The Lord of the Sabbath

The words

1. Abiathar

   Mark names Abiathar in Jesus’s account of David eating the bread; 1 Samuel 21:1 names Ahimelech as the priest David meets at Nob.

   Mark 2:26 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 21:1 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 2:23-28 (opens a new tab)

2. Corn Fields

   Fields of grain, not maize.

   Mark places Jesus and his disciples in grain fields when the disciples pluck grain heads; the Pharisees then question why they are doing this on the Sabbath.

   Mark 2:23–24 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 2:23-28 (opens a new tab)

3. David

   Mark records Jesus recalling David and his companions being hungry; in 1 Samuel 21, David asks the priest for five loaves or whatever bread is available.

   Mark 2:25–26 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 21:3 (opens a new tab)

4. Ears of Corn

   Seed heads of grain.

   Matthew describes the hungry disciples plucking grain heads and eating; Luke adds that they rub them in their hands, while Mark records the objection about the Sabbath.

   Matthew 12:1 (opens a new tab) · Luke 6:1 (opens a new tab) · Mark 2:24 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 2:23-28 (opens a new tab)

5. Hands

   Luke specifies that the disciples eat the plucked grain while “rubbing them in their hands”; his next verse gives the Pharisees’ question about their Sabbath actions.

   Luke 6:1–2 (opens a new tab)

6. High Priest

   Mark uses the title high priest when naming Abiathar in Jesus’s example; Matthew and Luke’s parallels describe priests allowed to eat the bread without naming a high priest.

   Mark 2:26 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 12:4 (opens a new tab) · Luke 6:4 (opens a new tab)

7. House of God

   Mark, Matthew and Luke each describe David entering the house of God in Jesus’s reply; 1 Samuel 21 places David’s meeting with the priest at Nob.

   Mark 2:26 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 12:4 (opens a new tab) · Luke 6:4 (opens a new tab) · 1 Samuel 21:1 (opens a new tab)

8. Made for Man

   Mark records Jesus saying “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath”; the NET uses “people” where the KJV has “man.”

   Mark 2:27 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 2:23-28 (opens a new tab)

9. Need

   Mark puts David’s need and hunger at the start of Jesus’s example, before describing him eating the bread and sharing it with those accompanying him.

   Mark 2:25–26 (opens a new tab)

10. Pluck

    Pick by hand.

    Mark describes the disciples plucking grain heads as they pass through the fields; Matthew adds their hunger and eating before the objection about the Sabbath.

    Did you know?

    Deuteronomy 23:25 permits plucking a neighbor’s grain by hand but forbids using a sickle there; the Gospel dispute specifically concerns the action on the Sabbath.

    Mark 2:23 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 12:1–2 (opens a new tab) · Deuteronomy 23:25 (opens a new tab)

11. Priests

    Matthew records Jesus mentioning priests permitted to eat the bread, then describing temple priests working on the Sabbath as “blameless.”

    Did you know?

    Matthew records Jesus quoting “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice”; Hosea 6:6 also places mercy beside “the knowledge of God.”

    Matthew 12:4–7 (opens a new tab) · Hosea 6:6 (opens a new tab)

12. Rubbing

    Luke includes rubbing the grain in the disciples’ hands as they eat; Matthew describes plucking and eating, while Mark describes plucking before the Pharisees’ question.

    Luke 6:1 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 12:1 (opens a new tab) · Mark 2:23–24 (opens a new tab)

13. Sabbath

    The weekly seventh-day rest.

    Mark places the grain-field question on the Sabbath; Jesus replies with David’s example and sayings about the Sabbath’s purpose and the Son of Man’s lordship.

    Mark 2:23–28 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 20:8–10 (opens a new tab)

14. Shewbread

    Showbread; sacred bread set before God.

    Mark’s account has David eating the shewbread and sharing it; Leviticus 24:9 assigns this sacred bread to Aaron and his sons to eat in the holy place.

    Mark 2:26 (opens a new tab) · Leviticus 24:6–9 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 2:23-28 (opens a new tab)

15. Son of Man

    Mark, Matthew and Luke each record Jesus’s saying that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, following his reply about David and the bread.

    Mark 2:25–28 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 12:3–8 (opens a new tab) · Luke 6:3–5 (opens a new tab)