by pointing to David, who out of necessity broke the law during the time of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? Note, If Christ's disciples do that which is unlawful, Christ will be reflected upon, and upbraided with it, as he was here, and dishonour will redound to his name. It is observable, that when the Pharisees thought Christ did amiss, they told the disciples (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
These verses set before us a remarkable scene in our Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry. We see our blessed Master and His disciples going "through the grainfields on the Sabbath day." We are told that His disciples, "as they went, began to pluck heads of grain." At once we hear the Pharisees accusing them to our Lord, as if they had committed some great moral offence. "Why are they doing that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?"
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
These verses set before us a remarkable scene in our Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry. We see our blessed Master and His disciples going "through the grainfields on the Sabbath day." We are told that His disciples, "as they went, began to pluck heads of grain." At once we hear the Pharisees accusing them to our Lord, as if they had committed some great moral offence. "Why are they doing that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?" They received an answer full of deep wisdom, which all should study well, who desire to understand the subject of Sabbath observance. We see from these verses, what extravagant importance is attached to trifles by those who are mere formalists in religion. The Pharisees were mere formalists, if there ever were any in the world. They seem to have thought exclusively of the outward part, the husk, the shell, and the ceremonial of religion. They even added to these externals by traditions of their own. Their godliness was made up of washings, and fastings, and peculiarities in dress, and will-worship, while repentance, and faith, and holiness were comparatively overlooked. The Pharisees would probably have found no fault, if the disciples had been guilty of some offence against the moral law. They would have winked at covetousness, or perjury, or extortions, or excess, because they were sins to which they themselves were inclined. But no sooner did they see an infringement on their man-made traditions about the right way of keeping the Sabbath, than they raised an outcry, and found fault. Let us watch and pray, lest we fall into the error of the Pharisees. There are never lacking professors who walk in their steps. There are thousands at the present day who plainly think more of the mere outward ceremonial of religion than of its doctrines.
How the passage was read
On Mark 2:18-28On Mark 2:18-28
The bridegroom's exemption and the Sabbath made for man
Two collisions sit side by side here, and both run on ground the tradition itself honors. The fasting question (verses 18-22) comes from devout practice: voluntary fasts, typically Monday and Thursday, kept by the pious beyond the Torah's one commanded fast. Jesus answers from wedding law: the tradition exempts a bridegroom from reciting the Shema on his wedding night because joy overrides duty (Mishnah Berakhot 2:5). “Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?” claims that exemption for His disciples, and names Himself the Bridegroom, a role the Prophets give to God (Hosea 2, Isaiah 62:5).
The grainfield scene (verses 23-28) is unpacked in detail in this site's Matthew 12 note (the thirty-nine categories of Sabbath labor; plucking as reaping). What Mark alone preserves is the saying “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath,” and it has a striking parallel in the tradition itself: “Shabbat is given into your hands, and you are not given to it” (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 85b). Jesus argues on ground the sages would themselves articulate, then goes where no sage went: “therefore the Son of man is Lord also 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 Berakhot 2:5 (the bridegroom's exemption) · Yoma 85b (Babylonian Talmud: the Sabbath given into your hands)
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Φαρισαῖοι | pharisaioi | Pharisees | G5330 → | 97 times |
| ἔλεγον | elegon | were saying | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| αὐτῷ· | auto | to Him; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἴδε | ide | Behold | G2396 → | 30 times |
| τί | ti | why | G5101 → | 563 times |
| ποιοῦσιν | poiousin | do they | G4160 → | 569 times |
| τοῖς | tois | on the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| σάββασιν | sabbasin | Sabbaths | G4521 → | 68 times |
| ὃ | ho | that which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἔξεστιν;¶ | exestin | is lawful? | G1832 → | 31 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
ΦαρισαῖοιPharisees
pharisaioiG5330 →97 times
ἔλεγονwere saying
elegonG3004 →1325 times
αὐτῷ·to Him;
autoG846 →5565 times
ἴδεBehold
ideG2396 →30 times
τίwhy
tiG5101 →563 times
ποιοῦσινdo they
poiousinG4160 →569 times
τοῖςon the
toisG3588 →19766 times
σάββασινSabbaths
sabbasinG4521 →68 times
ὃthat which
hoG3739 →1405 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἔξεστιν;¶is lawful?
exestinG1832 →31 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Hebrews 12:3Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
it leads to
- Galatians 6:9
Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
- 2 Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.
- Revelation 2:3
Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.
- Galatians 6:9
Through
Isaiah 58:13If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:21–27
This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
- Psalms 92:1–2
It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,
- Isaiah 56:2–6
Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
- Nehemiah 13:15–22
In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being…
- Jeremiah 17:21–27
Through
Exodus 20:10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 5:14–15
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox…
- Deuteronomy 5:14–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies7
About Mark
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.