MAT 12:2 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT But the Pharisees, having seen this, said to him, “Behold, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

UST Some Pharisees saw the apprentices picking grain. They said to Jesus, “Look! Your apprentices are working on the Jewish day of rest. Our law forbids us to do that.”

BSB [When] [the] Pharisees saw [this], they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on [the] Sabbath.”

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

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

OEB But, when the Pharisees saw this, they said, ‘Look! Your disciples are doing what it is not allowable to do on a Sabbath!’

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

WMBB (Same as above)

NET 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.”

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

FBV When the Pharisees saw this they said to Jesus, “Look at your disciples—they're doing what isn't allowed on the Sabbath!”

TCNT When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Behold, yoʋr disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

T4T Some Pharisees saw us do what they considered to be work. So they said to Jesus, accusing him, “Look! Your disciples are doing work that is not permitted in our laws [PRS] for us to do on our day of rest!”

LEB But when[fn] the Pharisees saw it,[fn] they said to him, “Behold, your disciples are doing what it is not permitted to do on the Sabbath!”

12:2 *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal

12:2 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

BBE But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, See, your disciples do that which it is not right to do on the Sabbath.

Moff When the Pharisees noticed it, they said to him, "Look at your disciples, they are doing what is not allowed on the sabbath."

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

ASV 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.

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

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

Drby But the Pharisees, seeing [it], said to him, Behold, thy disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on sabbath.

RV 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.
(But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy/your disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath. )

SLT And the Pharisees, seeing, said to him, Behold, thy disciples do what is not lawful to do in the sabbath.

Wbstr 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.

KJB-1769 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.
(But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy/your disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. )

KJB-1611 But when the Pharises saw it, they said vnto him, Behold, thy Disciples doe that which is not lawfull to doe vpon the Sabbath day.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation)

Bshps But when the Pharisees sawe it, they sayde vnto hym: Beholde, thy disciples do that which is not lawfull to do vpon the Sabbath day.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Gnva And when the Pharises sawe it, they saide vnto him, Beholde, thy disciples doe that which is not lawfull to doe vpon the Sabbath.
(And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy/your disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath. )

Cvdl When ye Pharises sawe that, they sayde vnto him: Beholde, thy disciples do that, which is not laufull to do vpon the Sabbath.
(When ye/you_all Pharisees saw that, they said unto him: Behold, thy/your disciples do that, which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath.)

TNT When the pharises sawe that they sayde vnto him: Beholde thy disciples do that which is not lawfull to do apon the saboth daye.
(When the Pharisees saw that they said unto him: Behold thy/your disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. )

Wycl And Fariseis, seynge, seiden to hym, Lo! thi disciplis don that thing that is not leueful to hem to do in sabatis.
(And Pharisees, seeing, said to him, Lo! thy/your disciples done that thing that is not lawful to hem to do in sabbaths.)

Luth Da das die Pharisäer sahen, sprachen sie zu ihm: Siehe, deine Jünger tun, was sich nicht ziemt, am Sabbat zu tun.
(So the the Pharisees saw, said they/she/them to/for him: See/Look, your disciple do/put, what/which itself/yourself/themselves not ziemt, in/at/on_the sabbath to/for do/put.)

ClVg Pharisæi autem videntes, dixerunt ei: Ecce discipuli tui faciunt quod non licet facere sabbatis.[fn]
(Pharisees however seeing, they_said to_him: Behold students yours(sg) they_do that not/no although to_do sabbaths. )

12.2 Non licet. Secundum præceptum legis. Sed quia alia scriptura dicit: Misericordiam malo quam sacrificium Ose. 6., melius fuit hominem de famis periculo liberare, quam sacrificium Deo offerre, quia hostia placens est salus hominum. De vastatione frugum non arguunt, quia licet per legem inde edere.

12.2 Not/No although. After/Second precept/rule law. But because other scriptura he_says: Mercym I_prefer how sacrifice Hos. 6., better it_was man from/about famis periculo to_free, how sacrifice to_God to_offer, because sacrifice/victim placens it_is health/safety of_men. From/About vastatione of_grain not/no they_argue, because although through the_law therefore/from_there to_eat.

UGNT οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι ἰδόντες, εἶπαν αὐτῷ, ἰδοὺ, οἱ μαθηταί σου ποιοῦσιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν ἐν Σαββάτῳ.
(hoi de Farisaioi idontes, eipan autōi, idou, hoi mathaʸtai sou poiousin ho ouk exestin poiein en Sabbatōi.)

SBL-GNT οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι ἰδόντες εἶπαν αὐτῷ· Ἰδοὺ οἱ μαθηταί σου ποιοῦσιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν ἐν σαββάτῳ.
(hoi de Farisaioi idontes eipan autōi; Idou hoi mathaʸtai sou poiousin ho ouk exestin poiein en sabbatōi.)

RP-GNT Οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι ἰδόντες εἶπον αὐτῷ, Ἰδού, οἱ μαθηταί σου ποιοῦσιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ποιεῖν ἐν σαββάτῳ.
(Hoi de Farisaioi idontes eipon autōi, Idou, hoi mathaʸtai sou poiousin ho ouk exestin poiein en sabbatōi.)

TC-GNT Οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι ἰδόντες [fn]εἶπον αὐτῷ, Ἰδού, οἱ μαθηταί σου ποιοῦσιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστι ποιεῖν ἐν σαββάτῳ.
(Hoi de Farisaioi idontes eipon autōi, Idou, hoi mathaʸtai sou poiousin ho ouk exesti poiein en sabbatōi. )

12:2 ειπον ¦ ειπαν CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 12:1–14: Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath

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.

12:2a

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.

12:2b

“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:

General Comment on 12:2b

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

UTN uW Translation Notes:

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

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]

Parallel MAT 12:2

Section 12:1–14: Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath

12:2a

12:2b

General Comment on 12:2b