The Fallible Study Bible

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Mark2:23–28

The Lord of the Sabbath

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Mark 2:23–28 — The Lord of the Sabbath. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

23

One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai egeneto en tois sabbasin auton paraporeuesthai dia tōn sporimōn kai autou hoi mathētai ērxanto tillontes tous stachyas poiein hodon

Word by word20 · parsed
ΚαὶKaivvvG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐγένετοegenetovvvG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
γίνομαι: to come to be, to be brought into being Aorist indicative middle. Mark's Septuagintal opener, and the same verb that will carry the unit's decisive claim at v. 27, where the Sabbath came to be for the man. The Greek therefore sets an origin question at the head of the episode before anyone argues about conduct.
ἐνenOneG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Plural
σάββασινsabbasinSabbathG4521
√ σάββατον — the Sabbath (iNounDative Neuter Plural
σάββατον: the Sabbath Dative plural for the one day (Geneva: "Literally, on the Sabbaths"). Cambridge adds that Luke 6:1 calls it a "second first Sabbath" and lists three proposed meanings without deciding.
αὐτὸνauton[Jesus]G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
παραπορεύεσθαιparaporeuesthaiwas passingG3899
√ παραπορεύομαι — to travel nearVerbPresent Infinitive Middle or Passive
παραπορεύομαι: to travel near, to pass alongside A rare verb (5 verses). Mark uses it of the road to the passion (Mark 9:30), of the road past the withered fig tree (Mark 11:20), and of those who pass by the cross and revile (Mark 15:29). Here the Lord of the Sabbath is on foot beside a field with hungry men.
διὰdiathroughG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
τῶνtōntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Plural
σπορίμωνsporimōngrainfieldsG4702
√ σπόριμος — sown, iAdjectiveGenitive Neuter Plural
σπόριμος: sown, standing grain Cambridge dates the scene from the crop: "The wheat was ripe," therefore a week or two after Passover, when the firstfruit sheaf had just been offered.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
οἱhoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
μαθηταὶmathētaidisciplesG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
ἤρξαντοērxantobeganG756
√ ἄρχομαι — to commence (in order of time)VerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Plural
ἄρχομαι: to begin Aorist middle, Mark's habitual idiom; it need not mean the act was interrupted, only that it was under way when observed.
τίλλοντεςtillontesto pickG5089
√ τίλλω — to pull offVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
τίλλω: to pull off, to pluck A rare lexeme (3 verses: here and the two synoptic parallels). Cambridge explains why so small an act drew fire: "the Rabbis tad decided that even to pluck corn was to be construed as reaping, and to rub it as threshing." The Verifier's basis for the synoptic thread rests on this word.
τοὺςtoustheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
στάχυαςstachyasheads of grainG4719
√ στάχυς — a head of grain (as standing out from the stalk)NounAccusative Masculine Plural
ποιεῖνpoiein[as] they walked alongG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbPresent Infinitive Active
ποιέω: to make, to do Present infinitive, governing ὁδόν. The same verb the Pharisees throw back in v. 24 ("why are they doing") and that Jesus turns on David in v. 25 ("what David did"), so one ordinary verb ties accusation, precedent and verdict together.
ὁδὸνhodon. . .G3598
√ ὁδός — a roadNounAccusative Feminine Singular
ὁδός: a road, a way The interlinear's gloss for words 18 and 19 is the smoothed "as they walked along," but the Greek is "to make a way." Whether that means clearing a track or simply making their way is the one exegetical fork in the verse, and the commentators divide on it.
24

So the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai hoi Pharisaioi elegon autō Ide ti poiousin ho ouk exestin tois sabbasin

Word by word13 · parsed
καὶkai[So]G2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ΦαρισαῖοιPharisaioiPhariseesG5330
√ Φαρισαῖος — a separatist, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
ἔλεγονelegonsaidG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ἔπω: to say, to speak Imperfect indicative active, third plural: they kept on saying it. Mark's imperfects here paint a running dispute rather than one exchange.
αὐτῷautōto HimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἼδεIdeLookG2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἰδού: behold, look Aorist imperative, second person singular, addressed to Jesus alone even though the complaint concerns the disciples. Luke 6:2 has the Pharisees speak to the disciples (so Gill); Mark aims the words at the Master, which is precisely how Jesus answers them.
τίtiwhyG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
ποιοῦσινpoiousinare they doingG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
ὃhowhatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounNominative Neuter Singular
οὐκoukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἔξεστινexestinis unlawfulG1832
√ ἔξεστι — so also neuter present participle of the same (with or without some form of G1510 (εἰμί) expressed)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἔξεστι: it is permitted, it is allowed Present indicative, 29 verses. It recurs in v. 26 of the bread that was not permitted to the laity, so the same verb frames both the charge and the precedent that overturns it. Pulpit locates the alleged offence exactly: "The supposed unlawfulness was not the plucking of the ears of corn with the hand, which was expressly permitted by the Law."
τοῖςtoison theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Neuter Plural
σάββασινsabbasinSabbathG4521
√ σάββατον — the Sabbath (iNounDative Neuter Plural
σάββατον: the Sabbath Dative plural again, matching v. 23.
25

Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai legei autois Oudepote anegnōte ti Dauid epoiēsen hote autos kai hoi met’ autou epeinasen kai eschen chreian

Word by word18 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
λέγειlegei[Jesus] repliedG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautois. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ΟὐδέποτεOudepotevvvG3763
√ οὐδέποτε — not even at any time, iAdverb
οὐδέποτε: never, not even at any time The word is emphatic by position, standing first in the quoted speech. Not "have you overlooked this" but "in all your reading, never once?"
ἀνέγνωτεanegnōteHave you never readG314
√ ἀναγινώσκω — to know again, iVerbAorist Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
ἀναγινώσκω: to know again, to read Strong's root sense is to recognize again what one already knows. Aimed at men whose distinction was the reading of Scripture, the verb carries the sting Cambridge hears: the text they handle daily contains the precedent that undoes their ruling.
τίtiwhatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
ΔαυὶδDauidDavidG1138
√ Δαβίδ — Dabid (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
Δαβίδ: David The precedent is chosen, not incidental. David is the anointed king not yet enthroned, a fugitive with a following, and Jesus argues from him rather than from a statute. Gill notes the appeal is apt because the case is "being in a like case."
ἐποίησενepoiēsendidG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ὅτεhotewhenG3753
√ ὅτε — at which (thing) too, iAdverb
αὐτὸςautosheG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οἱhoihis companionsG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
μετ’met’. . .G3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
αὐτοῦautou. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἐπείνασενepeinasenwere hungryG3983
√ πεινάω — "pine")VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
πεινάω: to hunger, to pine Aorist singular. Mark alone of the three does not state the disciples' hunger outright; Barnes and Cambridge supply it from Matthew 12:1, and Maclaren infers from the David argument that hunger, not path clearing, was the motive, adding that probably Jesus "also was hungry, and partook of the simple food."
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔσχενeschenG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
χρείανchreianin needG5532
√ χρεία — employment, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
χρεία: need, necessity The legal fulcrum. Pulpit states the inference the word carries: a positive law forbidding the laity this bread "ought to yield to a law of necessity and of nature." Everything in v. 27 and v. 28 is built on top of this noun.
26

During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

epi archiereōs Abiathar pōs eisēlthen eis ton oikon tou Theou kai ephagen tous artous tēs protheseōs hous ouk exestin phagein ei mē tous hiereis kai edōken tois ousin syn autō kai

