But he said unto them,
Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him;
Read Chapter 12
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
What David Christ shows them that the law need not always be taken according to the bare letter.
Into the house of God; i.e. where the tabernacle was then kept: not into the temple, which at that time was not built.
Eat the loaves Christ speaks of those loaves which were ordered to be placed on a table within the tabernacle, and changed from time to time. This translation seems as literal as may be, and more intelligible than loaves of proposition, or shew-bread. (Witham)
To refute this calumny of the Jewish leaders, Jesus reminds them of the conduct of David when pursued by Saul, who, reduced to the like extremity, eat of that bread which the priests alone were allowed to touch. Achimelec, the high priest, thinking it a more pleasing sacrifice to God to preserve the life of man, than to make an offering of bread. (St. Jerome)
And they that were with him. In the place alluded to, (1 Kings xxi.) it is said, that he was alone. It may be answered, that no one was with him when he rece...
To put down the chicanery of the Pharisees it is recorded in ancient history that David was fleeing from Saul and came to Nob. Having been received by Ahimelech the priest, he asked him for food. Since Ahimelech had no common bread at hand, he gave David some holy bread, which only priests and Levites could lawfully eat. The priest asked whether the young men had kept themselves from women, and he received the answer “since yesterday and the day before.” He did not hesitate to give the bread, having thought it better, remembering that the prophet says, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” In view of the danger of hunger, Ahimelech judged it better to help people than to offer sacrifice to God. The slain victim pleasing to God is the salvation of humankind. If David is holy and the priest Ahimelech is not offensive to you, but they have broken both commandments of the law with a probable excuse—in this case, hunger—why do you not find acceptable the same hunger in the apostles that you f...
Thus, whereas in pleading for His disciples, He brings forward David; for Himself, it is the Father. John 5:17
And observe His reproving manner: Have ye not read what David did? For great indeed was that prophet's glory, so that Peter also afterwards pleading with the Jews, spoke on this wise, Let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried. Acts 2:29
But wherefore does He not call him by the name of his rank, either on this occasion or afterwards? Perhaps because He derived His race from him.
Now had they been a candid sort of persons, He would have turned His discourse to the disciples' suffering from hunger; but abominable as they were and inhuman, He rather rehearses unto them a history.
