Commentaires bibliques

In this chapter, we have, I. Christ's clearing of the law of the fourth commandment concerning the sabbath-day, and vindicating it from some superstitious notions advanced by the Jewish teachers; showing that works of necessity and mercy are to be done on that day, Mt 12:1-13. II. The prudence, humility, and self-denial of our Lord Jesus in working his miracles, Mt 12:14-21. III. Christ's answer to the blasphemous cavils and calumnies of the scribes and Pharisees, who imputed his casting out devils to a compact with the devil, Mt 12:22-37. IV. Christ's reply to a tempting demand of the scribes and Pharisees, challenging him to show them a sign from heaven, Mt 12:38-45. V. Christ's judgment about his kindred and relations, Mt 12:46-50.

Jesus and his disciples go through the cornfields on the Sabbath, and the latter pluck and eat some of the ears, at which the Pharisees take offense, Matthew 12:1, Matthew 12:2. Our Lord vindicates them, Matthew 12:3-8. The man with the withered hand cured, Matthew 12:9-13. The Pharisees seek his destruction, Matthew 12:14. He heals the multitudes, and fulfils certain prophecies, Matthew 12:15-21. Heals the blind and dumb demoniac, Matthew 12:22, Matthew 12:23. The malice of the Pharisees reproved by our Lord, Matthew 12:24-30. The sin against the Holy Ghost, Matthew 12:31, Matthew 12:32. Good and bad trees known by their fruits-evil and good men by their conduct, Matthew 12:33-37. Jonah, a sign of Christ's death and resurrection, Matthew 12:38-40. The men of Nineveh and the queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment against the Jews, Matthew 12:41, Matthew 12:42. Of the unclean spirit, Matthew 12:43-45. Christ's mother and brethren seek him, Matthew 12:46-50.

CHAPTER 12.

CONFLICTS WITH THE PHARISEES.

This chapter delineates the growing alienation between Jesus and the Pharisees and scribes. The note of time (ἐν ἐκείνῷ τῷ καιρῷ, Matthew 12:1) points back to the situation in which the prayer Matthew 11:25-30 was uttered (vide Matthew 12:25, where the same expression is used). All the incidents recorded reveal the captious mood of Israel’s “saints and sages”. They have now formed a thoroughly bad opinion of Jesus and His company. They regard Him as immoral in life (Matthew 11:19); irreligious, capable even of blasphemy (assuming the divine prerogative of forgiving sin, Matthew 9:3); an ally of Satan even in His beneficence (Matthew 12:24). He can do nothing right. The smallest, most innocent action is an offence.

CHAPTER 12

Matthew 12:3. ἐπείνασε] Elz. and Fritzsche insert αὐτός, against decisive testimony. From Mark 2:25; Luke 6:3.

Matthew 12:4. ἔφαγεν] Tisch. 8 : ἔφαγον, only according to B א. Altered to suit what follows.

οὕς] Lach. Tisch.: ὅ, after B D 13, 124, Cant. 12 :Harl.* Correctly; the Received text is a correction in accordance with Mark and Luke.

Matthew 12:6.

μείζων] B D E G K M S U V Γ Π, Curss. and Fathers: μεῖζον. So Fritzsche, Scholz, Lachm. Tisch. Authority and exegesis favour the neuter, by way of explaining which the masculine would readily suggest itself.

Matthew 12:8. Before τοῦ σαββάτου Elz. inserts καί, which has been deleted in accordance with decisive testimony. From Mark and Luke.

Matthew 12:10. ἦν τήν] is certainly wanting in B C א, while Vulg. and Codd. of the It. Copt. leave it doubtful whether they did not read simple ἦν. Ἦν τήν is deleted by Lachm. and Tisch. Correctly. The brevity of Matthew’s statement was supplemented from Mark 3:1, and hence ἐκεῖ came to be inserted between ἦν and τήν (by others at a different place).

Matthew 12:11. Lachm., following inadequate testimony, reads ἐγείρει instead of ἐγερεῖ. An error on the part of the transcriber.

Matthew 12:14. The following arrangement, ἐξελθόντες δὲ οἱ Φαρ. συμβ. ἔλ. κατ. αὐτοῦ (B C D A א, Curss. Syr. Copt. It. Vulg. Eus. Chrys. Fritzsche, Gersd. Lachm. Tisch.), is to be preferred to that of the Received text (οἱ δ. Φ. ς. ἔλ. κ. ἀ. ἐξ.), as being simpler and more in keeping with Matthew’s style.

Matthew 12:15. ὄχλοι] omitted in B א, Vulg. It. Eus., deleted by Lachm. and Tisch. Homoeoteleuton.

Matthew 12:17. With Lachm. and Tisch. we ought to adopt ἵνα instead of ὅπως, in accordance with B C D א, 1, 33, Or. Eus.; ὅπως was introduced for sake of variety.

