Mark 2:23
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
HEALING OF A PARALYTIC. ( = Mat 9:1-8; Luk 5:17-26). (Mar 2:1-12) And again he entered into Capernaum--"His own city" (Mat 9:1). and it was noised that he was in the house--no doubt of Simon Peter (Mar 1:29).
Open source ↗In this chapter, we have, I. Christ's healing a man that was sick of a palsy (Mar 2:1-12). II. His calling of Matthew from the receipt of custom, and his eating, upon that occasion, with publicans and sinners, and justifying himself in so doing (Mar 2:13-17). III. His justifying his disciples in not fasting so much as those plucking the ears of corn on the sabbath day (Mar 2:23-28). All which passages we had before, Mt. 9 and 12.
Open source ↗2:23-28 In this controversy, Jesus and his disciples are accused of breaking the Sabbath (Exod 20:8-11). Picking grain by hand in another person’s field was lawful (Deut 23:25). The charge was that by rubbing the chaff from the kernels, the disciples were working on the Sabbath, which was forbidden (Exod 34:21).
Open source ↗