Word by word31 · parsed
ἐπὶepiDuringG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
ἀρχιερέωςarchiereōsthe high priesthoodG749
√ ἀρχιερεύς — the high-priest (literally, of the Jews, typically, Christ)NounGenitive Masculine Singular
ἀρχιερεύς: the high priest Strong's own entry notes the word is used "literally, of the Jews, typically, Christ." Mark's one appearance of the office in this unit stands over a case where the high priest hands consecrated bread to a hungry man, which is why the word carries more freight here than its grammar suggests.
ἈβιαθὰρAbiatharof AbiatharG8
√ Ἀβιαθάρ — Abiathar, an IsraeliteNounGenitive Masculine Singular
Ἀβιαθάρ: Abiathar The unit's hardest fact. 1 Samuel 21:1 places Ahimelech at Nob; Abiathar is his son (1 Samuel 22:20), who escaped Doeg's slaughter and served David for decades. Ellicott, Barnes, Poole, Geneva and Cambridge offer five different solutions (the more famous name, a coadjutor son, a father and son who each bore two names, a reading of epi as "about the time," a copyist's error). None is demonstrated. We record the discrepancy rather than choose.
πῶςpōsG4459
√ πῶς — an interrogative particle of mannerConjunction
εἰσῆλθενeisēlthenhe enteredG1525
√ εἰσέρχομαι — to enter (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
εἰςeis. . .G1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
οἶκονoikonhouseG3624
√ οἶκος — a dwelling (more or less extensive, literal or figurative)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΘεοῦTheouof GodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounGenitive Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔφαγενephagenateG5315
√ φάγω — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
τοὺςtoustheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
ἄρτουςartousconsecrated breadG740
√ ἄρτος — bread (as raised) or a loafNounAccusative Masculine Plural
ἄρτος: bread, a loaf Accusative plural: loaves, twelve of them, one for each tribe (Pulpit). The tribes' bread goes to the fugitive king and his men, and the priest who hands it over is not rebuked in the narrative Jesus cites.
τῆςtēs. . .G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
προθέσεωςprotheseōs. . .G4286
√ πρόθεσις — a setting forth, iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
πρόθεσις: a setting forth, a placing before The word describes an act of presentation, which is why the Hebrew idiom is bread of the Presence or bread of the face. Pulpit's note that it symbolizes "the Divine Being who is the Bread of life" is his reading, not the lexicon's, and we mark it as his.
οὓςhouswhichG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Masculine Plural
οὐκoukvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ἔξεστινexestinwas lawfulG1832
√ ἔξεστι — so also neuter present participle of the same (with or without some form of G1510 (εἰμί) expressed)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἔξεστι: it is permitted Here is the verb from v. 24 turned around. The Pharisees said the disciples did what is not permitted; Jesus answers with a case where what was genuinely not permitted was eaten, by the man whose story they revere, with no censure recorded.
φαγεῖνphageinG5315
√ φάγω — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
εἰeionlyG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
μὴmē. . .G3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
τοὺςtousfor theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
ἱερεῖςhiereispriestsG2409
√ ἱερεύς — a priest (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Masculine Plural
ἱερεύς: a priest Leviticus 24:9 restricts the loaves to Aaron and his sons; the restriction is real, and Jesus does not dissolve it. He sets need above it.
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔδωκενedōkenhe gave [some]G1325
√ δίδωμι — to give (used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figurativelyVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
τοῖςtoisto his companionsG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
οὖσινousin. . .G1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Participle ActiveDative Masculine Plural
σὺνsyn. . .G4862
√ σύν — with or together (but much closer than G3326 (μετά) or G3844 (παρά)), iPreposition
αὐτῷautō. . .G846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
καὶkaias wellG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
27

Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai elegen autois To sabbaton egeneto dia ton anthrōpon kai ouch ho anthrōpos dia to sabbaton

Word by word16 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἔλεγενelegen[Jesus] declaredG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ΤὸToTheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
σάββατονsabbatonSabbathG4521
√ σάββατον — the Sabbath (iNounNominative Neuter Singular
σάββατον: the Sabbath Nominative singular here, the subject of its own origin sentence. In v. 23 and v. 24 the day was a dative circumstance, the frame within which men were accused; now it is put on the stand itself.
ἐγένετοegenetowas madeG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
γίνομαι: to come to be The unit's frame verb, used of the event in v. 23 and of the institution here. Because the Sabbath came to be, it had a purpose from the start, and a purpose can be stated. Barnes reads that purpose from the order of Genesis 2:1-3: the man precedes the day appointed for his welfare.
διὰdiaforG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
διά: on account of, for the sake of With the accusative it is final, not instrumental. This single preposition, used twice in mirrored clauses, carries the whole argument: the direction of service is fixed, and reversing it is the Pharisees' error.
τὸνtonG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἄνθρωπονanthrōponmanG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounAccusative Masculine Singular
ἄνθρωπος: man, a human being The hinge lexeme of the unit. It appears twice here and once again in v. 28 as the genitive of the title Son of Man, so Mark's argument moves from the man for whose sake the day exists to the Man who is its Lord. Barnes guards the inference honestly: the law of God "contemplates man's "real good on the whole,"" so this verse licenses mercy and necessity, not licence.
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
οὐχouchnotG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
οὐ: not The absolute negative, placed to deny the reversal outright rather than to qualify it.
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἄνθρωποςanthrōposmanG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounNominative Masculine Singular
διὰdiaforG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
σάββατονsabbatonSabbathG4521
√ σάββατον — the Sabbath (iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
28

Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

hōste ho Huios tou anthrōpou estin kyrios kai tou sabbatou

Word by word10 · parsed
ὥστεhōsteThereforeG5620
√ ὥστε — so too, iConjunction
ὥστε: so that, with the result that A result conjunction, not a new topic. Whatever v. 28 claims, it claims as the consequence of v. 27, which is why the two verses cannot be separated: deny the purpose clause and the lordship loses its stated ground.
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΥἱὸςHuiosSonG5207
√ υἱός — a "son" (sometimes of animals), used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinshipNounNominative Masculine Singular
υἱός: a son With the article and the following genitive this is the title, not a description of human descent. In Mark it has already been used at 2:10 of authority to forgive sins; here of authority over the day. Both are prerogatives no rabbi claimed.
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἀνθρώπουanthrōpouof ManG444
√ ἄνθρωπος — from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι))NounGenitive Masculine Singular
ἄνθρωπος: man, a human being The same word as v. 27, now in the genitive of the title. Mark's Greek makes the bridge that English hides: the One who is Lord of the day is Lord as the representative Man, so his lordship is not a suspension of the day's purpose but its perfection.
ἐστινestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
κύριόςkyriosLordG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
κύριος: lord, supreme in authority Predicate, anarthrous, present tense: a standing state, not an act of dispensation. Gill takes it as far as abrogation of the day; Pulpit takes it as the ground of the Christian Lord's day; Geneva says only that he may rule it as he desires. The word itself settles authority, not the extent of its exercise.
καὶkaievenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τοῦtouof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
σαββάτουsabbatouSabbathG4521
√ σάββατον — the Sabbath (iNounGenitive Neuter Singular
σάββατον: the Sabbath Genitive of the thing ruled. The unit began with men accused on the Sabbath and ends with the Sabbath itself placed under a Lord.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. A road, a field, and a rare verb — 2:23

Mark opens with the Septuagintal ἐγένετο that Ellicott preserves ("And it came to pass") and BSB drops, then chooses a verb used in only five verses of the New Testament: παραπορεύεσθαι (G3899, "to travel near"). Every other Markan use puts someone on a road, and the last of them is the road past the cross (Mark 15:29). Here the road runs beside ripe grain. Cambridge dates the scene from the crop itself: "The wheat was ripe," and so the time was "a week or two after the Passover, when the first ripe sheaf was offered as the firstfruits of the harvest." Pulpit adds from Luke 6:1 that the disciples rubbed the ears in their hands, "an incidental evidence of a simple life." The one genuine crux is ποιεῖν ὁδόν: Ellicott renders it "they began to make a path (or perhaps, to make their way ) , plucking the ears of corn," and Maclaren, refusing to settle it, notes that Jesus' David argument implies "the disciples' reason for plucking the ears of corn was not to clear a path but to satisfy hunger." Barnes, reading Deuteronomy 23:25, draws the plainest lesson from the fact that Jesus let them go hungry at all: "When Jesus, thus "with" his disciples, suffered them to be "poor", we may learn that poverty is not disgraceful."

ii. The charge: permitted, and not permitted — 2:24

The Pharisees' verb is imperfect, ἔλεγον: they kept saying it. Their word for the offence is ἔξεστιν (G1832), "it is permitted," and the commentators agree the accusation was not theft. Cambridge: "They did not accuse them of theft, for the Law allowed what they were doing ( Deuteronomy 23:25 ). They accused them of profaning the Sabbath." Pulpit says the same: the supposed unlawfulness "was not the plucking of the ears of corn with the hand, which was expressly permitted by the Law ... but the plucking and eating on the sabbath day." Barnes puts the legal position bluntly: the act "was made lawful by Moses, without any distinction of days," and so "Christ shows them from their own law that it was "not" unlawful." Maclaren supplies the crucial observation about method, and it governs how the rest of the unit must be read: the law being broken was "not that of the Fourth Commandment, which simply forbade 'labour,' but that of the doctors' expositions of the commandment," and yet "our Lord does not avail Himself of the distinction between God's commandment and men's exposition of it. He does not embarrass himself with two controversies at once." He answers on their ground and wins there.

iii. David, the loaves of the Presence, and a name that will not sit still — 2:25-2:26

