Discovery BoxMatthew 12:4 
Context12:4 how he entered the house of God and they ate 1 the sacred bread, 2 which was against the law 3 for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests? 4
Matthew 21:12
Context21:12 Then 5 Jesus entered the temple area 6 and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts, 7 and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.
Matthew 21:23
Context21:23 Now after Jesus 8 entered the temple courts, 9 the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority 10 are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
1 tc The Greek verb ἔφαγεν (efagen, “he ate”) is found in a majority of witnesses (Ì70 C D L W Θ Ë1,13 33 Ï latt sy co) in place of ἔφαγον (efagon, “they ate”), the wording found in א B pc. ἔφαγεν is most likely motivated by the parallels in Mark and Luke (both of which have the singular).
2 tn Grk “the bread of presentation.”
sn The sacred bread refers to the “bread of presentation,” “showbread,” or “bread of the Presence,” twelve loaves prepared weekly for the tabernacle and later, the temple. See Exod 25:30; 35:13; 39:36; Lev 24:5-9. Each loaf was made from 3 quarts (3.5 liters; Heb “two tenths of an ephah”) of fine flour. The loaves were placed on a table in the holy place of the tabernacle, on the north side opposite the lampstand (Exod 26:35). It was the duty of the priest each Sabbath to place fresh bread on the table; the loaves from the previous week were then given to Aaron and his descendants, who ate them in the holy place, because they were considered sacred (Lev 24:9). See also Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-5.
3 sn Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was against the law is one of analogy: “If David did it for his troops in a time of need, then so can I with my disciples.” Jesus is clear that on the surface there was a violation here. What is not as clear is whether he is arguing a “greater need” makes this permissible or that this was within the intention of the law all along.
4 sn See 1 Sam 21:1-6.
5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
6 tn Grk “the temple.”
sn The merchants (those who were selling) would have been located in the Court of the Gentiles.
7 tn Grk “the temple.”
sn Matthew (here, 21:12-27), Mark (11:15-19) and Luke (19:45-46) record this incident of the temple cleansing at the end of Jesus’ ministry. John (2:13-16) records a cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. See the note on the word temple courts in John 2:14 for a discussion of the relationship of these accounts to one another.
8 tn Grk “he.”
9 tn Grk “the temple.”
10 tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ.1
