Preface: Luke 6 begins with two incidents which take place on the Sabbath. Then Jesus chooses His disciples and heals a number of people. The bulk of this chapter is devoted to teaching. This is the sermon on the plain (which is similar to the sermon on the mount, but they are not the same event).

Bible Summary: Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. He chose twelve apostles. He said, "Blessed are the poor. Love your enemies. Hear and do my words." 

This should be the most extensive examination of Luke 6 available, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text.

Outline of Chapter 6:

Preface

Introduction

         vv.     1–11         Jesus is Accused of Violating the Sabbath

         vv.        1–5          Plucking grain on the Sabbath

         vv.        6–11        Jesus heals a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath

         vv.    12–16         Jesus Chooses 12 of His Disciples to be Called Apostles

         vv.    17–49         Jesus Healing and Teaching on the Plain

         vv.       17–19        Jesus heals all who come to Him

         vv.       20–23        Jesus teaches the beatitudes

         vv.       24–26        Jesus pronounces woes

         vv.       27–36        Jesus teaches to love one’s enemies, as God does

         vv.       37–42        Jesus teaches about judging others

         vv.       43–45        Jesus teaches that a tree is known by its fruit

         vv.       46–49        Jesus teaches about building one’s life on a firm foundation

Chapter Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         Luke 6 — Plain Talking (a graphic)

         Introduction         An Outline of Luke 6 (Arno Gaebelein)

         Introduction         Luke 6 — Bible Journaling (a graphic)

         Introduction         Luke 6 — Bible Journaling example (a graphic)

         Introduction         Titles and/or Brief Descriptions of Luke 6 (by Various Commentators)

         Introduction         Brief, but insightful observations of Luke 6 (various commentators)

         Introduction         Fundamental Questions About Luke 6

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Prequel of Luke 6

         Introduction         The Principals of Luke 6

         Introduction         The Places of Luke 6

         Introduction         By the Numbers

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Luke 6

         Introduction         Outlines and Summaries of Luke 6 (Various Commentators)

         Introduction         Shmoop Summary of Luke 6

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Luke 6 from the Summarized Bible

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Big Picture (Luke 5–7)

         Introduction         Paragraph Divisions of Modern Translation for Luke 6

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Changes—additions and subtractions

         v.       1              Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:1–5) (a graphic)

         v.       1              Picking Heads of Grain (a photo by Ferrill Jenkins)

         v.       1              Luke 6:1 (FNV) (a graphic)

         v.       5              All that Jesus did by proclaiming Himself Lord of the Sabbath

         v.       5              Luke 6:1–5 The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath (a graphic)

         v.      10              Jesus Heals a Man with a Withered Hand (a graphic)

         v.      12              Luke 6:12–16 Jesus Calls the Twelve (a graphic)

         v.      13              The Doctrine of Apostleship

         v.      17              Israel at the Time of Jesus (a second map)

         v.      19              Luke 6:18–19 (New Living Testament) (a graphic)

         v.      20              The Complete Teachings of Jesus

         v.      20              The Spiritual Solution for the United States

         v.      20              The Spiritual Fall of Great Britain

         v.      20              The Union Jack Flag (a graphic)

         v.      20              The British Empire Map (by Duke-Nidhoggr)

         v.      20              Luke 6:20 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      21              Luke 6:21 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      22              Luke 6:22 (KJV) (a graphic)

         v.      23              Luke 6:23 (FNV) (a graphic)

         v.      24              Luke 6:24 (NLT) (a graphic)

         v.      24              Luke 6:24 (First Nations Version) (a graphic)

         v.      24              Luke 6:20, 24 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      25              Luke 6:25 (New American Bible) (a graphic)

         v.      26              Luke 6:22, 26 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      26              The Blessings and the Woes

         v.      27              Luke 6:27 (ESV) (a graphic)

         v.      28              Luke 6:28 (KJV) (a graphic)

         v.      28              Luke 6:27–28 (a graphic)

         v.      29              Luke 6:29a (NASB) (a graphic)

         v.      30              Luke 6:30 (NLT) (a graphic)

         v.      31              Luke 6:31 (NASB) (a graphic)

         v.      32              Luke 6:32 (GNT) (a graphic)

         v.      32              The doctrine of love: summary (Buddy Dano, R. B. Thieme, Jr.)

