Luke 6:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.

NIV: One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels.

NASB: Now it happened that Jesus was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath, and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.

CSB: On a Sabbath, he passed through the grainfields. His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.

NLT: 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.

KJV: And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.

NKJV: Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.

This is the first of two altercations in this portion of Luke's narrative that Jesus has with the Pharisees about what is allowed on the Sabbath. Honoring the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8–11). God forbade the Israelites from work on the seventh day of the week as a sign of their faith that God would provide (Exodus 31:12–17). The extent of that "work" was left vague. The only time the Old Testament mentions an explicit example, which is enforced, is when a man gathered sticks in open defiance of the law (Numbers 15:32–36).

The extra-biblical rules for the Sabbath were patterned after the extensive directions for the building of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:1—31:11). Rabbis think this is to emphasize that even the craftsmen building the house of God needed to observe the Sabbath. To that end, the Mishnah, Tractate Shabbat 7:2 bans things related to the building and care of the tabernacle, including making bread, making fabric, tanning hides, writing, building and dismantling, making or extinguishing a fire, and carrying things. Specifically for the disciples, the Pharisees teach that reaping grain, "removing the kernel from the husk," and separating "the inedible waste from the edible" breaks the Sabbath.

One of the reasons the Pharisees enforced the Sabbath so strongly is because it served as a visible sign that the Jews were set apart from the world and to God. Jesus has a better way: forgiving and being kind to one's enemies (Luke 6:17–42).

The King James version uses the term "corn" rather than grain. This seems like an anachronism: something placed in the wrong era. The plant modern English refers to as "corn" originated in what is now Mexico and was also called "maize." Stachys, in the biblical Greek, specifically means the fruit part of cereals grains including wheat and barley. At the time the King James Bible was translated, the word "corn" meant a single grain seed. The main grain crop of any region was called "corn," as well. Over time, the plant originally called "maize" became identified with the word "corn." What seems like an error, today, was entirely correct when the KJV was first translated.

Luke 6:1–5 begins another altercation between Jesus and local religious leaders; this is the first related to the Sabbath. The Pharisees added rules to the Sabbath which served more as burdens than ways to honor God. Jesus counters that the Sabbath is for restoration and nurturing, not hardship. In the first occurrence, He defends the disciples as they pick grain heads. Next, He will heal a man with a withered hand (Luke 6:6–11). The purpose of the Sabbath is to refrain from labor, not refrain from good. Matthew 12:1–8 and Mark 2:23–28 also record this interaction.

Luke 6 contains two main sections of teaching and calls to discipleship. Luke 6:1–16 continues the pattern of Luke 5. The two ways in which Jesus sets aside tradition—this time by taking authority over the Sabbath—are paired with His call for the Twelve disciples. Luke 6:17–49 records Jesus' teaching on the ''level place,'' or His ''Sermon on the Plain,'' and a call to a crowd for general discipleship. Much of this material has parallels in Matthew 5 through 7, but it's not clear if the two accounts are of the same event. As a travelling teacher, Christ likely gave the same general message multiple times.

Luke 6 completes Jesus' call for disciples and followers that started in Luke 5. Luke 5:1—6:16 consists of three calls for disciples, each paired with two revolutionary teachings about Jesus' authority that increasingly infuriate the religious leaders. Luke 6:17–49 continues the theme with a general call for followers and a description of their responsibilities. In Luke 7:1—8:3, Jesus interacts with the other: Gentiles, women, and even the dead. This is followed by another general call (Luke 8:4–21), a series of miracles (Luke 8:22—9:17), and a final call for the Twelve to follow Him even more deeply (Luke 9:18–50).

Luke was a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 16:10) and a physician (Colossians 4:14). Unlike Matthew, Mark, and John, Luke writes his gospel as an historian, rather than as a first-hand eyewitness. His extensive writings also include the book of Acts (Acts 1:1–3). These are deliberately organized, carefully researched accounts of those events. The gospel of Luke focuses on the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Luke's Gentile perspective presents Christ as a Savior for all people, offering both forgiveness and direction to those who follow Him.