Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.
Matthew 12
- About the title: (King) Solomon: Solemn-man
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
Matthew 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
Matthew 12:2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
Matthew 12:3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:
Matthew 12:4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?
Matthew 12:5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane (desecrate) the Sabbath, and are blameless?
Matthew 12:6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.
Matthew 12:7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy (life) and not sacrifice (death),’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Healing on the Sabbath
Matthew 12:9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.
Matthew 12:10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.
Matthew 12:11 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?
Matthew 12:12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Matthew 12:13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.
Matthew 12:14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Behold, My Servant
Matthew 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
Matthew 12:16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known,
Matthew 12:17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 42:1-3), saying:
Matthew 12:18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,
My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!
I will put My Spirit upon Him,
And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
Matthew 12:19 He will not quarrel nor cry out,
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
Matthew 12:20 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench,
Till He sends forth justice to victory;
Matthew 12:21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
A House Divided Cannot Stand
Matthew 12:22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
Matthew 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
Matthew 12:24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub (Beelzebul, a Philistine deity), the ruler of the demons.”
Matthew 12:25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
Matthew 12:26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
Matthew 12:27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
Matthew 12:28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Matthew 12:29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
Matthew 12:30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
The Unpardonable Sin
Matthew 12:31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Matthew 12:32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
A Tree Known by Its Fruit
Matthew 12:33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
Matthew 12:34 Brood (offspring) of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Matthew 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
Matthew 12:36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
Matthew 12:37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The Scribes and Pharisees Ask for a Sign
Matthew 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
Matthew 12:39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 12:41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
Matthew 12:42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the Wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
- This is a reference to the passage in I Kings 10:1-9 The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon
- I Kings 10:1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 3 So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. 6 Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 7 However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. 8 Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 9 Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”
- It is well understood the King of the South in the book of Daniel is the King of Egypt. Therefore; one can surmise that the “Queen of the South” refers to a queen from Egypt. Furthermore; she came with a great entourage which required great effort.
- Also, Solomon took a wife from Egypt who was Pharaoh’s daughter.
- I Kings 3:1 Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter;
- Could this wife be the noted Queen of Sheba? (However, the Queen of Sheba appears after the treaty Solomon made with Pharaoh king of Egypt.)
- Solomon was not only the wisest man in all of Israel but he was a picture of the coming Messiah, Jesus, during the Millennium who will rule from Jerusalem.
- I Kings 10:1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 3 So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. 6 Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 7 However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. 8 Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 9 Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”
- Who is the Queen of Sheba? In the Bible we are introduced to an unnamed queen from the land of Sheba who travels to Jerusalem to meet King Solomon (see 1 Kings 10; 2 Chronicles 9). Accompanied by many attendants and camels, the Queen of Sheba brings a large quantity of spices, gold and precious stones with her. She is drawn to Jerusalem because of Solomon’s fame, and she tests the king with hard questions. Solomon is able to answer them all.
- Impressed by Solomon’s wisdom—and by the riches of his kingdom—she proclaims, “Your wisdom and prosperity far surpass the report that I had heard” (1 Kings 10:7). The queen gives King Solomon 120 talents of gold, precious stones and the largest quantity of spices ever brought to Jerusalem (1 Kings 10:10). In return King Solomon gives her gifts and “every desire that she expressed” (1 Kings 10:13). After receiving these gifts, the queen returns to the land of Sheba with her retinue.
- Queen Makeda: Dated between the 6th–14th centuries C.E., the Kebra Nagast (The Glory of Kings) is an important text to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It names the Queen of Sheba as the beautiful queen Makeda and identifies the land of Sheba as ancient Ethiopia. According to the Kebra Nagast, Queen Makeda travels to Jerusalem and has a love affair with King Solomon. Makeda then returns to the land of Sheba—giving birth to a son, Menelik, along the way. Menelik is raised in Ethiopia, but when he turns 22, he travels to Jerusalem to meet his father. King Solomon is delighted with his firstborn son and tries in vain to convince Menelik to remain in Israel and succeed him as king. However, Menelik chooses to return to the land of Sheba. Solomon sends the firstborn sons of Israel’s elders with his son from Israel to Ethiopia, and the Ark of the Covenant travels with them. To this day, many Ethiopians believe that the Ark of the Covenant resides within the Chapel of the Tablet next to the Church of Maryam Tsion in Aksum, Ethiopia.
- https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/who-is-the-queen-of-sheba-in-the-bible/
- However, The Ark of the Covenant Ethiopia claims to have is a basket carried with sticks unlike the Biblical description.
- DNA testing may reveal these relationships. Jewish Ethiopians claim a line to the Davidic throne.
An Unclean Spirit Returns
Matthew 12:43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.
Matthew 12:44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
Matthew 12:45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him
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