Intertextuality Pair

Mark 2:25-26 → 1 Samuel 21:1-6

Quotation

Later text

Mark 2:25-26BSB

Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? During the high priesthood of Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which was lawful only for the priests. And he gave some to his companions as well.”

Earlier text

1 Samuel 21:1-6BSB

Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” “The king has given me a mission,” David replied. “He told me no one is to know about the mission or charge. And I have directed my young men to meet me at a certain place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” "There is no common bread on hand," the priest replied, "but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women." David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the equipment of the young men is holy, as it is even on common missions, and all the more at this time.” So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence, which had been removed from before the LORD and replaced with hot bread on the day it was taken away.
Walk the Square · a single-voice walk of this pair around the Clowney square7:55

Significance

Jesus invokes David's action to justify his disciples' conduct, establishing a typological connection: as David and his men ate sacred bread when in need, so Jesus' disciples may address hunger on the Sabbath. The appeal to David is strategic—if Israel's greatest king could set aside ritual law for human necessity, how much more can David's greater Son? This prepares for the climactic claim in 2:28 that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s)
Typology

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