Luke 6:3
in Luke 6Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read even this, what David did, when he was hungry, he, and they that were with him;
KJV
And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him;
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This verse in Luke 6
Commentary
14 notes on this verseAnd again, the law did not forbid those who were hungry on the Sabbath-days to take food lying ready at hand: it did, however, forbid them to reap and to gather into the barn.
This site's exposition
Have you not read what
on Luke 6:3-5
Jesus answers with 1 Samuel 21, where David took the consecrated bread, lawful only for the priests, and the history records no rebuke. Then He declared, The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, claiming authority over the day itself.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
(cont. Hær. l. i. Hær. xxx. 32.) On the sabbath day then they were seen passing through the corn fields, and eating the corn, showing that the bonds of the sabbath were loosened, when the great Sabbath was come in Christ, Who made us to rest from the working of our iniquities.
As if He said, Whereas the law of Moses expressly says, Give a righteous judgment, and ye shall not respect persons in judgment, (Deut. 1:16, 17.) how now do ye blame My disciples, who even to this day extol David as a saint and prophet, though he kept not the commandment of Moses?
Now although David acted contrary to what the law approves, he is rightly and justly esteemed by us as worthy of all admiration because he was truly a saint and prophet. Since the law of Moses expressly commands justice and does not consider the person being judged, "how," he says, "do you condemn my disciples while you still admire as a saint and prophet the blessed David, although he did not keep Moses' command?"
(ut sup.) And mark, that whenever the Lord speaks for His servants, (i. e. His disciples,) He brings forward servants, as for example David and the Priests; but when for Himself, He introduces His Father; as in that place, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. (John 5:17.)
Not only in the form of expression, but in His very practice and mode of action, did the Lord begin to absolve man from the observance of the old law. Hence it is said, And it came to pass that he went through the corn fields, &c. But the Lord proves the defenders of the law to be ignorant of what belongs to the law, bringing the example of David; as it follows, And Jesus answering said to them, Have ye not read so much as this, &c. But herein is a great mystery. For the field is the whole world, the corn is the abundant harvest of the saints in the seed of the human race, the ears of corn are the fruits of the Church, which the Apostles shaking off by their works fed upon, nourishing themselves with our increase, and by their mighty miracles, as it were out of the bodily husks, plucking forth the fruits of the mind to the light of faith. Now the Jews thought this unlawful on the Sabbath, but Christ by the gift of new grace represented hereby the rest of the law, the work of grace. Wonderfully has He called it the second-first sabbath, not the first-second, because that was loosed from the law which was first, and this is made first which was ordained second. It is therefore called the second sabbath according to number, the first according to the grace of the work. For that sabbath is better where there is no penalty, than that where there is a penalty prescribed. Or this perhaps was first in the foreknowledge of wisdom, and second in the sanction of the ordinance. Now in David escaping with his companions, there was a foreshadowing of Christ in the law, who with His Apostles escaped the prince of the world. […]
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Now the authority of Truth subjoined the confutation of the accusers, and he notes this when he adds: And Jesus answering them, said. Now Truth confounds the Pharisees and defends the disciples by the authority of Scripture and also by his own. By the authority …
Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God and took the showbread, and ate, and gave it to those who were with him, which is not lawful to …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Jesus Christ, though he allowed works of necessity on the sabbath day, will notwithstanding have us to know and remember that it is his day, and therefore is to be spent in his service and to his honour (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And Jesus answering them, said,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
proposed
We should notice in this passage — what excessive importance hypocrites attach to trifles. We are told that, "One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some corn fields, his disciples broke off heads of wheat, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grains." At once the hypocritical Pharisees found fault, and charged them with committing a sin. They said, "Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?" The mere act of plucking the heads of wheat, of course they did not find fault with.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
proposed
We should notice in this passage — what excessive importance hypocrites attach to trifles. We are told that, "One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some corn fields, his disciples broke off heads of wheat, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grains." At once the hypocritical Pharisees found fault, and charged them with committing a sin. They said, "Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?" The mere act of plucking the heads of wheat, of course they did not find fault with. It was an action sanctioned by the Mosaic law. (Deuteronomy 23:25.) The supposed fault with which they charged the disciples, was the breach of the fourth commandment. They had done work on the Sabbath, by taking and eating a handful of food. This exaggerated zeal of the Pharisees about the Sabbath, we must remember — did not extend to other plain commandments of God. It is evident from many expressions in the Gospels, that these very men, who pretended such strictness on one little point, were more than lax and indifferent about other points of infinitely greater importance. While they stretched the commandment about the Sabbath beyond its true meaning — they openly trampled on the tenth commandment, and were notorious for covetousness. (Luke 16:14.) But this is precisely the character of the hypocrite. To use our Lord's illustration — in some things he makes fuss about straining a gnat out of his cup, while in other things he can swallow a camel! (Matthew 23:24.) It is a bad symptom of any man's state of soul, when he begins to put the second things in religion in the first place — and the first things in the second; or the things ordained by man — above the things ordained by God. Let us beware of falling into this state of mind.
