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But you go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,` for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Verse Takeaways
1
Heart Over Ritual
Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 (“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice”) to teach a profound truth. Commentators explain this is not a rejection of worship, but a declaration that God prioritizes genuine compassion over mere external religious acts. Jesus’s mission to save sinners was an act of mercy that outweighed the Pharisees' concerns about ceremonial purity, reminding believers that the heart of faith is love in action.
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Book Overview
Matthew
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13
18th Century
Presbyterian
But go ye and learn, etc. To reprove them, and to vindicate his own conduct, he appealed to a passage of Scripture with which they ought t…
But go ye and learn (πορευθεντες δε μαθετε). With biting sarcasm Jesus bids these preachers to learn the meaning of Ho 6:6. It is …
19th Century
Anglican
Go and learn — These words from Hosea 6:6, which our Lord also cited regarding the Sabbath (Matthew 12:7), assert the …
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Baptist
But go you and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.…
These verses again connect Jesus’ healing ministry with his “healing” of sinners (). The sick need a doctor and Jesus heals them; likewise the sinf…
16th Century
Protestant
But rather go and learn. He dismisses and orders them to depart, because He saw that they were obstinate and unwilling to learn. Or rather…
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17th Century
Reformed Baptist
But go you and learn what that means (dmlw au) , "go and learn", is a phrase used by the…
Some time after his call, Matthew sought to bring his old associates to hear Christ. He knew by experience what the grace of Christ could do, and w…
13th Century
Catholic
Here, the conversion of sinners is firstly related; and secondly, the dispute of the Pharisees is related, where it is said, And the Ph…