Matthew 12:18. εἰς ὅν] Lachm. and Tisch. 8 (see note of the latter): ὅν, after B א* and several Curss. On inadequate testimony, for εἰς would be readily dropped out, from a mechanical effort to conform the construction to ὃν ᾑρέτισα; ἐν ᾧ in D is a gloss.

Matthew 12:21. τῷ ὀνόματι] Elz. Fritzsche: ἐν τῷ ὀνόμ., against decisive testimony. ἐν is an interpolation, as is also ἐπί in Eus. and several Curss.

Matthew 12:22. τὸν τυφλὸν καὶ κωφόν] Lachm. and Tisch. have merely τὸν κωφόν (B D א, Copt. Syrcur Cant. Corb. 1, Germ. 1). But λαλεῖν coming first in what follows gave rise partly to the omission of τυφλόν, partly to the inverted arrangement: κωφὸν καὶ τυφλόν (L X Δ, Curss. Syr. Arm.).

Matthew 12:28. The order ἐν πνεύμ. θεοῦ ἐγώ, as against that of the Received text, ἐγὼ ἐν πνεύμ., is supported by decisive testimony (less adequately the arrangement of Lachm. and Tisch.: κριταὶ ἔσονται ὑμῶν, in Matthew 12:27).

Matthew 12:29. In accordance with B C* X, Curss., Lachm. and Tisch. have ἁρπάσαι instead of διαρπάσει. The reading of the Received text is adopted from Mark. In what follows Lachm. has ἁρπάσει instead of διαρπάσει; so also Tisch. 7; but according to testimony that is far too inadequate. Tisch. 8, following D G K Π א, Curss., reads διαρπάσῃ. But still the evidence in favour of διαρπάσει remains so strong, that there is but the more reason to look upon διαρπάσῃ as a supposed grammatical correction.

Matthew 12:31. Tisch. 8, following Lachm., has indeed also deleted the second τοῖς ἀνθρώποις (after B א, Curss. Verss. and a few Fathers); it is, however, to be preserved as a solemn yet superfluous repetition.

Matthew 12:35. Elz., against decisive testimony, inserts τῆς καρδίας after the first θησαυροῦ. A gloss. But with Tisch. 8, and on the strength of sufficient testimony, τά before ἀγαθά is to be maintained, in opposition to Griesb. Lachm. Tisch. 7. The article came to be omitted from a desire to conform to the second clause.

Matthew 12:36. The reading λαλήσουσιν, adopted by Tisch. (B C א), is to be traced to the futures which follow.

Matthew 12:38. With Lachm. and Tisch. αὐτῷ should be inserted after ἀπεκρίθ., in accordance with B C D L M א, Curss. and most Verss. and Chrys. Perhaps it was omitted from being considered unnecessary.

καὶ Φαρις.] is deleted by Lachm. on too inadequate testimony.

Matthew 12:44. The arrangement: εἰς τ. οἶκ. μ. ἐπιστρ. (Lachm. Tisch.), as opposed to that of the Received text (ἐπιστρ. ἐ. τ. ὀ. μ.), finds testimony sufficiently strong in B D Z א. Comp. Luke.

ἐλθόν] D F G X Γ, Curss.: ἐλθών. So Fritzsche and Tisch. Correctly; the reading of the Received text is here and in Luke 11:25 a grammatical correction.

Matthew 12:46. δέ] omitted in B א, Curss. Vulg. It. Deleted by Lachm. and Tisch. 8. But how easily may it have been omitted at the beginning of the new section (one reading even begins with αὐτοῦ)!

Matthew 12:48. εἰπόντι] Fritzsche, Lachm. Tisch.: λέγοντι, after B D Z Π א, Curss. Correctly. The former has crept in mechanically, in conformity with Matthew 12:47.

Mt 12:1-8.

PLUCKING CORN EARS ON THE SABBATH DAY. ( =

Mr 2:23-28; Lu 6:1-5).

The season of the year when this occurred is determined by the event itself. Ripe corn ears are found in the fields only just before harvest. The barley harvest seems clearly intended here, at the close of our March and beginning of our April. It coincided with the Passover season, as the wheat harvest with Pentecost. But in Luke

(Lu 6:1)

we have a still more definite note of time, if we could be certain of the meaning of the peculiar term which he employs to express it. "It came to pass (he says) on the sabbath, which was the first-second," for that is the proper rendering of the word, and not "the second sabbath after the first," as in our version. Of the various conjectures what this may mean, that of SCALIGER is the most approved, and, as we think, the freest from difficulty, namely, the first sabbath after the second day of the Passover; that is, the first of the seven sabbaths which were to be reckoned from the second day of the Passover, which was itself a sabbath, until the next feast, the feast of Pentecost

(Le 23:15, 16; De 16:9, 10)

In this case, the day meant by the Evangelist is the first of those seven sabbaths intervening between Passover and Pentecost. And if we are right in regarding the "feast" mentioned in

Joh 5:1

as a Passover, and consequently the second during our Lord's public ministry (see on

Joh 5:1),

this plucking of the ears of corn must have occurred immediately after the scene and the discourse recorded in

Joh 5:19-47,

which, doubtless, would induce our Lord to hasten His departure for the north, to avoid the wrath of the Pharisees, which He had kindled at Jerusalem. Here, accordingly, we find Him in the fields--on His way probably to Galilee.

