Matteo 12:7

7 E se sapeste che cosa significhi: Voglio misericordia e non sacrifizio, voi non avreste condannato gl’innocenti;

Matteo 12:7 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 12:7

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.

Matteo 12:7 In-Context

5 Ovvero, non avete voi letto nella legge che nei giorni di sabato, i sacerdoti nel tempio violano il sabato e non ne son colpevoli?

6 Or io vi dico che v’è qui qualcosa di più grande del tempio.

7 E se sapeste che cosa significhi: Voglio misericordia e non sacrifizio, voi non avreste condannato gl’innocenti;

8 perché il Figliuol dell’uomo è signore del sabato.

9 E, partitosi di là, venne nella loro sinagoga.