Jesus answers with a narrative, not an oracle. Cambridge hears the tone exactly: "With a gentle irony He adopts one of the favourite formulas of their own Rabbis, and inquires if they had never read what David their favourite hero had done when flying from Saul." The Greek verbs are singular, ἐπείνασεν and ἔσχεν, and the noun that carries the argument is χρείαν, need. Gill: David "was in great necessity, and in the utmost distress." Pulpit spells out the inference: David "wisely judged that a positive law, forbidding the laity to eat this bread, ought to yield to a law of necessity and of nature." The bread is ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως, loaves of the setting forth; Pulpit gives the Hebrew idiom behind it, "the bread of the face , that is, of the Divine presence ," twelve loaves for twelve tribes, renewed each Sabbath and eaten by the priests alone (Leviticus 24:5-9). Gill notes the sanctuary here is the tabernacle, "for the temple was not yet built." Then the difficulty. Ellicott states it without cushioning: Mark alone names the high priest, "and in so doing it creates an historical difficulty," since 1 Samuel 21:1 names Ahimelech. Five answers are on the table in this brief and not one is demonstrated: Ellicott's more famous priest, or a coadjutor son; Barnes' claim that "Abiathar was better known than Ahimelech"; Poole's grammatical route, that epi may mean "about the time, or near the time"; Geneva's double naming, "it is plain that both of them had two names"; Cambridge's frank alternative that "there is a clerical error here in the MSS." We report the discrepancy and leave it standing.

iv. The Sabbath came to be, so the Son of Man is its Lord — 2:27-2:28

The verb ἐγένετο returns from v. 23, now with the Sabbath as its subject, and Barnes reads the order from creation: "Man was made "first," and then the Sabbath was appointed for his welfare, Genesis 2:1-3 ." Henry states the pastoral consequence: the Sabbath is "a privilege and benefit, not a task and drudgery," and "every observance respecting it, is to be interpreted by the rule of mercy." Gill agrees on necessity, that works "for the necessary comfort, support, and preservation of life" are not forbidden, though he then restricts "man" to Israel on rabbinic grounds, which is his inference and not Mark's. Both Barnes and Pulpit guard the other flank: Barnes warns that the verse gives no warrant to devote the day "to vice, to labor, or to amusement," and Pulpit that the rest should be disturbed "though but a little" only for the good of those for whom it was made. Then ὥστε, and the claim: the Son of ἀνθρώπου is Lord even of the Sabbath, with the same lexeme that named "the man" in v. 27. Benson: "Being the supreme Lawgiver, he has power to dispense with his own laws." Geneva: he "Has the sabbath day in his power, and may rule it as he desires." Here our sources genuinely divide on extent. Gill reads lordship as abrogation, "with the rest of the rituals of the ceremonial law"; Pulpit carries the principle into the Christian Sunday and the liberty "wherewith Christ has made us free." Maclaren measures what is at stake: after brushing aside rabbinical rules about eating and fasting, "Here He goes much further, in claiming power over the divine ordinance of the Sabbath."

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Our own fallible reading, offered to be tested. Notice that Mark builds the whole unit on two repeated words rather than on a quotation. ἐγένετο begins the story and then, at v. 27, begins the Sabbath; ἄνθρωπος names the creature the day was made for and then, in v. 28, names its Lord. The argument is therefore not "necessity beats ceremony" as a general maxim, though Pulpit and Gill are right that necessity is the working principle in the David precedent. It is an argument about order of origin. Because the day came to be for the man, and because this Man is its Lord, hungry disciples in a grainfield are not an exception carved out of the Sabbath. They are the Sabbath doing what it came to be for. Two honest cautions. First, Maclaren's observation constrains any use of this text against the fourth commandment itself: Jesus is answering a rabbinic ruling on their own ground, and he never says the commandment is void. Second, v. 28 settles authority and is silent on extent, which is exactly why Gill can read abrogation here and Pulpit can read the Lord's day here from the same sentence. We decline to read either out of the Greek. What the Greek does yield is that the day has a Lord, that he was walking beside the field while men were hungry, and that the accusation was aimed at him and not only at them.

⚙ Not Scripture, a fallible editorial line: the hungry disciples are not an exception to the Sabbath, they are the Sabbath keeping its promise.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The synoptic triple: plucking, ears of grain, Sabbath verbal / quotation: confirmed

Matthew and Luke tell the same incident, and the Verifier's bases are unusually strong because two of the shared lexemes are rare: τίλλω (G5089) occurs in only 3 verses in the whole New Testament and στάχυς (G4719) in only 4, and both stand in each of the three accounts. JFB treats the passage as a single unit with the parallels ("= Mt 12:1-8; Lu 6:1-5"), and Barnes, Poole, Benson and Gill all refer the reader to Matthew 12:1-8 rather than re-argue it. The accounts are not identical: Luke adds the rubbing in the hands and the disputed word deuteroprōtō (Pulpit), and Matthew alone states outright that the disciples were hungry (Cambridge).