         v.      32              Doctrine of Impersonal Love Links

         v.      35              Luke 6:35–36 (NKJV) (a graphic)

         v.      35              Luke 6:35 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      36              Luke 6:36 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      36              Luke 6:35–36 (New Living Testament) (a graphic)

         v.      37              Luke 6:37 (KJV) (a graphic)

         v.      37              Matthew 7:1–5

         v.      38              Luke 6:38 (New Living Testament) (a graphic)

         v.      39              Luke 6:39 (ESV) (a graphic)

         v.      40              Luke 6:40 (New Living Translation) (a graphic)

         v.      42              Luke 6:41-42 Deviant Art (by Parastos)

         v.      43              The Doctrine of Morality

         v.      43              The Doctrine of Human Good

         v.      44              Luke 6:44a (NIV–UK) (a graphic)

         v.      44              Luke 6:43–44 (FNV) (a graphic)

         v.      45              Luke 6:45 (New Living Translation) (a graphic)

         v.      45              Luke 4:45 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      46              Luke 6:46 (NIV) (a graphic)

         v.      48              Luke 6:47–48 (The Passion Translation) (a graphic)

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            Why Luke 6 is in the Word of God

         Summary            What We Learn from Luke 6

         Summary            Jesus Christ in Luke 6

         Summary            An Overview of Luke 6

         Summary            What the Literal Standard Translation Says About Itself

         Summary            Literal Standard Version graphic

         Summary            Distinctive features of the Literal Standard Version

         Summary            Those who worked on the LSV

         Summary 

         Summary 

         Addendum          Healing the Man’s Withered Hand (a graphic)

         Addendum          Comparing the Accounts of Healing the Man’s Withered Hand

         Addendum          Six Blind Men and the Elephant (a graphic)

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Luke 6

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Luke 6

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Luke 6

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Luke 6

         Addendum          Word Cloud of the Sermon on the Plain

——————————

An Introduction to Luke 6

I ntroduction: Luke, perhaps more than any other biographer, will concentrate on the actual words of Jesus. He has interviewed many people who were with Jesus, who saw what Jesus did. But what remained with these witnesses more than anything else were the actual words that Jesus spoke—His teachings, His parables, His unassailable logic, and His complete and thorough knowledge of the Law of God. Some of you own a red-letter edition of the Bible, which simply means that all the words of Jesus are in red (in my work, I put the NT in red and the OT in blue; and all quotations from the OT in purple). In a red-letter Bible, Luke will have many chapters which are nearly all in red. From v. 20 and forward, almost every word in Luke 6 is in red (in the red-letter editions of the Bible).

When we study the words of Jesus, it is important to note to whom is He speaking and what is the context. Jesus spoke of things in virtually every dispensation (yet, He spoke at a time when the concept of dispensations was not known). Therefore, most everything is understood within the context of the dispensation of Israel, but with a wider and more precise understanding which might be gleaned centuries later.

When the pharisees ask a tricky question to catch Jesus in a contradiction, Jesus might speak in one way. Sometimes His answer to them is, “Okay, what about this?” And then He will name some incident in the Old Testament which they cannot explain in the light of what they have just complained about. Whatever Jesus cites may or may not specifically contradict their issue with Him; but this is often designed to send His religious detractors back to the Scriptures for more study (ideally speaking).

When Jesus is speaking to a massive number of people, Jesus primarily teaches the correct way to understand the Law, which has been terribly distorted by those currently in the Jewish religious hierarchy.

When Jesus is teaching His disciples (not just to the 12, but to those who regularly followed Him—perhaps 50, perhaps 100, perhaps more), His teaching often takes in a greater realm of doctrine than simply the Law of Moses. He also provides explanations to His disciples for parables which may have confused them (His parables were often quite complex).

The middle chapters of Luke feature a great deal of the Lord teaching. We are not to those chapters yet, but the latter half of this chapter focuses on the Lord’s teaching. This latter half of Luke 6 will provide the most concentrated teaching so far in the book of Luke.

Luke 6 — Plain Talking (a graphic); from Hope Church Huddersfield; accessed January 7, 2022.

