Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 12:7
But if ye had known what [this] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
7. I will have mercy, and not sacrifice ] Quoted a second time, see ch. Mat 9:13. There is something more binding than the Law, and that is the principle which underlies the Law. The Law rightly understood is the expression of God’s love to man. That love allowed the act of David, and the labour of the priests. “Shall it not permit My disciples to satisfy their hunger?”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mat 12:7
I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.
Mercy, not sacrifice
When St. Spyridion was about eighty years old, it happened that a traveller came to visit him at one of those periods of the year when it was his custom to fast on alternate days. Seeing that the stranger was very tired, Spyridion told his daughter to wash his feet, and set meat before him. She replied, that as it was fast-time, there was neither bread nor meat ready. On which Spyridion, having prayed and asked forgiveness, desired her to cook some salt pork there chanced to be in the house. When it was prepared, he sat down at table with the stranger, partook of the meat, and told him to follow his example. But the stranger declined, saying he was a Christian, and ought not to eat meat during the great fast. Spyridion answered, It is for that very reason you ought not to refuse to partake of the food; unto the pure all things are pure.
The earthly subservient to the heavenly
Rabbi Tanchum was once asked if it were lawful to extinguish a candle on the Sabbath, when it inconvenienced a sick man. Said he, A candle is an earthly light, mans soul a heavenly light. Is it not better to extinguish an earthly than a heavenly light? (Talmud.)
Obedience has not merely to do with the easy part of religion
They pick and choose out the easiest part in religion, and lay out all their zeal there, but let other things go: in some duties that are of easy digestion, and nourish their disease rather than cure their soul, none so zealous as they, none so partial as they. Now, a partial zeal for small things, with a plain neglect of the rest, is direct pharisaism; all for sacrifice, nothing for mercy. Therefore every one of us should take heed of halving and dividing with God: if we make conscience of piety, let us also make conscience of justice; if of justice, let us also make conscience of mercy. It is harder to renounce one sin wherein we delight, than a greater which we do not equally affect. A man is wedded to some special lusts, and is loth to hear of a divorce from them. We have our tender and sore places in the conscience, which we are loth should be touched. But if we be sincere with God we will keep ourselves from all, even from our own iniquity (Psa 18:23). (T. Manton.)
Morals before rituals. (T. Manton. )
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. I will have mercy, &c.] See this explained, Mt 9:13. There are four ways in which positive laws may cease to oblige.
First, by the natural law of necessity.
Secondly, by a particular law, which is superior.
Thirdly, by the law of charity and mercy.
Fourthly, by the dispensation and authority of the Lawgiver.
These cases are all exemplified from Mt 12:4-8.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Neither Mark nor Luke have this argument. Our Lord yet goeth on taxing these great doctors of ignorance. The text he quotes is Hos 6:6; we met with it before quoted by our Saviour, Mat 9:13. The meaning is, that God prefers mercy before sacrifice. Where two laws in respect of some circumstance seem to clash one with another, so as we cannot obey both, our obedience is due to that which is the more excellent law. Now, saith our Saviour, the law of mercy is the more excellent law; God prefers it before sacrifice; which had you well considered, you would never have accused my disciples, who in this point are guiltless.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. But if ye had known what thismeaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice (Hos 6:6;Mic 6:6-8, &c.). See onMt 9:13.
ye would not have condemnedthe guiltlessthat is, Had ye understood the great principle ofall religion, which the Scripture everywhere recognizesthatceremonial observances must give way before moral duties, andparticularly the necessities of natureye would have refrained fromthese captious complaints against men who in this matter areblameless. But our Lord added a specific application of this greatprinciple to the law of the sabbath, preserved only in Mark: “Andhe said unto them, the sabbath was made for man, and not man for thesabbath” (Mr 2:27). Aglorious and far-reaching maxim, alike for the permanentestablishment of the sabbath and the true freedom of its observance.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But if ye had known what this meaneth, c,] The passage of Scripture in Hos 6:6
I will have mercy, and not sacrifice of the sense of which,
see Gill “Mt 9:13”
ye would not have condemned the guiltless. Our Lord taxes the Pharisees both with ignorance of the Scriptures, in which they pretended to be very knowing, and took upon them to be the interpreters of; and with inhumanity, for condemning innocent persons, the apostles, for rubbing a few ears of corn, for the refreshment of nature; which they would never have done, had they understood the word, and will of God; who prefers acts of humanity, compassion, and mercy, to the observance of rites and ceremonies; or had they the common affections of human nature, and those bowels of compassion which one man ought to show to another.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The guiltless ( ). So in verse 5. Common in ancient Greek. No real ground against, it means + . Jesus quotes Ho 6:6 here as he did in Mt 9:13. A pertinent prophecy that had escaped the notice of the sticklers for ceremonial literalness and the letter of the law.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “But if ye had known what this meaneth” (ei de egnokeite ti estin) “But if you all (you Pharisees) had realized what is (or exists),” which indicates that they did not understand what the oracle meant, Mat 9:13.
