Matthew 12:6

Matthew 12:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
• New International Version (NIV)I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.

Context of Matthew 12:6

4David went into the temple. He ate the special bread that was there. He also gave some of it to his men to eat as well. But it is against God's Law for anyone except the priests to eat that special bread. 5Also, you certainly know what God's Law says about the priests. They work in the temple, even on the day of rest. They have not obeyed the Law about the day of rest. But God's Law tells us that they have not done anything that is wrong. But I tell you this. There is someone here now who has greater authority even than the temple. 7You should understand what the Bible teaches. God says there, “I want people to be kind to each other. I do not just want them to offer sacrifices to me.” If you had understood this, then you would not have said to me, “Your disciples are doing something wrong.” 8The Son of Man has authority over the Law about the day of rest.’

Matthew 12:6 word by word

λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι τοῦ ἱεροῦ μεῖζόν ἐστιν ὧδε.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• I sayλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• unto youσύsu · youG4771
• Thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• in this placeὧδεhōde · hereG5602
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• greater thanμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• the templeὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the templeἱερόνhieron · templeG2411

Cross-references for Matthew 12:6

• Matthew 12:41When God judges everyone, the people who lived in Nineveh will be there. They will stand up and they will speak against you. They will show that the people who are alive today are bad. When Jonah spoke to the people in Nineveh long ago, they stopped doing bad things. But look! There is someone here now who is greater than Jonah was.
• Matthew 23:17This shows that you are fools. You do not understand what is true. Think about which of these is more important. Is it the gold things in the temple? Or is it the temple itself? It is the temple that makes the gold things special.
• 2 Chronicles 6:18But surely God, you do not live on the earth with people! The whole sky, or even heaven itself, is too small to contain you! So how can you live in this temple that I have built?
• Haggai 2:7I will cause people in all the nations of the world to shake with fear. They will come here to offer their valuable gifts. At that time, I will cause my temple to be full of glory. I, the Almighty Lord, tell you this.
• Malachi 3:1‘Look! I will send someone to speak my message. He will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord that you are waiting for will quickly return to his temple. The one who brings the message about the covenant will certainly come. He is the one that you really want to see.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.
• John 2:19Jesus answered them, ‘If you destroy this house of God, I will build it up again in three days.’
• Ephesians 2:20You are like a house that God is building for himself. God's apostles and his prophets are like the foundation under the house. Jesus Christ is like the most important stone in the house.
• Colossians 2:9The whole nature of God himself lives in Christ, in his human body.
• 1 Peter 2:4So come to the Lord Jesus. He is like a big stone that a builder uses to build a house. But he is alive. People decided that he was not important. So they refused him. But God had chosen him. To God, Jesus is very valuable.

Commentaries on Matthew 12:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6In this place is one greater than the temple - Does not our Lord refer here to Malachi 3:1;? Compare this with Hebrews 3:3. The Jews esteemed nothing greater than the temple, except that God who was worshipped in it. Christ, by asserting he was greater than the temple, asserts that he was God; and this he does, in still more direct terms, Matthew 12:8, The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath - is Institutor and Governor of it. Compare this with Genesis 2:3…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6One greater than the temple - Here the Saviour refers to himself, and to his own dignity and power. “I have power over the laws; I can grant to my disciples a dispensation from those laws. An act which I command or permit them to do is therefore right.” This proves that he was divine. None but God can authorize people to do a thing contrary to the divine laws. He refers them again Matthew 12:7 to a passage he had before quoted (See the notes at Matthew…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-6Priests worked on the Sabbath (Leviticus 24:8–9; Numbers 28:9–10), and the Pharisees did not find this offensive. If the priests’ work for the temple on the Sabbath is allowed, then certainly Jesus can do the same because he is greater than the temple (see Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 11:2–6, 20–30).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple--or rather, according to the reading which is best supported, "something greater." The argument stands thus: "The ordinary rules for the observance of the sabbath give way before the requirements of the temple; but there are rights here before which the temple itself must give way." Thus indirectly, but not the less decidedly, does our Lord put in His own claims to consideration in…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 12:6

• Accusation, False
• Church
• Ecclesiasticism
• Jesus, the Christ
• Pharisees
• Sabbath
• Tradition

In the dictionaries

• Adulterous
• Condemn
• Desolation
• Idle
• Judgment
• Restore
• Sin
• Wither
• Jesus Christ
• Law in the New Testament

Commentaries on Matthew 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings