And {1} it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples {a} plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.

(1) Christ shows against the superstitious, who dwell on every trifling matter, that the law of the very sabbath was not given to be kept without exception: much less that the salvation of man should consist in the outward keeping of it.

(a) Epiphanius notes well in his treatise, where he refutes Ebion, that the time when the disciples plucked the ears of the corn was in the feast of unleavened bread. Now, in those feasts which were kept over a period of many days, as the feast of tabernacles and passover, their first day and the last were very solemn; see Le 23:1-44. Luke then fitly calls the last day the second sabbath, though Theophylact understands it to be any of the sabbaths that followed the first.

People's New Testament

6:1-5 The Twelve Apostles Chosen

SUMMARY OF LUKE 6:

The Son of Man Lord of the Sabbath. The Man with the Withered Hand Healed. Accused of Sabbath-Breaking. The Apostles Chosen. Blessings and Woes. Returning Good for Evil. Evil and Good Fruit. The Wise and Foolish Builders.

On the second sabbath after the first. The common text, the second-first in the Greek, is referred by Godet to second-first Sunday of the year. The first first Sabbath was the first Sabbath of the civil year; the second first was the first sabbath of the religious year. It came in the spring.

Plucked. For notes on the controversy caused by the Lord's disciples plucking the ears of wheat on the Sabbath, see Mt 12:1-14. Compare also Mr 2:23-28 3:1-5.

Ears of corn. Of wheat or barley.

Wesley's Notes

6:1 The first Sabbath - So the Jews reckoned their Sabbaths, from the passover to pentecost; the first, second, third, and so on, till the seventh Sabbath (after the second day.) This immediately preceded pentecost, which was the fiftieth day after the second day of unleavened bread. Mt 12:1; Mr 2:23.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 6

Lu 6:1-5. Plucking Corn-ears on the Sabbath.

(See on [1578]Mt 12:1-8 and Mr 2:23-28.)

1. second sabbath after the first-an obscure expression, occurring here only, generally understood to mean, the first sabbath after the second day of unleavened bread. The reasons cannot be stated here, nor is the opinion itself quite free from difficulty.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:1-5 Christ justifies his disciples in a work of necessity for themselves on the sabbath day, and that was plucking the ears of corn when they were hungry. But we must take heed that we mistake not this liberty for leave to commit sin. Christ will have us to know and remember that it is his day, therefore to be spent in his service, and to his honour.