What David did - See on Mar 2:26, Mar 2:27 (note).
How the passage was read
On Luke 6:1-11On Luke 6:1-11
Luke's Sabbath pair, with the act named
Luke sets the two Sabbath collisions side by side and preserves the concrete detail: the disciples plucked ears of grain, “rubbing them in their hands” (6:1). The rubbing is the point of the objection: in the tradition's categories of forbidden Sabbath labor (thirty-nine of them, listed in Mishnah Shabbat 7:2), plucking counted as reaping and rubbing out the kernels as threshing. Deuteronomy 23:25 expressly permits eating from a neighbor's standing grain, so theft was never the charge; the developing oral law's categories were. The full exposition is in this site's Matthew 12 note.
In the withered-hand scene that follows, the watchers stand on a real distinction of their own law: mortal danger overrides the Sabbath (Mishnah Yoma 8:6), but a chronic condition can wait a day. Jesus heals by a word, an act no category of labor can name, and puts the question that reframes the day itself: “Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Shabbat 7:2 (the thirty-nine categories) · Mishnah Yoma 8:6 (danger to life overrides the Sabbath)
The words behind it
21 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀποκριθεὶς | apokritheis | answering | G611 → | 231 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| αὐτοὺς | autous | them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| εἶπεν | eipen | said | G2036 → | 925 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Ἰησοῦς· | iesous | Jesus; | G2424 → | 908 times |
| οὐδὲ | oude | Surely | G3761 → | 141 times |
| τοῦτο | touto | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| ἀνέγνωτε | anegnote | have you read | G314 → | 32 times |
| ὃ | ho | what | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ἐποίησεν | epoiesen | did | G4160 → | 569 times |
| Δαυίδ, | dauid | David, | G1138 → | 59 times |
| ὅτε | hote | when | G3753 → | 103 times |
| ἐπείνασεν | epeinasen | was hungry | G3983 → | 23 times |
| αὐτὸς | autos | he himself | G846 → | 5565 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οἱ | hoi | those who | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μετ᾽ | met᾽ | with | G3326 → | 461 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ὄντες; | ontes | being? | G1510 → | 2333 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀποκριθεὶςanswering
apokritheisG611 →231 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
αὐτοὺςthem
autousG846 →5565 times
εἶπενsaid
eipenG2036 →925 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
Ἰησοῦς·Jesus;
iesousG2424 →908 times
οὐδὲSurely
oudeG3761 →141 times
τοῦτοthis
toutoG3778 →1381 times
ἀνέγνωτεhave you read
anegnoteG314 →32 times
ὃwhat
hoG3739 →1405 times
ἐποίησενdid
epoiesenG4160 →569 times
Δαυίδ,David,
dauidG1138 →59 times
ὅτεwhen
hoteG3753 →103 times
ἐπείνασενwas hungry
epeinasenG3983 →23 times
αὐτὸςhe himself
autosG846 →5565 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οἱthose who
hoiG3588 →19766 times
μετ᾽with
met᾽G3326 →461 times
αὐτοῦhim
autouG846 →5565 times
ὄντες;being?
ontesG1510 →2333 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 21:16“Do You hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”
it leads to
- Psalms 8:2
From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise on account of Your adversaries, to silence the enemy and avenger.
- Matthew 11:25
At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
- Luke 19:39–40
But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!”
- Psalms 8:2
Through
Mark 12:10Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
it leads to
- Psalms 118:22–23
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
- 1 Peter 2:7–8
To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
- Isaiah 28:16
So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
- Luke 20:17–18
But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?
- Matthew 21:42
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
- Psalms 118:22–23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this verse
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About Luke
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Luke; Bonaventure, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 6; Cyril of Alexandria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILIES 21-22; Epiphanius of Salamis, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Irenaeus, Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 8); J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.