But if ye had known what this meaneth,
&c,] The passage of Scripture in ( 6:6 )
I will have mercy, and not sacrifice;
of the sense of which, (See Gill on Matthew
9:13)
ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Our Lord taxes the Pharisees both with ignorance of the
Scriptures, in which they pretended to be very knowing, and took
upon them to be the interpreters of; and with inhumanity, for
condemning innocent persons, the apostles, for rubbing a few ears
of corn, for the refreshment of nature; which they would never
have done, had they understood the word, and will of God; who
prefers acts of humanity, compassion, and mercy, to the
observance of rites and ceremonies; or had they the common
affections of human nature, and those bowels of compassion which
one man ought to show to another.