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OET (OET-LV) And the Farisaios_party having_seen, said to_him:
Behold, the apprentices/followers of_you are_doing what it_is_ not _permitting to_be_doing on the_day_of_rest.
OET (OET-RV) But some from the Pharisees party saw them and said, “Look, your followers are harvesting when it’s not permitted to harvest on a rest day.”
There are two main events in this section. One is about picking grain on the Sabbath. The other is about healing on the Sabbath. These two events show that Jesus has the authority to decide which deeds are acceptable to do on the Sabbath.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus showed that he has authority over Sabbath rules
Lord of the Sabbath (NIV)
The Pharisees criticize Jesus because of what he did on the Sabbath
There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 2:23–3:6 and Luke 6:1–11.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him,
But/However, when some Pharisees saw them doing this, they said to him/Jesus,
Some men from the Pharisee group were there and saw what the disciples were doing. They said to Jesus,
This verse introduces a conflict that the Pharisees had with the disciples who plucked and ate grain on the Sabbath. If you have a word or phrase that introduces a conflict of this type in your language, you should use it here. One way to do this in English is to use the word “But.”
Here is another way to introduce this conflict:
However
In some languages it is not necessary to add a special word or phrase to introduce a conflict in a historical event such as this.
When the Pharisees saw this: Some, but not all, of the Pharisees were there and saw what the disciples did. In some languages, it will be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:
Some Pharisees noticed this (CEV)
Some men of the Pharisee group were there and saw what the disciples were doing
Pharisees: For help in translating this word, see the note in 9:11a.
“Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
“Look at that! Your disciples are doing what the Law says is wrong to do on the Sabbath day!”
“Teacher/Sir, look at your disciples! They are breaking the law about working on the Sabbath.”
that what his disciples were doing was not allowed on the Sabbath because it was work.
Look: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Look is the same word that is sometimes translated as “Behold.” This word focuses attention on what follows and indicates that it is important, unexpected, or amazing. In this context, the Pharisees are amazed and surprised that the disciples picked grain on the Sabbath.
Here, this word is also used in a somewhat literal sense, because the Pharisees want Jesus to notice what the disciples are doing.
Here are some examples:
See!
Look here!
In some languages, it is natural to begin this sentence with a term of respect. For example:
Teacher/Sir, Do you see what they are doing?
Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath: The Pharisees criticized the disciples for breaking the law which says that people must not work on the Sabbath. The Pharisees believed that even picking a small handful of grain for a snack was harvesting and therefore work. They also believed that rubbing that small amount of grain and blowing away the husk was threshing and therefore work as well.
According to Deuteronomy 23:25, people were allowed to pick and eat a little grain for a snack. It was not stealing. The Pharisees said that what the disciples did was wrong because they were doing it on the Sabbath.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
Explain what was unlawful in the text. For example:
Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath. (NLT)
Why are your disciples picking grain on the Sabbath? They are not supposed to do that! (CEV)
Look! Your disciples are breaking the law about working on the Sabbath
Explain what was unlawful in a footnote. Here is a sample footnote:
God allowed people to pick and eat a handful of grain from other people’s fields (Deuteronomy 23:25). But the Pharisees said that such picking was work and therefore not allowed on the Sabbath.
In some languages, it may be natural to translate 12:2b as indirect speech. For example:
that his disciples were doing what was not allowed in the Sabbath
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἰδοὺ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οἱ Δέ Φαρισαῖοι ἰδόντες εἶπαν αὐτῷ Ἰδού οἱ μαθηταί σοῦ ποιοῦσιν ὅ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν ἐν Σαββάτῳ)
The word behold is meant to draw the attention of Jesus. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express behold with a word or phrase that asks the person to listen or pay attention. Alternate translation: [Listen] or [See]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular
σου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οἱ Δέ Φαρισαῖοι ἰδόντες εἶπαν αὐτῷ Ἰδού οἱ μαθηταί σοῦ ποιοῦσιν ὅ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν ἐν Σαββάτῳ)
The word your is singular since the Pharisees are speaking to Jesus.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ποιοῦσιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν ἐν Σαββάτῳ
˓are˒_doing (Some words not found in SR-GNT: οἱ Δέ Φαρισαῖοι ἰδόντες εἶπαν αὐτῷ Ἰδού οἱ μαθηταί σοῦ ποιοῦσιν ὅ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν ἐν Σαββάτῳ)
The Pharisees considered even the small action of picking heads of grain to be harvesting, and therefore, to them it was work. This kind of work was prohibited on the Sabbath. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [are harvesting grain, and that is work that is not lawful to do on the Sabbath]
12:1-14 Matthew places Jesus’ offer of rest (11:28-30) in close connection with a discussion of the Sabbath. Jesus’ rest liberates people from human traditions concerning the Sabbath (cp. Heb 4:1-11). The Pharisees rejected Jesus because of their commitment to tradition.
OET (OET-LV) And the Farisaios_party having_seen, said to_him:
Behold, the apprentices/followers of_you are_doing what it_is_ not _permitting to_be_doing on the_day_of_rest.
OET (OET-RV) But some from the Pharisees party saw them and said, “Look, your followers are harvesting when it’s not permitted to harvest on a rest day.”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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