1. 'Ev ixtlvui rti xaipti, at that time) The Pharisees interrupted Him even at that most unseasonable2 time. — $f£«m r/XXs/i*, be gan to pluck) The Pharisees interrupted Him immediately. It required some labour to shake out a sufficient number of grains from the ears to appease their hunger.
2. '!&>;), X.T.X., beholdj etc.) They mean to say, " The Master ought to be accountable for what the disciples do in His very presence." Behold! They wish Him to issue an immediate prohibition. — 6 oux t%e<fri, that which is not lawful) They do not put the matter doubtfully, and they are therefore rebuked severely in ver. 3, 5, 7. The proposition [may be put either
1 In E. V. it is, " And ye shall find rest unto your souls." — (I. B.)
2 " Alienissimo," i.e. most foreign to the subject. — (I. B.)
affirmatively or negatively], " It is lawful" or " It is not lawful." A false reproof was more common at that time, than a true one is now. — iroifTv, to do) referring not to the eating, but the pluck ing. — SK ffafifiarifj, on a Sabbath) The subject of the Sabbath occupies great part of the Evangelic history.
3. Ovx aviyvure, have ye not read) They had read the letter, without perceiving the spirit. Our Lord convicts them of error by the authority of the Old Testament. — Aau/<5, David) whose conduct, in this instance, you do not find fault with. — ore ixti- vaesv, when lie was hungry) This is left, in 1 Sam. xxi. 3, to be understood by the reader. — per avroZ, with him) See ibid. ver. 4.
4. Toi/ oJxov rov ®soi/, the house of God) That which might have been considered as a ground of hesitation is exhibited in full force by this expression ; the tabernacle is meant, as the temple was built somewhat later. — ro-jg aprovs, the loaves) There is much of a ceremonial character in the Sabbath : otherwise no argu ment could have been derived from the skew-bread. — r>jj vp<&e- atug, of the laying before,1 Lat. propositionis) — Hebrew D^S.2 — fi w, except) i.e., for any except.
5. "H, or? Lat. an?) — lv r& vo>w,3 in the Law) He proceeds step by step to a more stringent argument, from the example of the Prince, which the priest had approved, to the Law itself; from the prophets, even the earlier, parts of whom were read, to the Law, all of which was read ; and from the sacred food to the sacred day, concerning which the dispute arose. — o/ ifptTc, the priests) who ought especially to maintain the law, yet in this matter are especially excepted. Thus also, the priests of Christ are less bound to the Sabbath than the remaining multitude. — 1 1/ r& hp&, in the temple) Whilst they are employed in sacred rites. — /Sg/SjjXoCitf/, profane) (verb) ; the adjective fBsfS^ov, profane,
1 This is expressed in English by the descriptive syllable Shew : so that, instead of saying with the Greeks and Latins — The bread of-the-lay ing -before, we say the Skew-Bread. Both idioms represent the same idea, viz., the bread that was laid before, or exhibited to, God — (I. B.)
3 n^3E art, skew-bread, lit. bread of faces. PATRICK on Exod. xxv. 30, in voc. shew-bread, snys, " In the Hebrew, bread of the face or presence, because it was set before the Ark of the Covenant, where God was present. — (I. B.)
3 At that very time of year Leviticus was being read on the Sabbaths, the book in which there occur so many precepts as to sacrifices, which were required to be performed even on the Sabbath. — V. g.