Putting Sabbath in Its Place

Below is a rough translation of Mark 2:23-3:6, the Revised Common Lectionary reading for the second Sunday after Pentecost. At the bottom of the post is a Prayer of Confession that is based on the OT reading from 1st Samuel. Feel free to steal it! 

I consider this one of the key texts in all of the gospels to understand Jesus’ relation to his tradition, particularly to the law. Jesus’ operating principle is that the Sabbath (and, with that, I am reading all of the law and the rituals of holiness) was created for humanity, and not the other way around. 

- The idea that ‘humanity was made for the Sabbath’ continues to be a wildly popular theology that God created the law and humanity needs to live up to it or else we are lost. In that theology, God is chiefly known as holy, and humans have to achieve a certain level of holiness – through following laws or practicing purity rituals - to be acceptable to God. 

- The alternative theology, which Jesus poses here, is that ‘the Sabbath was made for humanity.’ In that sense, God is chiefly known as love and the laws and purity rituals are for humanity’s own good. Or, even better, they offer ways that humanity can respond to God’s grace with gratitude. 

And now, on with the text! 

²³Καὶ ἐγένετοαὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς σάββασινπαραπορεύεσθαιδιὰ τῶν σπορίμων, καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἤρξαντοὁδὸν ποιεῖντίλλοντεςτοὺς στάχυας. 

And it happened on the Sabbaths he passed through the sown fields, and his disciples began to make a way plucking the ears of grain.  

ἐγένετο: AMI 3s, γίνομαι 1) to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being  

παραπορεύεσθαι: PMInf, παραπορεύομαι,1) to proceed at the side, go past, pass by 

ἤρξαντο: AMI 3p, ἄρχω,1) to be chief, to lead, to rule 

ποιεῖν: PAInf, ποιέω,1) to make  

τίλλοντες: PAPart npm, τίλλω,1) to pluck, pluck off 

1. One interpretive decision is to identify what, exactly, is the Sabbath violation that the Pharisees will raise about the disciples. Is the problem that they are forging a path or that they are harvesting food? The NIV says “as his disciples walked along, they began to pick heads of grain,” which implies – along with most translations – that it was the plucking that becomes the activity in question. Syntactically, the verb “began” seems to go as easily with the infinitive “to make,” as the participle “plucking.” 

2. I suspect the NIV et al are interpreting that plucking the grain is the problem because of Jesus’ argument below about what David did when he was hungry.

3. On the plural “Sabbaths” see v.24, n.1. 

4. Notice that this first portion of the text is about when, namely the Sabbath. The next portion beginning in 3:1 relocates the story to a where, the Synagogue. I feel like the when and where, time and place, are intentionally correlative in these stories, so I call it "putting Sabbath in its place." 

²⁴καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ἔλεγοναὐτῷ,Ἴδετί ποιοῦσιντοῖς σάββασιν ὃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν;

And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing on the Sabbaths that which is not lawful?”

ἔλεγον: IAI 3p, λέγω,1) to say, to speak

Ἴδε: imperative of εἶδον (eidon) to see) used as an interjection, lo! behold!

ποιοῦσιν: PAI 3p, ποιέω,1) to make 

ἔξεστιν: PAI 3s, ἔξεστι,1) it is lawful 

1. “Sabbaths” is plural here and in v.23. In vv.27 and 28, it will be singular. (Mark’s use of the plural for Sabbaths is a word study in itself.) Add that to the imperfect (“They were saying”), rather than a simple aorist past tense (“They said”) and it might be that this was an ongoing contention that comes to a head on this particular occasion, rather than a simple one-time event. 

2. The word “lawful” (ἔξεστιν), which appears here, in v.26, and in 3:4, makes an interesting study. It appears three other times in Mark - 6:18, 10:2, and 12:14. I need to do an etymological study of this term.  

²⁵καὶ λέγειαὐτοῖς, Οὐδέποτε ἀνέγνωτετί ἐποίησενΔαυίδ, ὅτε χρείαν ἔσχενκαὶ ἐπείνασεναὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετ' αὐτοῦ;

And he says to them, “Have you never comprehended what David did when he had need and hungered he and the ones with him? 

λέγει: PAI 3s, λέγω,1) to say, to speak

ἀνέγνωτε: AAI2p, ἀναγινώσκω,1) to distinguish between, to recognise, to know accurately,  to acknowledge  2) to read 

ἐποίησεν: AAI 3s, ποιέω,1) to make 

ἔσχεν: AAI 3s, ἔχω,1) to have, i.e. to hold

ἐπείνασεν: AAI 3s, πεινάω,1) to hunger, be hungry 

1. ἀναγινώσκω can be interpreted “read,” but it implies more than a simple familiarity with a story. Some kind of distinction and accuracy in understanding the meaning of the story seems implied. Of course they had read the story. They just did not see the significance of David’s actions, doing that which was not “lawful,” for their own way of apprising lawful actions. Mark will use this term again in 12:10, 12:26, and 13:14. Each time there is more to simply reading that is important. 

