Mark 2 · Verse 24

Mark 2:24

And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
Mark 2:24, King James Version

Mark 2:24 in other translations

BSBSo the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
WEBThe Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”
ASVAnd the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
YLTand the Pharisees said to him, ‘Lo, why do they on the sabbaths that which is not lawful?'
DARBYAnd the Pharisees said to him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath what is not lawful?
BBEAnd the Pharisees said to him, Why are they doing what it is not right to do on the Sabbath?
WebsterAnd the Pharisees said to him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath that which is not lawful?

What does Mark 2:24 mean?

Barnes' Notes
Verse 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.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Mark 2:23-28

The sabbath is a sacred and Divine institution; a privilege and benefit, not a task and drudgery. God never designed it to be a burden to us, therefore we must not make it so to ourselves. The sabbath was instituted for the good of mankind, as living in society, having many wants and troubles, preparing for a state of happiness or misery. Man was not made for the sabbath, as if his keeping it could be of service to…

Read the full comment on Mark 2:23-28 →

Mark 2:24 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

καὶkaiAndG2532
οἱhoitheG3588
ΦαρισαῖοιPharisaioiPhariseesG5330
ἔλεγονelegonwere sayingG3004
αὐτῷ·autōto Him;G846
ἴδεideBeholdG2396
τίtiwhyG5101
ποιοῦσινpoiousindo theyG4160
τοῖςtoison theG3588
σάββασινsabbasinSabbathsG4521
ὃhothat whichG3739
οὐκouknotG3756
ἔξεστιν;¶exestinis lawful?G1832

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Mark 2:24

  • Exodus 20:10

    But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

  • Hebrews 12:3

    For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

  • Matthew 12:2

    But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

  • Isaiah 58:13

    If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

  • Exodus 31:15

    Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

  • Isaiah 56:4

    For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;

  • Jeremiah 17:20-27

    And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. …

  • Numbers 15:32-36

    And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. …

  • Isaiah 56:6

    Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

  • Matthew 7:3-5

    And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

  • Isaiah 56:2

    Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

  • Mark 2:7

    Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
why.
7,16; Mt 7:3-5; 15:2,3; 23:23,24; Heb 12:3
that.
Ex 20:10; 31:15; 35:2,3; Nu 15:32-36; Ne 13:15-22; Isa 56:2,4,6
Isa 58:13; Jer 17:20-27

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Mark 2:23

    And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.

  • Mark 2:24

    And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

  • Mark 2:25

    And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

Read all of Mark 2

Mark 2:24 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Entonces los Fariseos le dijeron: He aquí, ¿por qué hacen en sábado lo que no es lícito?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et les pharisiens lui dirent: Voici, pourquoi font-ils, le jour de sabbat, ce qui n’est pas permis?
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und die Pharisäer sprachen zu ihm: Siehe, was tun sie am Sabbath, das nicht erlaubt ist?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Pharisæi autem dicebant ei: Ecce, quid faciunt sabbatis quod non licet?