Matthew 12:1 · Luke 6:1 · Matthew 12:2 · Luke 6:2

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G5089 τίλλω (rare, in 3 vv) and G4719 στάχυς (rare, in 4 vv), plus G4521 σάββατον (in 62 vv), G3101 μαθητής (in 247 vv) and G5330 Φαρισαῖος (in 93 vv). Greek to Greek within the New Testament, and the two rare lexemes carry the tier.

"Not permitted": the same verb in the parallel accounts of the bread structural / thematic: confirmed

Matthew 12:4 and Luke 6:4 tell the David precedent with the same three verbs Mark uses in v. 26: ἔξεστιν (it is permitted), φάγω (to eat), εἰσέρχομαι (to enter). All three are common words, so the link is a shared telling of one episode rather than a quotation formula, and we tier it accordingly. The same verb ἔξεστιν also carries the other Sabbath disputes: Matthew 12:10 and 12:12 on healing, Luke 6:9, Luke 14:3, and the Johannine complaint of John 5:10 that it is not permitted to carry a mat.

Matthew 12:4 · Luke 6:4 · Matthew 12:10 · Luke 6:9 · John 5:10

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G1832 ἔξεστι (in 29 vv), G5315 φάγω (in 86 vv), G1525 εἰσέρχομαι (in 184 vv) at Matthew 12:4 and Luke 6:4; G4521 σάββατον plus G1832 ἔξεστι at Matthew 12:10, Luke 6:9 and John 5:10. All lexemes are common, so a shared motif of what is permitted on the Sabbath is claimed, not a quotation.

A rare road verb: from the grainfield to the cross structural / thematic: confirmed

παραπορεύομαι (G3899, "to travel near") is a rare word, found in only 5 verses. Mark uses it here of Jesus walking beside the grain, at Mark 9:30 of passing through Galilee while teaching the passion, at Mark 11:20 of passing the withered fig tree, and at Mark 15:29 of those who pass by the cross and revile him (Matthew 27:39 has the same verb there). ⚙ We take this as a real Markan pattern of the road and not as a quotation of anything: the Verifier confirms the shared lexeme, the motif is ours to propose, and a reader may judge it coincidence.

Mark 9:30 · Mark 11:20 · Mark 15:29 · Matthew 27:39

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G3899 παραπορεύομαι (rare, in 5 vv). Rarity makes the verbal link real, but no citation or quotation is involved, so the tier stays structural and the motif reading is marked as our own.

David at Nob and the bread reserved to the priests structural / thematic: confirmed

Jesus' own appeal in vv. 25 and 26 is to 1 Samuel 21:1-6, governed by the statute of Leviticus 24:5-9 (twelve cakes set in rows, eaten by Aaron and his sons in a holy place) and the command of Exodus 25:30 to set the bread of the Presence before the Lord continually. Cambridge names the place and the restriction, "the twelve cakes of fine flour" which "no stranger might eat"; Pulpit reconstructs the scene, that David came alone and carried the loaves to companions in flight, citing 1 Samuel 21:2. Note what the link cannot be: Mark is Greek and 1 Samuel is Hebrew, so no shared Strong's number is available in either direction, and no quotation formula is used. Jesus argues from a narrative he expects them to have read.

1 Samuel 21:1-6 · Leviticus 24:5-9 · Exodus 25:30

basis: Cross Testament link (Greek Gospel to Hebrew narrative and statute), so shared Strong's lexemes are impossible and no verbal tier is available. The recorded basis is the explicit narrative appeal inside Mark 2:25-26 itself, plus the Torah statutes that govern the bread, as identified by Cambridge and Pulpit.

The commandment behind the charge structural / thematic: confirmed

The Pharisees never quote the commandment, but it stands behind them: Exodus 20:8-11 grounds the Sabbath in creation, Deuteronomy 5:12-15 in the exodus from Egypt, and Exodus 31:13-17 makes it a sign between the Lord and Israel. Maclaren insists the fourth commandment itself "simply forbade 'labour'" and that the definitions of labour were the doctors' work, not the text's. Gill, by contrast, builds his restriction of "man" in v. 27 to Israel precisely on Exodus 31:16-17, which shows how much interpretive weight these statutes are carrying in the dispute.

Exodus 20:8-11 · Deuteronomy 5:12-15 · Exodus 31:13-17

basis: Cross Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and no verbal tier is available. Basis: the Sabbath statute presupposed by the charge in v. 24 and cited by Maclaren and Gill in their comments on this unit.

