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Mat_12:1 ff. Comp. Mar_2:23 ff.; Luk_6:1 ff. Any one was allowed to pluck ( τίλλειν , Blomfield, ad Aesch. Pers. Gloss. 214) ears of corn in another man’s field till he was satisfied. Deu_23:25. It is customary and allowable even, at the present day. Robinson, II. p. 419. But according to Exo_16:22 ff., it might seem as if it were unlawful on the Sabbath, and it appears from tradition (Schabb. c. 8; Lightfoot and Schoettgen on this passage) that it was actually so regarded. That the disciples did not hold themselves bound by this view, is an evidence of their more liberal spirit. Comp. Weizsäcker, p. 390.
ἤρξαντο ] After this plucking had begun, there came the remonstrance on the part of the Pharisees, Mat_12:2.
Luke, in accordance with the historical arrangement which he observes, places this incident somewhat earlier; Mark and Luke introduce it after the question about fasting. Both of them, however, mention only the first of the two proof-texts quoted by Jesus. Matthew, following a tradition that is more original as far as this matter is concerned, supplements the account in Mark, from whom, however, he essentially differs in regard to the object in plucking the corn (see on Mark, and Holtzmann, p. 73).