He went into the house of God and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests can eat. He also gave some to his companions.”
Parallel translations
- WEB how he entered into God’s house, and took and ate the show bread, and gave also to those who were with him, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests alone?”
- KJV How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?
- BSB He entered the house of God, took the consecrated bread and gave it to his companions, and ate what is lawful only for the priests to eat.”
- NKJV how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?”
- NASB how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”
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
David ate the showbread reserved for priests, yet was not condemned. Human need, rightly understood, is honored over ceremonial strictness.
Overview
The showbread was set apart for the priests alone, yet David and his men ate it without divine rebuke. Jesus uses this precedent to expose the Pharisees' failure to grasp the spirit of the Law. The case shows that the Law was never meant to be applied without mercy, pointing toward Jesus' authority to interpret it rightly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Lev 24:5–9“You shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenths of an ephah shall be in one cake.
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Original language
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