Matthew 12:5

“Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are innocent?”
Matthew 12:5 · direct translation from the Greek

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With the Greek beneath

Orἢhave you notοὐκreadἀνέγνωτεinἐνthe lawτῷ νόμῳthatὅτιon the Sabbathτοῖς σάββασινthe priestsοἱ ἱερεῖςinἐνthe templeτῷ ἱερῷprofaneβεβηλοῦσινthe Sabbathτὸ σάββατονandκαὶareεἰσινinnocent?ἀναίτιοί

Theme · Numbers 28:9-10

Go to Numbers 28:9-10

Jesus recalls that the priests work in the temple on the Sabbath; Numbers 28:9-10 commands them to offer every Sabbath a burnt offering in addition to the regular one.

The same term appears in both passages.

σάββασινsabbasinG4521שַּׁבָּתshabatH7676“day of rest, Sabbath”

Sabbathשַׁבָּת / σάββατονשבת sabbaton

The seventh day of the week, a day of rest: Exodus 20:8-11 grounds it in the rest of Elohim after the creation, and Deuteronomy 5:12-15 in the going out from Egypt. It began at nightfall (Leviticus 23:32). This translation uses “Sabbath.”

See it in the glossary

Matthew 12:5, word by word

readἀνέγνωτεanegnōte

read

Read.

Where else “anegnōte” appears

the lawνόμῳnomōi

law

The instructions God gave Israel through Moses; also, the whole of Scripture.

Where else “nomōi” appears

on the Sabbathσάββασινsabbasin

Sabbath

The seventh day, a rest for God.

Where else “sabbasin” appears

the priestsἱερεῖςhiereis

priest

Priest: one who offered the sacrifices in the temple.

Where else “hiereis” appears

the templeἱερῷhierōi

temple

The whole sacred precinct in Jerusalem, with its courts and porches.

Where else “hierōi” appears

profaneβεβηλοῦσινbebēlousin

profane

Profane, treat what is holy as common.

Where else “bebēlousin” appears

areεἰσινeisin

To be: says who or what something is.

Where else “eisin” appears

innocentἀναίτιοίanaitioi

guiltless, innocent

Guiltless, innocent.

Where else “anaitioi” appears

Translation note

The priests worked on the Sabbath, offering the sacrifices that the law commanded (Numbers 28:9-10).

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Grain on the Sabbath

Mark 2:23-28 Luke 6:1-5

See them side by side

Matthew 12:1-8

¹At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grainfields; and his disciples were hungry and began to pick heads of grain and to eat. ²But the Pharisees, seeing it, said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” ³But he said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those with him, ⁴how he entered into the house of God and they ate the bread of the presentation, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, except for the priests alone? ⁵Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are innocent? ⁶And I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. ⁷And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Mark 2:23-28

²³And it happened that on the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, plucking the heads of grain. ²⁴And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing on the Sabbath what is not lawful?” ²⁵And he says to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and those with him, ²⁶how he entered into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the presentation, which it is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave it also to those who were with him?” ²⁷And he was saying to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; ²⁸so the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Luke 6:1-5

¹Now it happened on a Sabbath that he was going through grainfields, and his disciples were picking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. ²But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ³And answering them, Jesus said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, ⁴how he entered into the house of God and, taking the bread of the presentation, ate and gave it to those with him, which it is not lawful to eat except for the priests alone?” ⁵And he was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

The context

4how he entered into the house of God and they ate the bread of the presentation, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, except for the priests alone?

5 · This verse (above)

6And I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

Read all of Matthew 12

To study Matthew 12 in a group

1. What it says
How did Jesus answer the Pharisees when they criticized his disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath (vv. 3–8)?
2. What it means
What does “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” mean in Jesus' reply (v. 7)?
3. How I live it
Jesus says the mouth speaks from the heart's abundance (v. 34). Which of your words today would you like to guard?

How to use it