Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus, answering them, said, “Haven’t you read what David did when he was hungry, he, and those who were with him;
- KJV And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him;
- NKJV But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:
- NASB And Jesus, answering them, said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,
- NLT Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus answers with the example of David eating consecrated bread when hungry. Scripture itself shows mercy taking precedence over ritual.
Overview
Jesus appeals to 1 Samuel 21, where David and his men ate the holy showbread out of need. By citing this, he shows that the leaders' rigid reading misses how God's law serves human need under genuine circumstances. The argument prepares for his claim of an even greater authority than David's.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Sam 21:3–6Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”
- Mark 2:25–26Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?
- Matt 12:3–5Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
- Matt 21:16“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”
- Mark 12:10Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
- Matt 22:31But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you:
- Mark 12:26But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?
- Matt 19:4Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’
- Matt 21:42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 6:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.