Matthew 12:7

7 And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Matthew 12:7 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 12:7

But if ye had known what this meaneth,
&c,] The passage of Scripture in ( 6:6 )

I will have mercy, and not sacrifice;
of the sense of which, (See Gill on Matthew 9:13)

ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Our Lord taxes the Pharisees both with ignorance of the Scriptures, in which they pretended to be very knowing, and took upon them to be the interpreters of; and with inhumanity, for condemning innocent persons, the apostles, for rubbing a few ears of corn, for the refreshment of nature; which they would never have done, had they understood the word, and will of God; who prefers acts of humanity, compassion, and mercy, to the observance of rites and ceremonies; or had they the common affections of human nature, and those bowels of compassion which one man ought to show to another.

Matthew 12:7 In-Context

5 Or have you not read in the law how on the sabbath the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless?

6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.

7 And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.

8 For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath."

9 And he went on from there, and entered their synagogue.