And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” that they might accuse him.
Parallel Translations
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And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” that they might accuse him.
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and beholde ther was a man whiche had his hande dryed vp. And they axed him sayinge: ys it lawfull to heale apon the saboth dayes? because they myght acuse him.
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And beholde, there was a man which had his hand dried vp. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawfull to heale vpon a Sabbath day? that they might accuse him.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
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Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Matthew 12:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 13:14 The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!”
- John 9:16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was division among them.
- John 8:6 They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger.
- Matthew 22:17-18 Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites?
- Luke 11:54 lying in wait for him, and seeking to catch him in something he might say, that they might accuse him.
- John 5:10 So the Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.”
- Isaiah 32:6 For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profanity, and to utter error against Yahweh, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
- Zechariah 11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!”
- Matthew 12:2 But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, “Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”
- Luke 14:3-6 Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go. He answered them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” They couldn’t answer him regarding these things.
- 1 Kings 13:4-6 When the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself. The altar was also split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by Yahweh’s word. The king answered the man of God, “Now intercede for the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.” The man of God interceded with Yahweh, and the king’s hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before.
- Luke 23:2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
- John 5:3 In these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water;
- Isaiah 59:4 No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity, and speak lies. They conceive mischief, and give birth to iniquity.
- Isaiah 59:13 transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
- Matthew 19:3 Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
- Luke 6:6-7 It also happened on another Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught. There was a man there, and his right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him.
- Luke 20:22 Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
- Luke 23:14 and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one that perverts the people, and behold, having examined him before you, I found no basis for a charge against this man concerning those things of which you accuse him.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 10 And, behold, there was a man which had…
10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.
Ver. 10. Which had his hand withered] So have all covetous caitiffs, who may well be said, amidst all their hoards, to have no current coin, no quick silver. They sit abrood upon what they have got, as Euclio in the Comedian: and when, by laying out their money, they might "lay hold on eternal life," they will not he drawn to it. But as Alphonsus, king of Spain, when he stood to be king of the Romans, was prevented by his hopes, because he, being a great mathematician, was drawing lines (saith the chronicler) when he should have drawn out his purse; so here.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Mark, repeating the same history, saith, Mar 3:1,2, There…
Mark, repeating the same history, saith, Mar 3:1,2, There was a man which had a withered hand, and they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day, that they might accuse him. So saith Luk 6:6,7, only he addeth that it was his right hand, which made his affliction greater. They asked him not that they might rightly inform themselves, but that they might accuse him to their magistrates, that had power in those cases, for the violation of the sabbath was, amongst the Jews, a capital crime.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he said unto them,.... Well knowing their intentions,…
And he said unto them,.... Well knowing their intentions, and also their usages and customs, which he was able to produce and object to them; in which, through covetousness, they showed more regard to their beasts, than they did humanity to their fellow creatures:
what man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? Christ appeals to them in a case which was usually done among them, and which, without delay, no man would scruple to do; though their present rule of direction, in such a case, is this (f):
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"if a beast fall into a ditch, or a pool of water, if food can be given it, where it is, they feed it till the going out of the sabbath; but if not, bolsters and pillows may be brought, and put under it, and if it can come out: it may come out:''
and which is elsewhere (g) a little differently expressed;
"if a beast fall into a ditch, or pool of water, it is forbidden a man to bring it out with his hand; but if he can give it food where it is, it may be fed till the going out of the sabbath:''
which seems to have been made since the times of Christ, and in opposition to this observation of his.
(f) Maimon. Hilchot Sabbat, c. 25. sect. 26. (g) Kotsensis Mitzvot Tora pr. neg. 65.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. A man which had his hand withered.]…
Verse 10. A man which had his hand withered.] Probably through a partial paralysis. The man's hand was withered; but God's mercy had still preserved to him the use of his feet: He uses them to bring him to the public worship of God, and Jesus meets and heals him there. How true is the proverb - It is never so ill with us, but it might be much worse!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mat 12:10. There was a man which had his…
Mat 12:10. There was a man which had his hand withered — The nerves and sinews of it being shrunk up, so that it was entirely useless. And they — Namely, the scribes and Pharisees, who had either mixed with the crowd that followed Jesus, or were in the synagogue before he came; asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? — They made this inquiry merely that they might find matter whereon to ground an accusation against him. For they fully expected he would say that it was lawful, in opposition to the doctrine of their learned men, who accounted performing cures on the sabbath a violation of the holy rest of that day. Accordingly Mark says, They watched him whether he would heal, &c. — So gross was their hypocrisy, that they resolved to raise an outcry against him, if on the sabbath he should give a lame man the use of his hand, while they themselves were profaning it by an action which would have polluted any day; were seeking an opportunity to murder one who had never done them any harm, but had been and was incessantly doing them good!
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Is it lawful? His enemies perceiving in what manner…
Is it lawful? His enemies perceiving in what manner he excused his disciples, have recourse to a fresh stratagem. (St. Jerome) --- By this question they did not seek learning or improvement, but merely an occasion to ensnare Jesus in his words. If he answered in the affirmative, they would accuse him of violating the repose of the sabbath, enjoined by the law of Moses; if in the negative, of cruelty and want of feeling, and would infallibly have objected his own practice against him, as he had before justified his disciples for plucking corn on the sabbath. Jesus seeing their malice, avoids their captious question by proposing one to them, as we read in St. Mark. Is it lawful to do good or ill on the sabbath? As if he had said, whether is it better to assist your neighbor on the sabbath, or to abandon him in his distress, when you are able to afford him relief? Unable to give an answer, that would not be a justification of his actions, they remain silent; but he still presses the subject, by retorting their own actions upon themselves. They afforded relief to brute animals that stood in need of it on the sabbath. It was therefore cruelty, or mere malice, to cavil at his relieving the sick man on the sabbath. (Jansenius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain § 34. — WITHERED HAND RESTORED, Mat_12:9-21.
