"The holy people, they said" *does* mean "the holy people said". It's a common usage in Ireland, and used to be in Britain.

But anyone who grew up with Bible stories knows that the stories about Christ and the Sabbath are to do with the priests and other tightarses of his own time. Sure, they were Jewish. So was Jesus. Nothing to do with the case.

The stories of Jesus and the Sabbath are to do with sanity in religious usage. As far as I remember, when the holy people (the priests) said to him "What the hell do you think you're at curing people on the Sabbath", Jesus turned around to these part-time farmers and full-time other-people's-business-minders and said "Yeah, right, and if your expensive ox falls into a ditch on the Sabbath you'll leave it there, won't you? Right? Right?"

Collapse of stout party.

To imagine that this is an anti-Jewish story is a waaaaaay misreading of the song. Of course it's not! It's the children's Bible stories - and indeed the stories from the Bible generally - about how you should be a bit sane about Sabbath-keeping.

Indeed, this is one of the constant Quaker things - back in the nutty 17th century, they used to have debates with foaming Sabbath-keepers, saying "Jesus didn't keep the Sabbath himself, and said the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath", or words to that effect.