Matthew 12:2
New International Version
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

New Living Translation
But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.”

English Standard Version
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

Berean Standard Bible
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

Berean Literal Bible
And the Pharisees, having seen, said to Him, "Behold, Your disciples are doing what it is not lawful to do on Sabbath."

King James Bible
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

New King James Version
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

New American Standard Bible
Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath!”

NASB 1995
But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

NASB 1977
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Behold, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

Legacy Standard Bible
But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

Amplified Bible
But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

Christian Standard Bible
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

American Standard Version
But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But when the Pharisees saw them, they were saying to him, “Behold, your disciples are doing something that is illegal to do on the Sabbath.”

Contemporary English Version
Some Pharisees noticed this and said to Jesus, "Why are your disciples picking grain on the Sabbath? They are not supposed to do this!"

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Pharisees seeing them, said to him: Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days.

English Revised Version
But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing something that is not right to do on the day of worship."

Good News Translation
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, "Look, it is against our Law for your disciples to do this on the Sabbath!"

International Standard Version
When the Pharisees saw this, they told him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"

Literal Standard Version
and the Pharisees having seen, said to Him, “Behold, Your disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

Majority Standard Bible
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

New American Bible
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.”

NET Bible
But when the Pharisees saw this they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath."

New Revised Standard Version
When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.”

New Heart English Bible
But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, "Look, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath."

Webster's Bible Translation
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on the sabbath.

Weymouth New Testament
But the Pharisees saw it and said to Him, "Look! your disciples are doing what the Law forbids them to do on the Sabbath."

World English Bible
But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, “Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

Young's Literal Translation
and the Pharisees having seen, said to him, 'Lo, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on a sabbath.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Lord of the Sabbath
1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” 3Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?…

Cross References
Matthew 12:3
Jesus replied, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

Matthew 12:10
and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

Mark 2:24
So the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

Luke 6:2
But some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

Luke 13:14
But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. "There are six days for work," he told the crowd. "So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath."

Luke 14:3
So Jesus asked the experts in the law and the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?"

John 5:10
so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat."


Treasury of Scripture

But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, Behold, your disciples do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath day.

Behold.

Matthew 12:10
And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

Exodus 20:9-11
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: …

Exodus 23:12
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

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Disciples Forbids Lawful Pharisees Right Sabbath Unlawful
Matthew 12
1. Jesus reproves the blindness of the Pharisees concerning the Sabbath,
3. by scripture,
9. by reason,
13. and by a miracle.
22. He heals a man possessed that was blind and mute;
24. and confronting the absurd charge of casting out demons by Beelzebub,
32. he shows that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven.
36. Account shall be made of idle words.
38. He rebukes the unfaithful, who seek after a sign,
46. and shows who is his brother, sister, and mother.














(2) When the Pharisees saw it.--In the position in which the narrative stands in the other two Gospels, the Pharisees would appear as belonging to the company that had come down from Jerusalem to watch and accuse the new Teacher (Luke 5:17). He claimed the power to forgive sins, He ate and drank with publicans and sinners. Now they found that He was teaching men to dishonour the Sabbath, as He had already taught them in Jerusalem (John 5:10; John 5:16).

Verse 2. - But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him. The Revised Version (but the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him) retains the simple order of the Greek, which more vividly represents the Pharisees as a party opposed to him. Behold. They suggest that he had not noticed it. Were the disciples behind him (cf. Matthew 8:23)? Thy disciples. Notice that all the accusations brought against the disciples in this Gospel concern food: Matthew 9:14, as regards abstaining from it upon fixed days; Matthew 15:2, as regards eating it without taking extreme precautions against ceremonial pollution; in the present passage, as regards avoiding any profanation of the sabbath for its sake. Do. At this moment. That which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day (ver. 1, note).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
[When]
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

[the] Pharisees
Φαρισαῖοι (Pharisaioi)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 5330: Of Hebrew origin; a separatist, i.e. Exclusively religious; a Pharisean, i.e. Jewish sectary.

saw [this],
ἰδόντες (idontes)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3708: Properly, to stare at, i.e. to discern clearly; by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear.

they said
εἶπαν (eipan)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

to Him,
αὐτῷ (autō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

“Look,
Ἰδοὺ (Idou)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 2400: See! Lo! Behold! Look! Second person singular imperative middle voice of eido; used as imperative lo!

Your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

disciples
μαθηταί (mathētai)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3101: A learner, disciple, pupil. From manthano; a learner, i.e. Pupil.

are doing
ποιοῦσιν (poiousin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 4160: (a) I make, manufacture, construct, (b) I do, act, cause. Apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do.

what
(ho)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

is unlawful
ἔξεστιν (exestin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1832: It is permitted, lawful, possible.

on
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

[the] Sabbath.”
σαββάτῳ (sabbatō)
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4521: The Sabbath, a week.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 12:2 But the Pharisees when they saw it (Matt. Mat Mt)
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