Mark 2:27

New King James Version

And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for

King James Version (1611)
And hee said vnto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath:

King James Version
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

English Standard Version
And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

New American Standard Bible
Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

New Century Version
Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, "The Sabbath day was made to help people; they were not made to be ruled by the Sabbath day.

Amplified Bible
Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Jesus was saying to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Jesus declared, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Contemporary English Version
Jesus finished by saying, "People were not made for the good of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for the good of people.

Complete Jewish Bible
Then he said to them, "Shabbat was made for mankind, not mankind for Shabbat;

Darby Translation
And he said to them, The sabbath was made on account of man, not man on account of the sabbath;

Easy-to-Read Version
Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, "The Sabbath day was made to help people. People were not made to be ruled by the Sabbath.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And hee sayde to them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

George Lamsa Translation
And he said to them, The sabbath was created for the sake of man, and not man for the sake of the sabbath.

Good News Translation
And Jesus concluded, "The Sabbath was made for the good of human beings; they were not made for the Sabbath.

Lexham English Bible
And he said to them, "The Sabbath was established for people, and not people for the Sabbath.

Literal Translation
And He said to them, The sabbath came into being for man's sake, not man for the sabbath's sake.

American Standard Version
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

Bible in Basic English
And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath;

Hebrew Names Version
He said to them, "The Shabbat was made for man, not man for the Shabbat.

International Standard Version
Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.

Etheridge Translation
And he said to them, that the shabath on account of the Son of man was made, and not the Son of man on account of the shabath.

Murdock Translation
And he said to them: The sabbath was made on man's account, and not man for the sake of the sabbath.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he sayde vnto them: The Sabboth was made for man, and not man for the Sabboth.

English Revised Version
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

World English Bible
He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he said to them, The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.

Weymouth's New Testament
And Jesus said to them: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide to hem, The sabat is maad for man, and not a man for the sabat;

Update Bible Version
And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath:

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said to them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

New English Translation
Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.

New Living Translation
Then Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.

New Life Bible
Jesus said to them, "The Day of Rest was made for the good of man. Man was not made for the Day of Rest.

New Revised Standard
Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he was saying unto them - The Sabbath, for man, was made, and not, man, for, the Sabbath:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to them: The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.

Revised Standard Version
And he said to them, "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And he sayde to them: the Saboth daye was made for man and not man for the Saboth daye.

Young's Literal Translation
And he said to them, `The sabbath for man was made, not man for the sabbath,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
nd he sayde vnto them: The Sabbath was made for mans sake, and not man for the Sabbathes sake.

Mace New Testament (1729)
adding this observation, "the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath."

Simplified Cowboy Version
Then he told them, "The day of rest was made for cowboys. Cowboys were not made for the day of rest. God's Top Hand is Boss—even of the day of rest."

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ Matthew 9:14-17; Luke 5:33-39">[xr] The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins." ²³ Matthew 12:1-8; Luke 6:1-5">[xr] Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. ²⁴ And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" ²⁵ But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: ²⁶ how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?" ²⁷ And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Exodus 23:12, Deuteronomy 5:14, Nehemiah 9:13, Nehemiah 9:14, Isaiah 58:13, Ezekiel 20:12, Ezekiel 20:20, Luke 6:9, John 7:23, 1 Corinthians 3:21, 1 Corinthians 3:22, 2 Corinthians 4:15, Colossians 2:16

Reciprocal: Genesis 2:3 - blessed Exodus 16:23 - rest Exodus 20:11 - General Mark 3:4 - Is it Luke 6:5 - General Luke 13:16 - be loosed

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said unto them,.... Continuing his answer to them, and adding, in confirmation of what he had said, and for the further vindication of his disciples,

the sabbath was made for man; for his good, and not for his hurt; both for the good of his soul, that he might have an opportunity of attending divine worship, both in public and private; and for the good of his body, that he might have rest from his labour; and this was the end of the original institution and appointment of it; and therefore works of necessity are not forbidden on this day; such as are for the necessary comfort, support, and preservation of life; or otherwise it would be apparent, that the sabbath was not appointed for the good, but for the hurt of men. By "man", is not meant all mankind; for the sabbath was never appointed for all mankind, nor binding upon all; only the Jews, who are emphatically called "man", or "men"; see Ezekiel 34:30, upon which the Jewish writers remark o, that

"they are called, אדם, "man"; but the idolatrous Gentiles, and nations of the World, are not called "men";''

but dogs, beasts, c. Our Lord may here be thought to speak in their language, as he does in Mt. 15:26, Ezekiel 34:30- :. And that the observation of the seventh day, was only designed for the children of Israel, seems manifest from Exodus 31:16, "wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant it is a sign between me and the children of Israel"; and not between him and the rest of the world: and in Exodus 31:14, "ye shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy unto you": on which the Jews p make this remark, עממין

לכם ולא לשאר, "to you, and not to the rest of the nations": nor did they ever think that the Gentiles were obliged to observe their sabbath, only such who became proselytes to their religion; even those who were proselytes of righteousness: for a proselyte of the gate, was not bound to observe it; for so says q Maimonides,

"those who take upon them the seven commandments of Noah only, lo! they are as a proselyte of the gate, and they are free to do work on the sabbath day for themselves, openly, as an Israelite on a common day.''

Yea, they not only say, they were not obliged to keep the sabbath, but that it was not lawful for them to observe it; and that it was even punishable with death them to regard it; for so they say r,

"a Gentile that keeps the sabbath before he is circumcised, is guilty of death, because it is not commanded him.''

They judged them unworthy of having this precept enjoined them, as being not men, but beasts, and worse than they, and had not the privilege the ass has: hence one of their commentators s says,

"concerning the rest of an ass, thou (O Israelite!) art commanded; but concerning the rest of a Gentile, thou art not commanded.''

And not man for the sabbath; who was in being long before that was appointed and enjoined.

o T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 114. 2. Zohar in Exod. fol. 35. 4. p Zohar in Exod. fol. 26. 4. q Hilchot Sabbat, c. 20. sect. 14. r Debarim Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 234. 4. s Bartenora in Misn. Sabbat, c. 24. sect. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See Matthew 12:1-8.

The cornfields - The fields sown with wheat or barley. The word “corn,” in the Bible, refers only to grain of that kind, and never to “maize” or “Indian corn.”

To pluck the ears of corn - They were hungry, Matthew 12:1. They therefore gathered the wheat or barley as they walked and rubbed it in their hands to shell it, and thus to satisfy their appetite. Though our Lord was with them, and though he had all things at his control, yet he suffered them to resort to this method of supplying their wants. When Jesus, thus “with” his disciples, suffered them to be “poor,” we may learn that poverty is not disgraceful; that God often suffers it for the good of his people; and that he will take care, in some way, that their wants shall be supplied. It was “lawful” for them thus to supply their needs. Though the property belonged to another, yet the law of Moses allowed the poor to satisfy their desires when hungry. See Deuteronomy 23:25.

Mark 2:24

That which is not lawful - That is, that which they esteemed to be unlawful on the “Sabbath day.” It was made lawful by Moses, without any distinction of days, but “they” had denied its lawfulness on the Sabbath. Christ shows them from their own law that it was “not” unlawful.

Mark 2:25

Have ye never read ... - See the notes at Matthew 12:3.

Mark 2:26

Abiathar the priest - From 1 Samuel 21:1, it appears that Ahimelech was high priest at the time here referred to. And from 1 Samuel 23:6, it appears that “Abiathar” was the son of “Ahimelech.” Some difficulty has been felt in reconciling these accounts. The probable reason as to why Mark says it was in the days of “Abiathar” is that Abiathar was better known than Ahimelech. The son of the high priest was regarded as his successor, and was often associated with him in the duties of his office. It was not improper, therefore, to designate him as high priest even during the life of his father, especially as that was the name by which he was afterward known. “Abiathar,” moreover, in the calamitous times when David came to the throne, left the interest of Saul and fled to David, bringing with him the ephod, one of the special garments of the high priest. For a long time, during David’s reign, he was high priest, and it became natural, therefore, to associate “his” name with that of David; to speak of David as king, and Abiathar the high priest of his time. This will account for the fact that he was spoken of rather than his father. At the same time this was strictly true, that this was done in the days of “Abiathar,” who was afterward high priest, and was familiarly spoken of as such; as we say that “General” Washington was present at the defeat of Braddock and saved his army, though the title of “General” did not belong to him until many years afterward. Compare the notes at Luke 2:2.

showbread - See the notes at Matthew 12:4.

Mark 2:27

The sabbath was made for man - For his rest from toil, his rest from the cares and anxieties of the world, to give him an opportunity to call off his attention from earthly concerns and to direct it to the affairs of eternity. It was a kind provision for man that he might refresh his body by relaxing his labors; that he might have undisturbed time to seek the consolations of religion to cheer him in the anxieties and sorrows of a troubled world; and that he might render to God that homage which is most justly due to him as the Creator, Preserver, Benefactor, and Redeemer of the world. And it is easily capable of proof that no institution has been more signally blessed to man’s welfare than the Sabbath. To that we owe, more than to anything else, the peace and order of a civilized community. Where there is no Sabbath there is ignorance, vice, disorder, and crime. On that holy day the poor and the ignorant, as well as the learned, have undisturbed time to learn the requirements of religion, the nature of morals, the law of God, and the way of salvation. On that day man may offer his praises to the Great Giver of all good, and in the sanctuary seek the blessing of him whose favor is life. Where that day is observed in any manner as it should be, order prevails, morals are promoted, the poor are elevated in their condition, vice flies away, and the community puts on the appearance of neatness, industry, morality, and religion. The Sabbath was therefore pre-eminently intended for man’s welfare, and the best interests of mankind demand that it should be sacredly regarded as an appointment of merciful heaven intended for our best good, and, where improved aright, infallibly resulting in our temporal and eternal peace.

Not man for the sabbath - Man was made “first,” and then the Sabbath was appointed for his welfare, Genesis 2:1-3. The Sabbath was not “first” made or contemplated, and then the man made with reference to that. Since, therefore, the Sabbath was intended for man’s “good,” the law respecting it must not be interpreted so as to oppose his real welfare. It must be explained in consistency with a proper attention to the duties of mercy to the poor and the sick, and to those in peril. It must be, however, in accordance with man’s “real good on the whole,” and with the law of God. The law of God contemplates man’s “real good on the whole;” and we have no right, under the plea that the Sabbath was made for man, to do anything contrary to what the law of God admits. It would not be for our “real good,” but for our real and eternal injury, to devote the Sabbath to vice, to labor, or to amusement.

Mark 2:28

Therefore the Son of man ... - See the notes at Matthew 12:8.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Mark 2:27. The Sabbath was made for man — That he might have the seventh part of his whole time to devote to the purposes of bodily rest and spiritual exercises. And in these respects it is of infinite use to mankind. Where no Sabbath is observed, there disease, poverty, and profligacy, generally prevail. Had we no Sabbath, we should soon have no religion. This whole verse is wanting in the Codex Bezae, and in five of the Itala.