Section One: Jesus and His Disciples in a Wheat Field on the Sabbath (vv. 1–5)

Even though we are still in early days of the Lord’s ministry, the religious hierarchy is becoming more and more aggressive toward Jesus and His crew. In the first 5 verses, Jesus and His disciples are walking through a grain field and eating the grain. In order to do this, the chaff must be separated out from the grain itself. This involved taking a stalk of grain and rubbing it between two hands. The pharisees complain directly to Jesus about this—so they are right there watching Jesus and His disciples on this Sabbath morning. “What are Your disciples doing?” they ask Him. The logical retort would have been would be, “Just what exactly are you and your other religious friends doing right now?”

The pharisees believe that they have just caught Jesus and His disciples working on the Sabbath. One could make the argument that these pharisees are also working, standing here where they normally would not be standing, observing the disciples and Jesus and then making accusations against them. That strikes me as work on a Saturday (the Sabbath = Saturday). Following people around that you do not like and finding fault with their every move—that is certainly work.

These accusations made against the disciples of Jesus were often used by the pharisees. This appeared to be the go-to approach to anyone the pharisees wanted to shut down. The Judaic religious hierarchy have compiled about 600 Sabbath Day regulations (which they developed over the years), so the pharisees can generally find one or more regulations that any given random person violates. These regulations did not come out of the Word of God; it came out of the imagination of their forefathers; and then became a time-honored tradition.

But Jesus will not go for the obvious retort (“You think we are working; well, what about you?”). Instead, Jesus will ask the Pharisees a question about David, and that will shut them down. They never have an answer for any of Jesus’ questions. They always know about the passages to which Jesus refers, but they cannot explain them.

Section Two: Jesus Heals a Man’s Withered Hand on the Sabbath (vv. 6–11).

So, on another Sabbath, Jesus is apparently in a synagogue, and there is a man there with a withered hand. When it comes to healing, Jesus does virtually nothing. He intrinsically, in His humanity, cannot heal anyone (apart from handing someone an aspirin or something). He has the divine ability to heal, but He does not employ the power of His divine nature (Doctrine of Kenosis).

Jesus would have felt compassion for this man, and God the Holy Spirit would have worked through Jesus to heal this man. Jesus essentially functions as a Vanna White—He somehow indicates that a healing will take place or He simply touches a person’s hand, or whatever, and that person would be healed. This is not done by any inherent power of Jesus Himself or by any effort on His part, but by the Holy Spirit, in accordance with the plan of God the Father. In other words, when Jesus touches the hand (or head, or whatever) of some man, that is all that He is doing. In no way could this be understood to be a work.

Nevertheless, Jesus will be accused of violating the Sabbath. However, there are no actual regulations or laws against healing on the Sabbath (who would ever think to write such a regulation?). And further, theologically speaking, Jesus was not doing anything of Himself to heal this man. He might touch a leper, or give a hand to a lame man to help him up—but none of this could really be construed as actual work. God (the Holy Spirit) is the One doing the work by healing.

Section Three: Jesus Selects His Apostles (vv. 12–16).

In the third section (vv. 12–16) all of the disciples are named. We know, more or less, how Jesus called a few of these men, but there are just as many disciples about whom we know nothing about (apart from what tradition tells us). They are all named here, but with very few details.

Section Four: Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude (vv. 17–19).

In the fourth section of this chapter, Jesus teaches a large group of people on a plain. This first section is simply Him healing many of them and casting out demons. These things are spoken of generally; no specific examples are given. What is important are the principles which Jesus taught, which are found in the next section:

Section Five: The Sermon on the Plain (vv. 20–49).

Much of what Jesus says here, He also taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Almost everything in this section will be Jesus teaching. He will teach the beatitudes; He will pronounce the woes (which appear to be in contrast to the beatitudes); He will talk about loving one’s enemies; He will talk about judging; and He will give 3 parables about (having a speck of dust in one’s eye, about a tree and its fruit, and about building on a solid foundation).

Whereas the Sermon on the Mount goes on for three chapters in Matthew, the Sermon on the Plain takes up about half a chapter. However, there are many parallels between the two sermons. This would make sense, as we would not expect Jesus to teach something brand new, each and every day (although that certainly may have been possible).

This final section of Luke 6 might be easily broken up into many subsections: The Beatitudes, Jesus Pronounces Woes, Love Your Enemies, Judging Others, A Tree and Its Fruit, and Build Your House on the Rock (I took these sub-headings directly from e-sword).