2) “I will have mercy and not sacrifice,” (eleos thelo kai ou thusian) I desire mercy and not (just) sacrifice,” as proclaimed Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8; 10:10; Mat 11:20; Heb 13:15-16.
3) “Ye would not have condemned the guiltless.” (ouk an katedikasate tous anaitious) “You all would not have condemned the guiltless,” or the innocent, as you have in, condemning prophets before me, including John the Baptist, and Jesus Himself; Jesus was that innocent or guiltless one they had also condemned with His disciples, Act 7:51-53; 1Co 2:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7. But if you knew This Third argument is also mentioned by Matthew alone. Christ conveys an indirect reproof to the Pharisees, for not considering why ceremonies were appointed, and to what object they are directed. This has been a common fault in almost every age; and therefore the prophet Hosea (Hos 6:6) exclaims against the men of his own age for being too much attached to ceremonies, and caring little about the duties of kindness. But God declares aloud, that he sets a higher value on mercy than on sacrifice, employing the word mercy, by a figure of speech, for offices of kindness, as sacrifices include the outward service of the Law. This statement Christ applies to his own time, and charges the Pharisees with wickedly torturing the Law of God out of its true meaning, with disregarding the second table, and being entirely occupied with ceremonies.
But a question arises: Why does God declare that he is indifferent about ceremonies, when he strictly enjoined in his Law that they should be observed? The answer is easy. External rites are of no value in themselves, and are demanded by God in so far only as they are directed to their proper object. Besides, God does not absolutely reject them, but, by a comparison with deeds of kindness, pronounces that they are inferior to the latter in actual value. Nor is it inconsistent with this to say, that in the perfection of righteousness the highest rank belongs to the worship of God, and the duties which men owe to each other occupy the second rank. For, though piety is justly reckoned to be as much superior to charity as God is higher than men, yet as believers, by practicing justice towards each other, prove that their service of God is sincere, it is not without reason that this subject is brought under the notice of hypocrites, who imitate piety by outward signs, and yet pervert it by confining their laborious efforts to the carnal worship alone. (81) From the testimony of the Prophet, Christ justly infers that no blame attaches to his disciples; for while God trained his people in the rudiments of the Law, it was far from being his design to kill wretched men with famine.
(81) “ Et cependant neantmoins la renversent et falsifient, s’arrestans au seul service charnel, auquel ils prenent grande peine;” — “and yet nevertheless overthrow and falsify it, confining themselves to the carnal service alone, on which they bestow great pains.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.Yet a third argument follows from the Old Testament (Hos. 6:6). The teachers or interpreters of the Law had failed to catch the meaning of the simplest utterances of the prophets. Mercy and not sacrifice, moral and not positive duties, these made up the true life of religion, and were alone acceptable to God. It was because they had inverted the right relation of the two that they had, in this instance, condemned those whom our Lord now declares to have been in this respect absolutely guiltless.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. I will have I require of men the performance of mercy. And not sacrifice Not sacrifice, or ceremonial performances, as a substitute for the performance of moral duties. It is useless to profess to be a pious man, without being an honest, just, and good man.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’, you would not have condemned the guiltless.”
