Matthew 12:2

2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

Matthew 12:2 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
2 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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath."
New Living Translation (NLT)
2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.”
The Message Bible (MSG)
2 Some Pharisees reported them to Jesus: "Your disciples are breaking the Sabbath rules!"
American Standard Version (ASV)
2 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.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing something that is not right to do on the day of worship."
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
2 The Pharisees saw this. They said to Jesus, "Look! It is against the Law to do this on the Sabbath. But your disciples are doing it anyway!"

Matthew 12:2 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 12:2

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. What they refer to, is not their walking on the sabbath day: this they might do, according to their canons, provided they did not exceed two thousand cubits, which were a sabbath day's journey F6 nor was it their passing through the corn fields; though, according to them F7,

``it was not lawful for a man to visit his gardens, (wytwdvw) , "or his fields", on the sabbath day, to see what they want, or how the fruits grow; for such walking is to do his own pleasure.''

But this they knew was not the case of Christ, and his disciples, who were not proprietors of these fields: nor was it merely their plucking the ears of corn, and rubbing and eating them, which were not their own, but another man's; for this, according to the law, in ( Deuteronomy 23:25 ) was lawful to be done: but what offended the Pharisees was, that it was done on a sabbath day, it being, as they interpret it, a servile work, and all one as reaping; though, in the law just mentioned, it is manifestly distinguished from it. Their rule is F8

``he that reaps (on the sabbath day) ever so little, is guilty (of stoning), (awh ruwq hdlwt vlwtw) , and "plucking of ears of corn is a derivative of reaping";''

and is all one as its primitive, and punishable with the same kind of death, if done presumptuously: so Philo the Jew observes F9, that the rest of the sabbath not only reached to men, bond and free, and to beasts, but even to trees, and plants; and that (ou ernov ou) (kladon, all' oude petalon efeitai temein) , "it was not lawful to cut a plant, or branch, or so much as a leaf", on a sabbath day: and it may be what might make this offence of the disciples the more heinous was, that they plucked these ears, and ate them, and so broke their fast before morning prayer; for a man might not eat any thing on a sabbath day until morning prayers were ended in the synagogue, nor indeed on any other day; for they used not to eat bread till after they had offered the daily sacrifice, which was about the third hour of the day, or nine o'clock in the morning; nor did they eat till the fourth hour, or ten o'clock F11.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Ib. c. 27. sect. 1.
F7 R. Moses Kotzensis Mitzvot Tora prec. neg. 65.
F8 Maimon. Hilch. Sabbat, c. 8. sect. 3. & 7. 1.
F9 De Vita Mosis, 1. 2. p. 657.
F11 Vid. Targum in Eccl. x. 17. Maimon. Hilch. Tephilla, c. 6. sect. 4.

Matthew 12:2 In-Context

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.
2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.
5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

Cross References 1

  • 1. ver 10; Exodus 20:10; Exodus 23:12; Deuteronomy 5:14; Luke 13:14; Luke 14:3; John 5:10; John 7:23; John 9:16
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