²⁶πῶς εἰσῆλθενεἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ Ἀβιαθὰρ ἀρχιερέως καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ἔφαγεν, οὓς οὐκ ἔξεστινφαγεῖνεἰ μὴ τοὺς ἱερεῖς, καὶ ἔδωκενκαὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ οὖσιν; 

How he entered into the house of God in the time of high priest Abiathar and ate the bread of the presence which is not lawful to eat except by the priest, and gave also to the ones being with him?” 

εἰσῆλθεν: AAI 3s, εἰσέρχομαι,1) to go out or come in: to enter 

ἔφαγεν: AAI 3s, ἐσθίω,1) to eat 

ἔξεστιν: ἔξεστι,1) it is lawful

φαγεῖν: AAInf, ἐσθίω,1) to eat 

ἔδωκεν: AAI 3s, δίδωμι,1) to give 2) to give something to someone 

1. It is not clear how exactly to interpret the preposition ἐπὶ. If Abiathar had actually been the priest who gave David the “bread of the presence” in I Samuel 21, then the preposition might be “in the presence of.” But, it was Ahimelech who shared the holy bread with David, not Abiathar. So, unless Mark is mistakenly saying “Abiathar” instead of “Ahimelech,” the preposition might mean that it was during Abiathar’s tenure, not in his actual presence.  

2. Matthew (12:4) and Luke (6:4) do not include the reference to Abiathar. Theories abound. See this article by Morgan, C Shannon, “When Abiathar Was High Priest” (Journal of Biblical Literature, 98 no. 3 Sep 1979, p 409-410).

3. In the I Samuel narrative, Ahimelech allows David and his men to eat the holy bread only after ensuring that they were holy, by which he meant they had kept themselves from women. 

4. Incidentally, things did not go well for Abiathar after David’s death, since he was part of the failed plot to make Adonijah the king instead of Solomon. 

5. Come to think of it, I’m not so sure things ever went well for Abiathar. He is listed as both the son of Ahimelech and as the father of Ahimelech. He’s his own grandpa! 

I Samuel 30:7, “David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, ‘Bring me the ephod.’ So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.” (Sim I Samuel 22:20)

I Chronicles 24:6, “The scribe Shemaiah …, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech son of Abiathar, ….” (Sim I Chronicles 18:16). 

²⁷καὶ ἔλεγεναὐτοῖς, Τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετοκαὶ οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον: 

And he was saying to them, “The Sabbath came into being for the human and not the human for the Sabbath;

ἔλεγεν: IAI 3s, λέγω,1) to say, to speak

ἐγένετο: AMI 3s, γίνομαι 1) to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being  

1. The verb γίνομαι is very versatile. I am going with “came into being” because Jesus seems to be talking about the purposive origin of the Sabbath. 

2. Again, the difference between the imperfect and the aorist may be overblown, but v.24 uses the imperfect to describe the Pharisee’s criticism of the disciples (“were saying”) and v.27 uses it to summarize Jesus’ answer (“was saying”). I suggest this was an ongoing conversation, rather than a one-time event. 

²⁸ὥστε κύριός ἐστινὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ τοῦ σαββάτου.

hence the son of humanity also is lord of the Sabbath. 

ἐστιν: PAI 3s, εἰμί,1) to be, to exist, to happen, to be present

1. I am reading this as a conclusive Christological comment that follows the anthropological comment of v.27. The anthropological comment is that the Sabbath is made for humanity, and not the other way around. The Christological comment follows that, insofar as the “Son of Man” is “Lord,” then the Son of Man is likewise Lord of the Sabbath. To some extent, the title “Son of Man” has always been fuzzy to me, but this text indicates that how we view humanity is tied to how we should hear that title.  

¹Καὶ εἰσῆλθενπάλιν εἰς τὴν συναγωγήν. καὶ ἦνἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπος ἐξηραμμένηνἔχωντὴν χεῖρα: 

And he entered again into the synagogue. And a man was there having the withered hand; 

εἰσῆλθεν: AAI 3s, εἰσέρχομαι,1) to go out or come in: to enter 

ἦν: IAI 3s, εἰμί,1) to be, to exist, to happen, to be present

ἐξηραμμένην: PerfPPart asf, ξηραίνω,1) to make dry, dry up, wither 

ἔχων: PAPart nsm, ἔχω,1) to have, i.e. to hold

1. It is an interesting battle of the pericopes. Whoever added chapter divisions sees this story as a new beginning. Whoever set the lection sees this as a continuation of the previous story. 

