Matthew 12:11
New International Version
He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?

New Living Translation
And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would.

English Standard Version
He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

Berean Standard Bible
He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

Berean Literal Bible
And He said to them, "What man will there be among you, who will have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbaths, will not take hold of it and will raise it up?

King James Bible
And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

New King James Version
Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?

New American Standard Bible
But He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

NASB 1995
And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

NASB 1977
And He said to them, “What man shall there be among you, who shall have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it, and lift it out?

Legacy Standard Bible
And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

Amplified Bible
But He said to them, “What man is there among you who, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

Christian Standard Bible
He replied to them, “Who among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But He said to them, “What man among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out?

American Standard Version
And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
He said to them, “Who is the man among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, will not take hold and lift it out?”

Contemporary English Version
Jesus answered, "If one of your sheep fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, wouldn't you lift it out?

Douay-Rheims Bible
But he said to them: What man shall there be among you, that hath one sheep: and if the same fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not take hold on it and lift it up?

English Revised Version
And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Jesus said to them, "Suppose one of you has a sheep. If it falls into a pit on a day of worship, wouldn't you take hold of it and lift it out?

Good News Translation
Jesus answered, "What if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a deep hole on the Sabbath? Will you not take hold of it and lift it out?

International Standard Version
But he asked them, "Is there a man among you who, if he had one sheep and it fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, wouldn't take hold of it and pull it out?

Literal Standard Version
And He said to them, “What man will be of you who will have one sheep, and if this may fall on the Sabbaths into a ditch, will not lay hold on it and raise [it]?

Majority Standard Bible
He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

New American Bible
He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep that falls into a pit on the sabbath will not take hold of it and lift it out?

NET Bible
He said to them, "Would not any one of you, if he had one sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, take hold of it and lift it out?

New Revised Standard Version
He said to them, “Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out?

New Heart English Bible
And he said to them, "Which one of you who has one sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said to them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it shall fall into a pit on the sabbath, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

Weymouth New Testament
"Which of you is there," He replied, "who, if he has but a single sheep and it falls into a hole on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?

World English Bible
He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won’t he grab on to it and lift it out?

Young's Literal Translation
And he said to them, 'What man shall be of you, who shall have one sheep, and if this may fall on the sabbaths into a ditch, will not lay hold on it and raise it?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
10and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 11 He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”…

Cross References
Matthew 12:1
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.

Luke 14:5
And He asked them, "Which of you whose son or ox falls into a pit on the Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out?"


Treasury of Scripture

And he said to them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

what.

Luke 13:15-17
The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? …

Luke 14:5
And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

and if.

Exodus 23:4,5
If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again…

Deuteronomy 22:4
Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.

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Matthew 12
1. Jesus reproves the blindness of the Pharisees concerning the Sabbath,
3. by scripture,
9. by reason,
13. and by a miracle.
22. He heals a man possessed that was blind and mute;
24. and confronting the absurd charge of casting out demons by Beelzebub,
32. he shows that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven.
36. Account shall be made of idle words.
38. He rebukes the unfaithful, who seek after a sign,
46. and shows who is his brother, sister, and mother.














(11, 12) Will he not lay hold on it?--As the reasoning takes the form of an argumentum ad hominem, it is clear that the act was regarded as a lawful one, even by the more rigid scribes. The Talmud discusses the question, but does not decide it. Some casuists solved the problem by a compromise. The sheep was not to be pulled out of the pit till the Sabbath was over, but in the meantime it was lawful to supply it with fodder. In St. Mark and St. Luke the question is given in another form, and without the illustration, which we find in St. Luke, in another connection, in Luke 14:5. Jesus bids the man with the withered hand stand up in the midst, and then puts the question, "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath day or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" The alternative thus presented as a dilemma was a practical answer to their casuistry. They would have said, "Leave the man as he is till the Sabbath is over;" and our Lord's answer is that in that case good would have been left undone, and that not to do good when it lies in our power is practically to do evil.

Verse 11. - Matthew alone on this occasion, but comp. Luke 14:5. And he said unto them. Christ's answer appeals from intellectual and theoretical difficulties to the practical common sense of ordinary morality (cf. Romans 3:5-7). Their own feelings would guide them to help a brute, much more a man. According to the parallel passages, our Lord first set the man in the midst of them, wishing, perhaps, to draw out their sympathy, and only afterwards spoke this verse of censure (see Chrysostom). What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep. One only, and therefore so much the dearer (Meyer). He would feel an interest in it as an animal that he had learned to love; and he would care for it as his property. In Christ's case also there was the love of man as man, and of man as belonging to him (John 10:14; John 1:11). In Luke 14:5 ("a son or an ox") the double thought is distributed over two objects; the man Would love his son, and care for his property in the ox. And if it (this, Revised Version) fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? Lightfoot ('Hor. Hebr.') confirms this from the Jerusalem Talmud and Maimonides.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
He replied,
εἶπεν (eipen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036: Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.

“If
ἐὰν (ean)
Conjunction
Strong's 1437: If. From ei and an; a conditional particle; in case that, provided, etc.

one
ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 444: A man, one of the human race. From aner and ops; man-faced, i.e. A human being.

of
ἐξ (ex)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

you
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

has
ἕξει (hexei)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

a
ἕν (hen)
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 1520: One. (including the neuter Hen); a primary numeral; one.

sheep
πρόβατον (probaton)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4263: A sheep. Probably neuter of a presumed derivative of probaino; something that walks forward, i.e., a sheep.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

it
τοῦτο (touto)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.

falls
ἐμπέσῃ (empesē)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1706: To fall in, be cast in, be involved in. From en and pipto; to fall on, i.e. to be entrapped by, or be overwhelmed with.

into
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

a pit
βόθυνον (bothynon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 999: A pit, ditch. Akin to bathuno; a hole; specially, a cistern.

on the
τοῖς (tois)
Article - Dative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Sabbath,
σάββασιν (sabbasin)
Noun - Dative Neuter Plural
Strong's 4521: The Sabbath, a week.

will he not take hold of
κρατήσει (kratēsei)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2902: From kratos; to use strength, i.e. Seize or retain.

it
αὐτὸ (auto)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Neuter 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

lift [it] out?
ἐγερεῖ (egerei)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1453: (a) I wake, arouse, (b) I raise up. Probably akin to the base of agora; to waken, i.e. Rouse.


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