Although Luke 6:20–49 will be all Jesus’ teaching, we return to narrative in the 7^th chapter.

None of the gospels provide an hour by hour history of the Lord’s ministry (until the crucifixion and the night preceding it). Each gospel is filled with vignettes. Sometime 5 or more of these vignettes take place on the same day and sometimes, a month or more may have passed in between vignettes. Sometimes we will be able to figure this out; sometimes not.

Luke 6 — Bible Journaling (a graphic); from Teri Millbourn in Pinterest; accessed January 7, 2022.

Luke 6 — Bible Journaling example (a graphic); from Inkblots (from TRD); accessed January 7, 2022.

Quite frankly, my biggest concern when it comes to teaching this chapter is properly explaining all that the Lord is teaching. This is not an easy task.

——————————

Jesus is Accused of Violating the Sabbath

Plucking grain on the Sabbath

Matthew 12:1-8 Mark 2:23-28

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:1–5) (a graphic); from Redeeming God; accessed January 7, 2022.

This is the first of the four sections found in Luke 6.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I will use the Westcott-Hort Greek text as the basis for my English translation. I use that test primarily because e-sword has a nice module by Rob Wolfram which has the interlinear English text, Strong’s #’s, and the Greek morphology. The e-sword tab is IWH+P. I do not use their English text for my translation. Also, throughout, I take in consideration alternate readings.

As a young Christian, I was quite interested in the alternative readings. After many decades of study, I have found that, as with the Hebrew text, disputed readings rarely have any affect on the interpretation of a text (apart from perhaps a half-dozen fairly well-known alternate readings, like the end of the book of Mark).

I will compare the Greek text to English translations of the Latin and Syriac (= Aramaic) texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation and George Lamsa’s translation from the Syriac. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.).

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

The Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls are irrelevant, as they preceded the writing of the New Testament by over 200 years.

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Ancient texts:

Westcott-Hort Text (Greek)    And it was in a Sabbath to pass through Him through a grainfield; and are plucking the disciples of His. And they are eating the grain, rubbing [it] in the hands. But someone of the pharisees said, “Why are you doing that which is not lawful for the Sabbaths?”

Revised Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) And it came to pass on the second first sabbath that, as he went through the corn fields, his disciples plucked the ears and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.

And some of the Pharisees said to them: Why do you that which is not lawful on the sabbath days?

V. Alexander’s Aramaic T.     .

James Murdock’s Syriac NT And on a sabbath it occurred, as Jesus walked among the tilled grounds, that his disciples plucked ears, and rubbed them in their hands and ate.

And some of the Pharisees said to them: Why do ye that, which it is not lawful to do on the sabbath ?

Original Aramaic NT              Now it happened on the Sabbath* when Yeshua was walking among the grain, his disciples were plucking the ears and were rubbing them in their hands and eating them.

But some of the Pharisees were saying to them, "Why are you doing what is illegal to do on the Sabbath?"

Plain English Aramaic Bible   .

Lamsa Peshitta (Syriac)         IT came to pass on the sabbath, as Jesus walked through the wheat fields, his disciples plucked ears of wheat, and rubbed them in their hands and did eat. But some of the men of the Pharisees said to them, Why are you doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath?

Significant differences: 

English Translations:          I have included translations which I disagree with and footnotes that I do not necessarily agree with. If I believe that the author is too far from the truth, I may even address that at the footnote. However, nearly all of the correct commentary will be found following the Greek text box and the translation of each phrase.

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             Now it came about that on the Sabbath he was going through the fields of grain, and his disciples took the heads of the grain for food, crushing them in their hands.

But some of the Pharisees said, Why do you do what it is not right to do on the Sabbath?

Bible in Worldwide English     Jesus was walking through the grain fields on a Sabbath day. His disciples picked some of the grain as they went along. They cleaned it by rubbing it in their hands, and ate it. Some of the Pharisees said, Why do your disciples do what is not right on the Sabbath day?"

Easy English                          Jesus teaches about the Jewish day for rest

On a Jewish day for rest, Jesus and his disciples were walking through some fields where wheat was growing. His disciples began to pick some of the wheat. They were rubbing it between their hands and eating the seeds.