2. We have two participles. ‘Having’ describes the man; ‘withered’ describes the hand. 

3. We have relocated from a field to a synagogue. Richard Horsley argues that we should see a synagogue as something like a town hall, a gathering place, that can indeed be used for worship but is broader than a worship space and is not a "mini temple." He points out that Mark never uses the term ekklesia. 

4. Ezra Gould argues that the use of the participle ἐξηραμμένηνἔχωντὴν means that it is not a defect from birth, but something that happened more recently. There is a tradition that named this man as a stone mason, and therefore unable to work because of the hand deformation.

²καὶ παρετήρουναὐτὸν εἰ τοῖς σάββασιν θεραπεύσειαὐτόν, ἵνα κατηγορήσωσιναὐτοῦ. 

And they were observing him if on the Sabbaths he will heal him, in order that they might accuse him. 

παρετήρουν: IAI 3p, παρατηρέω,1) to stand beside and watch, to watch assiduously, observe carefully

θεραπεύσει: FAI 3s, θεραπεύω,1) to serve, do service  2) to heal, cure, restore to health

κατηγορήσωσιν: AASubj 3p, κατηγορέω,1) to accuse 

1. Apparently “they” (I assume the Pharisees, per v.6) still do not comprehend the story of David and the holy bread. The sinister part is that they see this man with a disability, not as a person whose life would be greatly enhanced were his hand to be healed, but as the bait in a trap to catch Jesus violating a law. 

2. The fact that this is a story about the appropriate way of observing Sabbath, I agree with the lection committee’s decision to join this story with the previous story as one pericope.

3. As in 2:23 above, and 3:4 below, “the Sabbaths” is plural.

4. Mark’s only other uses of κατηγορέω (accuse) is in 15:3-4, when the chief priests accuse Jesus of many things before Pilate. 

³καὶ λέγειτῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ τὴν ξηρὰν χεῖρα ἔχοντι, Ἔγειρεεἰς τὸ μέσον. 

And he says to the man having the withered hand, “Rise into the midst.”  

λέγει: PAI 3s, 

ἔχοντι: PAPart dsm, ἔχω,1) to have, i.e. to hold

Ἔγειρε: PAImpv 2s, ἐγείρω,1) to arouse, cause to rise 

1. Jesus brings the man front and center. That’s a textbook definition of “moxie.” 

⁴καὶ λέγειαὐτοῖς, Ἔξεστιντοῖς σάββασιν ἀγαθὸν ποιῆσαιἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαιἢ ἀποκτεῖναι; οἱ δὲ ἐσιώπων. 

And he says to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbaths to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy?” But they were silent. 

λέγει: PAI 3s, λέγω,1) to say, to speak

Ἔξεστιν: PAI 3s, ἔξεστι,1) it is lawful

ποιῆσαι: AAInf, ποιέω,1) to make 

κακοποιῆσαι: AAInf, κακοποιέω,1) to do harm  2) to do evil, do wrong 

σῶσαι: AAInf, σῴζω,1) to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction

ἀποκτεῖναι: AAInf, ἀποκτείνω,1) to kill in any way whatever  1a) to destroy, to allow to perish

ἐσιώπων: IAI 3p, σιωπάω,1) to be silent, hold one's peace 

1. They still do not comprehend the David episode. Or else, they do get it, but they do not want to say it aloud because they would rather catch Jesus than honor the original meaning of the Sabbath. This is really a rather simple question. Unless they are willing to transgress centuries of interpreting the David story as the right thing, then how could they challenge this healing as the right thing? 

2. The alternatives of doing good or doing evil suggest that in a moment of potential healing there is no 'neither' ground. 

⁵καὶ περιβλεψάμενοςαὐτοὺς μετ' ὀργῆς, συλλυπούμενοςἐπὶ τῇ πωρώσει τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, λέγειτῷ ἀνθρώπῳ,Ἔκτεινοντὴν χεῖρα. καὶ ἐξέτεινεν, καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθηἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ. 

And having looked around him with anger, grieving at the callousness of their hearts, he says to the man, “Stretch out the hand.” And he stretched, and his hand was restored.