The statute that already allowed the plucking structural / thematic: confirmed

Deuteronomy 23:25 permits a passer by to pluck grain by hand in a neighbour's field, only not to put a sickle to it. Three of our commentators make this the decisive background fact. Barnes: "the law of Moses allowed the poor to satisfy their desires when hungry. See Deuteronomy 23:25 ." Cambridge: "They did not accuse them of theft, for the Law allowed what they were doing." Pulpit: the plucking by hand "was expressly permitted by the Law." So the entire quarrel is about the day, not the grain, which is why Jesus answers with the Sabbath's purpose rather than with a property argument.

Deuteronomy 23:25

basis: Cross Testament (Greek Gospel to Hebrew statute), so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and no verbal tier is available. Basis: the statute is named at this verse by Barnes, Cambridge and Pulpit alike as the law permitting the disciples' act.

Abiathar, Ahimelech, and the double name argument flagged: verify source

Geneva harmonizes the discrepancy by arguing that father and son each bore two names, appealing to 1 Chronicles 24:6, 2 Samuel 8:17, 2 Samuel 15:29, 1 Kings 2:26 and 2 Kings 25:18; Gill runs the same line, noting that 2 Samuel 8:17 and 1 Chronicles 18:16 call the son Ahimelech or Abimelech son of Abiathar. Cambridge reports identical data and reaches the opposite conclusion, that "some therefore suppose that there is a clerical error here in the MSS." We flag this thread because its provenance is genuinely contested: the same verses are used to prove harmony and to prove corruption, and Gill himself records that the clause is absent from one ancient copy of Beza's and that the Persic version reads Abimelech.

2 Samuel 8:17 · 1 Chronicles 18:16 · 1 Kings 2:26 · 1 Samuel 22:20

basis: Contested. The same Old Testament verses are cited by Geneva and Gill to establish that Ahimelech and Abiathar each bore two names, and by Cambridge to suggest a manuscript error in Mark instead. Cross Testament in any case, so no shared Strong's lexeme and no verbal tier. A reader should check the Hebrew texts directly.

Sabbath rest as a shadow: a figural reading, honestly marked typological

⚙ Ancient and Reformation readers commonly took the Sabbath as a shadow whose substance is Christ, and Gill states the strongest form of it at v. 28, that the Lord of the Sabbath had power "to abrogate it as he did, with the rest of the rituals of the ceremonial law." Pulpit takes the opposite turn at the same verse, that the Lord's day has taken the ancient Sabbath's place and the principle here applies to it. Nothing in Mark 2:27-28 states either outcome; the text states the day's purpose and its Lord. We record the figural reading as a reading, tier it typological, and note that it is widely held rather than demonstrated from this unit.

Colossians 2:16-17 · Genesis 2:1-3

basis: Figural, widely held in ancient and Reformation exegesis, and explicitly voiced in this unit by Gill (abrogation) and countered by Pulpit (the Lord's day). Cross Testament in the Genesis reference, so no shared Strong's lexeme is claimed. Genesis 2:1-3 is the ground Barnes himself cites for the order of v. 27; Colossians 2:16-17 is offered as the apostolic shadow language and should be verified by the reader, not assumed from Mark.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

Lord of the day he made ancient/widely-held

The claim of v. 28 is not that a rabbi has found a loophole. κύριός (G2962) is predicate and anarthrous, "is Lord," and Strong's root force is supreme in authority. Benson draws the only inference the grammar allows: "Being the supreme Lawgiver, he has power to dispense with his own laws, and with this in particular." Geneva: he "Has the sabbath day in his power, and may rule it as he desires." Pulpit reasons from v. 27 to v. 28: he is Lord of all men and of all that pertains to their salvation, "therefore he must of necessity be Lord even of the sabbath." Maclaren measures the escalation: after the disputes about eating with sinners and fasting, "Here He goes much further, in claiming power over the divine ordinance of the Sabbath." And the title used is Son of Man, the same lexeme (G444) as "the man" of v. 27, which is the title Daniel 7:13-14 gives to the one who receives dominion. ⚙ Our addition is only this: in Mark the same title has just claimed authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:10), so the two prerogatives stand side by side in one chapter.