§ 34. — WITHERED HAND RESTORED, Mat_12:9-21.
10. His hand withered — A case of paralysis, by which the hand was shrunken away, and the nerves of motion had become incapable of action. This has ever been regarded as an incurable disease. They asked him — Luke informs us that they were watching our Lord’s movements that they might be able to accuse him of breaking the Sabbath. That they might accuse him — The position of the minds of the accusers of our Lord was peculiar and strange. They did not doubt that he was about to work a miracle; they expected it. But they are intending to make out that his miracles are contrary to the divine law, and so immoral. They would then have some ground for saying that he worked miracles by a diabolical power; which charge they did soon begin to make.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. his hand withered] i. e. paralysed or affected…
10. his hand withered] i. e. paralysed or affected by atrophy. St Luke has “his right hand.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) There was a man which had his hand…
(10) There was a man which had his hand withered.—Two facts are implied: (1.) That the Pharisees expected our Lord to heal the man thus afflicted. They knew that commonly the mere sight of suffering of this kind called out His sympathy, and that the sympathy passed into act. (2.) That they had resolved, ii He did so heal, to make it the ground of a definite accusation before the local tribunal, the “judgment” of Mat_5:21. The casuistry of the Rabbis allowed the healing art to be practised on the Sabbath in cases of life and death, but the “withered hand,” a permanent infirmity, obviously did not come under that category.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And, behold, there was a man which had his…
And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered; and behold a man having a withered hand (Revised Version, with Westcott and Hort). For the quotation by Jerome from "the Gospel which the Nazarenes and Ebionites use" (comp. also Introduction, p. 16), in which this man tells our Lord, "Coementarius (a mason) eram, manibus vietum quaeritans," see especially Resch, "Agrapha," p. 379. And they asked him, saying. In the narrative of healing the man with the dropsy, found in Luk_14:1-6 (vide supra), a similar question is asked by our Lord. Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? The Tahnudic answer is that it is unlawful except in cases of actual danger to life (cf. Schurer, IL 2:104). but whether this distinction was really drawn as early as the time of our Lord"s not known in the present backward state of all critical investigations of Jewish literature. That they might accuse him; i.e. before the local court, Mat_5:21 (Meyer). Observe that, recognizing his readiness to help others, they desire (according to Matthew) to get a clear statement from him whether he would follow the traditional law (as we may assume it was) or net, intending to base their accusation on his reply. Verbally, however, Christ avoids the dilemma, as in the more famous case of the tribute to Caesar. (Mat_22:21)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And behold there was a man which had his…
Mat_12:10
And behold there was a man which had his hand withered.
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The withered hand
I. The person to whom the command in our text is addressed.
1. TO a man who was hopelessly incapable of obeying. The hand had lost the moisture of life. Christs power is displayed on our inability.
2. To one who was perfectly willing.
II. The person who gave the command. He said.
III. The command itself. The stretching forth of the hand was-
1. An act of faith.
2. An act of decision. The Pharisees around him.
IV. This mans obedience.
1. He did not do something else in preference to what Jesus commanded.
2. He did not raise any questions.
3. He was told to stretch out his hand, and he did so.
V. The result of this stretching out of the mans hand in obedience to the command.
1. The healing was manifest.
2. It was immediate.
3. It was permanent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The withered hand
I. A common calamity.
II. The man could do nothing.
III. He knew he could do nothing.
IV. He is a type of those whose usefulness is spoiled by some defect-the crotchety, ill-tempered, hasty, niggardly man.
V. The causes of this withered hand.
1. Disuse.
2. Multiplied anxieties and cares.
3. Contact with poisonous matters-questionable company or pleasures.
VI. The cure. The services of the synagogue not enough. The solemn ritual, the round of confession and sacrifice, of singing and the word, each of these was a help to the healing power, but nothing more-hands that pointed and lifted the sufferer nearer to the great Restorer. At last, before the man there stands the living Christ, as He stands before all who seek Him. Then swiftly comes the being made whole. That living Presence sought; that great Love appealed to; that mighty Power trusted; His word waited for, believed, obeyed. Thus may every withered hand be stretched forth perfectly whole. (Mark Guy Pearse.)
The use of means
It is one of the sophisms of every age Go urge the Spirits efficacy, as a plea for the neglect of means. It is folly and presumption to think that, because power is with God and from God, efforts should not be in ourselves. (Dr. Manton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 10. A man which had his hand withered. That…
10. A man which had his hand withered. That is, dried up from a deficient absorption of the nutriment. Luke says his “right hand.” The disease here indicated results in a loss both in size and in power of the arm; for it there is no remedy known to man. Compare Mark 3:1–6 and Luke 6:6–11. And they asked him. Luke says it was the scribes and Pharisees. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? In the opinion of the Pharisees, to kindle or extinguish a fire on the Sabbath was a great desecration of the day, nor was even sickness allowed to violate rabbinical rules. It was forbidden to give an emetic on the Sabbath, to set a broken bone, or put back a dislocated joint. Of course, they had added all this to the law of Moses. That they might accuse him. Not in the conversation merely, but before the local judge, the officers of the synagogue, or the council.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 12:10 Does the law permit: Rabbinic tradition permitted healing…
12:10 Does the law permit: Rabbinic tradition permitted healing on the Sabbath only if life was in danger. Since life was not in jeopardy, the Pharisees thought healing was not permitted.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.