Some of the Pharisees were walking along with them. They said, ‘You should not be doing that on our day for rest. It is against God's Law.’

Easy-to-Read Version–2001  .

Easy-to-Read Version–2006  Jesus Is Lord Over the Sabbath Day

One time on a Sabbath day, Jesus was walking through some grain fields. His followers picked the grain, rubbed it in their hands, and ate it. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing that? It is against the Law of Moses to do that on the Sabbath day.”

God’s Word™                         Jesus Has Authority over the Day of Worship

Once, on a day of rest—a holy day, Jesus was walking through some grainfields. His disciples were picking the heads of grain, removing the husks, and eating the grain.

Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are your disciples doing something that is not right to do on the day of rest—a holy day?”

Good News Bible (TEV)         The Question about the Sabbath

Jesus was walking through some wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples began to pick the heads of wheat, rub them in their hands, and eat the grain. Some Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what our Law says you cannot do on the Sabbath?”

The Message                         In Charge of the Sabbath

On a certain Sabbath Jesus was walking through a field of ripe grain. His disciples were pulling off heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands to get rid of the chaff, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing that, breaking a Sabbath rule?”

NIRV                                      .

New Life Version                    Jesus Teaches about the Day of Rest

On the next Day of Rest Jesus was walking through the grain-fields. His followers picked grain. They rubbed it in their hands and ate it. Some of the proud religious law-keepers said to them, “Why are you doing what the Law says should not be done on the Day of Rest?”

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       One Sabbath when Jesus and his disciples were walking through some wheat fields, the disciples picked some wheat. They rubbed the husks off with their hands and started eating the grain. Some Pharisees said, "Why are you picking grain on the Sabbath? You're not supposed to do that!"

The Living Bible                     One Sabbath as Jesus and his disciples were walking through some grainfields, they were breaking off the heads of wheat, rubbing off the husks in their hands and eating the grains.

But some Pharisees said, “That’s illegal! Your disciples are harvesting grain, and it’s against the Jewish law to work on the Sabbath.”

New Berkeley Version           .

New Century Version             .

New Living Translation           A Discussion about the Sabbath

One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain. But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”

The Passion Translation        Jesus and Religious Traditions

One Sabbath day, Jesus and his disciples were walking through a field of ripe wheat. His disciples plucked some heads of grain and rubbed the husks off with their hands and ate it. This infuriated some of the Jewish religious leaders. They said to Jesus, “Why are you allowing your disciples to harvest grain on the Sabbath day? Don’t you know it’s not permissible according to the law?”

Unlocked Dynamic Bible        One Sabbath day, as Jesus and his disciples were walking through some grain fields, the disciples were picking some heads of grain. They rubbed them in their hands to separate the grains from the husks, and ate the grain.

Some Pharisees who were watching this said to them, “You should not be doing work; our laws forbid us to do work on the Sabbath day!”

Williams’ New Testament      .

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Now, [Jesus] happened to be walking through some grain fields on a Sabbath and his disciples had been picking the grain, rubbing it in their hands, and eating it. So some of the Pharisees asked him:

‘Why are they doing something that isn’t legal on the Sabbath?’

Beck’s American Translation .

Breakthrough Version            It happened on a Sabbath for Him to be traveling through croplands. And His students were pulling off and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them with the hands. Some of the Separatists said, "Why are you doing what is not permitted on the Sabbaths?"

Common English Bible           Activities on the Sabbath

One Sabbath, as Jesus was going through the wheat fields, his disciples were picking the heads of wheat, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the Sabbath law?”

International Standard V        Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath

(Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28)

One time Jesus ^{[Lit. he]} was walking through some grain fields on a Sabbath. ^{[Other mss. read on the second Sabbath after the first]} His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.

Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on Sabbath days?” ^{[Lit. on the Sabbaths]}

Len Gane Paraphrase           .

A. Campbell's Living Oracles On the Sabbath called second prime, as Jesus was passing through the cornfields, his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and rubbed them in their hands and eat them.

And some Pharisees said to them, Why do you that which it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?

New Advent (Knox) Bible       It happened that on the next sabbath but one he was walking through the corn-fields; and his disciples were plucking the ears of corn and eating them, rubbing them between their hands. And some of the Pharisees said to them, Why are you doing what it is not lawful to do on the sabbath?.

