Texts in Conversation
In Matthew 12:11 Jesus alludes to Deuteronomy 22:4, which requires helping a fallen animal, and applies it to the question of doing good work on the Sabbath. He presents a kal va’chomer argument to emphasize that if it's important to help an animal on the Sabbath, it's even more important to help people on the Sabbath.
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Deuteronomy 22:4
Hebrew Bible
2 If the owner does not live near you or you do not know who the owner is, then you must corral the animal at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him. 3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. 4 When you see your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; instead, you must be sure to help him get the animal on its feet again. 5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive to the Lord your God. 6 If you happen to notice a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs with the mother bird sitting on them, you must not take away a mother that is with her young.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Matthew 12:11
New Testament
9 Then Jesus left that place and entered their synagogue. 10 A man was there who had a withered hand. And they asked Jesus, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” so that they could accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Would not any one of you, if he had one sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and it was restored, as healthy as the other.
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... It would only be natural for him to describe the action of lifting an animal out of the well, rather than merely raising it to a standing position, lest the creature drown in the water. In conformance to the trajectory taken throughout this monograph, I suggest taking Matthew and Luke more seriously as an alternative Jewish view regarding such matters, one that did not conform to rabbinic or Qumranic practice. Indeed, some suggest that Matt 12:14 reflects Palestinian rural custom: poor Jewish farmers would save their animals on the Sabbath to prevent economic loss. In line with this understanding, certain commentators favor reading “πρόβατον ἕν” in Matthew 12:11 as “one sheep” rather than simply “a sheep,” reflecting once again the poor economic conditions of Galilean farmers who for pragmatic reasons would have been more lax in in this aspect of their Sabbath keeping. There may even have been a biblical basis to such a practice, since passages such as Exodus 23:5 and Deuteronomy 22:4 ordain helping an animal that is lying under a burden ..."
Oliver, Isaac Wilk
Torah Praxis after 70 C.E.: Reading Matthew and Luke-Acts as Jewish Texts
(pp. 146-148) The University of Michigan, 2012
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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