Matthew 12:1. His disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
See also Mark 2: 28; Luke 6:1.
It was perfectly lawful for persons when hungry to help themselves to as much of their neighbor’s growing grain as they wished for food. They were not allowed to cut any, but must simply gather what was needed with the hand. “When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbor, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbor’s standing corn” (Deut. 23:25). The Pharisees did not complain that the corn was plucked, but that it was gathered on the Sabbath.
This ancient freedom of a handful of grain for a hungry traveler is still in existence in Palestine.