NT for Everyone                     Teachings on the Sabbath

One sabbath, Jesus was walking through some cornfields. His disciples were plucking and eating ears of grain, rubbing them with their hands.

‘Why’, asked some Pharisees, ‘are you doing something that isn’t permitted on the sabbath?’

20^th Century New Testament .

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Alpha & Omega Bible            NOW IT HAPPENED THAT HE WAS PASSING THROUGH GRAIN FIELDS ON A SABBATH (7th Day of Rest & Worship. i.e. Saturday); AND HIS DISCIPLES WERE PICKING THE HEADS OF GRAIN, RUBBING THEM IN THEIR HANDS, AND EATING.

BUT SOME OF THE PHARISEES SAID, “WHY DO YOU DO WHAT IS NOT LAWFUL ON THE SABBATH (7th Day of Rest & Worship. i.e. Saturday)?"

Christian Standard Bible        .

Conservapedia Translation    On the Sabbath after Passover Jesus walked through a grain field, where His students picked heads of grain for themselves, rubbing off the chaff and eating them. Several Pharisees complained, "Why do You violate the Sabbath like that?

"ἔξεστι" is used for "it is lawful," but the negative is concisely written as "violate"

Evangelical Heritage V.          .

Revised Ferrar-Fenton Bible  In the Corn Fields.

It once happened on a Sabbath that He was going through the corn-fields; and His disciples plucked the ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands, and ate them. But some of the Pharisees said to them, "Why do you what is not allowable on Sabbaths?"

Free Bible Version                 One Sabbath while Jesus was walking through grainfields, his disciples began picking some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands*, and eating them.

Some of the Pharisees questioned him, asking, “Why are you doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?”

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           .

Jubilee Bible 2000                  .

Montgomery NT                     It happened that on a Sabbath he was going through the wheat-fields. His disciples were picking the ears and eating the wheat, rubbing it out with their hands. And some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?"

NIV, ©2011                             .

Riverside New Testament      .

Leicester A. Sawyer’s NT      .

Unlocked Literal Bible            .

Urim-Thummim Version         .

Weymouth New Testament    Now on the second-first Sabbath while He was passing through the wheatfields, His disciples were plucking the ears and rubbing them with their hands to eat the grain.

And some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what the Law forbids on the Sabbath?"

Wikipedia Bible Project          One Sabbath day, as Jesus was walking through the cornfields, his disciples picked some ears of grain and ate them, rubbing them first in their hands [to remove the husks].

So some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing things that aren’t allowed on the Sabbath?”

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)     One sabbath Jesus was going through the corn fields and his disciples began to pick heads of grain crushing them in their hands for food. Some of the Pharisees asked them, "Why do you do what is forbidden on the sabbath?"

The Heritage Bible                 And it was, he went through the sown fields in the second of the first Sabbaths after Passover, and his disciples pulled off the heads of grain, and were eating, rubbing them in their hands. And some of the Pharisees said to them, Why do you do what is absolutely not lawful to do in the Sabbaths?

New American Bible (2002)   .

New English Bible–1970        Plucking Grain on the Sabbath (Galilee)[ Lk.6.1-5 → ] - Mt.12.1-8, Mk.2.23-28

One Sabbath he was going through the cornfields, and his disciples were plucking the ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some of the Pharisees said, 'Why are you doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath?

New Jerusalem Bible             .

New RSV                               One sabbath [Other ancient authorities read On the second first sabbath] while Jesus* was going through the cornfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. But some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing what is not lawful [Other ancient authorities add to do] on the sabbath?’

Revised English Bible–1989   .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           One Shabbat, while Yeshua was passing through some wheat fields, his talmidim began plucking the heads of grain, rubbing them between their hands and eating the seeds. Some of the P’rushim said, “Why are you violating Shabbat?” .

exeGeses companion Bible   YAH SHUA, ADONAY OF THE SHABBATH

And so be it, on the second first shabbath,

he goes through the spores;

and his disciples pluck the kernels and eat

rubbing them in their hands.

And some of the Pharisees say to them,

Why do you what is not allowed to do

on the shabbaths?.

Hebraic Roots Bible               .

The Israel Bible (beta)            .

The Scriptures 1998              .

