Luke 6:1-9

Context

Lord of the Sabbath

6:1 Jesus¹ was going through the grain fields on² 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 Pharisees⁶ said, “Why are you⁷ doing what is against the law⁸ on the Sabbath?” 6:3 Jesus⁹ 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, took¹¹ and ate the sacred bread,¹² which is not lawful¹³ for any to eat but the priests alone, and¹⁴ gave it to his companions?”¹⁵ 6:5 Then¹⁶ he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord¹⁷ of the Sabbath.”

Healing a Withered Hand

6:6 On¹⁸ another Sabbath, Jesus¹⁹ entered the synagogue²⁰ and was teaching. Now²¹ a man was there whose right hand was withered.²² 6:7 The experts in the law²³ and the Pharisees²⁴ watched²⁵ Jesus²⁶ closely to see if²⁷ he would heal on the Sabbath,²⁸ so that they could find a reason to accuse him. 6:8 But²⁹ he knew³⁰ their thoughts,³¹ and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Get up and stand here.”³² So³³ he rose and stood there. 6:9 Then³⁴ 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?”

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

[6:1] ²tn 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] ³tc Most later mss (A C D Θ Ψ [Ë¹³] 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 Ë¹ 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] ⁴tn 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] ⁵tn 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] ⁶sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[6:2] ⁷tn 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] ⁸sn 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] ⁹tn Grk “And Jesus.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

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

[6:4] ¹¹tn Grk “and took.”

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

[6:4] ¹³sn 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] ¹⁴tc 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] ¹⁵tc 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] ¹⁶tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[6:5] ¹⁷tn 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] ¹⁸tn 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] ¹⁹tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

[6:6] ²¹tn 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] ²²tn Grk “a man was there and his right hand was withered.”

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

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

[6:7] ²⁵sn 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] ²⁶tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

[6:7] ²⁸sn 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] ²⁹tn Here the conjunction δέ (de) has been translated as contrastive.

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

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

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

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

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

[6:9] ³⁵sn 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.