23 Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν παραπορεύεσθαι διὰ τῶν σπορίμων, καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἤρξαντο ὁδὸν ποιεῖν τίλλοντες τοὺς στάχυας. 24 καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ἔλεγον αὐτῷ· Ἴδε τί ποιοῦσιν τοῖς σάββασιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν; 25 καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτε τί ἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ ὅτε χρείαν ἔσχεν καὶ ἐπείνασεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ, 26 πῶς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ Ἀβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ἔφαγεν, οὓς οὐκ ἔξεστιν φαγεῖν εἰ μὴ τοὺς ἱερεῖς, καὶ ἔδωκεν καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ οὖσιν; 27 καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· Τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετο καὶ οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον· 28 ὥστε κύριός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ τοῦ σαββάτου.
23 And it happened that he passed through the standing grain on the Sabbath, and his disciples began to make a path, plucking the heads of grain. 24 But the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why do they do on the Sabbath that which is not permitted?” 25 And he says to them, “Did you never read what David did when he had need and hungered, he and those with him, how he entered into the house of God at the time of high-priest Abiathar and ate the breads of presentation, which is not lawful to eat except the priests, and he gave also to those being with him?” 27 And he was saying to them, “The Sabbath came on account of men and not men on account of the Sabbath; 28 therefore the Son of Man is lord also of the Sabbath.”
παραπορεύομαι (5x), from παρά + πορεύομαι, is “I pass by”; with the following διὰ, most translations have, “going through”; NASB: “passing through”. The present infinitive παραπορεύεσθαι is properly the subject of ἐγένετο (from γίνομαι): “it happened that” (NASB); the construction may be Semitic (see 2:15). ἐγένετο is omitted in most other translations. αὐτὸν is the subject of the infinitive, referring to Jesus. The temporal prepositional phrase ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν modifies either γίνομαι or παραπορεύομαι; the plural is often used even when a singular Sabbath is in view. The locative prepositional phrase διὰ τῶν σπορίμων modifies παραπορεύομαι.
The adjective σπόριμος (3x) is, “sown”, from σπείρω “I sow”. The adjective is substantival in the NT, referring to “standing grain” (BDAG), “grainfields” (most translations).
οἱ μαθηταὶ is the subject of the aorist ἤρξαντο (from ἄρχομαι). The infinitive ποιεῖν (from ποιέω) with direct object ὁδὸν (“made their way”, most translations) is complementary with ἄρχομαι.
τίλλω (3x) is, “I pluck” (ESV), “pick” (most other translations). The present participle τίλλοντες modifies ποιέω; I see it as a participle of manner, but Lexham SGNT says temporal-contemporaneous. Commentators note that the phrases is unusual in that the participle gives the main idea, rather than the indicative verb. Thus ESV, NRSV, NIV, NET swap infinitive for participle, translating as if τίλλω complemented ἄρχομαι and ποιέω was the temporal participle.
ὁ στάχυς (5x) is, “head of grain” (from ἵστημι, “that which *stands out* from the stalk”); NET: “heads of wheat”. τοὺς στάχυας is the direct object of τίλλω.
οἱ Φαρισαῖοι is the subject of the imperfect ἔλεγον (from λέγω); αὐτῷ is the indirect object, referring to Jesus. The imperfect-tense here does not provide background information, but may be used to draw attention to the action.
ἴδε is the 2s aorist active imperative of ὁράω (aorist root ιδ-), used here as an exclamation. It is used 34x in the NT, while the aorist middle imperative ἰδού is used 200x.
The neuter interrogative pronoun τί here means, “Why?”
The understood subject of the present ποιοῦσιν (from ποιέω) is, “your disciples”. ποιέω is modified by τοῖς σάββασιν, a dative of time.
ἔξεστιν is technically the 3s indicative of ἔξειμι (from ἐκ + εἰμί, literally “to be out [of the bounds of what is acceptable]”), although it only occurs in the NT in this form (29x) and the participle ἐξὸν (3x). The term strictly has to do with what is socially acceptable (BDAG: “it is right, authorized, permitted, proper”), although most translations have, “it is lawful”. ἔξεστιν (negated by οὐκ) is here complemented by an assumed infinitive ποιεῖν (“what is not permitted [to do]”).
The relative pronoun ὃ has no antecedent, so it functions as both the object of ποιοῦσιν and of the assumed ποιεῖν (“that which”).
