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MATTHEW 12:11 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 12:10Matt 12:12
“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?”
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? Jesus' argument from the lesser to the greater: the Pharisees who would rescue a fallen sheep on the Sabbath — a practical necessity that their own traditions permitted in cases of animal suffering — must apply the same logic to a suffering human being. The qal vachomer (light to heavy) argument is one of the standard rabbinic forms of legal reasoning.

Church Fathers on Matthew 12:11

Because by fair instances He had vindicated His disciples from the charge of breaking the sabbath, the Pharisees seek to bring false accusation against Himself; whence it is said, 'And passing thence, he came into their synagogue.'

Jerome · 4th century

For the things that had gone before were said and done in the open air, and after this He entered the synagogue.

Hilary of Poitiers · 4th century

It might have been supposed that the matter of the ears of corn, and this cure following had been done on the same day, for it is mentioned to have been the sabbath day in both cases, had not Luke shewn us that they were on different days. So that what Matthew says, 'And when he had passed thence, he came into their synagogue,' is to be taken as that He did not enter into the synagogue till He had passed thence; but whether several days intervened or He went thither straight…

Augustine · 4th century · De Cons. Ev., ii, 35
Read all 17 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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