Passage

Matthew 12.6

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"4. how he entered into the house of God, and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests? 5. Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless?"

"6. But I say unto you, that one greater than the temple is here."

"7. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8. For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath." (Matthew 12:4-8, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"4. how he entered into God’s house, and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5. Or have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless?"

"6. But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here."

"7. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”" (Matthew 12:4-8, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"4. How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 5. Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?"

"6. But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple."

"7. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day." (Matthew 12:4-8, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"4. how he went into the house of God, and the loaves of the presentation did eat, which it is not lawful to him to eat, nor to those with him, except to the priests alone? 5. 'Or did ye not read in the Law, that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple do profane the sabbath, and are blameless?"

"6. and I say to you, that a greater than the temple is here;"

"7. and if ye had known what is: Kindness I will, and not sacrifice, ye had not condemned the blameless, 8. for the son of man is lord even of the sabbath.'" (Matthew 12:4-8, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Jesus is Jacobs Ladder

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.