1. At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn--"the cornfields"

(Mr 2:23; Lu 6:1).

and his disciples were an hungered--not as one may be before his regular meals; but evidently from shortness of provisions: for Jesus defends their plucking the corn-ears and eating them on the plea of necessity.

and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat--"rubbing them in their hands"

(Lu 6:1).

Matthew 12:1-8. The account contained in these verses is also recorded in Mark 2:23-28, and Luke 6:1-5.

At that time - Luke Luk 6:1 fixes the time more particularly. He says that it was "the second Sabbath after the first." To understand this, it is proper to remark that the "Passover" was observed during the month "Abib," or Nisan, answering to the latter part of March and the first of April. The feast was held seven days, commencing on the fourteenth day of the month Exodus 12:1-28; Exodus 23:15, on the "second" day of the paschal week. The law required that a sheaf of "barley" should be offered up as the first-fruits of the harvest, Leviticus 23:10-11. From this day was reckoned seven weeks to the feast of "Pentecost" Leviticus 23:15-16, called also the feast of weeks Deuteronomy 16:10, and the feast of the harvest, Exodus 23:16. This second day in the feast of the Passover, or of unleavened bread, was the beginning, therefore, from which they reckoned toward the Pentecost. The Sabbath in the week following would be the "second Sabbath" after this first one in the reckoning, and this was doubtless the time mentioned when Christ went through the fields. It should be further mentioned, that in Judea the barley harvest commences about the beginning of May, and both that and the wheat harvest are over by the twentieth. Barley is in full ear in the beginning of April. There is no improbability, therefore, in this narrative on account of the season of the year. This feast was always held at Jerusalem.

Through the corn - Through the "barley," or "wheat." The word "corn," as used in our translation of the Bible, has no reference to "maize," or "Indian corn," as it has with us. Indian corn was unknown until the discovery of America, and it is scarcely probable that the translators knew anything about it. The word "corn" was applied, as it is still in England, to wheat, rye, oats, and barley. This explains the circumstance that they "rubbed it in their hands" Luke 6:1 to separate the grain from the chaff.

At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath-day through the corn - "The time is determined by Luke in these words, εν σαββατω δευτεροπρωτω, that is, on the Sabbath from the second-first.

"Provision was made by the Divine law that the sheaf of first-fruits should be offered on the second day of the pass-over week, Leviticus 23:10, Leviticus 23:11. On the morrow after the Sabbath, the priest shall shake (or wave) it. Not on the morrow after the ordinary Sabbath of the week, but the morrow after the first of the pass-over week, which was a Sabbatic day, Exodus 12:16; Leviticus 23:7. Hence the seventy, επαυριον της πρωτης, the morrow of the first day; the Chaldee, the morrow after the holy day. The rabbins, Solomon and Menachen, have it, On the morrow after the first day of the pass-over feast; of which mention had been made in the verses foregoing.

"But now, from the second day of the pass-over solemnity, wherein the sheaf was offered, were numbered seven weeks to pentecost: for the day of the sheaf, and the day of pentecost did mutually respect each other; for on this second day of the pass-over, the offering of the sheaf was supplicatory, and by way of prayer, beseeching a blessing upon the new corn, and leave to eat it, and to pot in the sickle into the standing corn. Now, the offering of the first-fruit loaves on the day of pentecost, (Leviticus 23:15-17), did respect the giving of thanks for the finishing and housing of the barley-harvest. Therefore, in regard of this relation, these two solemnities were linked together, that both might respect the harvest; that, the harvest beginning; this, the harvest ended: this depended on that, and was numbered seven weeks after it. Therefore, the computation of the time coming between could not but carry with it the memory of that second day of the pass-over week; and hence pentecost is called the feast of weeks, Deuteronomy 16:10. The true calculation of the time between could not otherwise be retained, as to Sabbaths, but by numbering thus: this is σαββατον δευτεροπρωτον, the first Sabbath after the second day of the pass-over. This is δευτεροδευρερον, the second Sabbath after that second day. And so of the rest. In the Jerusalem Talmud, the word שבת פרוטוגמייא shebeth protogamiya, the Sabbath, πρωτογαμιας, of the first marriage, is a composition not very unlike." Lightfoot.

His disciples were an hungered - Were hungry. The former is a mode of expression totally obsolete. How near does the translation of this verse come to our ancient mother-tongue, the Anglo-Saxon! - The Healer went on rest-day over acres: truly his learning knights hungred, and they began to pluck the ear and eaten - We may well wonder at the extreme poverty of Christ and his disciples. He was himself present with them, and yet permitted them to lack bread! A man, therefore, is not forsaken of God because he is in want. It is more honorable to suffer the want of all temporal things in fellowship with Christ and his followers, than to have all things in abundance in connection with the world.