περιβλεψάμενος: AMPart nsm, περιβλέπω,look round about

συλλυπούμενος: PMPart nsm, συλλυπέω,(λυπέω with σύν): to grieve or afflict with another

λέγει: PAI 3s, λέγω,1) to say, to speak 

Ἔκτεινον: AAImpv, 2s, ἐκτείνω,1) to stretch out, stretch forth  1a) over, towards, against one

ἐξέτεινεν: AAI 3s, ἐκτείνω,1) to stretch out, stretch forth 

ἀπεκατεστάθη: API 3s, ἀποκαθίστημι,1) to restore to its former state  2) to be in its former state 

1. While this is Mark’s only use of the word ὀργῆς, it is not the only time Jesus does a good deed out of intense passion. In Mark 1:40-45, I would argue that Jesus cleanses a man out of anger. (http://leftbehindandlovingit.blogspot.com/2012/02/compassion-or-anger-how-do-you-read-it.html) 

2. This could read “the hardness of their hearts,” but the gospels sometimes use sclerosis with καρδίας (resulting in the transliterated term cardio sclerosis). Here the noun is πωρώσει, which could be ‘hardness,’ but refers to the knotting callous that hardens over fractured bones. 

3. It is interesting that Jesus is both angry (ὀργῆς) and grieving (συλλυπέω). According to thebible.org, this is the NT’s only use of συλλυπέω, so it’s hard to see what the nuances of the term might be. The combination of terms might lead us to a mixed kind of sad, maddening frustration. 

⁶καὶ ἐξελθόντεςοἱ Φαρισαῖοι εὐθὺς μετὰ τῶν Ἡρῳδιανῶν συμβούλιον ἐδίδουνκατ' αὐτοῦ ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν.

And the Pharisees exited immediately with the Herodians taking counsel about him how they might destroy him. 

ἐξελθόντες: AAPart npm, ἐξέρχομαι,1) to go or come forth of 

ἐδίδουν: IAI 3p, δίδωμι,1) to give  

ἀπολέσωσιν: AASubj, 3pἀπόλλυμι, to destroy, cause to perish.

1. Is it lawful on the Sabbath to save a life or to destroy it? Jesus saves a life, but the Pharisees and Herodians plot to destroy a life. We see what Mark did there. 

2. Pharisees were reformers according to strict interpretations of and adherence to the law, like synagogue-based progressives. Herodians are less known historically, so our thinking about them is mostly guided by their name. Some think these particular Herodians would be Galilean aristocracy interested in maintaining order. 
Pharisees and Herodians would not usually have a comfortable alliance, but will conspire again in 12:13 - raising another trap question about paying taxes. 

I suggested in my opening remarks that the disputation over the Sabbath is really emblematic of the whole purpose and meaning of the law in general. If that is the case, the Pharisees’ words, motives, and actions – as the narrator describes them – are compelling depictions of what happens when someone is so bent on keeping the particularity of the law that they are willing to overlook the sheer joy of a man’s withered hand being restored. They are compelling depictions of what it means to focus on the exactitude of the letter and to miss the spirit of the law entirely. They are compelling depictions of why “the law” could either be a life-giving source of joy and instruction or a life-demeaning source of judgment and an onerous burden. 

Prayer of Confession

The song Saranam, Saranam, (#789 in the Glory to God and #40 in Global Songs for Worship hymnals) is either Indian or Pakistani in origin. The word "saranam" can mean "I take refuge" or "I surrender." This Prayer of Confession is written to sing the first two verses of "Saranam, Saranam" in a contemplative tone, with the last verse following the Assurance of Pardon in a livelier tone. The song works in both respects. 

Introduction to Prayer: The story of Israel demanding a king is one of those moments in the Scriptures when God relents to our demands, even though they are wrong-headed. A better way to pray is for us to come to God, acknowledging that God is wise and we are not. As we pray this evening, let us come surrendering to God’s will. Please remain seated as we begin our prayer by singing song #789, “Saranam, Saranam.” (vv. 1-2)

      

Let us pray: 

God of all wisdom: We surrender. 

We surrender the arrogance of presuming that we know what is best.  

We surrender the hope of drawing you into our way of thinking. 

We surrender the idea that our voice matters more than others. 

We surrender the assumption that our perception of truth is truth. 

We surrender the privilege of sophisticated words or turns of speech. 

We surrender the hardness of our hearts. 

We surrender the closed doors of our minds. 

We surrender. We lay down our struggles against you. Unconditionally. Amen. 

ASSURANCE OF PARDON/PASSING OF THE PEACE

Friends, hear this good news: In Christ, God forgives us in our foolishness, our pride, and our arrogance and fills us with new life. Let us stand and sing our joyful response.... 

"Saranam, Saranam", v.3.