"Have Ye Not Read?"
(Matthew 12:3, etc.).
This Is Appendix 143 From The Companion Bible.

       This question was asked by our Lord on six different occasions. Six books of the Old Testament were referred to, and seven separate passages thus received the imprimatur of Him Who spoke, not His own words, but only the words given to Him to speak by the Father (John 7:16; 8:28, 46, 47; 12:49; 14:10, 24; 17:8). Compare Deuteronomy 18:18, 19.

  1. Matthew 12:3 (Mark 2:25. Luke 6:3). "What David did", covering 1 Samuel 21:6: "the Shewbread" (verse 4) covering Leviticus 24:6-9: "not lawful for him to eat.......but only for the priests", covering Leviticus 24:9.

  2. Matthew 12:5. "In the temple the priests profane the sabbath", covering Numbers 28:9, 10 (compare John 7:22, 23).

  3. Matthew 19:4. Creation. "At the beginning He made them male and female", covering Genesis 1:27 (compare 5:2), and thus effectually shutting out the modern idea of "evolution".

  4. Matthew 21:16. "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings", etc., covering Psalm 8:2.

  5. Matthew 21:42. (Mark 12:10. Luke 20:17). "The stone which the builders refused", etc., covering Psalm 118:22. (Compare Isaiah 28:16. Acts 4:11. 1 Peter 2:6, 7.)

  6. Matthew 22:31, 32 (Mark 12:26. Luke 20:37). Resurrection, covering Exodus 3:6.

       The six books of the Old Testament covered by the Lord's question are four books of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers), with 1 Samuel and the Psalms.

       The seven distinct passages referred to are as follows, omitting the parallel passages in the other Gospels, videlicit :-

1. Genesis 1:27. Matthew 19:4.
2. Exodus 3:6. Matthew 22:31, 34.
3. Leviticus 24:6-9. Matthew 12:3.
4. Numbers 28:9, 10. Matthew 12:5.
5. 1 Samuel 21:6. Matthew 12:3.
6. Psalm 8:2. Matthew 21:16.
7. Psalm 118:22. Matthew 21:42.

Appendix List