“Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him”
The full verse · Matthew 12:3 · KJV
he unto , Have , was an , that were with ;
Asked by
Jesus: the Son of God and promised Messiah, who went through the corn on the sabbath day with His disciples (Matthew 12:1)
Asked to
Pharisees: members of the strict Jewish religious party who told Jesus His disciples were doing "that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day" (Matthew 12:2)
The Scene
On a sabbath day Jesus' hungry disciples pluck and eat ears of corn as they walk through a field, and the Pharisees tell Jesus they are doing what is not lawful on the sabbath (Matthew 12:1-2).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJesus answered the charge with Scripture the Pharisees knew well. The Law let a passerby pluck ears by hand in a neighbor's field (Deuteronomy 23:25), so the complaint was about the day, not the grain. Barnes says the Pharisees were "doubtless desirous of finding fault with Christ." Jesus' question pointed them to David, a man they honored, who ate holy bread when he was hungry. Gill notes the sting in it: if they had not read the Scriptures, "they were very unfit persons either to be teachers, or censurers of others." The question continues into Matthew 12:4.
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe question assumes they had read it, and no reply from them is recorded. Jesus finishes the question (Matthew 12:4), adds a second example from the priests (Matthew 12:5), and then draws His conclusions: "in this place is one greater than the temple," and "if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless" (Matthew 12:6-7). He ends, "For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day" (Matthew 12:8).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsThe story Jesus cites is in 1 Samuel 21:1-6. David came to Ahimelech the priest at Nob and asked for bread. The priest had "no common bread," only "hallowed bread," the shewbread "taken from before the LORD" (1 Samuel 21:4, 6). "An hungred" is old English for hungry.
Barnes draws the principle Jesus meant them to see: the case proved that in "cases of necessity the laws did not bind a man." Gill reports that Jewish writers disputed whether David's visit took place on a sabbath; some doubted it, but Gill thinks it reasonable that it did, since only on that day was the shewbread removed.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyJesus answers man-made burdens with God's own Word. Matthew Henry writes, "Christ came to free his followers, not only from the corruptions of the Pharisees, but from their unscriptural rules, and justified what they did." God gave the sabbath as a gift; Henry adds, "The resting on the sabbath was ordained for man's good." Mark records Jesus saying, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27).
The conversation also builds toward Jesus Himself. It moves from David, to the priests in the temple, to "one greater than the temple," and finally to "the Son of man," who is "Lord even of the sabbath day" (Matthew 12:3-8).
Look Closer
What exactly did the Pharisees object to?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord of the sabbath, where have I held others to rules You never meant to burden them with, and how do You want me to see them?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- The Pharisees noticed what the disciples did but not that they were hungry. What helps you see the need behind someone's actions?
- Share a time someone showed you mercy when you expected to be corrected. How did it affect you?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Know Scripture well enough to tell God's commands from human add-ons. Jesus did not answer the Pharisees with His own opinion first. He asked, "Have ye not read?" and let God's Word speak.
When you see someone break a custom, look first for the need behind it. The disciples were hungry (Matthew 12:1). This doesn't mean God's commands can be set aside whenever they are inconvenient. Jesus' examples involve real need and service to God, and He grounds His answer in His own authority as "Lord even of the sabbath day" (Matthew 12:8).
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?”
“Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?”
“Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?”
“Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?”