Jesus is the understood subject of the historical present λέγει (λέγω). αὐτοῖς is the indirect object.
The adverb οὐδέποτε is “never”, from οὐ + δέ + ποτέ, literally “and not once”.
Technically, the interrogative pronoun τί functions like the relative pronoun ὃ above, as the direct object of both the aorist ἀνέγνωτε (from ἀναγινώσκω, “I read”) and ἐποίησεν (from ποιέω). Almost every translation renders as a perfect: “Have you never read?”. Δαυὶδ is the subject of ποιέω. The verb is modified by the adverb ὅτε, “when”.
ἔσχεν is the 3s aorist indicative of ἔχω. χρείαν the direct object of the verb. Δαυὶδ is the subject of the aorist ἔσχεν and ἐπείνασεν (from πεινάω “I hunger, am hungry”). καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ expands the subject of the verbs.
The adverb πῶς, “how”, modifies the aorist εἰσῆλθεν (from εἰσέρχομαι). The understood subject is David. εἰσέρχομαι is modified by the locative prepositional phrase εἰς τὸν οἶκον; the preposition is repeated after the prefixed verb. The genitive τοῦ θεοῦ is possessive.
ἀρχιερέως, “high priest”, is in appositon to Ἀβιαθὰρ, “Abiathar”. EGGNT says the prepositional phrase ἐπὶ Ἀβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως could indicate a locative idea within the scriptural text, “at” or “near the passage concerning Abiathar the high priest”. EGGNT notes that ἐπὶ occurs with ἀναγινώσκω also in Mark 12:26 with the meaning, “in the passage about”. Something like this is the preferred understanding, since Abimelech, Abiathar’s father, was actually the high priest at the time of this incident, although Abiathar had a bigger connection with David. ICC, on the other hand, says the phrase strictly means, “during the high-priesthood of Abiathar.” NIGTC points out that the two priests’ names are also confused in 2 Sa. 8:17 & 1 Ch. 24:6. ESV, NASB, HCSB: “in the time of Abiathar the high priest”; NRSV, NET: “when Abiathar was high priest”. ESV has a study note: “or, ‘in the passage about’”.
ἡ πρόθεσις (12x), is “presentation”, from προτίθεμαι (πρό + τίθημι, lit. “I set forth”). In the NT this noun is usually translated “purpose”, but in the Gospel and Hebrews the term is used with ἄρτος to refer to the “bread of presentation”, i.e. the show-bread set out as an offering in the tabernacle/temple. ESV: “the bread of the Presence”; NASB, NIV: “the consecrated bread”; HCSB, NET: “sacred bread”. τοὺς ἄρτους is the direct object of the aorist ἔφαγεν (from ἐσθίω, aorist root φαγ-). The genitive τῆς προθέσεως is attributive (“the presented bread”).
The antecedent of the relative pronoun οὓς is τοὺς ἄρτους. οὓς is the direct object of the infinitive φαγεῖν (from ἐσθίω), which is complementary with ἔξεστιν.
εἰ μὴ is, “except”. τοὺς ἱερεῖς, “the priests”, is the accusative subject of the infinitive φαγεῖν.
David is the understood subject of the aorist ἔδωκεν (from δίδωμι; -μι verbs are often formed in the aorist with a kappa).
καὶ here is, “also” (most translations).
The substantival present participle τοῖς οὖσιν (from εἰμί) is the indirect object of δίδωμι; the associative prepositional phrase σὺν αὐτῷ is the predicate of εἰμί (lit. “those being with him”). ESV, NASB: “those who were with him”; NIV, NRSV, HCSB, NET: “his companions”.
Jesus is the understood subject of ἔλεγεν (from λέγω); the indirect object is αὐτοῖς, referring to the Pharisees. The imperfect-tense draws attention to the statement, which here summarizes Jesus’s argument.
Τὸ σάββατον is the subject of ἐγένετο (from γίνομαι), here “was established” (BDAG); most translations, “was made”. EGGNT says διὰ here with τὸν ἄνθρωπον is, “for the benefit of, for the sake of”, but most translations have simply, “for man”.
The final, verbless clause has an implied ἐγένετο.
ὥστε is, “so then”, “therefore” (HCSB); ESV, NASB, NIV: “so”; NET: “For this reason”.
κύριός, emphatic in its position, is the predicate nominative of ἐστιν, and the articular ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου is the subject.
τοῦ σαββάτου modifies κύριός as a genitive of subordination.