Tree of Life Version                Shabbat in the Grain Fields

Now during Shabbat, Yeshua was passing through grain fields; and His disciples were picking and eating heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not permitted on Shabbat?”

Weird English, Olde English, Anachronistic English Translations:

Accurate New Testament       ...becomes but in break (weekly) to pass him through [them] sown and picked {some ones} The Students [of] him and [Men] ate the grains Rubbing {them} [with] the hands (Some) Ones but [of] the pharisees say why? [You*] make What not is (permissible) [on] the breaks (weekly)...

Awful Scroll Bible                   What is more, itself came to be, from-within the second- day -of-the-first sabbath, after the Passover, Himself to proceed-through the sown fields, and His disciples continue to pluck the heads of grain, and keep to eat it, rubbing them against their hands.

Besides this, certain of the Pharisees said to them, "Why do yous, what is not by- our -existence to do from-within the sabbaths?"

Concordant Literal Version    .

The Disciple's Bible                .

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And it came about on Shabbos that the Moshiach is passing through grain fields, and his talmidim were plucking and eating the heads of grain and rubbing them in their hands. [DEVARIM 23:25]

Now some of the Perushim said, Why are you doing what is asur (impermissible) on Shabbos?

Rotherham’s Emphasized B. .

Third Millennium Bible            .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                .

An Understandable Version   Now it happened on a Sabbath day that Jesus was walking through some grain fields. His disciples picked off some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands and ate [the kernels]. [Note: It was an accepted practice for people in that day to be permitted to do this as they walked along paths bordering a grain field].

But certain Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is against the Law of Moses on the Sabbath day?”

The Expanded Bible              Jesus Is Lord over the Sabbath

One Sabbath day Jesus was walking through some fields of grain. His ·followers [disciples] picked the heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them [Deut. 23:25]. Some Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is ·not lawful [forbidden] on the Sabbath day?” [^C Gleaning was viewed as work, and therefore forbidden on the Sabbath; Ex. 34:21.]

Jonathan Mitchell NT             Now on a sabbath He happened to be passing on His way through fields of sown grain, and His disciples began plucking (or: picking) the heads of grain, [then] proceeding to rub [them] in pieces between [their] hands, and then were eating [them].

So some of the Pharisees questioned, "Why are you people continuing in doing that which is not allowed by custom or Law to be done on the sabbaths?"

P. Kretzmann Commentary    Verses 1-5

Disputes Concerning Sabbath Observance. Luke 6:1-12

The Lord of the Sabbath:

And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the cornfields; and His disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.

It was on the first Sabbath after the second day of Passover that this happened. For on that day the sheaves of the first fruits of the field were offered to the Lord, and the Jews reckoned the Sabbaths until Pentecost from this day, for which reason the latter festival was known also as the Feast of Weeks. Jesus was walking through the crop, which was now in full ear and ready for cutting. The ancient paths were usually in the nature of short cuts, and were apt to lead across some man's land. But according to ancient custom, no man thought of plowing these up. The field was tilled on either side of the path, and the grain sometimes encroached on the path, but the path itself belonged to the public. As the Lord was walking along with His disciples, the latter began to pull out spikes of the ripe grain and to rub the ears between the palms of their hands to extract the kernels. This was permitted according to the Law, Deut. 23:25.

And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath-days?

But the Pharisees, some of whom were present as usual in order to spy on the Lord, made this innocent act a sin against the Third Commandment, looking upon the pulling of stalks as harvesting and upon the removing of the hulls as threshing and cooking. Note: This attitude is characteristic also of modern sticklers for the so-called sanctity of the Sabbath, or Sunday. Instead of teaching the proper observance of the New Testament holiday according to the sense of the Bible, which Luther has so beautifully expressed in the explanation of the Third Commandment, they suspect base motives and objects in matters which are left absolutely to the decision of Christian liberty. The Pharisees at once attacked the disciples, but always with the point directed against Jesus. They accused them of profaning the Sabbath.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Lord of the Sabbath}

And it came to pass, on 'the second Sabbath' {deuteroprotos sabbaton - means the second of the first Sabbaths after the feast of the Passover}, as He {Jesus} was going through the grain fields {sporimos - corn?}, His disciples picked some 'heads of grain'/'ear of corn' { Stachys}, rubbed {them} in {their} hands, and ate them.

