Luke 6:1-12

Lord of the Sabbath

6:1 Jesus ¹  was going through the grain fields on ²  a Sabbath, ³  and his disciples picked some heads of wheat, ⁴  rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. ⁵  6:2 But some of the Pharisees ⁶  said, “Why are you ⁷  doing what is against the law ⁸  on the Sabbath?” 6:3 Jesus ⁹  answered them, ¹⁰  “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry – 6:4 how he entered the house of God, took ¹¹  and ate the sacred bread, ¹²  which is not lawful ¹³  for any to eat but the priests alone, and ¹⁴  gave it to his companions?” ¹⁵  6:5 Then ¹⁶  he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord ¹⁷  of the Sabbath.”

Healing a Withered Hand

6:6 On ¹⁸  another Sabbath, Jesus ¹⁹  entered the synagogue ²⁰  and was teaching. Now ²¹  a man was there whose right hand was withered. ²²  6:7 The experts in the law ²³  and the Pharisees ²⁴  watched ²⁵  Jesus ²⁶  closely to see if ²⁷  he would heal on the Sabbath, ²⁸  so that they could find a reason to accuse him. 6:8 But ²⁹  he knew ³⁰  their thoughts, ³¹  and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Get up and stand here.” ³²  So ³³  he rose and stood there. 6:9 Then ³⁴  Jesus said to them, “I ask you, ³⁵  is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” 6:10 After ³⁶  looking around ³⁷  at them all, he said to the man, ³⁸  “Stretch out your hand.” The man ³⁹  did so, and his hand was restored. ⁴⁰  6:11 But they were filled with mindless rage ⁴¹  and began debating with one another what they would do ⁴²  to Jesus.

Choosing the Twelve Apostles

6:12 Now ⁴³  it was during this time that Jesus ⁴⁴  went out to the mountain ⁴⁵  to pray, and he spent all night ⁴⁶  in prayer to God. ⁴⁷ 

[6:1]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:1]  ² tn Grk “Now it happened that on.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[6:1]  ³ tc Most later mss (A C D Θ Ψ [˹³] Ï lat) read ἐν σαββάτῳ δευτεροπρώτῳ (en sabbatw deuteroprwtw, “a second-first Sabbath”), while the earlier and better witnesses have simply ἐν σαββάτῳ (Ì⁴ א B L W ˹ 33 579 1241 2542 it sa). The longer reading is most likely secondary, though various explanations may account for it (for discussion, see TCGNT 116).

[6:1]  ⁴ tn Or “heads of grain.” While the generic term στάχυς (stacus) can refer to the cluster of seeds at the top of grain such as barley or wheat, in the NT the term is restricted to wheat (L&N 3.40; BDAG 941 s.v. 1).

[6:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “picked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.” The participle ψώχοντες (ywconte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style, and the order of the clauses has been transposed to reflect the logical order, which sounds more natural in English.

[6:2]  ⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[6:2]  ⁷ tn Note that the verb is second person plural (with an understood plural pronominal subject in Greek). The charge is again indirectly made against Jesus by charging the disciples.

[6:2]  ⁸ sn The alleged violation expressed by the phrase what is against the law is performing work on the Sabbath. That the disciples ate from such a field is no problem given Deut 23:25, but Sabbath activity is another matter in the leaders’ view (Exod 20:8-11 and Mishnah, m. Shabbat 7.2). The supposed violation involved reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food. This probably explains why the clause describing the disciples “rubbing” the heads of grain in their hands is mentioned last, in emphatic position. This was preparation of food.

[6:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “And Jesus.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Jesus, answering them, said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “Jesus answered them.”

[6:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and took.”

[6:4]  ¹² tn Grk “the bread of presentation.”

[6:4]  ¹³ sn Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was not lawful is one of analogy: ‘If David did it for his troops in a time of need, then so can I with my disciples.’ Jesus is clear that on the surface there was a violation here. What is not as clear is whether he is arguing a “greater need” makes this permissible or that this was within the intention of the law all along.

[6:4]  ¹⁴ tc Most mss (א A D Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï) read “also” here, but this looks like it is a reading made to agree with Mark 2:26. A better combination of witnesses (B L W Ψ Ë¹ lat sa) lacks the word “also.”

[6:4]  ¹⁵ tc The Western ms D adds here a full saying that reads, “On the same day, as he saw someone working on the Sabbath he said, ‘Man, if you know what you are doing, you are blessed, but if you do not know, you are cursed and a violator of the law.’” Though this is not well enough attested to be considered authentic, many commentators have debated whether this saying might go back to Jesus. Most reject it, though it does have wording that looks like Rom 2:25, 27 and Jas 2:11.

[6:5]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[6:5]  ¹⁷ tn The term “lord” is in emphatic position in the Greek text. To make this point even clearer a few mss add “also” before the reference to the Son of Man, while a few others add it before the reference to the Sabbath.

[6:6]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Now it happened that on.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[6:6]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:6]  ²⁰ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[6:6]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. In addition, because the Greek sentence is rather long and complex, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[6:6]  ²² tn Grk “a man was there and his right hand was withered.”

[6:7]  ²³ tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[6:7]  ²⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[6:7]  ²⁵ sn The term translated watched…closely is emotive, since it carries negative connotations. It means they were watching him out of the corner of their eye or spying on him.

[6:7]  ²⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:7]  ²⁷ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text; Jesus’ opponents anticipated he would do this.

[6:7]  ²⁸ sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).

[6:8]  ²⁹ tn Here the conjunction δέ (de) has been translated as contrastive.

[6:8]  ³⁰ sn The statement that Jesus knew their thoughts adds a prophetic note to his response; see Luke 5:22.

[6:8]  ³¹ tn Grk “their reasonings.” The implication is that Jesus knew his opponents’ plans and motives, so the translation “thoughts” was used here.

[6:8]  ³² sn Most likely synagogues were arranged with benches along the walls and open space in the center for seating on the floor.

[6:8]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the man’s action was a result of Jesus’ order.

[6:9]  ³⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[6:9]  ³⁵ sn With the use of the plural pronoun (“you”), Jesus addressed not just the leaders but the crowd with his question to challenge what the leadership was doing. There is irony as well. As Jesus sought to restore on the Sabbath (but improperly according to the leaders’ complaints) the leaders were seeking to destroy, which surely is wrong. The implied critique recalls the OT: Isa 1:1-17; 58:6-14.

[6:10]  ³⁶ tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:10]  ³⁷ tn The aorist participle περιβλεψάμενος (peribleyameno") has been translated as antecedent (prior) to the action of the main verb. It could also be translated as contemporaneous (“Looking around… he said”).

[6:10]  ³⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man with the withered hand) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:10]  ³⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[6:10]  ⁴⁰ sn The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.

[6:11]  ⁴¹ tn The term ἄνοια (anoia) denotes a kind of insane or mindless fury; the opponents were beside themselves with rage. They could not rejoice in the healing, but could only react against Jesus.

[6:11]  ⁴² tn The use of the optative (ποιήσαιεν, poihsaien, “might do”) in an indirect question indicates that the formal opposition and planning of Jesus’ enemies started here (BDF §§385.1; 386.1).

[6:12]  ⁴³ tn Grk “Now it happened that in.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[6:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “to a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὅρος, eis to Joro").

[6:12]  ⁴⁶ sn This is the only time all night prayer is mentioned in the NT.

[6:12]  ⁴⁷ tn This is an objective genitive, so prayer “to God.”