Mark 2:28 · Mark 2:10 · Daniel 7:13-14 · Genesis 2:1-3

The anointed fugitive, the bread of the Presence, and the hand that gives it ancient/widely-held

Jesus chooses his precedent with care. David is the anointed king not yet enthroned, hungry, on the run, with a band who share his hunger; the priest gives him bread reserved for priests, and David ἔδωκεν, gave it, to those with him. Pulpit reads the loaves themselves toward Christ: they are "the bread of the face , that is, of the Divine presence , symbolizing the Divine Being who is the Bread of life." Gill turns the tabernacle scene into the church's table, where "Christ, the bread of life, is set forth, whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose blood is drink indeed." ⚙ Our own reading adds the shape rather than any new fact: a greater anointed one, not yet enthroned, walks with hungry followers and holds the bread's lawfulness in his own hands, and two chapters later in Mark he will himself take loaves, bless, and give them to the crowds. The figural link between the shewbread and Christ is ancient; the parallel of the giving hand is ours to propose.

1 Samuel 21:6 · Leviticus 24:9 · Mark 6:41 · John 6:35

Mercy is the rule, and the Lord of the Sabbath is the merciful one ancient/widely-held

Henry states the governing principle of the whole passage: the Sabbath is "a privilege and benefit, not a task and drudgery," and "every observance respecting it, is to be interpreted by the rule of mercy." Maclaren notes that Mark pairs this scene with the healing of the withered hand (Mark 3:1-5), so that the two classic exceptions, works of necessity and works of mercy, stand together as a climax. ⚙ Our reading: these two scenes together define the lordship of v. 28 by demonstration rather than assertion. The Lord of the Sabbath exercises his lordship by feeding the hungry and healing the maimed on that day, which means his authority over the day is not the freedom to do less good on it but the freedom to do the good it was made for. Barnes' caution stands with this: the verse gives no licence to spend the day "to vice, to labor, or to amusement."

One honest qualification about our references. Mark does not cite Hosea 6:6; the mercy citation belongs to Matthew's telling of this same dispute at Matthew 12:7, which JFB, Barnes, Poole, Benson and Gill all send the reader to at this unit. We list it as the parallel that makes the principle explicit, not as words Mark records.

Mark 3:1-5 · Hosea 6:6 · Matthew 12:7

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. The name Abiathar. Mark 2:26 places the incident under Abiathar as high priest; 1 Samuel 21:1 names Ahimelech, and 1 Samuel 22:20 makes Abiathar his son. This is a real discrepancy and we do not smooth it. Five distinct explanations appear in our sources, none demonstrated: Ellicott offers two (the more famous priest was named, or he acted as coadjutor to his father as Eli's sons did); Barnes argues Abiathar "was better known than Ahimelech"; Poole argues on grammar that epi may mean "about the time, or near the time" rather than "in the days of"; Geneva and Gill argue father and son each bore two names; Cambridge reports that "some therefore suppose that there is a clerical error here in the MSS." Ellicott's own verdict is the honest one: Mark's naming "creates an historical difficulty." Textual notes. Gill records that the Vulgate adds "again" at v. 23 and that one ancient copy of Beza's omits the Abiathar clause entirely, while the Persic version reads "Abimelech"; he also lists the Vulgate, Syriac and Arabic as supporting the received reading. Pulpit reports that the disputed word deuteroprōtō at Luke 6:1 was dropped by the 1881 Revisers for want of sufficient evidence, which affects only the parallel and not Mark. Interlinear glossing. The Berean interlinear glosses words 18 and 19 of v. 23 (ποιεῖν ὁδόν) as "as they walked along," which is an interpretive smoothing of "to make a way"; our literal rendering follows the Greek and Ellicott's more literal note. Several glosses in the brief are blank or placeholder marks, so our word notes rest on the parse and the Strong's entries rather than on those glosses. Sources. JFB supplies no exposition for any verse in this unit, only a cross reference to Matthew 12:1-8, and Poole does the same at vv. 24 to 28, so neither is quoted beyond what his text actually contains. The Maclaren and Gill entries are capped in our brief (about 7,151 and 3,138 further characters respectively); our quotations are taken from the portions supplied and we have not represented the omitted material. What is uncertain. Whether the disciples were clearing a path or gathering as they walked (Ellicott and Maclaren both leave it open); whether Mark's "man" in v. 27 is humanity or Israel (Gill argues the latter, against the plain sense the other commentators assume); and how far the lordship of v. 28 extends, where Gill reads abrogation of the Sabbath and Pulpit reads the Christian Lord's day from the same sentence. Our sola reading declines all three adjudications and says so.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)