{Note: The religious Jews had added many "don'ts" to the Mosaic Law. One of them made it illegal to 'work' on the Sabbath. Picking up a piece of corn and rubbing off its kernels into your hand is 'work' under their system of taboos.}

And some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is absolutely not {ouk} lawful on the Sabbath?"

Translation for Translators     Jesus explained why he had authority to decide what his disciples should do on the Sabbath day.

Luke 6:1-11

One ◂Sabbath/Jewish day►of rest , while Jesus was walking through some grain fields with his disciples, the disciples picked some of the heads of grain. They rubbed them in their hands to separate the grains from the husks, and ate the grain. The law of Moses permitted people to do that if they were hungry. Some Pharisees who were watching said to Jesus, “◂You should not be doing on our rest day work that our laws forbid!/Why are you doing on our rest day work that our laws forbid?►” [RHQ].

The Voice                               One Sabbath Day, [Other manuscripts read “On the second Sabbath after the first.”] some Pharisees confronted Jesus again. This time, they saw the disciples picking some grain as they walked through the fields. The disciples would dehusk the grain by rubbing the kernels in their hands, and then they would eat it raw.

Pharisees: Don’t You know the sacred law says You can’t harvest and mill grain on the Sabbath Day—the day on which all work is forbidden? Why do You think You can ignore the sacred law?

Bible Translations with an Excess of Footnotes:

Disciples’ Literal New T.        .

NET Bible®                             Lord of the Sabbath

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 But some of the Pharisees⁶ said, “Why are you⁷ doing what is against the law⁸ on the Sabbath?”

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

^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.

^3tc Most later mss (A C D Θ Ψ [Ë13] Ï lat) read ἐν σαββάτῳ δευτεροπρ τῳ (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).

^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).

^5tn Grk “picked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.” The participle ψ χοντες (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.

^6sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

^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.

^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.

New American Bible (2011)   Debates About the Sabbath.*

^a While he was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.^b

Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”

* [6:1–11] The two episodes recounted here deal with gathering grain and healing, both of which were forbidden on the sabbath. In his defense of his disciples’ conduct and his own charitable deed, Jesus argues that satisfying human needs such as hunger and performing works of mercy take precedence even over the sacred sabbath rest. See also notes on Mt 12:1–14 and Mk 2:25–26.

a. [6:1–5] Mt 12:1–8; Mk 2:23–28.

b. [6:1] Dt 23:26.

New American Bible (2011)   .

The Passion Translation        .

The Spoken English NT         Picking Heads of Grain on the Sabbath Day (Mt. 12:1-8; Mk 2:23-28)
One Sabbath day, Jesus happened to be walking through some fields. And his followers were picking the heads of grain and eating them, after rubbing them between their hands.^a

Some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what’s not allowed on the Sabbath?”^b

                                               ^a.      Lit. “in their hands.” They were rubbing off the inedible husks to get at the kernels of grain.

                                               ^b.      According to their tradition, even the slightest amount of work is forbidden on the Sabbath. According to their definitions, Jesus’ followers are harvesting grain and “threshing” (see “Bible Words”).

Wilbur Pickering’s New T.     Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath
Now it happened on a second-first¹ Sabbath that He was passing through the grain fields, and His disciples began to pick and eat the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.

But some of the Pharisees said to them,² “Why are you doing that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”

(1) That’s what the Text says. No doubt everyone at that time knew just what was intended, but in the meantime we have lost the necessary cultural information.

(2) By now the Pharisees had ‘spies’ following Jesus wherever He went.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Analytical-Literal Translation  Now it happened on the second-first Sabbath [fig., the first Sabbath of the second month] He [was] passing through the grainfields, and His disciples were picking the heads of grain and were eating, rubbing [the husk from the grain] with their hands.

And some of the Pharisees said to them, "Why are youp doing what is not lawful to be doing on the Sabbaths?"

Charles Thomson NT             .

Context Group Version          Now on a Sabbath, he was going through the grainfields; and his apprentices plucked and ate the ears, rubbing them in their hands.

But certain of the Pharisees said, Why do you (pl) do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?

Disciples’ Literal New T.        The Pharisees Object To Plucking Grain On The Sabbath. I Am Lord of The Sabbath