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.
He said to them, “What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won’t he grab on to it, and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.” Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv10–13 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 On vv10, 11, 13 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.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v13 Observe, 1. The merciful and miraculous cure wrought by…
Observe, 1. The merciful and miraculous cure wrought by our Saviour’s power upon the impotent man: he said unto him, Stretch out thine hand, and his hand was restored.
Observe, 2. What a contrary effect this cure had upon the Pharisees; instead of convincing them, they conspire against him: Christ’s enemies, when arguments fail, fall to violence.
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Observe, 3. The prudent means which our Saviour uses for his own preservation, he withdrew himself. Christ’s example teaches his ministers their duty; to avoid the hands of persecutors, and prudently to preserve their lives unless when their sufferings are like to do more good than their lives.
Observe, 4. The great humility of Christ in concealing his own praises; he had no ambition that the fame of his miracles should be spread abroad, for he sought not his own glory; neither would he by the noise of his miracles enrage the Pharisees against him to take away his life; knowing that his time was not yet come, and he had much work to do before his death.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv10–13 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.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v12 It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath…
It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day - To save a beast, much more a man.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv10–13 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 On vv10–11 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 On vv10, 13 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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv11–13 And he said unto them, What man shall there…
And he said unto them, 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?
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv10–13 § 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 On vv10–12 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 On vv10, 11, 13 (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 On vv10–13 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 On vv10, 12 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 On vv10–13 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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 13 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus responds to the Pharisees' criticism.
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What man would there be among you, who, if he had just one sheep ... would not grasp hold of it and lift it out?
Jesus uses a question to respond to the Pharisees. He is challenging them to think about what kind of work they do on the Sabbath. AT: "Every one of you, if you only had one sheep ... would grab the sheep and lift it out." (See: Rhetorical Question)
How much more valuable, then, is a man than a sheep!
The phrase "how much more" adds emphasis to the statement. AT: "Obviously, a man is much more valuable than a sheep!" or "Just think about how much more important a man is than a sheep"
it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath
"those who do good on the Sabbath are obeying the law"
translationWords
ewe
lawful
good
Sabbath
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10–11 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.