Having laid His claim Jesus now appeals to the conscience. Had the Pharisees known the meaning of Hos 6:6 (compare here Mat 9:3), they would have recognised that God put compassion before ritual. They would in that case have interpreted the Law compassionately and not harshly, and would have allowed the hungry poor to gather for their own need on the Sabbath. They would not have condemned those who in fact had done no wrong. It is a reminder that when we read the Scriptures we have a tendency to see what we want to see. The Pharisees saw prohibitions. Jesus saw compassion. Note the fact that Jesus did not see His disciples as having committed a minor sin, He considered that they had actually had the right to do what they had done, thus specifically setting Himself against the ideas of the Pharisees.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 12:7. I will have mercy, &c. I delight in mercy (so signifies, ch. Mat 27:43.), more than sacrifice; for this is the Hebrew form of comparison. See the note on ch. Mat 9:13. Works of mercy, acts of kindness and beneficence, are essential duties, and preferable to all the ceremonial law, named here (from its principal act) sacrifice, when that comes in competition with them. As the sense of so many important scriptures depends upon it, it may be proper to observe, that, according to the genius of the Hebrew language, one thing seems to be forbidden, and another commanded, when the meaning only is, that the latter is greatly to be preferred to the former. The text before us is a remarkable instance; as likewise Joh 6:27. And it is evident, that Gen 45:8. Joh 7:19 and many more passages, are to be expounded in the same comparative sense. See Doddridge, Heylin, and Beausobre and Lenfant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 12:7 . After this defence of His disciples, He shows the Pharisees that in judging them as they had done they were animated by a perverse disposition . He shows how they were destitute of the compassionate love which God requires in Hos 6:6 , while their thoughts were exclusively directed to sacrifice and ceremonial religion generally. From want of , which would have disposed them to regard the conduct of the hungry ones in a totally different light, they, i.e. those ceremonialists, had condemned the disciples. See, besides, note on Mat 9:13 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Ver. 7. But if ye had known ] And it was a foul shame for them not to know. “Who is blind as my servant?” &c., Isa 42:19 . Varro justly upbraided the Roman priests, that there were many matters in their own rites and religions that they understand not. a What kind of men they were, Cicero (2, de Finib. ) gives us to know in these words of his, Ut maiores nostri Cincinnatum illum ab aratro abduxerunt, ut Dictator esset, sic vos de Pelasgis omnibus colligitis bonos illos quidem viros, sed certe non pereruditos, good honest men, but not guilty of much learning.
I will have mercy, and not sacrifice ] q.d. I prefer the marrow and pith of the second table before the ceremony and surface of the first. See Trapp on “ Mat 9:14 “
Ye would not have condemned the guiltless ] Ignorance is the mother of misprision: the wisdom from above is without judging, Jas 3:17 . And as any man is more wise, he is more sparing of his censures. Zanchy wonders that Lutherans, who profess to eat Christ corporally, should censure so bitterly. b
a
b Mirabar qui fieret, ut hoc hominum genus qui corpus Christi tam mitis modesti atque humani oraliter comedunt, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7. ] The law of this new Temple-service is the law of charity and love: mercy and not sacrifice, see ch. Mat 9:13 : all for man’s sake and man’s good; and if their hearts had been ready to receive our Lord, and to take on them this service, they would not have condemned the guiltless.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 12:7 . he principle of human need stated in terms of a favourite prophetic oracle (Mat 9:13 ). : the form of expression, a past indicative in protasis, with a past indicative with in apodosis, implies that the supposition is contrary to fact (Burton, N. T. Moods and Tenses, 248). The Pharisees did not know what the oracle meant; hence on a previous occasion Jesus bade them go and learn (Mat 9:13 ). If their pedantry blinded them to distinctions of higher and lower in institutions, or rather made them reckon the least the greatest command, minuti testing obedience, it still more deadened their hearts to the claims of mercy and humanity. Of course this idolatry went on from bad to worse. For the Jews of a later, templeless time, the law was greater than the temple (Holtz., in H.C., quoting Weber). : doubly guiltless: as David was through imperious hunger, as the priests were when subordinating Sabbath, to temple, requirements.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
if, &c. Implying that it was not the fact. See App-118. Not the same condition as in verses: Mat 12:11, Mat 12:26, Mat 12:27, Mat 11:28.
had known = were aware of. Gr. ginosko. .
meaneth = is.
I will = I desire. Greek. thelo. App-102. Quoted from Hos 6:6.
mercy = lovingkindness, or grace.
guiltless. Greek. anaitios. See note on blameless, Mat 12:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7.] The law of this new Temple-service is the law of charity and love:-mercy and not sacrifice, see ch. Mat 9:13 :-all for mans sake and mans good;-and if their hearts had been ready to receive our Lord, and to take on them this service, they would not have condemned the guiltless.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 12:7. , ye would have known) The pluperfect tense.-, mercy) See ch. Mat 9:13. The disciples accorded mercy to themselves,[552] and the Pharisees had violated it by their rash judgment.-, sacrifice) More sacred than the Sabbath. See Mat 12:5.- , ye would not have condemned) Rashly, quickly, cruelly.[553] By this argument an answer would have been given, if any one had doubted whether it were lawful to pluck the ears before the Passover.
[552] Imitating David in this respect.-V. g.
[553] By indulgence in condemning thoughts, one often falls into sin himself unawares, whilst he is arraigning another as guilty of sin.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
if: Mat 9:13, Mat 22:29, Act 13:27
I will: That is, I desire, or require mercy, or acts of humanity, rather than sacrifice. Isa 1:11-17, Hos 6:6, Mic 6:6-8
condemned: Job 32:3, Psa 94:21, Psa 109:31, Pro 17:15, Jam 5:6
Reciprocal: Jos 5:5 – they had not 1Sa 15:22 – Hath the Lord Psa 40:6 – Sacrifice Mat 22:31 – have Mat 23:23 – the weightier Mar 12:33 – is more
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
12:7
This subject is explained at Mat 9:13.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 12:7. But if ye had known. They ought to have known, professing to interpret the Old Testament.
I will have mercy, etc. Quoted before (chap. Mat 9:13), from Hos 6:6. Our Lord properly censures them, after defending his disciples. They did not recognize this greater temple (Mat 12:6), nor accept the service which God had approved; mercy and not sacrifice, had they done so, they would not have condemned the blameless (the same word as in Mat 12:5).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Learn hence, That the law of mercy is much more excellent than the law of ceremonies; and where both cannot be observed, the less must give place to the greater. God never intended that the ceremonies of his service in the first table, should hinder works of mercy prescribed in the second table. All God’s commands are for man’s good. Where both cannot be obeyed, he will have the moral duty performed, and the ceremonial service omitted: he will have mercy and not sacrifice: that is, he will have mercy rather than sacrifice, where both cannot be had.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 12:7-8. But if ye had known what that meaneth If ye had known the intent of that scripture, Hos 6:6, I will have mercy, &c. That is, I always prefer acts of mercy before matters of positive institution, when in any instance they interfere with each other; and even before all ceremonial institutions whatever; because these being only means of religion, are suspended, of course, if circumstances occur wherein they clash with love, which is the end of it: ye would not have condemned the guiltless As you have now done, merely for rubbing out a handful of corn to refresh themselves in my service. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day The law enjoining the observation of every seventh day as a day of holy rest, as all other laws, is in my power, and may be altered, enforced, or dispensed with, as I see good. My disciples, therefore, are guiltless, were it only on this account, that they act by my authority, and attend on me in my ministry, as the priests attended on God in the temple. This expression, is Lord even of the sabbath, evidently implies, that the sabbath was an institution of great and distinguished importance. It may, perhaps, also refer to that signal act of authority which Christ afterward exerted over it, in changing it from the seventh to the first day of the week. If we suppose here a transposition of the seventh and eighth verses, then the eighth verse is a proof of the sixth.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 7
Mercy, and not sacrifice; mercy, rather than sacrifice; that is, the spirit of piety, rather than a rigid tenaciousness in regard to its forms.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Jesus again criticized the Pharisees for failing to understand the Scriptures (cf. Mat 12:3), and He quoted Hos 6:6 again (cf. Mat 9:13). Previously Jesus had cited this verse to show the Pharisees that they failed to recognize their own need. Now He used it to show them that they failed to recognize Him. The Jews in Hosea’s day relied on mere ritual to satisfy God. The Pharisees were doing the same thing. They had not grasped the real significance of the Law, as their criticism of Jesus’ disciples demonstrated. Jesus accused the accusers and declared the disciples innocent.
"Note that Jesus appealed to prophet [Mat 12:3-4], priest [Mat 12:5-6], and king [Mat 12:7]; for He is Prophet, Priest, and King. Note too the three ’greater’ statements that He made: as the Priest, He is ’greater than the temple’ (Mat 12:6); as Prophet, He is ’greater than Jonah’ (Mat 12:41); and as King, He is ’greater than Solomon’ (Mat 12:42)." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:42.]
As Son of Man, "this man," Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath. That is, His authority was greater than the authority that God had given the Sabbath over His people. Jesus had the authority to do anything He wished with the Sabbath. Significantly, He abolished its observance when He terminated the whole Mosaic Code even as the temple effectively abolished it for the priests within the Mosaic system.
"We are free while we are doing anything for Christ; God loves mercy, and demands not sacrifice; His sacrifice is the service of Christ, in heart, and life, and work. We are not free to do anything we please; but we are free to do anything needful or helpful, while we are doing any service to Christ." [Note: Edersheim, The Life . . ., 2:59.]